The Krusenstierna Family Association
Member pages
About the family
History of the family
The von Krusenstier family originates from Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. As a progenitor, the Reverend Johannes Krause, died in 1558, whose grandson Philip Crusius went into Swedish service in Reval, now Tallinn in Estonia, in 1644. There he was first appointed assessor at the civil court and then governor. He was ennobled in 1649 by Queen Kristina with the name von Kruus, which at the introduction on 6/11 1650 was changed to von Krusenstiern and von Krusenstjerna. The name von Krusenstierna is written on the coat of arms in the Knights' House. The family lived on through Philip Crusius' youngest son, and in turn through sons Evert Philip (1676-1748) and Adolf Fredrik (1679-1713).
The Estonian family branch
The descendants of Evert Philips form the Estonian family branch, also called the main branch, which was admitted to the Estonian Knights' House in 1746 and was partly resident in Russia until 1918 and partly in Estonia until 1939. It now lives in Poland, Germany, Canada and the USA. One line moved to Sweden in 1929 and recovered right of representation at Sweden's Riddarhus in 1945.
The Swedish family branch
Adolf Fredrik's descendants form the Swedish family branch. He died in the Great Nordic War between Russia and Sweden in 1713, and the children became motherless soon after. Adolf Fredrik's mother then fled to Sweden via Swedish Finland with his children, where son Mauritz Adolf carried the family on in Sweden. The family survives in Sweden, the USA and Australia.
The two adopted branches
The adopted family branches originate in Blekinge and the Grameen family. Nils Grameen was married to Johanna Maria, born von Krusenstierna, and daughter of the above-mentioned Mauritz Adolf. The two sons, Mauritz Peter Grameen and Fredrik Vilhelm Grameen, were both ennobled with the name von Krusenstierna in the House of Knights:
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1st adopted branch: Lieutenant Colonel, later Rear Admiral Mauritz Peter Grameen, ennobled and adopted von Krusenstjerna in 1801, introduced to the Knight's House in 1803. The branch has no living relatives left.
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2nd adopted branch: Major Fredrik Vilhelm Grameen, ennobled and adopted von Krusenstjerna in 1805, introduced at Riddarhuset in 1806. Most of the family live in the USA today.
Spelling of the name
There are different spellings of the name. In the younger Swedish branch and the adopted branches, which are mainly settled in Sweden, the USA and Australia, the spellings von Krusenstierna and von Krusenstjerna occur, but also Krusenstjerna, without the prefix von. In the USA, Krusen and Cruse also occur.
In the main branch, the Estonian branch, settled mainly in Germany, Poland, Russia, the USA and Canada, the spellings von Krusenstiern, von Krusenstjern and von Krusenstern occur.
Head of the family
Since 2010, the House of Knights and the Calendar of Nobility have also included members of the family who live abroad and/or have foreign citizenship. Thus, Aleksej von Krusenstern, born in 1935 and residing in Moscow, has been the head of the von Krusenstierna family until his death in the spring of 2016. As Aleksej was childless at the time of his death, Otto Pancratius von Krusenstierna became the family's representative at the House of Knights' meeting of nobility and since the spring of 2016 also the new head of family no. 460 (when he was also the head before the change in 2010). Otto Pancratius passed away on 2022-01-04, and the headship then passed to Friedrich (Fred) von Krusenstierna in the USA.