First written proofs of the name Heidenrich are lists with christening names before the year 1320 and the tombstone
of Heidenricus de Molheym in Breslau dated 1321. Heidenrich or in latin writing Heidenricus was at this ancient times
only a male prename, not a surname. A further old reference mentions Heidenreich Stosch(e) (1354). First documents for
surnames are Mathis Heidenreich (1372 or 1397) from Liegnitz, Peter Heidenreich (1453) and Vitus Heydenreich (1494),
both from Görlitz [1, 2].
Name interpretation
The name is of patronymic origin, i. e. the surname references to the prename of the father of first keeper of this name
(see Heidenrich). The name originates out of the territory of german language and means "King of heathens" or "mighty over heathens".
This name arised in christian times and was advanced by the ideals of the crusades. Heidrich is only one of numerous
variations. Different kinds of writing of this name are existing like: Heiderich, Heidreich,
Heidenreich, Heidenrich and Heydrich. It can not be excluded that keepers of different variations of this name
are distant kindred [2, 3].
Geographic spreading
Before WW II the surname Heidrich could be found in Silesia in Görlitz (41), Liegnitz (26), Bunzlau (8), Hirschberg (17),
Neustadt (7) and Beuthen (5). Today worldwide are living 4.129 families with the name Heidrich (1998): In Germany (3.486), USA (349), Austria (113), Australia (84), Canada (38),
France (26), Switzerland (14), Great Britain (10), South Africa (6), Netherlands (2) and Italy (1). The numbers in brackets represent households [2, 4].
Coat of arms
In the heraldic reference-book "Bürgerlicher Siebmacher" the coat of arms of the family Heidrich is shown (Abt. 6, Tf. 5). Divided horizontal black and silver: Three silver pens, one vertical, the other two crossed slanting. Two crossed slanting arms with black sleeves,
in every hand a pen [Figure 1]. Often different coat of arms are existing for one similar name and it is difficult
to verify the relationship between the families. So the descedants of Johann August Heidrich from Bad Warmbrunn, rural district of Hischberg/Silesia, took a further coat of arms,
which is described as follows: In green a silver shoe over a silver snake, which bites the shoe into the heel. On a green-silver paded helmet with green-silver blanket a goats head with silver horns between green wings with silver bars [Figure 2] [5, 6].
Figure 1: Coat of arms of the family Heidrich in "Bürgerlicher Siebmacher" [5]
Figure 2: Coat of arms of the family Heidrich in "Deutsche Wappenrolle" [6]
Literature
[1] Reichert, H.: Die deutschen Familiennamen. M. u. H. Marzus, Breslau 1908
[2] Bahlow, H.: Schlesisches Namensbuch. Holzner, Kitzingen/Main 1953
[3] Bach, A.: Die deutschen Personennamen. In: Deutsche Namenkunde. Vol. I : Carl Winter-Universitätsverlag, Heidelberg 1952
[4] Jahrbuch der Heidrich-Familien international. Halbert´s Family Heritage, Bath, Ohio, USA 1998
[5] v. Hefner, O. T.; Seyler, G. A.: Die Wappen bürgerlicher Geschlechter Deutschlands und der Schweiz. In: Reprint of Siebmacher´s Wappenbuch, Nürnberg 1857-1967. Vol. 5. Bauer & Raspe, Neustadt/Aisch 1972
[6] Deutsche Wappenrolle. Vol. 54. Herold, Berlin (Ed.). Degener, Neustadt/Aisch 1992
