Staab Coat of Arms 3

This information is from The Hall of Names, Inc.
Certification # 943320-12.10 H-20003

The Ancient History of the Distinguished Surname Staab

The distinguished surname Staab has been traced to Austria, which was occupied by the Celts and the Romans.  Between the third and fifth centuries, a series of invasions by the Vandals, Goths, Huns, and Alemanes swept in from the east and from the north.  In the ninth century, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne made this territory an eastern border region, as a bulwark against the determined Hungarian and Slavic invasions.  Otto the Great finally defeated the Hungarian forces in 955, and Austria, a word meaning "Kingdom of the East", became a Bavarian protectorate.  Research into the history of this name brings us to Austria, where the name Staaber became noted for it's many branches in the region, each house acquiring a status and influence which was envied by the princes of the region.  In their later history, the name became a power unto themselves and were elevated to the ranks of nobility as they grew into this most influential family.  Throughout history, most surnames have gone through changes in spelling, even between generations.  Often a name was recorded by a scribe simply by it's sound, thus changing the name's written form.  If the name change had been recorded in contracts or legal proceedings, this spelling often became a part of standard usage.  Depending on the region, a name's spelling may vary quite considerably.  Among such variations of the name are: Staaber, Staader, Staaper, Staab, Stabe, Stable, Stabel, Stabeler, to name a few examples.

The Babenberger dynasty ruled Austria until 1278, when the house of Habsburg rose to power and began it's territorial expansion, not by going to war, but by going to the alter; by marrying into various influential houses, the Habsburgs acquired Tyrol, (Tirol), the Krain region, Styria, Trieste, and the Alemanian Voralberg.  They also gained the Netherlands from the Dukes of Burgundy in 1482, and married into the Spanish royal family.  Charles V left his Austrian territories to his brother Ferdinand I, who acquired Hungary and Bohemia in 1526.

Austria faced in the 16th century the religious troubles of the Reformation and the expansion of the Turkish Empire.
Austria became the Catholic center of the Counter-Reformation, and despite Ferdinand's expanding power, the Turks laid siege to Vienna in 1529.  The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) put an end to the Thirty Years War and divided up the Empire.  The Turks invaded Austria again in 1699, only to be driven back by Prince Eugene of Savoy, who conquered large parts of the Balkans, acquiring Transylvania.  However, after the Spanish and Austrian lines of Habsburg died out in 1700 and 1740, Maria Theresa became the only woman to be Empress on a German throne.  They also became Kings of Hungary, which became the basis for the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Meanwhile, the surname Staab has been traced to Austria, where they emerged as a notable family early in the Middle Ages.  During these turbulent times there were many changing religious and political allegiances.  From Austria the families branched into Bavaria and in both regions the family was raised to the nobility as Knights of the Holy Empire in 1732, Bavarian Barons of the Empire in 1773, Barons of Germany in 1780, and as Staader Edle von Adelsheim in Austria.  The family also branched to Lorraine and Bade in 1877.  Branches of the family emerged as family members relocated and established themselves in new locations as they were enlisted into military, political and religious service.   Members of the family name were also raised to the nobility.  As notable among the name Staab in this early period, are the Staader family of Austria.

Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Vienna was chosen as the site of the famous Congress of Vienna, at which the victors decided how the nations of Europe were to share the spoils.  Following this period Austria reached the peak of its prestige.  Vienna loosened its hold on its widespread possessions, particularly in the rebellious Balkan regions.  In 1914, the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Serbia, started the Great War.  The empire was broken up by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, when Austria became a republic, its Sudeten Germans now citizens of the new nation of Czechoslovakia.  Hitler's forces annexed it in 1938 and made it a part of greater Germany and after the war, Austria became a democratic republic.

Vienna, Austria's capital, is a major cultural center of Europe particularly in the realm of music.  Hardly a single German composer did not live here at one point in his life, such as the Strausses (the Vienna waltz), and Liszt.  The Viennese opera and theater traditions are world famous.  Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace, has an annual international festival in honor of this composer's music.

Many people left Austria and Germany for the New World after 1650.  Their highest density of population has been traced to Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, and Illinois, while in Canada, German-speaking settlement centered around the province of Ontario and the Prairies.  Amongst those settlers with the name Staab were including settlers who traveled to the New World and established themselves along the eastern seaboard of the United States, particularly in Pennsylvania, and in Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Among the contemporary members of the name Staab who achieved prominence we found those notable personalities whose social, cultural and professional accomplishments were known on both sides of the Atlantic.

Research has determined the above Coat of Arms to be the most ancient recorded for the family surname Staab.