The family possibly takes its name from Blumenthal near Magdeburg , from where they were brought to the Prignitz and installed there by the Counts of Plotho in the mid 12th century, or perhaps earlier still from Blomendahl in Holland or Blumenthal in Luxembourg. They named the Prignitz village of Blumenthal after themselves but resided in the nearby castle of Horst, which was the family seat for over 600 years until 1810. They claimed a legendary descent from the Roman Emperor Florianus , as well as from the Arthurian knight Daniel Von Blumenthal .
The family had a strong military tradition, and three of its members won the Pour Le Mérite (Blue Max) .
Prominent members of this family include:
- ''Joachim Friedrich'' (d. 1658), founder of the Prussian Army. He was a War Commissar for the Holy Roman Empire , and then for Brandenburg. He represented both the Empire and Brandenburg at the Peace Of Westphalia and also at the Imperial Diet . He was, additionally, the Great Elector's President of the Privy Council (Prime Minister) and the first secular governor of the Principality Of Halberstadt .
- ''Georg (IV)''(b. at Quackenburg, Pomerania in 1722, d. 1784) won the Pour le Mérite at the Battle Of Prague . He was charged with raising forces to oppose the invasion of Pomerania in the 1760s by the Russians, who put a price on his head. He became a Major General.
- ''Ludwig'' (died 1760) and his nephew ''Joachim'' were both presidents of Frederick the Great's principal ministry, the War and Domains Directory.
- ''Heinrich'' (died 1830) was Mayor of Magdeburg (where his statue is to be seen) and Head Chamberlain to Jérôme Bonaparte , King of Westphalia, as well as governor of Jerôme's palace at Wilhelmshöhe .
- ''Robert'' was Regierungspresident (Regional Governor) of Danzig from 1841-1863 and of Siegmaringen from 1864-1873. He was a leading opponent of Catholicism in Prussia.
- ''Werner'' (1848-1928), a veteran of the Austro- and Franco-Prussian wars, and a friend of Prince Frederick Of Prussia , became Chamberlain to the King Of Saxony . He was a leading moderate in the Conservative Party, and at the Tivoli Congress , at which Klasing persuaded the party to adopt antisemitism as part of its programme, he spoke out courageously. He was shouted down, and those who supported him did not dare do so publicly. His daughter Maria, a nun, was murdered in her 70s by the SS .
- ''Albrecht'' was a respected Philologist and as a poet was a leading member of the circle of Stefan George , to whom he introduced the Stauffenberg brothers. The dissident Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer conducted an illegal seminary in 1938 from Albrecht's estate at Schlönwitz.
- Albrecht's second cousin ''Vera'', (1882-1925), after two divorces, moved to New Mexico . It is possible that she is the "Verra von Blumenthal" who there formed a lesbian attachment to the wealthy adventuress Rose Dugan (or Dougan), an early aviator and pupil of the Wright Brothers . Between them they founded the "von Blumenthal-Dougan Project," which fostered an interest in Indian ceramics and, together with other similar activities, gave rise to the Santa Fé Annual Southwest Indian Fair, starting from 1922. As a result of their efforts, the merits of Pueblo Indian ceramics are internationally recognised. However, it is also possible that this Verra von Blumenthal was in fact Vera Xenophontia von Blumenthal Kalamatiano, an unrelated Russian aristocrat whose son was a leading American spy against the Bolsheviks.
- Werner Richard and Wolfgang Charles, Albrecht's sons, ceased using their first Christian name and adopted their step-father's surname, becoming, respectively, Richard and Charles Arnold-Baker , joined the British army and both served as officers in MI6 . Richard was the officer who interrogated Rudolf Hess , and Charles commanded Churchill 's bodyguard for part of the war, and in Norway arrested the Deputy Commandant of Auschwitz .
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