Family von Boetticher

The von Boetticher Family

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Family history

The first known ancestor is Nikolaus Boetticher (ca. 1650-1692). It is known of him, that he attended high school (Gymnasium) in Erfurt and studied theology before moving to the then duchy of Courland and settling as a minister in Blieden (today: Blidene in Latvia). His son Christophorus (1686-1745) served as a minister in Ober- and Nieder-Bartau (today: Barta and Nica in Latvia).

He is the starting point for the older and younger branches of the family henceforth: The descendants of the older or Goldingen line (named after Goldingen in Courland, today Kuldiga in Latvia) can be found in the magistrates of Goldingen, and later Riga, living as merchants and landowners in Courland. The descendants of the younger or Tuckum line (named after Tuckum in Courland, today Tukums in Latvia) left a mark as lawyers and officers of the Imperial Russian Army.

In 1842, 1844 and 1846 the family was recognized as ancient gentry by the Governing Senate (pravitelstvuyushchiy senat, Supreme Appeals Court), which in 1863 decreed the registration of the family into the Genealogy Roll (Geschlechterbuch) of the not matriculated gentry of the Gouvernement (district) of Courland. In 1882 Rudolph was registered into the Courland Gentry Roll with the manor (Gut) of Kuckschen (today: Kukšas), 1909 Hermann achieved the same for the manor of Groß-Spirgen (today: Spirgus).

After WWI the larger part of the family remained resident in the newly created Republic of Latvia as part of the local Baltic-German minority. Most of them were relocated to Poland in 1939. After the expulsion of 1945 almost all of them ended up in the western part of Germany.

How Did We Get Our "von"?

In 1795 the duchy of Courland (Kurzeme) was annexed to the Russian empire, to which Estonia, Livonia and the town of Riga had already belonged since 1710. This opened new doors for our ancestors. The sons of Johann Christoph, Karl, Moritz, Gustav and George (Nos. 27, 29, 31 and 34) enlisted in the Russian army, and fought in wars against Sweden, France and Turkey. This service offered them the opportunity for distinguishing themselves and gaining promotions and military decorations. Other members of this Tuckum (Tukums) branch (Nos. 26 and 28) stayed in Courland as lawyers. The Goldingen (Kuldiga) branch was established by Karl Dietrich. His son Karl Friedrich B. (No. 20) acquired considerable wealth, while a nephew, Karl (38), moved to Riga in 1805 and made this old Hanseatic city with its more cosmopolitan setting the stronghold of the Boetticher family for some time.

But the annexation of Courland to Russia led to even more important changes for the family. Already during the 18th century some members of our family (Nos. 11, 16, 17, 19, 20, 27) had enjoyed nobility privileges, but the social standing of the Boettichers at large still needed formal confirmation. This came to pass only after Lithuania and Courland had been absorbed into Russia and local laws and customs had to be aligned with the Imperial system, necessitating Russian recognition of ranks of nobility. Karl Friedrich (No. 20) had been elevated to nobility in 1795, but since he remained unmarried this was of no consequence for the Boetticher descendancy.

On August 21, 1820 however, the existing family members and their offspring in Courland and Riga (Nos. 26, 28, 38, 43, 44) were recognized by the convention of representatives of the nobility of the Lithuanian-Wilna (Vilnius) Gouvernement as nobility of German origin and thus entered into the Wilna nobility register.

This recognition led in turn to resolutions of the heraldic department of the Executive Senate of September 29, 1842 and September 6, 1844, by which all members of our ancestry (Nos. 38, 43, 48, 50, 51, 53, 56, 59 and 27, 29, 31) were entered into the 6th part of the nobility register of the Russian Empire (nobility of before 1685). Henceforth in all official decrees (Ukasy) in Russian for military promotions and decorations that carried the Emperor's (Czar's) signature, family members were regularly called "von" Boetticher. Because of the decree (Ukas) of the Executive Senate of August 22, 1863 (No. 2330) the family was entered into the register of the non immatriculated nobility in the Gouvernement of Courland as "von Boetticher".

Translated by Jürgen von Boetticher from v. Boetticher Familien-Nachrichten (family news) #11, edited by Uwe Hager.

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