| ![Show Contents]() Forstner History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 Germany The ancestral home of the Forstner family is in the German state of Bavaria. The name Forstner is an occupational hereditary surname, a type of surname that was taken from a word describing or common to the profession of the original bearer. It is a name for a person whose occupation is forestry, or a person who lives near a forest. Early Origins of the Forstner familyThe surname Forstner was first found in Bavaria, where the name emerged in mediaeval times as one of the notable families of the region. From the 13th century the surname was identified with the great social and economic evolution which made this territory a landmark contributor to the development of the nation. Early History of the Forstner familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Forstner research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1508, 1616, 1673, 1729, 1791, 1798, 1823, 1868 and 1869 are included under the topic Early Forstner History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Forstner Spelling VariationsMany cultural groups lived in the German states in medieval times. Each had its own dialect and traditions, and unique variations of popular names. Low German, which is similar to contemporary Dutch, was spoken in Westphalia. German names are characterized by additions such as regional suffixes and phrases that tell something about the origin or background of its original bearer. Further contributing to the variation in German names was the fact that there were no spelling rules in medieval times: scribes recorded names according to their sound. The recorded spelling variations of Forstner include Forster, Foerster, Forstern, Forstner and others. Early Notables of the Forstner familyProminent among members of the name Forstner in this period include Kaspar Förster (also Caspar Foerster) (1616-1673), a German singer and composer; Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798), a naturalist and explorer, he...
Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Forstner Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
 Forstner migration to the United States | + |
The great European flow of migration to North America, which began in the middle of the 17th century and continued into the 20th century, was particularly attractive to those from Bavaria who wished to escape either poverty or religious persecution. For many Bavarian tenant farmers, the chance to own their own land was a major incentive. So the widespread colonization of the United States began in 1650, when many immigrants from Germany settled in pockets in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. In Canada, German settlement centered in Ontario and the prairie provinces. Among those of this surname listed in various historical records were:
Forstner Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Gottfried Forstner, who settled in Philadelphia in 1850
- William Maurits Forstner, who arrived in Colorado in 1885 1
- Eva Forstner, aged 15, who landed in America, in 1894
Forstner Settlers in United States in the 20th Century- Franzisca Forstner, aged 25, who settled in America from Grosskolubach, Germany, in 1907
- Anna Forstner, aged 27, who immigrated to the United States from Grosskolubach, Germany, in 1907
- Ludwig Forstner, aged 36, who landed in America, in 1907
- Christian Forstner, aged 22, who settled in America from Gaildorf, Germany, in 1910
- Hans Forstner, aged 26, who immigrated to the United States from Rendenstadt, Germany, in 1910
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
| Contemporary Notables of the name Forstner (post 1700) | + |
- Benjamin Forstner (1834-1897), American gunsmith, inventor and dry-goods merchant, eponym of the Forstner bit
- Siegfried von Forstner (1910-1943), German U-boat commander during World War II, recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Thomas Forstner (b. 1969), Austrian singer
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
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Forstner migration to the United States 
