Pappée Coat of Arms

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Text on Reverse Side of Arms

Franz Charl Louis Pappée, ein ausgezeichneter Publizist, geboren am 2. August 1582 zu St. Enimie im Departement Lozère, hatte sich als Rechtsgelehrter einen Namen erworben. Doch findet man schon einen Pappée in der Schlacht von Montlhèry unter Carl dem Kühnen in 1464, als tapferer Kämpfer. In den Religionsunruhen kam die Familie in Armut(h).
Die Bedeutung des Wappens ist Tugend und Mut(h).

Text Translation

“Franz Charl Louis Pappée, an excellent publisher, born on 2nd August 1582 in Ste Enimie in the Dept Lozére, made a name as a legal expert. There was even a Pappée under Charles the Bold at the battle of Monthèry in 1464, a brave combatant. During the Wars of Religion the family became impoverished.
“The meaning of the coat of arms is virtue and courage.”

Family Background

The framed coat of arms of the Pappée family used to hang over my father-in-law’s desk. His mother was Clara Pappée, daughter of Hans Pappée who had been the Mayor of Schöningen between 1871 and 1903. My father-in-law had been told by his grandfather that the family name had changed from Pape to Pappée "in the Middle Ages", i.e. before the dates in the text, when ancestors had moved to France. He knew that his grandfather’s grandfather was born in Saarbrücken but thought his surname was Pappée.
Neither the age nor the origin of the Coat of Arms is known, but there is a family tree drawn up in the beginning of 20th century which goes back to the said Philip Thomas Pappée b 1767 in Saarbrücken and his wife Dorothee Louise née Griebel.

Historical Research

In 2010 I started researching the Pappée family starting with the know “facts”. It soon became apparent that the name had suffered metamorphism much later that indicated above.

• Philipp Thomas was born on 2nd January 1767 “Philipp Thomas Pape”, the son of Wilhelm Philipp Pape, also of Saarbrücken. He became like his father before him a tailor in the service of the Duke of Nassau.
• Later it was discovered that Wilhelm Philipp was in fact born in 1731 in Ottweiler (in Germany), the son of Johann Christian Pape or Page (according to the local historian the writing is difficult to decipher; there is even the Latin version "Papae"). No dates have been identified for Johann Christian; it is not known where he was born.
• Philipp Thomas was still “Pape” when he married Dorothea Griebel in St Katherine’s Brunswick on 3rd December 1794. [As yet unclear why and when he travelled from Saarbrücken to Brunswick.]
• His children were baptised “Pape”, “Pappe” and/or “Pappeè”. Son Heinrich Wilhelm was Pappe.
• Philipp Thomas’s death is registered in 1813 as “Pappe”. His wife died in 1848. In the church register it stated: “Dorothea Louise Henriette PAPE, née Griebel, (the deceased husband of the afore mentioned widow called himself PAPPÉE) was buried on 28th August 1848.”
• Heinrich Wilhelm was Pappée when he married in 1839. By that time he was a finance officer for the Duke of Brunswick.

In addition I travelled to Ste Enimie in the summer of 2011 where I met Anne Marie Bruel of the Museum Le Vieux Logis (Local History Museum) and Nadine Marcy der “Cercle Généalogique Gard-Lozère”.

• All church records in Ste Enimie were destroyed during the French Revolution in 1792.
• There is no gravestone bearing a name “Pappée” in or around Ste Enimie
• No publisher or legal expert was known of with a similar name. In any case multiple first names that are common in Germany were not usual in France. In the 16th Century days of birth were rarely documented.
• However, Ste Enimie remained predominantly catholic during the Wars of Religion, so that the Protestants may well have left.
• There is a mention of a “Louis Papet” in the fighting in 1704 in the Cevennes (www.camisards.net)
• At the time the possible option of “Page” (certainly more French than Pape) was not known.

NB No research has been made regarding the battle of Monthèry.

Notes on pronunciation

• “Pape” is 2 syllables, the first slightly longer that the second - Paa-pē. It is a fairly common German name.
• “Pappe” is 2 syllables, more or less identical - Pāp-pē
• “Pappée” is 2 syllables, both long with emphasis on the second so it sounds French (Huguenot) – Pā-pé
• “Papet” in French is also pronounced “Pā-pé” (“t” is dropped)

Conclusion

It is reasonable to assume that as the family grew in importance the family name was modified both in pronunciation and spelling. Things French were highly regarded in Germany in the 19th century (despite, or because of, Napoleon). The coat of arms might have been created, with a few small bits of “family history” added that were virtually impossible to verify. Probably Hans Pappée was unaware of any subterfuge.
It is of course also possible that a French surname Page got germanised to Pape and later entered a second metamorphism to become Pappée. However, that doesn't quite match the text on the reverse of the Coat of Arms.
Swain-2725 16:55, 25 February 2023 (UTC)