The elder family is descended from the
knight Niels (born 1292). The elder family became extinct in 1799, while the younger family descends, through intermarriage in the late 15th century, from this family. The paternal ancestors of the younger family were also noble, but did not have a family name prior to the late 15th century, when they adopted the Kaas name from their mother's family. Nevertheless, the two families used different arms. The arms of the younger Kaas family is identical to that of the
Reventlow family; for this reason it has been argued that the family is descended from the Reventlow family in the male line. Several members of both families were represented in the Danish
Council of the Realm, and statesman
Niels Kaas of the elder family was head of the Dano-Norwegian government during the King's minority in the late 16th century, and as such the
de facto ruler of
Denmark-Norway. Other family members were fiefholders or high-ranking military officers. File:Kaas Niels.jpg|Statesman
Niels Kaas (Sparre-Kaas), Chancellor and head of the Dano-Norwegian government during the King's minority 1588–1594 File:Carl Bloch - Ved Niels Kaas dødsleje 1880.jpg|The painting
On the deathbed of Niels Kaas shows King
Christian IV receiving the keys of government and the final words of advice from
Niels Kaas, the
de facto ruler during the King's minority
Descendants of Jørgen Kaas The current Danish family branch is descended from fiefholder
Jørgen Kaas (1618–1658), whose descendants include Governor of Christiania and Trondheim
Hans Kaas (1640–1700), Governor
Jørgen Grubbe Kaas (1643–1711), Governor of Bergen and Admiral
Ulrik Kaas (1677–1746), General
Henrik Bielke Kaas (1686–1773), Admiral
Frederik Christian Kaas (1727–1804) and Admiral
Ulrik Christian Kaas (1729 - 1808). Other descendants of Jørgen Kaas are found in Norway, in particular in the families
Huitfeldt,
Nissen and
Paus. Among Jørgen Kaas' descendants are also members of several royal houses, including
Augusta Victoria, German Empress, King
Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, King
Constantine II of Greece, Queen
Sofía of Spain, the current head of the
House of Glücksburg Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, the current head of the
House of Hanover Prince Ernst August of Hanover and the current head of the
House of Hohenzollern Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia.
Munthe-Kaas A Norwegian branch, Munthe-Kaas, is descended from premier lieutenant Hartvig Kaas (1695–1759). His grandson, goldsmith in Christiania Ahasverus Kaas (1781–1859) applied for permission to change his name to Munthe-Kaas in 1848; however he was not himself descended from the Norwegian Munthe family. The last common (patrilineal) ancestor of the extant Danish Kaas family and this Norwegian branch was Erich Mogensen (Kaas) (ca. 1500–1556). The Norwegian Kaas family did not own substantial land or achieve high rank in Norway; its members lived mainly as farmers, NCOs and junior military officers before the 19th century. The family did not petition the Storting for recognition of its noble status in 1821 when the Nobility Act abolished the noble privileges in Norway.{{cite web ==References==