A family named Heidecker

Your name is Heidecker? You are searching for origins or you ask if we are related?

The first chapter of our Heidecker family history

"Our family originates in the Tulln area, located along the Danube between Vienna and Krems along the mystique road where the Nibelungen parted to meet Etzel, the king of the Huns."

Relatives:

We are aware of all our relatives and their descendents up to 1862. They originate in Lower Austria and live today mostly in Austria and Germany. Any 'open connection' would be before 1862. 

The origin of the name "Heidecker"

Family names are used in Germany and Austria since 1800. They have been given by the authorities to register the population and to enforce the military obligations. Names have been given to be unique by location. They relate most of the time to a descendance, to a profession, to a specific place in the village or some other distinctive sign. For some persons, family names have been used early, e.g. for the nobles. Their names are mostly in relation to their geographical descendance:  "von Minzenhausen", the "von" means "from".

Concerning "Heidecker", we know three possibilities:

1. "Heide" (heather, not very good ground) and "Ecke" (corner). The Heideckers have been farmers in lower Austria, heather corresponds to the soil. "Ecker" represents in many cases the person who lives on the corner of something, like in Langenecker or Mittenecker. We think this is the most likely explanation. 
2. "Heide" and "Acker" (acre, field), both relates to farming, too. 
3. Descendance from a village "Heideck". In the middle ages, the family "von Heideck" was very powerful. They originated on castle Altheideck near Plainfeld. 1288 they create the city Heideck south of Nürnberg (Germany). Families from this village that moved to other villages would have been called Heideck'er, but not the habitants of the village itself. But we have no indication that there is a relation to our family.

Heidecker and different ways of spelling

There are many spelling variations, that could have the same origin as the 'agricultural' explanation mentioned above:

• Heidegger (the most common variation)
• Haidecker / Haidegger / Heÿdecker / Haidekker / Heydegger
• Heideker / Haideker (this represents the correct pronunciation in a Slavic idiom)
• Hejdeker / Hajdeker / Hajteker
• Haidekker / Haiddeker / Haidekker (common in Hungary)
• Hydecker / Heydecker (this is the English orthography representing the correct pronunciation)
• Heidacker / Heidagger
• Heideck / Haideck / Heidecke
• Eudecker
• Decker

 

The names Heidegger, Haideker, Heideck, Eudecker, Decker et. al. can be found in the church records up to 1660.

Heidecker in Austria

There are a lot of Heidecker in Lower Austria and Vienna. We believe that we are related, but we could not find the missing link. 14 Heidecker families live in Vienna, nine in Lower Austria. The Heidecker in Tyrol and Salzburg are related to us.

 

Heidecker in Germany

According to the public phone book, about 245 Heidecker families live in Germany, our family represents about five of them. There are some geographical concentrations:

Heidecker in Hungary

They probably immigrated from Germany after the war against the Turks.

 

Heidecker in the USA

We know one family that originates in the Baden area. From this region, there had been a heavy emigration around 1830.

Famous Heideckers

• Martin Heidegger: German philosopher, 1889 - 1976. He treated the question of the reason of existence.
• Joe Heidecker, Photographer, famous for his photographs of the war in Russia and others
• Klaus Heidegger: Austrian skier, born around 1955

The city of Heideck

Heideck is in the Mittelfranken district. The city got its name from the Herren von Heideck (masters of Heideck), who moved in the 13th century their main castle to the Schloßberg in the Fränkische Alb. The "novo civitas" ("new village") Heideck is mentioned first in 1288. 

The Herren von Heideck who had been successful and mighty in the 14th century lost their power in the 15th. From1506 to 1803 Heideck belonged to Pfalz-Neuburg, since1777 to Bavaria. Heideck was the location of a city court with important authority.

The medieval oval city plan has not changed till today, even if the city walls and towers do not exist any more. Some beautiful buildings still remind on the importance of the city. Above Altenheideck was the first castle of the Herren von Heideck.

Link to the city of Heideck

Upd 04. août% 2007