Amsberg

The House of Amsberg (German: von Amsberg, Dutch: van Amsberg) is a German noble family of Polabian origin that originated in Mecklenburg and whose agnatic head is the present King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander. A great-grandson of a blacksmith and grandson of a baker, parish pastor August Amsberg (1747–1820) started calling himself "von Amsberg" in 1795, and the family's right to use this name was confirmed in 1891 by Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. By this permission to use a nobiliary particle, the family effectively became part of the German untitled lower nobility (Niederer Adel) of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Members of the family live in the Netherlands and Northern Germany. The family's most notable member is the family's current head (i.e., senior male-line descendant), King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. King Willem-Alexander, his brothers, and his brothers' children hold the title of "Jonkheer (or female Jonkvrouw) van Amsberg" and have the surname "van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg".