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Horstmann is a local name from the German region of Westphalia. Local names came to Germany with other types of hereditary surnames after the 12th century. They were derived from the name of the place where the original bearer of the name lived. Sometimes local names bear the prefix "von", meaning "of" or "from". It was an indication of land-ownership, and was sometimes taken as a mark of aristocracy. The family originally lived near or in a hurst, which is a wood or thicket. Thus, Horstmann is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.
The surname Horstmann was first found in Westphalia, where the name Horst contributed greatly to the development of an emerging nation. The name appears in chronicles of 1292, which place Berthold von der Horst, a knight, at the family seat in the county of Recklingshausen. They eventually formed three main lines of descent: the von der Horst zu Horst, von der Horst zum Hauss und zu Milsen, and von der Horst zu Mudlinghoven und Hellenbruch. The names of these lines come from the intermarriage with the Hauss family, or from the name of the estates in their possession.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Horstmann research. Another 100 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1664 and 1741 are included under the topic Early Horstmann History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Many 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 Horstmann include Horst, Horste, Horsst, Horsste, Horest, Horeste, Horstt and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Horstmann Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
After 1650, thousands of German settlers came to North America to escape the religious persecution and poverty that wracked Europe and to make the most of the opportunity to own their own land in a new country. They settled across the United States in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California, and in Canada in Ontario and on the fertile plains of the prairie provinces. Among them: