Burckhardt

The Burckhardt family alternatively also (de) Bourcard (in French) is a family of the Basel patriciate, descended from Christoph (Stoffel) Burckhardt (1490–1578), a merchant in cloth and silk originally from Münstertal, Black Forest, who received Basel citizenship in 1523, and became a member of the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt in 1553.

The family was represented in the Grand Council continuously from 1553 until the 20th century. In the 17th century and early 18th century, the family was the most powerful family of the canton of Basel. Branches of the family were based in Nantes and in the Kingdom of Naples from the 18th century, where it was ennobled as ''de Bourcard''. The family's famous members include the traveller and orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, the influential art historian Jacob Burckhardt and the international President of the Red Cross Carl Jacob Burckhardt. The surname is derived from the dithematic Germanic given name ''Burkhard'', from ''burg'' "protection" and ''hard'' "brave, hardy". Provided by Wikipedia