| Wachtmeister | |
|---|---|
| Swedish noble family | |
 Coat of arms of the Wachtmeister family | |
| Country | Sweden |
| Current region | Northern Europe |
| Place of origin | Livonia |
The Wachtmeister family (German pronunciation: [vaxtˈmaɪ̯stɐ]) is a Swedish noble family from Livonia, who immigrated to Sweden in the 16th century. The name Wachtmeister is German for 'sergeant'.
The family branched out in 1683, and was "introduced" at the Swedish House of Nobility in 1689,[1] in a baronial and a comital main branch; Wachtmeister af Björkö no. 31 and Wachtmeister af Johannishus no. 25. The baronial branch was dissolved on the "sword side" (svärdssidan, literally "on the side of the sword" meaning without any male heirs) in Sweden on 11 July 1889, but survives in Germany, where the principal is the Prussian Count Axel-Dietrich von Wachtmeister (born 1941). A branch of the Wachtmeister af Björkö was elevated on 17 January 1816 into a Prussian, comital dignity.