Richter
The judge — local justice, eastern roots.
- Origin
- German
- Famous bearer
- Gerhard Richter (b. 1932), painter
- Register
- German family
The seat of Richter
Seat vacantChief
No one leads the Richter 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 Richter has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.
The Richter 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 Richter clan →What does the Richter name mean?
From Middle High German rihtære, a judge or local magistrate — the man who 'set things right' and held court for a village or district. Thickest in Saxony, Silesia and the German east.
The history of Richter
The Richter held court for a community in the lord's name, ruling on boundaries, debts and small crimes — a man of standing whose office became a surname, concentrated in the eastern lands of Saxony and Silesia.
It is also the name of one of the foremost painters of the modern age, Gerhard Richter, born in Dresden in 1932, whose blurred photo-paintings and abstract scrapings made him for a time the most expensive living artist in the world — another eastern Richter carrying the name far from the courtroom.
Explore With Your Ancestors · Beta
Pick any year from 500 to 1945 and any place on earth — the Richter country, or a shore no Richter ever reached. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.
Notable bearers of the Richter name
- Gerhard Richter (b. 1932), painter