Stolberg (noble family)

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Family coat of arms of the Counts of Stolberg before 1429
Overall coat of arms of the House of Stolberg from 1742

The princes and counts of Stolberg are a widespread noble house in the high nobility of the Holy Roman Empire .

history

There are over ten different theories about the ancestry of the Counts of Stolberg, none of which, however, was finally able to prevail. Most likely it seems to be a descent from the Counts of Hohnstein . As the first representative of this family, Count Heinrich zu Stolberg appears in a document from 1210, who is mentioned as Count Heinrich von Voigtstedt as early as 1200 . While Voigtstedt near Artern was the seat of this dynasty, this became Stolberg (Harz) at the latest at the beginning of the 13th century . The castle there was owned by the family until it was expropriated by the land reform in 1945 .

In 1429, the Counts of Stolberg succeeded in acquiring the County of Wernigerode in the northern Harz region as part of an inheritance contract , thereby significantly expanding their area of ​​influence.

In 1535 Eberhard IV. Von Eppstein died and his nephew Ludwig zu Stolberg inherited the county of Königstein with the residence Burg Königstein im Taunus as well as the rule of Gedern and shares in the office of Ortenberg . Königstein fell to the Electorate of Mainz in 1581 , Gedern and Ortenberg have remained in the possession of the Wernigerode and Roßla lines to the present day.

In 1645 it was permanently divided into the older main line Stolberg-Wernigerode and the younger main line Stolberg-Stolberg . The Stolberg- Gedern (until 1804) and Stolberg-Schwarza (until 1748) lines branched off from Stolberg-Wernigerode at the beginning of the 18th century . Stolberg-Stolberg was divided into the two lines Stolberg-Stolberg and Stolberg-Roßla (until 1982) in 1706 .

Representatives of the Stolberg-Gedern line achieved the elevation to the imperial prince status by Emperor Charles VII in 1742 .

In the 18th century, the immediate imperial Counts of Stolberg-Wernigerode had to subordinate their territories to the Kingdom of Prussia and the Electorate of Hanover , the Counts of Stolberg-Stolberg and the Counts of Stolberg-Roßla subordinate the county of Stolberg, which was divided between them, to the Electorate of Saxony . The line of the Counts of Stolberg-Gedern, who died out in 1804 in 1742, was subject to the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt . With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in 1806, the Stolbergers lost their imperial count and in 1815 finally became Prussian noblemen.

The respective landlord or his first-born son and presumptive successor in the family estate of the houses Stolberg-Wernigerode or Stolberg-Stolberg and Stolberg-Roßla received approval from Kaiser Wilhelm II on October 22, 1890 and 1893 to run the princely or princely Title. A branch of the Stolberg-Stolberg line was incorporated into the Dutch nobility in 1980 , but without recognition of the princely title.

Possessions (selection)

Stolberg family castle in the Harz Mountains
Wernigerode Castle in the Harz Mountains around 1860
Rossla Castle in the Harz Mountains
Gedern Castle , Hesse
Ortenberg Castle (Hesse)

Territories

goods

The Counts of Stolberg also had claims to the Belgian Agimont and had this name in their title. However, a spelling mistake was made. Only through a rescript dated December 6, 1780, Count Christian Friedrich zu Stolberg-Wernigerode corrected the incorrect spelling Aigmont in Agimont that had been used until then.

Important representatives (selection)

Coat of arms graphic by Otto Hupp in the Munich calendar from 1896

Older Stolberg counts

Prince Otto zu Stolberg-Wernigerode , Vice Chancellor of the German Empire
Wernigerode Castle today
Ilsenburg Castle , Harz
Stolberg Castle in Schwarza , Thuringia
Peterswaldau Castle , Lower Silesia
Kreppelhof Castle , Lower Silesia
Jannowitz Castle , Lower Silesia
Schlemmin Castle , Western Pomerania

Stolberg-Wernigerode line

Stolberg-Gedern line

Stolberg-Stolberg line

Stolberg-Roßla line

coat of arms

Family coat of arms : In gold, a striding black stag ; on the helmet with black and gold covers a natural peacock's tail between 2 silver ostrich feathers.

  • Family coat of arms

  • Stolberg-Wernigerode

  • Stolberg (extended coat of arms from 1597)

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Stolberg (noble family)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files