Metzelaar

Metzelaar is an uncommon Dutch name for bricklayer. In Dutch it is usually spelled "metselaar". The origin seems to be the German word "metzler" meaning bricklayer. Metzler is a common English-American name too, as it is easy to pronounce in English.

Metzelaar is probably a historic stage when the word came from the old Niederdiets (incorrectly: Niederdeutsch), spoken on the lowland in and around present day Germany.

In Dutch also is the word "vrij-metselaar", meaning freemason. So the word bricklayer is connected to freemasonry.

In Alsace-Lotharingia - an early, highly influential border area between France and Germany that changed a few times between those countries - is the place "Metz". The Moselle River just coming out of the mountains, while its stones and sand have been used for building materials.

Metz is also known as a common Jewish name. This was an early highly influential area of the modern world, known for its freemasons heritage like Rothschild, as well as where the present day banking system was invented.

Metzler probably meant someone that came from Metz and "-ler" doing a job. Like work"-er": Workers and deliverers from Metz were constructing houses and buildings and called Metzlers.
 
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