Amongst the great surnames of Germany that of "Blucher" is one of the most prominent. Like many such surnames it is of residential origins, and derives from the village of the same name near Boizenburg, on the river Elbe. The placename is of Slavonic origin, and it is thought that it describes a particular type of log cabin common in the region in ancient times. The surname is also found in the spelling forms of Bluecher and Bluechert. Not only is "Blucher" one of the most prominent of German surnames, with Coats of Arms granted to nameholders in Bavaria, Pomerania, Prussia and Mecklenburg (the epicentre of the surname) it is one of the earliest, as shown below. The most famous of the nameholders is probably Gebhard Leberecht Von Blucher, Prince of Wahlstadt and victor of Waterloo (1815) with the Duke of Wellington. Other (Church) recordings include Anna Maria Von Bluecher, who was baptised at Sukow, Mecklenburg, on June 1st 1598, and Joachim Bluecher, who married Elspeth Hamborg at Schlagsdorf, Mecklenburg, on April 29th 1662. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ulrich Von Blucher, which was dated 1214, in the "Medieval Land Charters of the Province of Mecklenburg", Germany, during the reign of Emperor Frederich 11 of the Holy Roman Empire, 1214 - 1250. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.