German names, no more or less than English surnames have always been prone to transposition and alternative spellings. Pfertner is another example. In this case the name is locational and describes a dweller by a spring, well or pond (Pfutze), itself a derivation from the latin 'Puteus' meaning a well. Alternative spelings have included Pfitznev(Austria), Fitzner(silesia) and Pfutzmann, our first recording being the Heraldic spelling, The Coat of Arms being A Gold Crowned Lions head on a Red Field. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Pfirter de Liechestal. which was dated 1680, Basle, Switzerland. during the reign of Emporer Leopold I, of the Holy Roman Empire, 1668 - 1705. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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