Stollen

Recorded in many forms including the basic Stoll, Stolle, Stollen, Stoller, and Stollmann, with such compounds as Stollenberg, Stollenhof, and Stollmeier, this is a surname of Germanic origins. The pre 7th century word 'stolle' has various meanings and origins. Generally these are a post or boundary stone, marking a city or parish boundary, and hence given to somebody who lived or worked by such a place, or it may describe a mine shaft or even a quarry. It is probable that as surnames came into general use around the 14th century, and as industrialisation was also begining at this time, the most likely association is with the mining industry. This almost certainly applies to such names at Stoller, Stollman and Stollmeier. The residential compound forms such as Stollenberg, meaning a steep or spikey hill, or Stollhof, a house with high sides, are also the names of villages or hamlets. As such the surnames generally refer to people who did live at such places, but who may have subsequently moved somewhere else, as one of the easiest ways to identify a stranger in medieval times, was to call him or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Early examples of recordings taken from early surviving German and Swiss charters include: Heinrich Stolle of Frommern, in the year 1191, and Ulrich Stollenmayer of Waldstetten, in 1503.