Von (generally in small case only as von) is a German preposition which approximately means of or from. When it is used as a part of a German family name, it can indicate a member of the nobility, like the French, Portuguese and Spanish "de". At certain times and places, it has been illegal for anyone who was not a member of the nobility to use von before their family name. However, in the Middle Ages the "von" particle was still a common part of names and was widely used also by commoners, e.g. "Hans von Duisburg" meant Hans from [LINK: the] city of Duisburg. The abolition of the monarchies in Germany and Austria in 1919 meant that neither state had a privileged nobility, and both had exclusively republican governments. In Germany, this meant that in principle von simply became an ordinary part of the names of the people who used it. There

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