König
also Koenig
'The king' — the man who won the shooting-match.
- Origin
- German
- Register
- German family
The seat of König
Seat vacantChief
No one leads the König community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.
Current mission
No shared goal set yet. Once König has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.
The König clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.
Help rebuild the König clan →What does the König name mean?
Descriptive — Middle High German künic, king — a nickname, never a title: for a man who lorded it over his fellows, or who won the marksmen's contest to be crowned 'king' for the year. Cognate of English King.
The history of König
König almost never meant a real king. It marked the man who carried himself like one — or, far more often, the man who won his town's Schützenfest, the marksmen's festival where the best shot of the year is crowned its König and reigns over the beer and the parade until the next. The German twin of the English nickname-surname King, it is common across the whole language.
It is borne worldwide as Koenig, the spelling that carries the lost umlaut through the diaspora.
Explore With Your Ancestors · Beta
Pick any year from 500 to 1945 and any place on earth — the König country, or a shore no König ever reached. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.