| The HOFFART Crest The HOFFART coat of arms was found in a church in Schwaigern, Germany. Schwaigern is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Wurttenberg. Schwaigern is about seven miles west of Heilbronn and about 20 miles north of Stuttgart. The church is an Evangelical Lutheran
church; however, it began life as a Catholic church. Inside the church, on the south wall of the choir, is
a painting: The painting is said to represent "the victorious Christ above the tomb and before the astonished Mary and Martha." In the foreground of the painting is a man in a suit of armor, kneeling; behind him and standing are two woman with hands folded in prayer. The man's coat of arms (red shield with three circles arranged like two eyes and a mouth) identify him as Gunther Hartman von Neipperg. The two praying women are his two wives; the first of those two wives was a HOFFART descendant. She was Anna von Flehingen who died April 13, 1555 (buried Schwaigern-Massenback). Online, I am finding the claim that Anna von Flehingen was the daughter of Ulrich von Flehingen and his wife Anna Hofwart von Kircheim. The family name of that woman was "Hofwart von Kirchheim." Anna von Flehingen (daughter of Anna Hofwart von Kircheim) married Gunther Hartman von Neipperg in 1535. A marriage in 1535 suggests that she was born in about 1515. Unfortunately, we have no information above Hans Hoffart who was born in about 1554 in Schwaigern. Thus, no connection can be proven; it can only be assumed since the family name and location were the same. In 2010, Schwaigern's population is 11,000; it is unknown what the population was in 1500. This is the translation of the German on the Hofwart page at Wikipedia:
Framing the painting on the sides and the bottom are
the rows of coats of arms -- eight for each of the three
people (Gunther and his two wives). For each of the three
persons, there were crests for all eight
great-grandparents. The crests on the right side are the
crests for the wife who was the Hoffart descendant. The
second of her family crests is the Hoffart crest -- a
golden shield with a bold black cross, with gold and
black vines on either side of the shield, and with a
helmet with a red plume: Jim Hufferd also has information about the coat of
arms at his web site: The background for this page is a graphic created by Jim Hufferd. It is Jim's attempt at duplicating the crest. Jim is a retired newsman who descends from Christian HOFFART (b. 1716) thusly:
NOTE ON SPELLING: The name HOFFART mutated and varied to include all of these and others: Hoffarth, Hufford, Huffort, Huffart, Hufferd, Huffert, Hoffart, Hoffard. Christian HUFFORD and 1st wife, Elizabeth KEIM
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