Introduction and historical overview from: Genealogical description of the family Schilling von Canstatt Heidelberg 1905
(The entire book can be downloaded as a PDF document.)

 

The need of the family, now, after almost one hundred years, to see the description of the lineage, which had been worked out with truly admirable diligence by the privy councillor Karl Friedrich Schilling von Canstatt up to the year 1807, continued up to the present day, also gave the impetus to examine the work with regard to the old text, in order to improve and expand it by means of historical research results made in the meantime.

It was a duty of piety and was also done at the request of the family to retain the original wording as far as possible; but in the interest of a better overview, it seemed urgently necessary to limit the diversity and richness of the book as far as possible by excluding all compendia not exclusively concerning the von Schilling family, certainly without wanting to diminish the value of the latter in any way.

First and foremost, a series of supplements, which formed a separate section in the old description of the family, were distributed among the biographies of the individual family members in a timely and appropriate manner. Other, less interesting and less important documents were left aside. The family tree of Gabelkover, provided by Mr. Th. Schön, which deviates in some places from the usual family tree of the family, and which extends from 1284 to the end of the 16th century, was included, but no further reference was made to it in the biographies. However, its possession was very desirable. The old genealogical table, which was spread over several sheets, has been replaced by a new one on a single sheet, in which each person has their own consecutive number, which corresponds to the number in the series of biographies, even according to the old family book.

In addition to the register, the genealogical table is also used for reference purposes in order to determine the relationship of the persons to each other. New persons to be added to the genealogical table bear the number of the preceding person, modified by the letters of the alphabet, so that the order of the old genealogical description could be maintained.

Descriptions of all localities which must be of interest to the family have been taken into account in each case, and these descriptions have also been included at the appropriate place in the series of circumstances. An index in this regard facilitates reference.

Where no special mention has been made of the sources and documents, reference must be made to the old family book, the details of which are considered to be tried and tested, insofar as this can be said of the sources themselves. The elimination of the genealogical tables of foreign, extinct and related families, as well as the genealogical tables of the Schilling von Canstatt family, which were compiled with such great diligence, is hardly a serious omission given the current accessibility of archives and larger public libraries, where it limits the size of the book in such a favorable way. This procedure necessarily entailed changing the title of the book. In view of the large number of new additions to the old text, it was necessary to refrain from specially marking them, as a change in print or the abundant use of punctuation marks would disturb the reader. At various points in the biographies, an attempt was made to present the historical context of the events in more detail than was actually the case, particularly in the case of Bertold V, Ulrich II and later Ludwig Friedrich. The collection of his letters to the Grand Master of the Order von Hattstein, published by Dr. H. Meisner, could not be included in the primarily important history of George of the Order of St. John Grand Bailly, but a highly valuable document relating to him, as well as passages from the well-known Zimmer Chronicle, have now been reproduced verbatim.

A document newly acquired in Cologne in 1880 by Viktor von Schilling: the marriage certificate of Johann von Schilling to Anna von Sperberseck is inserted here, as is the foundation deed of Agnes von Münchingen. The personality of Ludwig Friedrich, the major-general of the Swabian district from the period after the Thirty Years' War, should, as is to be hoped, appear to the reader much more clearly and distinctly through the use of fairly detailed information about his many war experiences, as well as through his letters. When Margrave Karl Ludwig of Baden enfeoffed Wilhelm Friedrich with Hohenwettersbach in 1725, the family was transplanted from Swabia to Baden. The Hohenwettersbach land register, documents, private letters, written and oral records and diaries have provided useful contributions to the continuation of the family history right up to the present day.

Finally, the family book was considerably enhanced by the registry material from Württemberg and Baden archives, libraries, registries, etc. kindly sent to the editor by Mr. Theodor Schön in Stuttgart. The family is deeply indebted to Mr. Schön. By far the majority of the notes from the older period, to which bracketed source references are added, are due to Mr. Th. Schön.

These records have brought new information in every respect, as well as some evidence and corrections. Through these records, hitherto unknown ancestors, especially in the 14th century, have also been included, but this has not disturbed the number sequence of either the family tree or the biography. It must be pointed out that with very often identical names, especially in one and the same family, it is sometimes difficult to decide quite correctly to which person this or that document or message is to be referred. Above all, it was important that through these records it was now actually possible to establish the ownership of the family in their oldest residence, namely Altenburg Castle near Cannstatt. The records begin in 1268, and the reader's attention will not fail to notice that, especially in the first period up to 1400, many things have changed in comparison to the old family book.

A significant change in contrast to the old family book is the omission of all non-Swabian families of Schilling. All these families, the Swiss, the Silesians from Weissenburg in Alsace, the Lahnsteins, the Westphalian family from Buxford and the Baltic families who do not write themselves von Cannstatt, are not related to the Swabian Schilling von Canstatt. This has already been pointed out by some experts: Families of the Uradel of different names but with the same coat of arms (e.g. Venningen, Remchingen, also Göler, Menzingen, Helmstadt) are related by descent; families of the Uradel of the same name but with different coats of arms are not related by descent. However, it remains an open question whether this sentence has any fundamental value.

It therefore remains to be determined with regard to the von Schillings living in Russia whether descendants of the Schillings of Canstatt, especially perhaps of Wiguleus Schilling, actually live on in Russia from the German Order. It is very probable that such Russian Schillings of Canstatt exist from Paul Schilling's brother Alexander, but at the moment it could not be investigated in detail because of the war. The Estonian and Courland Schillings, however, who do not write themselves from Canstatt, cannot be related to the Swabian line, and the Courlanders, who claim to come from the Westphalians in Buxford (there is or was a family of Buxhöwden in Russia), can hardly uphold this assertion because of the difference in the coats of arms of the two families.

As far as the coat of arms of the Swabian tribe is concerned, in times when coats of arms first became common among the lower nobility, i.e. in the 12th or 13th century, the Schilling family seems to have had the coat of arms with the jug in common with other ministerial families established in the town of Cannstatt, those of Canstatt and the Cänli or Canli. The town itself adopted the same coat of arms with the Kanne, but probably only later, after the original meaning of the name Cannstatt had been blurred and forgotten; for “the Old German stem syllables Can, Kan, Chan, Chann Cond” are, according to Gustav Schwab, “nothing more than variations of the well-known word Kunne, which means family, clan”. Cannstatt would therefore mean “place of the clans, castle of relatives, kinship” or is it the personal name Cando.

How the Schillings of Canstatt came to have the jug in their coat of arms is difficult to determine; what is certain, however, is that this jug has nothing to do with the office of hereditary donor in the Duchy of Swabia. In order to provide not only the derivation of the name Cannstatt but also that of the name Schilling, we refer to Dr. R. Kapff's directory: “Deutsche Vornamen mit den von ihnen abstammenden Geschlechtsnamen”, according to which Schilling is formed from the stem used to form the name skild, meaning shield.

In order to save space, we had to refrain from summarizing the history of the Swabian family in the new edition of the family book; however, we cannot do without a brief review of important historical epochs in which we hear the name Schilling von Canstatt mentioned.

It is not known which Schilling took part in the wild feuds of Eberhard the Illustrious against the Emperors Henry VII and Rudolf of Habsburg, but at that time the family lost its ancestral seat when Stuttgart lost its walls and five castles around Cannstatt were reduced to rubble.

Since that time, the family has been restless, restless, restless, since that time this unquenchable love of the craft of arms.

Few pious donations are recorded, many letters of rejection, countless barter agreements preserved until around the turn of the century before the Council of Constance, whose chronicle also mentions the Schillings as guests of the city on Lake Constance. In the Hussite Wars, in Prussia under the Teutonic Order, the Schillings were in the field, in the bitter feuds at home in Swabia or on the Walstatt before Seckenheim against the Palatine Fritz, they sacrificed blood and freedom. Even their children and grandchildren were not granted more peaceful days. With the Duke of Württemberg outlawed and fleeing the country, fire and bloodshed everywhere in Swabia, Franconia and on the Rhine due to the revolt of the peasants, fear and doubt about the right Christian faith in all hearts - it is strange that in such a time of discord this family should produce its most excellent son: Jerg Schilling, the Johannitergroßbailly. It may be said that his arm heroically championed the cause of Germanness, Christianity and the entire cultural world of his age against barbarians before others of his kind. He himself, a fierce enemy of the Lutherans, probably saw many of his clan turn to the new faith. He died before his emperor tired of ruling, before peace of faith had been concluded at Augsburg. Then came the century of the great war, the generations of our dynasty became increasingly thinner, sparse news from those terrible times has reached us; but we remember our ancestors with horror when we read what Swabia endured after the day of Nördlingen.

It is a cruel test of strength when a family survives times that have exhausted it economically and shaken it morally.

But even now we do not see the old pugnacity flagging, the ancestral love of arms of the fathers slackening; for the sons of those who experienced the Thirty Years' War go forth undaunted to shield the empire against the crescent. It was a tremendous test of the vitality of an ancient tribe that the weather of war and the rigors of time, such as the horrors of the French raids on the Rhine, were not able to overthrow it.

And not enough! From the old, beautiful Swabian homeland, this story turns to foreign lands, obeying a strong impulse to break with the old, following a hunch that the dawn of a new age is not far off. The neighboring states of Baden and Ansbach took them in, other emigrants settled in Brandenburg, still others in the Baltic provinces, and the last sought his fortune across the ocean, venturing and wandering.

But the warlike aftermath of the French Revolution called all those who could bear arms back to the flag. First they followed Napoleon's eagles as far as Vienna and against Russia; then they were swept away by the storm that completed the overthrow of the Corsican tyrant in the Battle of Paris. In the decades that followed, a period in which public life was transformed by a series of important inventions, the family can indeed note with satisfaction that in Paul Schilling, the inventor of the writing telegraph, it has an outstanding representative of intellectual endeavor; otherwise, however, it must unfortunately be noted that since Ernst Friedrich's early death in 1804, and since Franz Alexander, who died in 1827, no member of the family has attended a university. The overwhelming majority devoted themselves to military service.

Thus our family faced the times of internal political ferment of 1848-1849, thus it took part in Prussia's war against the German southern states in 1866, thus the old Swabian blood stirred again when the war fanfare called together the unanimous army of German tribes in 1870. In ancient times, Swabia carried the storm banner of the German Empire and always fought for the honor of the preliminaries. This time, too, the Swabian shillings were not missing, and eleven men were in service, seven of whom received the Iron Cross in the campaign of 1870-1871. The younger generation also seems to want to remain loyal to the ancestral heritage of their family:

They love the military service.

• Franz Schilling von Canstatt, Oberstleutnant und Bezirkskommandeur in Donaueschingen.
• Max Schilling von Canstatt, Major und Bataillonskommandeu im 4. Bad. Inf.-Regt.
• Karl Schilling von Canstatt, Major z. D., Etappenkommandant in Rastatt.
• Alexander Schilling von Canstatt, Rittmeister im 2. Bad. Drag Regt., EX .
• Adolf Schilling von Canstatt, Hauptmann im 2. Bad. Inf Regt., EX .
• Wilhelm Schilling von Canstatt, Hauptmann im 5. Bad. Inf. Regt., EX .
• Ferdinand Schilling von Canstatt, Kriegsfreiwilliger im 6. Bad Inf.-Regt., EX .
• Heinrich Schilling von Canstatt, Leutnant und Bataillons-Adjutant im 2. Bad. Inf.-Regt., EX .
• Hermann Schilling von Canstatt, Leutnant im Bad. Leib-Grenadier-Regt., EX .
• Theodor Schilling von Canstatt, Leutnant im 1. Württ. Inf.-Regt.
• Leopold Schilling von Canstatt, Leutnant der Landwehr, Chef der Trainbekleidungseskadron der Bad. Division, EX .