The line traces back to one Jürgen Amtsberg, master blacksmith in the village of Schwichtenberg near Borrentin, then part of Swedish Pomerania. His great–grandson Johann David Theodor August Amsberg, Protestant pastor at the parish church of Kavelstorf near Rostock in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, from about 1795 styled himself von Amsberg without objection. The Amsbergs had been commoners at first, and the preposition probably was used to signify the family from the name of their ancestors, rather than from the name of a place they originated from. A notable member was his son Philipp August von Amsberg, who initiated the establishment of the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway inaugurated in 1838. The family received the official approval to hold the noble title by decree of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1891. On 10 March 1966 Claus von Amsberg married the heir presumptive to the Dutch throne, Princess Beatrix of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, and from 1980 until his death in 2002 was prince consort of the Queen of the Netherlands. He is the father of Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands and Jonkheer van Amsberg. Willem-Alexander's younger brother Prince Friso van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg, due to his marriage with Mabel Martine Wisse Smit, lost his status as a Prince of the Netherlands but retained for himself royal status as prince of Orange-Nassau and for his children received the title of count/countess of Orange-Nassau. The marriage of the third-born son Prince Constantijn so far has produced the only male heir of the main Amsberg line, Claus-Casimir van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg born in 2004. In 2001 it was established by Decree that children born in the marriage of Prince Constantijn will hold the hereditary noble title and honorific Count van Oranje-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg and have the surname Van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg. In 2004 the same regulation was established for Prince Friso and the children born in his marriage. When Willem-Alexander became king in 2013 the House of Amsberg became the ruling House of the Netherlands. It is, however, likely to lose that status, since Willem-Alexander has only daughters, and membership of the Amsberg noble family descends via the agnatic line whereas the Dutch monarchy follows absolute primogeniture. Several members of the family, mainly descendants of Philipp August von Amsberg and of Prince Claus' great–uncle General Joachim von Amsberg, still live in Northern Germany. The Dutch branch of the family, i.e. Prince Claus, the former Claus von Amsberg, has some distant Dutch/Flemish ancestors who left the Low Countries during Spanish rule, such as the Berenberg merchant family and other prominent families of Antwerp. Other notable family members include colonel Joachim von Amsberg, general Joachim von Amsberg and banker Joachim von Amsberg.
Heads of the family
This is a list of the heads, i.e. the senior male line members, of the Amsberg family, as well the patrilineal line of the current Dutch royal family. Before the 1891 ennoblement, being the senior male descendant didn't have any legal relevance, and such the term "head" is anachronistic before the family's rise as a noble and eventually royal family. The headship of the family since its recognition as noble in 1891 has some historical legal relevance prior to the formal abolition of the nobility's privileges in 1918.
Jürgen Amtsberg, ca. 1640-1686, master blacksmith
Jürgen Amtsberg, 1680-1756, master baker
Georg Amtsberg, 1717-1772
Johann David Theodor August Amsberg, who started calling himself "von Amsberg" from 1795, 1747-1820, pastor in Kavelstorf
Joachim Karl Theodor von Amsberg, 1777-1842
Gabriel Ludwig Johann von Amsberg, 1822-1899, received permission from the Grand Duke to use the particle "von" in 1891, effectively an ennoblement
Wilhelm von Amsberg, 1856-1929
Claus Felix von Amsberg, 1890-1953
Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg, né Klaus von Amsberg, 1926-2002, a former diplomat of Germany
