Benjamin
The Living Force
From The Undergrounders Part 2:
I ran into something that I was not expecting back when I was looking into Theodor Illion. It's not much but the above two quotes made me remember it so I thought I'd just look into it really for my own interest.
Illion has four links of varying strength to Theosophy even though I didn’t find a direct one. This led me to Helena Blavatsky, who I had little interest in until I read her birth name: Yelena Petrovna Hahn von Rottenstern or Yelena Petrovna von Hahn, born 1831-1891 in Yekaterinoslav, Russia which is now Dnipro, Ukraine (for now?). Her father, Pyotr Alexeyevich Hahn von Rottenstern, was a lower class noble (but still aristocratic) descendant of the German House of Hahn. Of course Hahn means 'rooster'.
So, I decided to take a look at this House of Hahn and the rooster in terms of family crests and such.
First mentioned in a document from Oct. 30, 1230, the Hahn's (originally Hane and Hanen) were a noble family of Mecklenburg, Germany. The first name mentioned is Egkehardus (Eggehardus) Hane, or apparently in the original Latin, Egkehardus Gallus, but the supposed originator of the line was a knight named Nicolaus II (1292-1334), the eldest son of Nicolaus I. The line was anchored in Basedow, obtaining the manor-house in 1337 from the Luche family.
The Basedow Hahn family blazon.
The name may be tied to German-Baltic families but this site mentions that ‘Hahn’ is probably of Slavic origin from the Obotrties. Here is a list of estates owned by Hahn family members over time as they branched out and expanded becoming the largest landowners in Mecklenburg. As a note, there are three megalithic sites around Basedow, two of which are only about 500 meters to the north of the Basedow schloss.
The Mecklenberg rooster is notable for its black beak, legs and two tail feathers. See Hahn (Wappentier) for a large list. For a huge list of worldly roosters in heraldry, see this rooster category.
Another noble German family was the House of Henneberg (which translates as ‘rooster('s) mountain’), a branch of the Franconian Babenbergs, known at least by 1052 in the Middle Rhine Valley. It has been suggested that the Mecklenburg Hahn's came from the same Middle Rhine region and are possibly related, but a solid genealogical link has not been established.
Henneberg seal from c.1272. See here for a list of Henne heraldry.
There is also the Rotenhan family.
An example of the von Rottenhan achievment with a rooster crest dated c.1450 - 17th century.
Notice Blavatsky's father's name is Pyotr Alexeyevich Hahn von Rottenstern. It might suggest a link to this family as well. I also find the 'han' in Rottenhan interesting in relation to Hahn.
As a sidenote, the Rottenhan castle has a sort-of underground legend tied to it.
The Hahn's, the Henneberg's and the Rottenhan's are the most interesting families to me. There are only three other lines I'll mention.
A known ancestor of the Mecklenburg line named Ludolf Hahn branched off and formed the Courland line around 1300, headquartered in Postenden (Pastende) near Talsi. A further line was created on Estonia's largest island Ösel (Saaremaa) around 1725-1799 by Johann August von Hahn. The Ösel line used the same coat of arms as the Courland line but a genealogical link cannot be forged. Blavatsky could be related to one of the Baltic lines rather then directly from a Mecklenburg line.
There is also french family named de Vogüé, taking their name from the land, with roots in the Vivarais region since 1256 but the Chateau de Vogüé and the earliest known member, Bertrand de Vogüé, have been known since at least 1080. As a note, the traditional Vivarais region incorperated the province of Ardèche, which is home to the Chateau de Vogüé and the Chauvet Cave.
There is also a Polish noble family named Kurowie first mentioned on May 2, 1239, probably being seated in Kurów. A group of families formed by at least 1496 as the Clan of Kur. Legend has it that a knight named Kur saved a king from a nighttime sneak attack and was honoured with the rooster crest for his alertness. Documents from 1239 apparently mention a knight named Kur purchasing land in Dojazdowo.
As a note, in Blavatsky's name, 'Petrovna' is apparently a patronym (of Pyotr) according to Slavic naming customs which may support the idea that 'Illion' could also be a Slavic patronym rather then a Jewish one...or it could be completly made up.
On a personal note, because of the location of the Hahn's being in Mecklenberg, I wonder if our family name is a 'leg' (bein) of this rooster (Hohn)?
