The Korff family or Korff-Schmising family is an ancient German noble family, known since the first half of the 13th century that originated in the County of Mark, Westphalia.
The Korff family or Korff-Schmising family is an ancient German noble family, known since the first half of the 13th century that originated in the County of Mark, Westphalia.
The family first appears in a document from 1241 with knight Henricus von Kersekorff. Since 1354, part of the family has been called Korff-Schmising (also Schmysing or Schmysingk). Members of the family distinguished themselves mostly as politicians and diplomats. They held the title of Count in the Kingdom of Prussia granted to them on 17 January 1816 by Frederick William III of Prussia and Count in the Russian Empire, granted to them on 1 January 1872 by Alexander II of Russia. [1] Apart from being incorporated into the Russian nobility, the family was also part of the Baltic German nobility and Polish nobility. Until 1615, the original ancestral seat of the Korff family was Harkotten Castle in the Bishopric of Münster, later acquired by Ketteler family. [2]
Korff is also a surname.
