The Verschuer family (originally van der Schuer) is a Dutch noble family originally from Appelrebroeck near Barneveld in

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. The family has branches in The Netherlands and Germany. The family name is spelled ''van Verschuer'' in Dutch and ''von Verschuer'' in German. The family can be traced back to Gaert Clasz (born 1490), who married Margriet van der Schuer, the widow of Brant van der Schuer. Gaert died after 1549, and his sons adopted the family name van der Schuer. In the late 17th century Otto Christoph van Verschuer (1650–1712) was the sole living male member of the family, and the current family is descended from him. He was a Dutch colonel and later a general in the service of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

, and received the title of baron from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1696. Otto Christoph van Verschuer was the father of Wolff Dietrich van (von) Verschuer (1676–1737), who became a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used b ...

general and who has descendants who belonged to the

Hessian nobility A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse. Hessian may also refer to: Named from the toponym * Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire **Hessian (boot), a style of boot ** Hessian ...

, and Philip Willem van Verschuer (Philipp Wilhelm von Verschuer), who became a Dutch brigadier and who has numerous prominent descendants in The Netherlands. The Hessian family branch were recognised as barons of the

Electorate of Hesse The Electorate of Hesse (german: Kurfürstentum Hessen), also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was a landgraviate whose prince was given the right to elect the Emperor by Napoleon. When the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, its pri ...

in 1839. Bernard van Verschuer, a Dutch colonel and a member of the Dutch branch, was recognised as noble in The Netherlands in 1816 and granted the Dutch baronial title in 1820.

Ernst Heinrich Kneschke Ernst Heinrich Kneschke (born 27 August 1798 in Zittau; died 2 December 1869 in Leipzig) was a German heraldist, ophthalmologist and writer. Life Ernst Heinrich Kneschke was the second son of Johann Gottfried Kneschke (1766–1825), who was Co- ...

: ''

Neues allgemeines deutsches Adels-Lexicon Neues allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon or New General German Aristocracy Lexicon is the title of a series of historical reference books written by Professor Dr. Ernst Heinrich Kneschke about the German aristocracy, including royalty and nobilit ...

.'' vol. 9, Friedrich Voigt's Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1870, pp. 376–378

Notable family members

Helmut von Verschuer Helmut Freiherr von Verschuer (born 6 December 1926), sometimes referred to as ''Helmut van Verschuer'' in Dutch, was a European civil servant who was a high-ranking official of the European Commission from 1958 until 1987. He was born in Tübi ...

(born 1926), German European Commission official *

Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer (16 July 1896 – 8 August 1969) was a German human biologist and geneticist, who was the Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Münster until he retired in 1965. A member of the Dutch noble Verschuer ...

(1896–1969), German human biologist and geneticist *

Otto van Verschuer Otto Willem Arnold baron van Verschuer, lord of Mariënwaerdt, Echteld and Enspijk (22 July 1927 – 4 June 2014) was a Dutch politician. He served in the States of Gelderland between 1962 and 1978, while being part of the Executive of the same p ...

(1927–2014), Dutch politician *

Otto Christoph van Verschuer Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded ...

(1650–1712), Dutch military officer and ancestor of all extant family branches *

Wolff Dietrich von Verschuer Wolff is a variant of the Wolf surname which is derived from the baptismal names Wolfgang or Wolfram. List of people surnamed Wolff A * Albert Wolff (disambiguation), several people * Alex Wolff, American actor * Alexander Wolff, American writ ...

(1676–1737), Swedish general and ancestor of the Hessian branch *

Philip Willem van Verschuer Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who populariz ...

(1678–1735), Dutch brigadier and ancestor of the extant Dutch branch

References

Dutch noble families German noble families