| Surname: | Essen |
| Coat Of Arms: | Essen COA.jpg |
| Caption: | Coat of arms of the Essen family |
| Type: | noble family |
| Origin: | Lääne län, Estonia |
| Country: | Germany Sweden Russia Finland |
| Titles: | Baron von Essen Count von Essen |
| Founder: | Thomas von Essen |
| Traditions: | Lutheranism |
The Essen family or von Essen is the name of a Baltic German noble family which later became part of the Swedish and Russian nobility.[1]
The first known ancestor was Thomas von Essen (d. 1615–1627) who was from Lääne län in Estonia. His son Alexander von Essen received Swedish nobility, but was not introduced in the Swedish House of Nobility. His descendants, Reinhold Wilhelm von Essen (1669–1732) and Hans Henrik von Essen (1674–1729), were elevated to Baron in 1717 and 1719. Hans Henrik von Essen was later elevated to comital rank.
Another was Magnus Gustav von Essen (1759–1813), a Russian lieutenant general and military governor of Riga. Nikolai von Essen (1860-1915), Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy, hailed from the Livonian branch of the family, but not Count Peter Essen who was born a commoner.
This article is fully or partially based on material from Nordisk familjebok, 1904–1926.