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The name Rinehart, Reinhardt, Reinhardt, Reinhard is of German origin and it's said to mean "clean heart". It was probably first taken as a patronymic by the son of one so called, and earlier spelling may have included the word heart, as in Reinheart; other commonly found spellings are Rhinehardt, Rhinehart, Rhinenard, Rynhard, Ryrhart with legal documents for one being spelled several ways according to his own signature or that of various clerks.
Regard1ess of the spelling, in Continental Europe the family appears to have belonged chiefly to the nobility and landed classes, with early branches seated in German Prussia, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony, Austria and in Switzerland. Many Palatine Reinhards, driven by religious persecution to holland, later sought refuge in America.
As early as 1460 a Reinhard family was prominent in Prussia, being mentioned among its nobility in that year and and in 1598 and 1732. The Reinhard of Ringencron resided in the Province Silesia in Prussia was granted arms 1678. Han Von Reinhard, of Ringencron, is recorded as having become Capton Lt. in the Austrian forces in the latter part of the eighteenth century. In Bavaria the family of Reinhardt was Granted arms in 1590. In 1634 the Reinhard of Thurnfels of Bavaria was listed among the nobility, with one descendant of this line, Franz Unton Reinhard, of Thurnfels and Teckleu, recorded as a Baronet in 1797. The Reinhardts of Saxony, "Chevaliers Du St. empire" in 1788, and nobles "De st. Empire", in 1803, were another prominent line in Europe.
The earliest record I have noted for a possible Reinhard ancestor is that of Sir Knight Johan Georg Reinhardt, First crusader, 1096. Much as I would like to tell you that our first proved ancestor, Johan Georg Reinhardt, is a direct descendants of this crusader, but such record is as yet legendary to me.
However it is said the ancestor of the Johan Georg Reinhard's of Northampton Co., Pa. has been traced back to this crusader of the same name. Although definitely not proven - it is interesting to note that the Reinhardt family Association is thought to have acquired this ancestral lineage. Mrs Alice Roberts Huber of Scranton, Pa. , knows that her Grandfather, William Henry Reinhardt of Stroudsburg and Scranton Pa., was one of the trustees who directed this research. The other two trustees were Osman Franklin Reinhard, a banker in Bethlehem, Pa., and Alvin Reinheardt, who was the principal of the schools at Hellerstown, Pa.. But Mrs. Huber has not as yet found this connection, nor does the Northampton co. Historical Society reply to our combined entreaties for the same. Clarence Alston Mannon's "A genealogy of the Reinharts in America (1709-1934) of German decent" in its 586 pages, does not contain such information, but Mr. Mannon seems to recall that in the genealogy of Runkel Fisher there is mentioned a crusader who is supposed to be the first to bear the name Reinhardt. The original manuscript of said Osman Reinhard, trustee, as loaned to me in 1954 by Mr. Mannon, did not contain this desired lineage of the Northampton Johan Georg Reinhard back to a crusader ancestor.
The Reinhardt Family Association's family crest is that of a fox, and a scroll which reads " Sir Knight Johan George Reinhardt, First Crusader, 1096" it is even more wishful thinking to imagine some connection between this Reinhardt crest of the fox and the story of Reynard the fox.... but for those who have not heard, I will repeat the story so it will not become a lost part of our history even though not proven....
The well known epic of Reynard the Fox, using for its characters animals instead of men, originated in the 10th century in northern France and Flanders, with no obvious purpose other than that of amusement. But by the 13th century, low German and Flemish versions of Reinaert De Vos, adopted from earlier translation in 1180, by an Alsatian, Heinrich Der Glichesaere, had become transparent satires upon certain monastic orders. The oldest extent High German version, entitled "Reinart Vuhs or fuchs", more usually called Reineke fuchs, was supplanted by Gottsched in 1752 in one of the best prose versions of this story relating the Knaveries of Reynard the fox.
You may recall your childhood story of our English translation. Nobel the Lion, king of the animals, was holding court one easter-tide. All the animals come to pay homage except Reynard the Fox. Several of other animals complained, the loudest being Isengrim, the Wolf: then Tibert the Cat and Prancer the Horse: but Grimart, the Bager, spoke up for his Uncle Reynard, then came Chanticleer the Cock, bringing his dead Daughter slain by Reynard, for this and other misdeeds the fox is summoned for trial. Bruin the Bear, the first messenger sent for Reynard, is side tracked by honey hidden the cleft of a tree and is nearly beaten to death by peasants finding him there at their honey. Reynard persuades the second messenger, Tibert, to catch mice near where a noose is hung, so as the cat is beaten before he gets loose to return to the court. The Bager succeeds in getting Reynard to return with him: on the way the fox makes a private confession of his rascalities, especially those tricks played on the Wolf. The court condemns Reynard to death, and as he was about to be hanged, he begged leave to make a public confession in which he drops a hint that he knew where an immense treasure was hidden. This was to have been used by the Wolf and the Bear in their over throw of the Government. Reynard would like to show the Lion where it was but Reynard was under oath to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Version vary in the ending of this satire, but Reynard is usually the victor....
Adopted from ed weaver
Hans Bahlow, Deutsches Namenlexikon, Gondrom Verlag, Blindlach, 1992