Clan Rising

Schwarz

also Schwartz

'The dark one', the German Black, and a great Jewish name.

Origin
German
Register
German family

The seat of Schwarz

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Schwarz 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 Schwarz has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Schwarz 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 Schwarz clan →

What does the Schwarz name mean?

Descriptive, Middle High German swarz, black, for dark hair or a dark complexion. Common across the German lands and one of the most frequent of Ashkenazi surnames; abroad, almost always spelled Schwartz.

The history of Schwarz

Schwarz singled out the dark-haired or swarthy man, the natural opposite of Weiss (white) and the loose cousin in sense of the English Black, one of the oldest and plainest ways to tell two men apart.

Like Klein and Wolf, it is also one of the characteristic surnames of Ashkenazi Jewry, and it is in its German-Jewish branch that most of the world meets it, carried west in the great migration and spelled Schwartz on a million American doorplates and shopfronts.

The castles of the homeland

The great strongholds of the homeland, look one up, see what it looked like in its prime, and recreate it to explore.

Neuschwanstein Castle, GermanyNeuschwanstein CastleStill standing · prime 1886Hohenzollern Castle, GermanyHohenzollern CastleRestored · prime 1867Eltz Castle, GermanyEltz CastleStill standing · prime 1615

All castles in Germany → · Strongest castles in Germany → · Castles of Europe

Play As Your Clan

Explore history as a SchwarzStart your story →

Hold a real castle against whatever you choose to send at it, take a ship out in her own service years, or stand at the shoulder of someone the record remembers. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.

Frequently asked

What does the surname Schwarz mean?

Descriptive, Middle High German swarz, black, for dark hair or a dark complexion. Common across the German lands and one of the most frequent of Ashkenazi surnames; abroad, almost always spelled Schwartz. Schwarz singled out the dark-haired or swarthy man, the natural opposite of Weiss (white) and the loose cousin in sense of the English Black, one of the oldest and plainest ways to tell two men apart.

Is Schwarz German or Austrian?

Schwarz is a German surname; its home on this atlas is German, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated. The name belongs to the German language tree and is carried across the whole German-speaking world, Germany, Austria and Switzerland alike, so an Austrian family bearing it shares the same root.

How old is the Schwarz surname?

Schwarz singled out the dark-haired or swarthy man, the natural opposite of Weiss (white) and the loose cousin in sense of the English Black, one of the oldest and plainest ways to tell two men apart. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Schwarz name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Schwarz family known for?

'The dark one', the German Black, and a great Jewish name. Schwarz singled out the dark-haired or swarthy man, the natural opposite of Weiss (white) and the loose cousin in sense of the English Black, one of the oldest and plainest ways to tell two men apart.

Is there a Schwarz family crest or coat of arms?

There is no single coat of arms that belongs to everyone named Schwarz. Heraldic arms were granted to individuals and descend through specific documented lines, so a "family crest" matched to a surname alone is decorative rather than genealogical.

Is Schwartz the same family as Schwarz?

Yes. Schwartz is a historical spelling variant of the Schwarz name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Schwarz surname found today?

German is the primary historical home of the Schwarz surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same German origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Schwarz family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Schwarz family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of German so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Schwarz family today?

The seat for the head of the Schwarz family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.