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Introduction
The d'Horrer family (Horrer in Germanic times or ДОРРЕР in Russia) is characterized by numerous lineages in various countries, caused by the exiles and revolutions it had to undergo. Thus it divides into a first non-ennobled German lineage, a presumably ennobled German lineage but whose contact is not substantiated, a first noble French lineage which did not emigrate, then, after the French, Revolution, a new division between the French, Russian and Italian lineages.
Originally from Swabia, it is one of the most notable patrician families (1) of the former Republic of Strasbourg. Banished, according to tradition, at the time of the Reformation, which they strongly opposed, they settled again in Swabia where it seems that they had kept ties, and they returned to Alsace only after its conquest by France.. Since that time, it has provided several generations of advisors to the Sovereign Council of Alsace
Having emigrated once again during the French Revolution, several of its members settled permanently abroad (Russia, Italy), where they founded enduring family lines, while the others returned to France after an exile of varying length.
The d’Horrer family, ennobled in the Holy Roman Empire in 1627, is recorded in the registers of nobility of France, Italy, and Russia, as well as in the registers of papal nobility. It has been a member of the Papal Nobility Registers RNP (Réunion de la Noblesse Pontificale) since 2004 (See the list of surviving families of the Pontifical nobility)..
Titles:
Knight (Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand II of Habsburg, 1627);
Papal Count Palatine (Pope Gregory XVI, 1836, recognized by French King Charles X in exile, 1836);
Italian Count (Victor Emmanuel II, 1877, for the French and Italian branches);
Russian Count (Tsar Alexander III, 1892, for the Russian branch).
Note: For greater clarity, I have put the names of noble families in bold.
NOTES
1) Patricians constituted a hereditary class of elite families who monopolized political authority and economic dominance in autonomous urban centers, particularly the Italian city-states and free imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire, emerging as a distinct social order from the 11th century amid the decline of feudal structures and rise of commerce. These families, often blending merchant wealth with noble pretensions, controlled councils and guilds, fostering republican governance that prioritized trade networks over monarchical rule and enabling prolonged independence from imperial or papal overlords.