What is the origin of Friedensreich Hundertwasser's surname?

Upvote:0

The family of F. Hundertwasser comes from Pressburg (current Bratislava, capital of Slovakia), they moved to Vienna and changed their name. Their original name was Stowasser, which is combination of Slovak word "sto" (hundred) and German word "wasser" (water). Just to update you - Slovakia, Czech republic, Hungary and Austria were at that time one Austrian-Hungarian Empire, so information on "Austrians" can be misleading. Also S. Freud was born in Pribor in Czech republic and his parents moved to Vienna, so he is always considered to be Austrian.

Upvote:1

Firstly "Hundertwasser" is German and means "Hundred water" (Friedensreich means both "rich of peace" and "realm of peace") so his name change didn't really change the meaning of that name.

He was born in Vienna, which is now in Austria. Wikipedia
He was born in 1928; His name suggests Czech origin so I assume that his parents were born in what now is the Czech Republic (And that they were born around 1908, certainly no later than 1915). In that timeframe there was the Austrian-Hungarian Empire of which a map can be seen here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Austro-Hungary_Empire_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg

The region now known as the Czech Republic was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

Upvote:5

The painter was born in Vienna as Friedrich Stowasser; he and his parents were Austrians. His artistic name β€œHundertwasser” does in fact represent a translation of the Slavic sto to German Hundert. According to etymologists the name Stowasser is actually a reinterpretation of the name Stabossener, from the place name Stabossen in what is now the Czech Republic. So originally it has no connection with the German Wasser. There are some references here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stowasser.

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