Baudissin is the name of a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

noble family of Sorbian origin, first mentioned in 1326 in

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...

, now part of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. At the time

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

, the district capital, was called ''Budissin'', whence the name originated. All name bearers, including those of family lines like Baudissin-Zinzendorf and Baudissin-Zinzendorf-Pottendorf, are

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

s or Countesses.

History

Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin or Bauditz (1579–1646) was a distinguished Protestant German cavalry commander who rose to the rank of field marshal during the Thirty Years' War. He was a member of the Baudissin family, an old noble family of Lus ...

married into a Rantzau noble family from

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

and became the progenitor of all family members living today. From this time on most Baudissins settled in Holstein and other parts of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and often served the Danish kings as diplomats, officers and administrators. His grandson Wulf Hinrich (1671–1748) was another military leader and was made a hereditary

Imperial Count Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

on 28 February 1741 by the

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prin ...

of Saxony, Duke Frederick Augustus II (King Augustus III of Poland), for his services and thus became the first ''

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

'' von Baudissin.http://genealogy.euweb.cz/titles/b.html The family has since brought forth numerous diplomats, military and civil officers, administrators, advisers to kings and emperors, writers, artists, journalists and lawyers. The families Baudissin and their Danish branch of "Bauditz" are listed in joint entries in the 1909, 1911, 1915 and 1959 editions of the ''Danmarks Adels Aarbog'' ("Danish nobility yearbook").

Notable members

Adelbert Heinrich Graf von Baudissin Adelbert Heinrich Graf von Baudissin (born 25 January 1820 in Horsens, Jutland, died 28 March 1871 in Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus ap ...

(1820-1871), writer *

(1579-1646), military leader * Wolf Heinrich Graf von Baudissin (1789-1878), Danish and German diplomat, writer, and translator * Adalbert Heinrich Graf von Baudissin (1820–1871), journalist, war correspondent, writer, and publisher * Wolf Ernst Hugo Emil Graf von Baudissin (1867–1926), officer and writer * Wolf Wilhelm Friedrich von Baudissin (1847–1927), theologian and Old Testament scholar * Wolf Graf von Baudissin (1907-1993), German general and professor of International Peace Studies.

References

External links

www.baudissin.eu
is a portal for further information and lists several personal homepages related to the Baudissins - ''in German''

the website of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg of which former General Wolf Count von Baudissin was the founding director. {{Authority control People from the Duchy of Holstein Danish noble families Bautzen