Keyserlingk is an old noble family from Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

. It is first mentioned with Hermann Keselinch on 16 November 1300. The direct line began with Albert Keserlink (mentioned 1443-1467), mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 at Herford

Herford

Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.- Geographic location :...

.

1492 his son Hermann von Keyserlingk fought in Livland for the Teutonic Order. For this Wolter von Plettenberg

Wolter von Plettenberg

Wolter von Plettenberg was the Master of the Livonian Order from 1494 to 1535 and one of the greatest leaders of the Teutonic knights. He was an important early Baltic German....

 gave him fiefs in Courland

Courland

Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...

. In Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

, tsarist Russia and the Electorate of Saxony

Electorate of Saxony

The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...

 his descendants worked for the state and in 18th century four of them gained the title of Graf

Graf

Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...

. From this 4 Graf-lines 2 still exist. There is also a Freiherr

Freiherr

The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...

-line. There are a number of interesting articles on Keyserling(k) as well as an extensive bibliography on the family website at: http://keyserlingk.info.

After 1945 all property in the Baltics and East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

 had to be abandoned. Since then around 1700 descendants live all over the world, mainly in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, USA, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

The Keyserlingks have family relations with Barrett

Barrett

- Court cases :* Barrett v. Rosenthal, a 2006 California Supreme Court case concerning online defamation* Barrett v. United States, a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that South Carolina had never effectively been subdivided into separate judicial districts-Fictional...

, von Below

Von Below

von Below is a German surname which may refer to:*Fritz von Below , World War I general*Otto von Below , World War I general*Nicolaus von Below , adjutant of Adolf Hitler...

, von Bogen, Bordehl von Bordelius, von Braun, von der Brueggen, von Dehn, Finck von Finckenstein

Finck von Finckenstein

- Origins :The first representative of this family appeared authentically with 'Nicze of Roghusen' in 1388 in Roggenhausen in East Prussia according to the state archive in Koenigsberg. Under its current name, the house appears authentically in 1451 with 'Michael Fincke' who calls himself 'Finck...

, von Grotthuss, von Hahn

Von Hahn

von Hahn is the name of the German-Baltic-Russian noble family with the coat of arms: Striding red rooster on the silver shield.-Origin:...

, Hillis, von Kleist

Von Kleist

Von Kleist is a Pomeranian Prussian noble family. Notable members of this family include:* Ewald Jürgen Georg von Kleist ; co-inventor of the Leyden jar* Ewald Christian von Kleist ; German poet and soldier...

, von Lieven, von der Pahlen, Perkins, Popp, von Quistorp, von Rahden, von der Recke, von Roenne, von der Ropp, Ruggels, Schick, Schirinski Schikhmatoff, Spano, Sponholtz, Thurn and Taxis, Turcot, Wadenstierna and Wilson.

Reichsgraf Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk (1696–1764) who was the Russian ambassador to Saxony helped Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

 to get the title Court composer to the King of Poland and the Elector of Saxony, received from Frederick Augustus I of Saxony

Frederick Augustus I of Saxony

Frederick Augustus I was King of Saxony from the House of Wettin. He was also Elector Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and Duke Frederick Augustus I of Warsaw...

in 1733. http://www.thegoldbergvariations.com/index.php?page=hewitt