A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Herweg family of Austria.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur à la barre de gu. Cq. cour. C.: trois pl. d'aut., une d'azur entre deux de gu. L.: d'arg., d'azur et de gu.”
The Herweg arms were recorded in Moravia, c. 1772.
Moravia was rich farming country held in large estates by a small number of families. Land there passed down whole for centuries, and unbroken tenure of that kind fills a register.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
The body that granted and recorded arms in Austria in this period.
Reigning in Austria when the Herweg arms are first recorded.
Austrian coats of arms were often linked directly to noble titles granted by the Emperor. These symbols belonged to the entire family line rather than just one individual. When a family grew, new branches kept the original design without needing to change it. This system allowed all members of a noble house to share the same identity across many generations.
The surname Herweg originates from the Germanic linguistic tradition, where it is composed of the elements "heer," meaning army or host, and "weg," meaning path or way. Historically, this name likely identified an individual who lived near a military road or served as a guide for traveling troops. By 1772, records confirm that families bearing this name were well-established in the region of Moravia, which was then a crown land of the Habsburg Monarchy. During this period, the family likely lived in a rural or semi-rural setting, as the surname often tracked with families involved in local trade or agricultural management along the busy transit routes of Central Europe. As the family moved through the late eighteenth century, they became part of the complex social fabric of the Moravian landscape, which was defined by a mix of German and Slavic cultural influences.
Army or host and path or way.
