Gerbstadt origins uncovered

Apparently an indispensable tool in researching Germanic families is the 100 volume, Seibmacher's Wappenbuch first compiled in the middle ages. The Wappenbuch is a compendium of armory and heraldic insignias for families, regions and states within the German kingdoms. Heraldry is an intensive field of study that is as complicated as tracing the family trees of European nobility... or unwinding the genetic code from a mobius strip. Fortunately one does not have to be an expert on the nuanced meaning and the excessive quartering between blended families to know two things about the name Gerbstadt as found in the Wappenbuch. First, the Gerbstadts came from common circumstances. Second, the family and then the state of Gerbstadt, were ennobled by favor; extrapolating from hints as to the proper ways to achieve a title one is not born to, the assumption is that Gerbstadts won their favor through hard work and talent.


As I stated before, by understanding how compound words are formed in the german language we can begin to define the surname. We know that Gerb is a noun form of the verb gerben which means to tan, as in hides. A Gerber is therefore a tanner. Stadt is the German noun for a community, city, lands of a nobleman, county, province or region. Understanding that due to the offensive smells associated with tanning, the tanner and his family usually lived outside of the regular community or fortified town. According to Arthur Charles Fox's 1904 heraldry text, a leather craftsman could only produce a complete livery for an armored warrior in the King's service every 8 weeks. Therefore a fortified town would have to employ an army of tanners and leather workers to tool and sew the finished leather sheets to produce goods for warfare and everyday use. The tanners would then be a large community unto themselves. Thus originally Gerbstadt is a surname describing a specific lifestyle and would explain Seibmann's use of the word Geburgaburg in his description of the Gerbstadt sheild. That word can be interpretted as "town in a town"


In Seibmacher's Wappenbuch, we find a shield for Gerbstadt under the heading of "Staedtewappen" These are the heraldic crests of the city states employed in the German empire. One can surmise that exceptional tanners rose to noble status by royal appointment, were granted lands and the authority of their new rank and thus a small commune increased in size to that of a full city. Likewise it is possible that this free-state of Gerbstadt grew around a geographic area renown for its supply of natural materials and ease of production as the process requires very specific chemical reactions between a variety of mineral and plant materials.


The following is taken from Seibmacher's Wappenbuch:





""Gerb.", Stadt der Koniger. Preussen, Provinz sachsen, Reiger-Bezerk Merseburg. Der Ort bereits im 10 Jahrhundert al Geburgeburg, auch Gerbestede bekannt, erheilt in J.985 ein sonst beruhmtes Kloster und dadurch seine Bedeutung, bleib aber Flecken bis 1530, wo ihr Kaiser Karl V zur Stadt erholb."


trans. Gerbstaedt, city of the King, Prussia, the province of Sachsen, region Reiger-Bezerk Merseburg. The place, for ten centuries was a Geburgeburg, also known as Gerbestede. In the year 985 it was most famously known for a Cloister of particular reknown which it remained until 1530 when the Kaiser Karl the V returned it to the state as a country market town.

To the best of my understanding, the Geburgaburg is a castle within a castle or a community within the purview of the castle. Gerbestede is a similar place name. While researching the name Lauenstein, I found references to a castle that was commandeered by the church and became a Cloister under the protection of the knights of Thuringa, a region bordering Saxony, Sachsen in German, during this same time frame. In fact the dates are nearly identical. Karl took much control away from the church during his reign. Unfortunately the success of these areas seems to have been linked with the church's favor as many of these places fell into disrepair or to invading enemies of the German King shortly after the Wappenbuch's compilation.