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Help[Facts] Re: Harlachen (place name)
in reply to a message by Darkbone
The information provided in the entry that you linked, is lifted straight from the entry for Harlacher on page 132 of "Dictionary of American Family Names" written by Patrick Hanks (https://books.google.de/books?id=FJoDDAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA132):
Harlacher (197) German: habitational name for someone from Ober- or Unter-Harlachen, near Überlingen.
Ober-Harlachen and Unter-Harlachen respectively translate to Upper Harlachen and Lower Harlachen in English. Überlingen is a city in the south of the German state of Baden-Württemberg:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cberlingen (in English)
There is no mention of Ober-Harlachen and Unter-Harlachen on the German Wikipedia. It only mentions two places called Harlachen: one in the aforementioned state of Baden-Württemberg and one in the state of Bavaria:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlachen (in German)
With that said, you should know that there is a German surname that is very similar to Harlacher, namely Horlacher. It is possible that in some cases, Harlacher may be a corruption of Horlacher, since the 'o' can be confused for an 'a' when reading (and vice versa), especially if the handwriting is very poor. Horlacher is also a locational surname, as it refers to any of the places called Horlachen in Germany:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horlachen (in German; one is in Baden-Württemberg, the rest is in Bavaria)
In Bavaria, there is also a place called Harrlach and a place called Horlach:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrlach (in German)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horlach (in German)
All of these place names are clearly compound names. The second element appears to be fairly common in not only German place names, but also German surnames:
• list of German surnames that end in -lach: http://genwiki.de/Kategorie:Familienname_mit_Endung_lach (in German)
• list of German surnames that end in -lacher: http://genwiki.de/Kategorie:Familienname_mit_Endung_lacher (in German; the list is incomplete, as I am missing at least Durlacher, which is the surname of a well-known Dutch-Jewish writer of German descent)
This element can come from an old German word for a border marker, which is found written as blah, lah and lâch:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durlach#Name (in German; states that the word is Old High German)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrlach#Geschichte (in German; states that the word is Middle High German and mentions that Harr- comes from Old or Middle High German harr meaning "forest")
However, it can also come from Old High German lach or laccha meaning "pond":
http://www.ogs-seebach.ch/p/infoseld.php?id=5654&src=seebhome.php (in German; see the entry for the Swiss place of Harlachen, which also mentions that Har- comes from Old High German har meaning "flax")
As such, it appears that all of these place names at least partially refer to something geographical, namely a pond or a border of some kind. This indicates that they were probably built in close proximity to one. In the case of Harlachen, the name likely indicates that the place was originally built at either the edge/border of a forest, or near a pond that was used for watering the flax that was being grown nearby.
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986)
Harlacher (197) German: habitational name for someone from Ober- or Unter-Harlachen, near Überlingen.
Ober-Harlachen and Unter-Harlachen respectively translate to Upper Harlachen and Lower Harlachen in English. Überlingen is a city in the south of the German state of Baden-Württemberg:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cberlingen (in English)
There is no mention of Ober-Harlachen and Unter-Harlachen on the German Wikipedia. It only mentions two places called Harlachen: one in the aforementioned state of Baden-Württemberg and one in the state of Bavaria:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlachen (in German)
With that said, you should know that there is a German surname that is very similar to Harlacher, namely Horlacher. It is possible that in some cases, Harlacher may be a corruption of Horlacher, since the 'o' can be confused for an 'a' when reading (and vice versa), especially if the handwriting is very poor. Horlacher is also a locational surname, as it refers to any of the places called Horlachen in Germany:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horlachen (in German; one is in Baden-Württemberg, the rest is in Bavaria)
In Bavaria, there is also a place called Harrlach and a place called Horlach:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrlach (in German)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horlach (in German)
All of these place names are clearly compound names. The second element appears to be fairly common in not only German place names, but also German surnames:
• list of German surnames that end in -lach: http://genwiki.de/Kategorie:Familienname_mit_Endung_lach (in German)
• list of German surnames that end in -lacher: http://genwiki.de/Kategorie:Familienname_mit_Endung_lacher (in German; the list is incomplete, as I am missing at least Durlacher, which is the surname of a well-known Dutch-Jewish writer of German descent)
This element can come from an old German word for a border marker, which is found written as blah, lah and lâch:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durlach#Name (in German; states that the word is Old High German)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrlach#Geschichte (in German; states that the word is Middle High German and mentions that Harr- comes from Old or Middle High German harr meaning "forest")
However, it can also come from Old High German lach or laccha meaning "pond":
http://www.ogs-seebach.ch/p/infoseld.php?id=5654&src=seebhome.php (in German; see the entry for the Swiss place of Harlachen, which also mentions that Har- comes from Old High German har meaning "flax")
As such, it appears that all of these place names at least partially refer to something geographical, namely a pond or a border of some kind. This indicates that they were probably built in close proximity to one. In the case of Harlachen, the name likely indicates that the place was originally built at either the edge/border of a forest, or near a pond that was used for watering the flax that was being grown nearby.
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