The Rennenkampff family was originally called Remmenkamp, the family is of Imperial German nobility. It is of Westphalian origin and descended from Osnabrück. The first known member is Johann Remmenkamp who lived in Münster in the 15th century.
The first member of the family to appear in the Baltics was Andreas Remmenkamp, who immigrated[3] to Riga in the mid-16th century. His son Jürgen (1575–1602/1612) was enrolled into Imperial nobility, granted untitled noble status with the von and the surname Rennenkampff by Holy Roman EmperorRudolf II in 1602.
The Rennenkampffs were made famous by Jürgen's grandson Joachim (1618–1658), who was a jurist working in Riga during the 17th century in Swedish Livonia.[4] With the death of Georg von Rennenkampff (1652–1710) in 1710, the family split into two branches:[5] the senior Palloper headed by Georg's older son Franz (1678–1727), and the junior Helmet headed by his younger son of the same name. In 1728, Georg II von Rennenkampff was a Russian district court assessor of Pernau and was granted the title of Edler by Emperor Charles VI. They were enrolled into the Livonian, Estonian and Couronian Knighthoods in 1745, 1752 and 1801. In 1909, Karl Otto Woldemar Magnus and his brother Eduard Ernst von Rennenkampff were enrolled into Prussian nobility by EmperorWilhelm II. During the Russian Civil War, almost all of the family members fled back to Germany.
The Baltic lines mainly consists of the Lutheran branches of the family:
Joachim Rennenkampff (1616–1658), jurist, teacher of law in the Riga Academic Gymnasium, since 1645, professor at juris and politic. Later from 1657, a councilor and superintendent in Riga responsible for the city's council office and educations.
Jakob Gustav von Rennenkampff (1716–1791), land counselor to the local Estonian Government and landowner.
Christer Johann von Rennenkampff (1777–1864), deputy governor-general of the Pskov Governorate.
Gustav Reinhold Georg von Rennenkampff (1784–1869), officer in the army of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, politician and economist, responsible for the abolishment of serfdom in the Livonian Governorate.
Gert Gustav August von Rennenkampff (1905–1969), clergyman.
Russian line
The Russian lines mainly consisted of the Orthodox converted branches, mainly because many worked in mainland Russia and many converted to Orthodoxy due to marriages with Russian women as there were very few German women in mainland Russia:
Dmitri Konstantinovich Rennenkampf (1864–1917), son of the latter, councilor and chamberlain
Nikolai Karlovich Rennenkampf (1832–1899), jurist, scientist, professor and rector of the St. Vladimir Royal University of Kiev from 1883 to 1887, mayor of Kiev from 1875 to 1879.
The Helmet Manor, c. late-19th to early-20th century.
The Rennenkampffs were huge landowners. In the 18th century, they possessed about 20 estates with a total 94,000 hectares, the largest being the Alt-Kalzenau Manor, which covered a total of 15,000 hectares. In the 19th century at their peak, the Rennenkampffs possessed 33 estates with the total of 97,000 hectares, the Borckholm Manor[6][7] being the largest covered about 12,000 hectares. In the early 20th century, the Rennenkampffs’ possessions and amount of land dramatically dropped. By the time of the Estonian Land Reform in 1919, they only possessed 44,000 hectares of land prior to being confiscated.
The coat of arms of the Edle Rennenkampff family of 1728 according to the Genealogical Handbook of the Baltic Knighthoods, Part Estonia by Baron Otto Magnus von Stackelberg:
Divided by green and red, growing upward from the division and facing each other: on the right a gold lion with both hands holding swords straight ahead, on the left a silver-colored griffin holding a broad cut short sword, below single, two facing crowned helmets. Crest: lion on the right, griffin on the left. Mantling: Green and silver.[8]
Notes
^The spelling of his last name varies in different works between Rennenkampff or Rennenkampf. Earlier spellings also included Remenkampe and Remmenkamp.[2]
^Regarding personal names: Edler is a rank of nobility, not a first or middle name. The female form is Edle.
^German names are listed on the left, while Estonian names are in blankets on the right
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