Von Berke

Berke ( hun. nagy-barkóczi Berke; ger. Berke von Nagy-Barkócz) family was an old hungarian noble family in the Slovene March (Vas County, nowadays: Prekmurje, Slovenia). They were landowners and bankers.

On 10. December 1609 Berke Ambrosius was elevated into nobility, however older documents shows that this might be only a confiration of nobility, because in years 1417 and 1427 we can find mentions of Peter de Berke and Berke Jakab, who were homo regius (kiraly ember). In 1610 the family was written into Vas County noble register. In 1690 king Leopold I. donated place Nagy-Barkócz to Berke Peter. At the end of the 19th century they have established a bank in Vas County. Balaž Berke, Ferenc Berke and Janos Berke, members of the Berke family were Slovenian writers (they wrote in Vend dialect). Berke József was also a member of Hungarian parliament from 1869–1872, then Count Szápáry has won the elections. But 3 years later Berke has won again 1875-1878 and 1878-1881.