Family Coats of Arms

Contradicting what most people think, there are strict rules governing the use of coats of arms. It is incorrect to say that a crest belongs to a certian family. Instead coats of arms were granted to individuals and when passed on to next generations, modifications had to be done unless the heir was the eldest son. As a result of these modifications, an evolutionary process took place and similarities can be seen when comparing coats of arms. The exception to this is if two individuals were both granted coats of arms, then it is unlikely that similarities can be found.

Click on image for close up	Description
	This crest was found by Dr. Ferdinand Ziller in a book called "Araldica Trentino" which describes crests of famous families in the Trentino region in Italy. This crest was awarded to Anton Ziller, notary in Seio (Trentino), and his brothers Nikolaus and Peter and their cousins from the prince bishop Bernardo Clesio in the year 1527 for their merits in the Peasants' War (1524-1525). At the same time they were ennobled to the episcopal aristocracy. There are two versions of this crest, the other is in black and white.
	This crest is from Ernesto Ziller, who in 1869 was awarded the title "Knight from castle Methoburg" from Austrian emperor Kaiser Franz Josef and was allowed to improve the old crest from Anton Ziller to his own new crest. (See the previous crest)
	This crest was passed along to my family from relatives in Germany. After sending a copy of this crest to a heraldic organization in Germany they replied that this crest, like many other "unofficial" crests are the work of artists who were paid to create a coat of arms. These crests were not granted to individuals by a monarchy. This crest is not authentic nor is this description that is below it:   The Ziller family lost their aristocratic standing during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) which at that time was considered a side arm of an old Sachsen-Meininger aristocracy. Then they moved to Switzerland in the Bern area and later to the Vorarlberg and Württemberg areas. Another arm of the aristocracy originated in the Peasants' War in 1525 in Franken near Eschenbach-Schlat and around 1604 lost their aristocratic standing. There is still another aristocracy with the Ziller name, but they have a different crest.
Click on image for close up

I am trying to find more information about the origin and history of the coat of arms of the Ziller family. If anyone has a coat of arms or knows any information about this, please email me.

Peasant's War (c.1524-26) was the last and most widespread of the long series of socioreligious revolutionary movements of the later Middle Ages in central Europe. From the Alpine lands to Thuringia, peasants and small-town artisans and laborers sacked castles and monasteries, issuing lists of demands. The insurgents called for the abolition of serfdom, the reduction of rents and taxes, the resumption of the rights of village communities over common land, and the free election of ministers. Martin Luther, one of the Protestant reformers, whose teachings had inspired the revolt, published a harshly worded pamphlet condemning all rebellion. After initial successes the peasants were defeated by the German princes' professional armies. (Back)

Trentino-Alto Adige is an autonomous region of northern Italy bordered by Switzerland to the northwest and Austria to the north. With its capital at Trent (Italian: Trento), the region has an area of 5,256 sq mi and a population of 900,000. The Tyrolean Alps in the north and the Dolomites in the east give most of Trentino-Alto Adige an average elevation of more than 3,000 ft and support timber and tourist industries. The region was annexed to Austria in 1814 as part of the Tyrol and was ceded to Italy in 1919. Most of the inhabitants of the northern province, with its capital at Bolzano, speak German, whereas a majority of those in the southern province of Trento speak Italian.(Back)

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