The noble family von Möllendorf (also: Möllendorff, Moellendorff) has been prominent in the history of Brandenburg and Prussia. The

von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''. Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de Go ...

family descends from an adopted son (born Wilamowitz) of a member of the Möllendorf family. In 1427 two members of the family are mentioned in a list of Privy Councillors of the Margraviate of Brandenburg who signed a treaty with Pomerania: "Jaspar Gans zu Putlitz, Achim Gans his son, Herr Hans v. Quitzow, Bernd Rohr, Hans v. Rohr Old Otto von Blumenthal, Ebel v. Möllendorf, Beteke v. Kehrberg, Kone v. Retzdorff, Achim v. Möllendorf" Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf (1724–1816) distinguished himself as an officer at the battles of Leuthen,

Hochkirch Hochkirch (German) or Bukecy (Upper Sorbian) is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It is known for the 1758 Battle of Hochkirch, part of the Seven Years' War. The municipality (except Breitendorf) is part of the recogn ...

and Torgau, and as a major-general at Burkersdorf and

Brix Degrees Brix (symbol °Bx) is a measure of the dissolved solids in a liquid, and is commonly used to measure dissolved sugar content of an aqueous solution. One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution and represents the strength ...

. He became Governor of Berlin in 1783, and General in 1787. In 1793 he was promoted to '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal), but was now too old for hard campaigns. He was captured at Auerstädt (1806). He died in 1816. In retirement he adopted three great-grandsons of one of his sisters, Hugo, Ottocar and Arnold von Wilamowitz. Their descendants, also distinguished, are called

. Classical philologist Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848–1931) was a member of this family. Another member of the family,

Johann Karl Wolf Dietrich von Moellendorff Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning " Yahweh is Gracio ...

(1791–1860) was born at his father's estate Rheinsberg, entered military service during the Napoleonic wars and was captured at the retreat after the

Battle of Auerstädt A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. From 1810 he served in the Guards in Potsdam, and distinguished himself at the conquest of Paris in 1814. In 1848 he was Major-General and commander of a brigade in Berlin responsible for the protection of the Royal Palace on March 18 (see Revolutions of 1848 in the German states). He retired from active duty in 1857.Poten in ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'', Bd 22, p. 119-120
/ref> Paul Georg von Möllendorff (1847–1901) was a German linguist and diplomat. Otto Franz von Möllendorff (1848–1903) was a German scientist, a malacologist.

Willi von Möllendorf Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violinis ...

(1872–1934) was a composer of

quarter tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...

music. Wichard Georg Otto von Moellendorff (1881–1937) was a German engineer and economist born in Hong Kong as the son of Consul Otto von Moellendorff. In the Nazi era

Horst von Möllendorff Horst von Möllendorff (26 April 1906 – 17 December 1992) was a German cartoonist who was "drafted" to work for the Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ...

(1906-1992) was a popular cartoonist.

Ulrike von Möllendorff Ulrike is a Germanic female given name. Notable people named Ulrike include: * Princess Ulrike Friederike Wilhelmine of Hesse-Kassel (1722–1787), German noble * Ulrike von Levetzow (1804–1899), German noble and friend of Johann Wolfgang von G ...

(born 1939) is a German journalist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mollendorf German noble families