Eller Chronicles May 93 p- 4

The Eller Chronicles


Vol. VII NO 2.THE ELLER FAMILY ASSOCIATIONMAY 1993

Page - 124



ELLER: THE FAMILY NAME AND COAT OF ARMS

Thomas H. Eller, Jr., 1019 Old Monrovia Rd., Suite 149, Huntsville, AL 35806

First let me address the origin of the name Eller. Like many of you reading this article, I had received many things in the mail, over the past years, asking for money to provide information on the name and like many of you I succumbed to the temptation. Well this article may or may not tell you if you got what you paid for. In all I have read, the name Eller was given to a group of people living at either an elder tree or near a bend in the river. Since the German word for elder tree is "holunder", I don't think we came from under a tree. But, the German word for elbow is ellbogen and I now think we are getting closer. It is my undocumented belief that the name Eller came from a group of people living at or near the bend in the river. The variation of family names in the Germanic languages was either derived from the location where people lived or their occupation. In our case, I think it was where our forefathers lived. Since Germany has a vast and beautiful river network, the search for the right river could prove too difficult for this amateur genealogist.

After realizing the vastness of my mission to find the origin of the name, I regrouped and planned a new strategy. This time I would locate all the cities in Germany with the name Eller in them. With the help of my wife and some dated German atlases, we began. The fruit of our labor produced five cities in Germany with the name Eller in their title. The search could now continue with the desired objective of visiting each of these five towns. As fate would have it, the first four produced nothing of great value to us except beautiful scenery and a chance to meet a lot of German people.

The last town we had on our list was Eller's Reutha. The German word for clearing is "reutha". This town was only a minute spot on the map but maybe we could find someone with information. Eller's Reutha is located about five miles from the town of Scheidegg. Eller's Reutha consist of one frame house with no occupants that knew of the origin of our name. Disappointed but not ready to give up, we went to Scheidegg for the night. This town is a beautiful small town located near the Boden Zee in the shadow of the Austrian Alps. The area around Schiedegg has been Austrian as well as German over the last several centuries.

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Eller Chronicles Vol. VII (2) May, 1993


After a good night's sleep, we visited the Rothaus, which is the city hall, and met the Bugermister or mayor. He was extremely helpful and prepared to help me in any way he could. He assigned a clerk in the Rothaus to help me with my research. We began. by checking the church records in the local catholic church. It was in this church that we got our biggest break and the most information we had ever collected. The records clearly indicated the presence of Ellers in the region since the 1600's. Based on this find I think I can say with some degree of certainty that the name Eller probably originated in this part of Europe. Are we Austrian or German you may ask- that is a mission for my next trip. In later articles, I will outline my finds in Scheidegg.

Now that I knew the name Eller was found in Germany, I began my search for a registration of the name. This would prove to be easier and less time consuming than the search for the origin of the name. With the help of several German officers, I had met, I was able to locate the German Reitstap Armorial General document pertaining to the name Eller. A name became registered when it gained enough prominence through either deeds or marriages. The name Eller is registered in this document but the source of prominence can not be determined. But that is just as well because I would want to believe the name was placed there for deeds rather than marriage. Names have been orderly registered in Germany since the 1500's and the name Eller was added between 1650 and 1700. Each name registered has a coat of arms designed for it. The coat of arms is really, what we in this country, call a f'amily crest plus some additional fancy trappings.

The Eller coat of arms contains a large shield with a smaller shield in the center. Radiating from behind the smaller shield in the center appears to be rays of light. The three colors that make up this crest are red, blue and gold. It appears that the source of the light is hidden behind the smaller shield and you can only see the rays illuminating out. A lot of stories could be developed on the meaning of the coat of arms but the family motto puts it all in perspective. The motto reads "Gloria Virtutis Umbra" and a loose translation would be something like " Glory and virtue from the darkness As I study the family coat of arms, I see more than just a coat of arms. I see a strong light which cannot be hidden even by a shield or force and it always illuminates out. I see a light in the darkness shinning forth. As I read the Eller Chronicles and reflect back on the family history that I know, I feel it is a fitting motto for our clan. The family motto shows a family that has shown brightly for well over 300 years and will continue to shine brightly into the 21st century. It is of great consolation to know your name stands for light rather than darkness.





The Eller listings from the Innsbruck, Austria telephone directory, about 1993



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