Albrecht
Albrecht is a Germanic given name (a form of Adalbert/Adalbrecht since the 16th century, meaning famous and of noble disposition) but also a German surname. The name is used in various forms worldwide.
History
The very high number of surnames today that originate from short names, nicknames, or regional variants of Adalbrecht testifies to the widespread use of the given name at the time of surname origin in the 12th to 15th centuries. The two name components adal and beraht are still found, for example, in the following surnames: Adelbert, Albert, and Albrecht; Abrecht/Abbrecht, Apprecht, Appert, Aubrecht, and Obrecht in the Alemannic region; and in the East Central German dialect forms Olbrecht, Olbrich, Olbricht, Ulbrich, Ulbricht, Ulbrecht, Ulbrig, and Ulbert. Patronymic derivations include Low German Albert and Albers; Westphalian Alberding; Upper German Alberter; and the Latinized form Alberti. The Low German short form Abbe includes the patronymic formations Abbes, Abben, and Abing. Further derivatives of Adalbrecht can be found in the surnames Abel, Abele, Abeling, Abelmann, Abeln, Abels, Aber, Aberl, Aberle, Oberle, Oberlin, Elbel, App, Appe, Äpple, Apel, Appel, Opel, Oppel, Oppelt, Apetz, Apitsch, Apitz, Opitz, Auber, Auberle, and Auberlin. Aubert and the Germanized form Obert derive from a French form of Adalbrecht and are often of Huguenot origin.
Notables
- Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), German painter, printmaker, mathematician, engraver, and theorist
- Egon Albrecht (1918–1944), Hauptmann of the Luftwaffe
- Fritz Wilhelm Karl Albrecht (1905–1977), Oberst of the Wehrmacht
- Fritz Albrecht (1920–1986), Kriegsmarine officer and U-Boot-Kommandant
- Karl Albrecht (1880–1942), flying ace in WWI and Oberst of the Wehrmacht
- Kurt Albrecht (1884–1964), German painter and Berlin stage designer
- Kurt Albrecht (1887–1918), German Kapitänleutnant of the Kaiserliche Marine, U-Boot commander, ⚔ when SM U 32 was sunk
- Kurt Albrecht (1889–1959/68), German veteran of WWI, Oberst d. R. of the Heer and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Kurt Albrecht (1894–1945), German psychiatrist, neurologist, university lecturer and rector of the Reichsuniversität Prag, murdered by communists in Prague on 5 or 7 May 1945
- Kurt Albrecht (b. 11 November 1895–?), German veteran of WWI, SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schutzpolizei, recipient of the Iron Cross of 1914 (both classes) and the War Merit Cross of 1939 (2nd and 1st Class with Swords)
- Kurt Albrecht (1895–1971), German composer, head of the Reichsmusikkammer im Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern and listed in the Gottbegnadeten-Liste ("God-gifted list") of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
- Kurt Albrecht (1895–1966), German veteran of WWI, Oberst of the artillery and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in WWII
- Oskar Albrecht (1914–1992), recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in WWII
