where the name comes from ...
| The Anschütz familiy from Obermühle in Mehlis (Thuringia) |
| Mehlis and surroundings, i. e. the former county
of Henneberg can be considered as the origin of all people who have the name Anschütz and
its different spelling versions. The name Anschütz probably came up at the beginning of
the 15th century. This name might be linked with various activities in connection with
water such as accumulating water, transporting it to and from wheels, etc. The
"Schütz" is the weir. The people with the Anschütz had jobs in milling very
early in places such as the Obermühle, Geigenmühle, Hintermühle, Ölmühle (various
mills) and many more. In 1496 two Anschütz (Oschatz) paid interests for their mills in
Mehlis to the administration of Schwarzwald to which Mehlis belonged for some time. From
1498 to 1534 the same interest registers of this administration showed 67 Anschütz who
paid interests and 20 who were mentioned as former owners. In the time from 1620 to 1643 we find 32 couples from 135 in the marriage registers of Mehlis who had the name Anschütz. In the tax register of 1575 there were 12 Anschütz families from 800 inhabitants in Mehlis, among them Johannes Anschütz as owner of the Obermühle. According to these registrations the Anschütz families must have been dominant in Mehlis at the time when Mehlis still was a small village. Around 1740 there were 45 tax paying households with the name Anschütz in Mehlis, counting about 170 people. After the unification of Zella and Mehlis in 1909 500 from 6,000 inhabitants had the name Anschütz. In 1937 the address register of Zella-Mehlis showed 110 adults or leaders of a houshold with the name Anschütz. In 1938 the town of Zella-Mehlis, 450 to 800 meters above see level, had 16.100 inhabitants. Some more statistic information: In 1634 there were four millers, two bakers, and one hammersmith in Mehlis. In 1642 there were three millers and one baker. In that year there were 136 fireplaces in Zella St. Blasi and 113 in Mehlis. In 1665 we find 940 souls in 175 houses in Zella, in Mehlis there were 764 in 161 houses. |