One of the oldest extant German aristocratic families, they belong to the Uradel (‘ancient nobility’) of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire.

[1] The earliest known member of the family is Johannes de Santen, a Ministerial of the Prince-Bishop of Münster circa 1295.

[2] The family served the Prince-Bishops as knights for several centuries[3] until moving north to the County of East Friesland following the Reformation.

There, they joined the patriciate of Emden and became considerable landowners in the surrounding areas and, after 1744, other parts of Prussia.

[5] Escutcheon: Argent, to a naissant stag Gules, mouv, of three fess wavy Azure in base and accompanied in chief in sinister of a rose of the second.