The Tanche family or Tank (other spellings are ''Tanch'', ''Tanke'', ''Tanck'', and ''Tancke'') is the name of one or more Dano- Norwegian noble families of German origin. One of those lines is from Haderslev.

History

There are several persons by the name Tanche and similar spellings in Denmark, Norway and Germany. The tradition says that a German by the name Tanche was ennobled by Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire (reign: 1346–78). It is not known whether Martin Tanche, who was ennobled by the King of Denmark and Norway, belonged to the same families as the Norwegian families Tanche and Tank.

Tanche in Denmark

Martin Tanche

Martin Tanche, since 1638 having been one of King Christian IV's officials, was on 23 October 1643 confirmed as a member of the combined Danish and Norwegian nobility, and he received as well a coat of arms. Martin Tanche was the Danish ''Resident in the Hague''. He was among the noblemen who participated at the 1660 ''meeting of the estates'' ( da, stændermøde) in Copenhagen. At the end of his life, Tanche was Chamber CouncillorDanish: kammerråd; German: Kammerrat. for the Prince-elector of Saxony. ;Letters patent of 1643 File:Tanche Martin pagina 1.jpg, Pagina 1. File:Tanche Martin pagina 2.jpg, Pagina 2. File:Tanche Martin pagina 3.jpg, Pagina 3.

Tanche in Norway

Tanche in Northern Norway

After having been the secretary of Christopher Knudsen Urne to Asmark, the Governor-general of Norway, Hans Carstensen Tanche was appointed as the district judge ( no, sorenskriver) of Østerdalen and Solør. His son Niels Hansen Tanche moved to

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

Tank in Eastern Norway

Niels Carstensen Tank or Tanche, who is claimed to be Hans Carstensen Tanche's brother, began as a merchant in Halden. Among his descendants are several noble families, e.g.

Anker Anker may refer to: People *Anker (name), people with the given name or surname *Anker (noble family) Places *River Anker, in Warwickshire, England *Anker Site, an archaeological site in Illinois, US Companies and brands *Anker (automobile), ...

and the Counts of Wedel-Jarlsberg. His son was Carsten Tank the older, whose grandchildren among others were Carsten Tank the younger, who married (1) Bertha Sophie Leth and (2) Cathrine von Cappelen, and Anne Catharine Tank, who married Erik Ancher, together with whom she had the sons

Peter Anker Peter Anker (31 July 1744 – 17 April 1832) was a Norwegian diplomat, military officer and colonial general. He served as Consul in Hull, consul general in London and later as governor for the Danish settlement of Tranquebar. He was also known fo ...

, a diplomat and a colonialist, and Carsten Tank Anker, a government minister and owner of the estate where the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

was signed in 1814. Norway's last count, Count Peder Anker of Wedel-Jarlsberg, was his descendant. The Eastern Norwegian branch possessed, as a part of their big estate, the manor Rød, in Halden.

Tank in the United States

Niels ''Otto'' Tank, the son of Carsten Tank and Cathrine née von Cappelen, was a missionary who first was in South America and later immigrated to Green Bay in Wisconsin. He had one daughter and no other descendants.

Family names

''Tanche'' was and is the name variant used in Denmark and

. The family name is ''Tank'' in Eastern Norway.

Family arms

There has been several different coats of arms used by persons and families by the name Tanche, Tancke and Tank. The Danish coat of arms of Martin Tanche from 1643 shows in the first and the second field the castle and the bear's paw which are found in coats of arms used by the Tank family and by Otto Tanck in Lübeck. The third field shows a red, double-tailed lion rampant on a yellow background. The same lion is, bearing a noble coronet, also the crest. No family links are known from the Tank family in Norway to the Dane Martin Tanche or from him or Tank to the German Otto Tanck. Carsten Tanche in Haderslev was in 1605, after his death, connected with a coat of arms which divided per pale shows the castle and the bear's paw. These arms as well as his wife Anna's arms appear on two chandeliers in the city's church, which in addition bear the following inscription: {{blockquote, CARSTEN TANCHE ANNA TANCHE ERBEN HABEN DIESE KRONEN GODT ZOEM EHREN DER KIRCHE ZUM ZIERATH HERRICHTEN LASSEN

Coats of arms

File:Tanche Carsten 1605.jpg, The in 1605 to Carsten Tanche in Haderslev attributed coat of arms.
Unknown drawer File:Tanche Martin 1643.jpg, The in 1643 granted coat of arms of Martin Tanche.
Drawing in H. Storck: ''Dansk Vaabenbog'', Copenhagen 1910

References

Literature and sources

* A. Thiset og P.L. Wittrup: ''Nyt dansk Adelslexikon'', Copenhagen 1904 * H. Storck: ''Dansk Vaabenbog'', Copenhagen 1910 *

Sven Tito Achen Sven Tito Achen (born 29 July 1922 in Buenos Aires, Argentina; died 14 November 1986) was an Argentinian-Danish writer and author on heraldry, co-founder of the Scandinavian Society of Heraldry (Societas Heraldica Scandinavica) and the first editor ...

: ''Danske adelsvåbener'', Copenhagen 1973 * Dansk Biografisk Lexikon
Tancke, Martin
Digitalised version at Project Runeberg. * Store norske leksikon
Carsten TankCarsten Tank – utdypning (NBL-artikkel)
* Store norske leksikon
Otto TankOtto Tank – utdypning (NBL-artikkel)
* Killough, Mary K., Ph.D.

Danish noble families Norwegian families American people of Norwegian descent