![Jacburc2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Jacburc2.gif)
Burckhardt, or (de) Bourcard in French, is a family of the
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
patriciate, descended from Christoph (Stoffel) Burckhardt (1490–1578), a merchant in cloth and silk originally from
Münstertal, Black Forest
The Münstertal (Münster valley) is a municipality in the southern Black Forest, which belongs to the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is 3 miles east from Staufen.
Geography
Location
The M ...
, who received Basel citizenship in 1523, and became a member of the
Grand Council of Basel-Stadt
The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (german: Grosser Rat) is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the ...
in 1553. The family was represented in the Grand Council continuously from 1553 until the 20th century. In the 17th century and early 18th century, the family was the most powerful family of the canton of Basel. Branches of the family were based in
Nantes and in the
Kingdom of Naples from the 18th century, where it was
ennobled
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...
as ''de Bourcard''. The family's famous members include the traveller and orientalist
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, the influential art historian
Jacob Burckhardt and the international President of the Red Cross,
Carl Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Burckhardt (September 10, 1891 – March 3, 1974) was a Swiss diplomat and historian. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the most prominent of the latter were League of Nati ...
.
The surname is derived from the
dithematic Germanic given name
Germanic given names are traditionally dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, King Æþelred's name was derived from ', for "noble", and ', for "counsel".
However, there are also ...
''
Burkhard'', from ''burg'' "protection" and ''hard'' "brave, hardy".
The Burckhardt coat-of-arms has a shield of yellow background with a black S intertwined with a cross (the “S” is perhaps for Seidenkrämer - silk-merchant), which is surmounted by a crowned helmet with a fluttering black and yellow flag. The original crest was simpler and consisted only of a shield with the S intertwined with the cross. It was modified between 1558 and 1578.
Christoph Burckhardt married Ottilie Mechler in 1518 and in 1539 Gertrud Brand, daughter of Basel mayor Theodor Brand. There are six lines of the Burckhardt family, from the six sons born of Christoph's second marriage:
#Bernhard: line extinct in the 17th century
#Hieronymus:
#Theodor:
#Johann Rudolf
#Samuel:
#Daniel
Of the six sons, five became merchants in cloth and silk, while Hieronymus entered the
Teutonic Order
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
.
In the 17th and 18th century, the Burckhardts intermarried with the other leading families of the Basel patriciate (
Iselin,
Merian,
Sarasin Sarasin is a surname, originating (unrelatedly) in Switzerland and Thailand.
* Arsa Sarasin (born 1936), Thai diplomat and businessman
* Edouard Sarasin (1843–1917), Swiss scientist
* Fritz Sarasin (1859–1942), full name Karl Friedrich Saras ...
,
Staehelin,
Vischer Vischer is a surname, and my refer to:
* Vischer family of Nuremberg, a family of sculptors active in Nuremberg between 1453 and 1549
**Hermann Vischer, the Elder (died 1487)
**Peter Vischer the Elder (1455–1529)
** Hermann Vischer, the Younger ...
,
Von der Mühll
Von der Mühll or Von der Mühl is a Swiss patrician (see the Daig of Basel) and noble family.
From the 18th century, with other patrician families in Basel ( Merian, Burckhardt, Faesch, Vischer), the Von der Mühll family dominated the city of ...
,
Wettstein Wettstein is a Swiss surname. Bearers of the name include:
* Carla Wettstein (born 1946), Swiss and Australian chess master
*Fritz von Wettstein (1895–1945), Austrian botanist
*Johann Jakob Wettstein (1693–1754), Swiss theologian
* Johann Rudol ...
). Bernhard was elected to the great chamber of the city council in 1603, where the family remained present until 1878. The family reaches the peak of its political influence in the 18th century, but continues to be influential in the 19th century with several Burckhardt mayors and professors at the
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
. Prior to 1798, seven members of the family were burgomasters of Basel, and also in the 19th century, four Burckhardt family members were burgomasters.
The family also appears under the name Byrkit, Byrkett and Burket (its pronunciation in the Basel dialect) in the US where one member of the family was on the
Supreme Court of Ohio from 1893 to 1904.
''The Prominent Families of the United States
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''
Gallery
__NOTOC__
File:Christoph Burckhardt.jpg, Christoph Burckhardt (1490–1578)
File:Gertrud Brand.jpg, Gertrud Burckhardt née Brand (1516–1600), daughter of Burgomaster of Basel Theodor Brand (1488–1558) and wife of Christoph Burckhardt (1490–1578)
File:Theodor Burckhardt.jpg, Theodor Burckhardt (1549–1623), son of Christoph Burckhardt (1490–1578) and Gertrud Brand (1516–1600)
Notable family members
* Jacob Burckhardt, 1818–1897, Swiss historian of art and culture, author of "The Culture of the Renaissance"
* Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (a.k.a. Sheik Ibrahim), 1784–1817, Swiss traveler and orientalist who re-discovered the ancient city of Petra
*Carl Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Burckhardt (September 10, 1891 – March 3, 1974) was a Swiss diplomat and historian. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the most prominent of the latter were League of Nati ...
, diplomat and President of the Red Cross
*Gottlieb Burckhardt
Johann Gottlieb Burckhardt (24 December 1836 – 6 February 1907) was a Swiss psychiatrist and the medical director of a small mental hospital in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. He is commonly regarded as having performed the first modern psychos ...
, 1836–1907, Swiss psychiatrist and founder of modern psychosurgery
*Titus Burckhardt
Titus Burckhardt (24 October 1908 – 15 January 1984) was a Swiss writer and a leading member of the Perennialist or Traditionalist School. He was the author of numerous works on metaphysics, cosmology, anthropology, esoterism, alchemy, Sufism ...
, 1908–1984, Swiss author member of the Traditionalist School
The Traditionalist or Perennialist School is a group of 20th- and 21st-century thinkers who believe in the existence of a perennial wisdom or perennial philosophy, primordial and universal truths which form the source for, and are shared by, al ...
*Rudy Burckhardt
Rudy Burckhardt (April 6, 1914 – August 1, 1999) was a Swiss-American filmmaker, and photographer, known for his photographs of the hand-painted billboards that began to dominate the American landscape in the 1940s and 1950s.
Life
Burckhardt was ...
, 1914–1999, Swiss-American filmmaker and photographer
References
External links
The Burckhardt Family Book 1490-1890
Released shortly after the 400th anniversary of Christoph Burckhardt's birth in 1890, ''The Burckhardt Family Book'' includes 34 plates of portraits of family members from Christoph and Gertrud Burckhardt to a photograph of the 1890 family reunion that took place in Basel on 14 September that year.
{{Authority control
Swiss noble families
History of Basel
Patriciate of Basel
Burckhardt family
Surnames from given names
pl:Burckhardt