Ekkehard

Ekkehard (and Eckardt, Eckard, Eckart, Eckhardt, Ekkehart) is a German given name. It is composed of the elements ekke "edge, blade; sword" and hart "brave; hardy". Variant forms include Eckard, Eckhard, Eckhart, Eckart. The Anglo-Saxon form of the name was Ecgheard, possibly attested in the toponym Eggerton.

Middle Ages

It was the name of five monks of the Abbey of Saint Gall from the tenth to the thirteenth century:

• Ekkehard I (died 973)
• Ekkehard II (died 990)
• Ekkehard III
• Ekkehard IV (died c. 1056)
• Ekkehard V (died c. 1220)

It was also the name of two Margraves of Meissen:

• Eckard I (died 1002)
• Eckard II (died 1046)

Other notable people with that given name include:

• Ekkehard of Huysburg (died 1084), abbot of Huysburg Abbey
• Ekkehard of Aura (died 1126), chronicler and abbot of Aura Abbey
• Meister Eckhart (died c. 1327), philosopher and mystic
• Eckhard Christian (1907-1985), Luftwaffe officer
• Ekkehard von Kuenssberg (1913–2000), German doctor
• Eckhard Pfeiffer (b. 1941), businessman

See also

• Ekkehard (novel), 1855 novel by Joseph Victor von Scheffel inspired by Ekkehard II of Saint Gall
• Ekkehard, 1878 opera by Johann Joseph Abert based on the novel