From the 16th century the nobility in Germany and Austria was divided into princes, counts and barons which together comprised the landed class of the high nobility. The emperors honored more and more families with hereditary titles leading to an "inflation" of titles.
There is a tradition in the family that the Mittelstedts used to have the title "von". The "von" meaning "from" was associated with location and granted through the feudal system. It was a common title and its possession does not necessarily suggest the person was important.
One family tradition says that the "von" was sold in the 17th or 18th century.
A separate tradition is that the Mittelstedts were of the nobility in Saxony-Anhalt and in Thuringia. Their title was "Baron Graf Freiherr von". The title was lost when Friedrich Heinrich (1845-1906) married a commoner, but is still registered in Duesseldorf at the "Amt fuer Deutschen Ahnenforschung".
The origin of the "Wappen der Familie" or "Coat of Arms of the Family" is also obscure. I was told it used to be common practice to engrave the family "Wappen" onto clay pipes. In the 1930s Paul Mittelstedt found such a clay pipe with the Mittelstedt "Wappen der Familie" engraved, and had large copies drawn up and framed. One of these copies, the one shown above, was given to my grandfather, and passed on to my father. It measures 27cm x 37cm.
The similar Coat of Arms shown below is from Family History Mittelstaedt 1870 1992 by Louise M H Voutchas (1992) page 5. Note that "Mittelstedt" is changed to "Mittelstaedt" and the date, 1537, is absent. Voutchas' book also has a copy of the 1537 Wappen. Voutchas says that both: "Were used by the nobility of Germany and retired to the archives of Germany". And that's all -- no further details.
Basic information about heraldry is available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_heraldry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry
Thousands of "Deutsche Wappen" are displayed at www.ngw.nl/int/dld/Germany.htm
