The Puttkamer family (also abbreviated to ''v. Puttkamer'') is a widely extended German noble family whose earliest ancestor is first recorded between 1257 and 1260 in

Sławno Sławno ( Kashubian: ''Słôwno'', ) is a town on the Wieprza river in Middle Pomerania region, north-western Poland, with 12,511 inhabitants (2019). It is the administrative seat of Gmina Sławno, though not part of it. The town is also the ...

Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (; ), is a subregion of the historic region of Pomerania in north-western Poland, mostly within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, while its easternmost parts are within the Po ...

History

The Puttkamer family considers

Swienca family The Swienca family was a medieval Pomeranian noble family which held high offices under various political powers in the Słupsk and Sławno Land and Gdańsk Pomerania from the mid-13th to the mid-14th centuries. History It is named after its fo ...

to be their first documented ancestors. However, despite using almost the same

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

, historians are divided on this issue. While some of its branches have awarded with the title of ''

Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

'', others are entitled to the lesser ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

''. According to a widespread family tradition, many firstborn Puttkamer sons receive the first name of ''Jesco''. The branch of the family moved in the 16th century to

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

and from there to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Persons

* Georg Ludwig von Puttkamer (1715–1759), Prussian general killed at

Battle of Kunersdorf The Battle of Kunersdorf occurred on 12 August 1759 near Kunersdorf (now Kunowice, Poland) immediately east of Frankfurt an der Oder. Part of the Third Silesian War and the wider Seven Years' War, the battle involved over 100,000 men. An Alli ...

Gertrud von Puttkamer Baroness Gertrud von Puttkamer (''Gertrud Freifrau von Puttkamer'' in German language, German; born Gertrud Günther, 4 April 1881 – 27 or 30 September 1944), also known by her pen name Marie-Madeleine, was a German writer of lesbian-theme ...

(1881–1944), German erotic writer * (1740–1802), Polish-Lithuanian military officer, member of the

Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The General Sejm (, ) was the bicameral legislature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 following the merger of the legislatures of the two states, the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the ...

, signer of the

Constitution of 3 May 1791 The Constitution of 3 May 1791, titled the Government Act, was a written constitution for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was adopted by the Great Sejm that met between 1788 and 1792. The Commonwealth was a dual monarchy comprising th ...

* (1876-1959), German Generalleutnant. * Jesco Carl Eugen von Puttkamer (1919–1987),

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. He was Ambassador to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

at the time of the 1972 killings at the Munich summer Olympics *

Jesco von Puttkamer Jesco Hans Heinrich Max Freiherr von Puttkamer () was a German-American aerospace engineer, senior manager at NASA, and a pulp science fiction writer. He was an advocate of human space exploration, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligenc ...

(1933–2012), engineer and NASA manager *

Jesko von Puttkamer Jesko Albert Eugen von Puttkamer (2 July 1855 – 23 January 1917) was a German diplomat, colonial administrator, and military officer who served as colonial governor of German Kamerun from 1895 to 1907. Early life and career Jesko von P ...

(1855–1917), German military chief and governor of German

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

from 1895 to 1907 *

Johanna von Puttkamer Johanna, Princess of Bismarck, Duchess of Lauenburg (born Johanna Friederike Charlotte Dorothea Eleonore von Puttkamer; 11 April 1824 – 27 November 1894) was a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian and German Empire, German noblewoman and the wife of t ...

(1824–1894), Prussian noblewoman, wife of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer Karl-Jesko Otto Robert von Puttkamer (24 March 1900 – 4 March 1981) was a German admiral who was naval adjutant to Adolf Hitler during World War II. Military service Puttkamer was born in Frankfurt (Oder) and was a member of the Puttkamer f ...

(1900–1981), Rear Admiral and naval adjutant to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

* Martin-Anton Freiherr von Puttkamer (1698–1782) Prussian Major-General * Peter von Puttkamer (born 1962), documentary filmmaker * Robert von Puttkamer (1828–1900), Prussian statesman * (1794–1850), Polish nobleman

Notes

Literature

Otto Hupp Hermann Joseph Otto Hubert August Constantin Hupp (May 21, 1859 – January 31, 1949) was a German graphical artist. His main working area was heraldry, yet he also worked as a typeface designer, creating commercial symbols and metal works. Life ...

: ''Münchener Kalender 1925''. Verlagsanstalt München/Regensburg 1925. * Ellinor von Puttkamer: ''Geschichte des Geschlechts von Puttkamer'', Neustadt an der Aisch 1984, Deutsches Familienarchiv Band 83-85, * Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, ''Adelslexikon'' Band XI, Band 122 der Gesamtreihe, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2000,

References

External links

Homepage des Verbandes des Geschlechtes v.Puttkamer e.V.
(German) {{Authority control Puttkamer family German noble families Pomeranian nobility