[citation needed] The first written information on the family dates back to 1302, when Andreas de Koskele was mentioned as a vassal in the Archbishopric of Riga.

[1] It is most probable that Gerhard was part of the Livonian Crusades, which would explain his marriage to Magdalena, the daughter of Caupo of Turaida.

The Koskull family claim descent from Caupo of Turaida,[2] who was considered the first King of Livonia and who helped Bishop Meinhard spread Christianity in the region.

The Pope had granted and confirmed the title of Caupo of Livonia, along with a coat of arms depicting three golden lilies on a purple background.

The brother with the Burtnieki side had an oak beam with iron tires rammed into the lake to indicate the border, and also adopted a different name: von der Pahlen.

Several family members participated in wars on behalf of the Livonian Confederation, such as Klaus Koskull, whose name appears in the 1423 Treaty of Melno.

First mentioned in 1302, the family settled in the northern part of the Archdiocese of Riga (present-day Dickeln parish), and acquired many estates during the colonization period.

The family also owned the estates Napküll, Sutzen, Kulsdorf, Mazauce, Ostrominski (Košķele) as well as the village of Lemskull.

They are also founders of Kosta Boda, a famous Swedish glassworks which was founded in 1742 by General Anders Koskull and Georg Bogislaus Staël von Holstein.

His wife was Maria Catharina Frankelin, whose mother was Constantina Eriksdotter, the daughter of King Erik XIV and Agda Persdotter.

Otto Johan Koskull was known to be the right hand of King Carl XII, fighting in numerous Swedish and Polish wars, thus he was elevated to a title.

The younger branch comes from war councilor Gustaf Fredrik Koskull, who married Anna Charlotta Gjelstrup in Hamburg.

Their son, Anders Erik Koskull, a court marshal, married Johanna Fredrica Sophia Fleming af Liebelitz.

A member of the Russian branch, Count Mikhail Frantsovich Koskull (1825-1869), married Princess Varvara Petrovna Shcherbatova.

Together they had one daughter, Countess Sofia Mikhailovna Koskull, who was married to Count Nikolay Feliksovich Sumarokov-Elston, the suspected grandson of King Federick William IV of Prussia.

Along with Alexander Alenitsy, he was the first Russian tennis player to participate in the Summer Olympic Games, and regularly played with Emperor Nicholas II.

Only Mikhail Sumarokov-Elston survived the revolution by boarding HMS Marlborough to Malta with his cousin Prince Felix Yusupov.