The House of Kirchberg were a Swabian aristocratic family, once wealthy that held the County of Kirchberg, mainly south of Ulm, on the right and left of the Iller . They are difficult to document, but at the end of the early Middle Ages and the beginning of the High Middle Ages they may have had a significance that went beyond regional power. By the end of the 12th century, the family had split into two lines, later into three, becoming impoverished towards the end of the Middle Ages and dying out in 1510 after the sale of their possessions and rights.
The ancestral seat of the Kirchbergers was probably in Unterkirchberg, in what is now the municipality of Illerkirchberg . Towards the end of the 11th century, it was moved up the Iller to Oberkirchberg, where a hilltop castle was built, where the Fugger Castle now stands. The Kirchberg coat of arms, which has not been interpreted satisfactorily, shows a woman (later often a Mohrin) holding a helmet or a lily, later a mitre, in her hands. [2]
The origin of the Kirchbergs and their early genealogy cannot be taken seriously historically. The frequent use of the first names Otto and Hartmann could indicate family ties to the Counts of Buchhorn, a branch of the Udalrich line that was wealthy on Lake Constance and had died out in 1089 , or to the Hupaldings. A Hartmann is mentioned in 980 as Gaugraf im Illergau. The first documented mention is in 1087, when an Otto de Chirchperg testifies to a donation to the Salvator monastery in Schaffhausen. The foundation and rich endowment of the Wiblingen Abbey in 1093 by the brothers Otto and Hartmann from Kirchberg shows the financial possibilities of the Kirchbergs at that time. The Wiblingen monastery remained the burial place of this noble family until the Kirchbergs died out.
The County of Kirchberg was an imperial fiefdom that arose from the eastern parts of the former Rammachgau. The area can be described as an irregular square, the northern border of which is formed by the Danube river from the confluence of the Roth upstream to about Obermarchtal , the eastern border originally probably by the Roth , later by the Iller and the western border by the Riss and the upper reaches of the Schussen. The cornerstones of the irregular southern border are Boos in the south-east, the lower reaches of the Aitrach in the south and the area south of Schussenried in the southwest. In this area, the Kirchberg family had the County rights to rule, enjoyed the corresponding rights of use and had the wildlife sanctuary. Their allodial holdings were concentrated between the Rot and Roth, but also lay partly north of the Danube and east of the Roth. In the High and Late Middle Ages, parts of it went as subfiefs or fiefdoms to the local lower nobility and to the citizens of Ulm.
In the High Middle Ages, probably still in the 12th century, the Kirchbergs split into two, and in 1250 finally into three lines. The reasons for the first division are not documented.
The last representatives of the count's family were the two cousins William (died around 1489) and Philip from the Wullenstetten line, who shared the inheritance. Both were heavily in debt. William, who was apparently from 1473 personal servant of Eberhard V, Count of Württemberg-Urach, [3] sold his half in 1481 to George, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut, and Philipp in 1498. Duke George was already in possession of the dominions of Weissenhorn and Pfaffenhofen bordering to the east. After George's death in 1503 and the beginning of the Landshut War of Succession , King Maximilian I.the lordships and pledged them in 1507 for the very large sum of 50,000 guilders to the Fuggers , who called themselves Count of Kirchberg and Weisenhorn after being elevated to the hereditary imperial count (1526). [4] Philip had retained some of his Kirchberg estates until his death on August 20, 1510. In November 1510, his daughter and heiress Apollonia and her husband, John, Count of Montfort-Tettnang, sold the Wain estate they had acquired in 1499 .
The first heraldic testimony of the Kirchberg family is a seal from around 1200 that shows three covered towers. It is preserved in a reduced form in the coat of arms of the city of Bruneck. Only from the middle of the 13th century are further pictorial sources available, which always show a crowned female figure carrying either a helmet or a lily in her hands. The heraldic statement of this figure is not clear. From the late 13th century, a lily or helmet was replaced by a miter, which is probably due to the Bishop of Brixen, Bruno of Kirchberg. In the late Middle Ages, the female figure was often depicted as a Moor. In this form it was also added to the Fugger's coat of arms, who bought the county in 1507. Likewise, today's coats of arms of Illerkirchberg and Oberkirchberg go back to the late medieval coats of arms of the Kirchbergs.
County of Kirchberg (1st creation) (1090-1367) | ||
County of Kirchberg- Brandenburg (1195-1298) | ||
County of Kirchberg- Wullenstetten (1240-1434) | ||
Annexed to the Holy Roman Empire | ||
Annexed to the House of Matsch (1367-1434) | ||
County of Kirchberg (2nd creation; Wullenstetten line) (1434-1510) | ||
(Note: Despite a general idea of who have ruled the county, there is doubt on some of the co-rulers included here, who may of may have not co-ruled at all.)
Ruler | Born | Reign | Ruling part | Consort | Death | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hartmann I | ![]() | 1063 ? | c.1090 – 1125 | County of Kirchberg | Unknown two children | 1125 aged 61–62 | Brothers and founders of the family and the county. They also founded Wiblingen Abbey. |
Otto I | c.1065 ? | c.1090 – 1107 | Unknown one child | 1107 aged c.41-42 | |||
Hartmann II | c.1095 First son of Hartmann I | 1125 – 1170 | County of Kirchberg | Unknown no children | 1170 aged c.74-75 | Children of Hartmann I, ruled jointly. | |
Eberhard I | 1099 Second son of Hartmann I | 1125 – 1166 | Unknown five children | 1166 aged 66–67 | |||
Hartmann III | 1119 First son of Eberhard I | 1170 – 1198 | County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg | Unknown three children | 1198 aged 78–79 | Children of Hartmann II, divided their inheritance. | |
Otto II | c.1120 Second son of Eberhard I | 1170 – 1188 | County of Kirchberg | Unknown five children | 1188 aged 57–58 | ||
Eberhard II | c.1160? First son of Otto II | 1188 – 27 August 1240 | County of Kirchberg | Bertha of Alpeck three children | 27 August 1240 aged 79-80? | Children of Otto II and Hartmann III, ruled jointly. | |
Otto III | c.1160? Second son of Otto II | c.1198 | Unmarried | 1198 aged 37-38? | |||
Hartmann IV | 1146? Son of Hartmann III | 1198 – 1215 | County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg | ? of Korsch-Eichelberg one child | 1215 aged 68–69 | Left only a daughter, and his inheritance went to his nephew, Otto IV. | |
Otto IV | c.1190 First son of Eberhard II and Bertha of Alpeck | 1215 – 1220 | County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg | Unknown two children | 1220 aged 29–30 | ||
Otto V | c.1210? First son of Otto IV | 1220 – 23 July 1296 | County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg | ? of Maschetten one child | 23 July 1296 aged 85–86? | Children of Otto IV, ruled jointly. After his brother's death, Otto V associated his own son Otto VI and nephew Otto VII (son of Hartmann V) to the co-rulership. | |
Hartmann V | c.1210? Second son of Otto IV | 1220 – 1246 | ? of Wurttemberg four children | 1246 aged 35–36? | |||
Otto VI | c.1230? Son of Otto V | 1246 – 23 July 1281 | ? of Gundelfingen three children | 23 July 1281 aged 50–51? | |||
Otto VII | c.1230? Son of Hartmann V | 1246 – 1280 | Unmarried | 1280 aged 49–50? | |||
Conrad I | ![]() | c.1200 Second son of Eberhard II and Bertha of Alpeck | 27 August 1240 – 1268 | County of Kirchberg | Bertha of Eberstahl (1201-1264) two children | 1268 aged 67–68? | |
Conrad II | 1229 First son of Conrad I and Bertha of Eberstahl | 1268 – 2 February 1286 | County of Kirchberg | Elisabeth of Eichen (d.c.1280) three children | 2 February 1286 aged 56–57 | Children of Conrad I, divided their inheritance. | |
Eberhard III | 1231 Second son of Conrad I and Bertha of Eberstahl | 1268 – 1283 | County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten | Uta of Neuffen five children | 1283 aged 51–52 | ||
Conrad III the Elder | 1268 Son of Eberhard III and Uta of Neuffen | 1283 – 1326 | County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten | Bertha of Vaz (d.1335) three children | 1326 aged 57–58 | ||
Conrad IV | c.1250 Son of Conrad II and Elisabeth of Eichen | 2 February 1286 – 30 March 1315 | County of Kirchberg | Unknown four children | 30 March 1315 aged 64–65 | ||
Hartmann VI | c.1250 Son of Otto VI and ? of Gundelfingen | 23 July 1296 – 23 April 1298 | County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg | Sophia of Wangen (d.c.1330) four children | 23 April 1298 aged 47–48 | After his death in battle, Kirchberg-Brandenburg was annexed to the Holy Roman Empire. | |
Kirchberg-Brandenburg was annexed to the Holy Roman Empire | |||||||
Conrad V | c.1270 First son of Conrad IV | 30 March 1315 – 1315 | County of Kirchberg | Anna of Taufers (d.21 June 1351) three children | 1315 (after 30 March?) aged 44–45 | Children of Conrad IV, ruled jointly. | |
Bruno [5] | c.1280? Second son of Conrad IV | 30 March 1315 – 1356 | Liutgard of Eichelburg (d.30 March 1356) four children | 1356 aged 75–76? | |||
Eberhard IV | c.1280 Son of Conrad III and Bertha of Vaz | 1326 | County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten | Liutgard two children | c.1326 aged 45-46 | ||
William II [6] | c.1323? Son of Eberhard IV and Liutgard | 1326 – 1 September 1370 | County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten | Anna of Eichen (d.1369) five children | 1 September 1370 aged 46-47 | ||
Conrad VI | c.1300? First son of Bruno and Liutgard of Eichelburg | 1356 – 1367 | County of Kirchberg | Unmarried | 1367 aged 66–67 | Children of Bruno, ruled jointly. After their deaths, Kirchberg was inherited by William's daughter Agnes, and the County of Matsch. | |
William I | c.1300? Second son of Bruno and Liutgard of Eichelburg | 1356 – 10 August 1366 | Agnes of Teck 1336 (d.23 September 1384) one child | 10 August 1366 aged 65–66 | |||
Agnes | c.1340? Daughter of William I and Agnes of Teck | 1367 – 12 March 1407 | County of Kirchberg (from 1390 in only parts of Kirchberg) | Ulrich IV, Lord of Matsch six children | 12 March 1407 aged 66–67 | Heiress of Kirchberg, which was transferred to the House of Matsch; however, the family returned much (though not all) of Kirchberg to the original family. | |
Kirchberg was annexed to the House of Matsch, though parts of it returned in | |||||||
Conrad VII | | 1354 First son of William II and Anna of Eichen | 1 September 1370 – 17 January 1417 | County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten | Anna of Hohenberg-Wildberg (c.1360-1421) c.1380 four children | 17 January 1417 aged 62–63 | Children of William II, ruled possibly jointly. Eberhard may have abdicated to pursue a religious career, and became Bishop of Augsburg. |
Eberhard V | c.1360 Second son of William II and Anna of Eichen | 1 September 1370 – 1404 | Unmarried | 12 August 1413 Wiblingen aged 52–53 | |||
Eberhard VI | ![]() | c.1385 Son of Conrad VII and Anna of Hohenberg-Wildberg | 17 January 1417 – 15 May 1440 | County of Kirchberg (in Wullenstetten until 1434; in the whole county since 1434) | Agnes of Werdenberg-Bludenz (d.1436) 1415 five children | 15 May 1440 aged 54–55 | Despite having already inherited the older Kirchberg inheritance (given by the Matsch family after the pledge of 1390, he was only recognized as possessor of the entirety of the county in 1434. |
Eberhard VII | ![]() | c.1415 First son of Eberhard VI and Agnes of Werdenberg-Bludenz | 15 May 1440 – 4 July 1472 | County of Kirchberg | Kunigunde of Wertheim (d.1481) eight children | 4 July 1472 aged 56–57 | Children of Eberhard VI, ruled jointly. It's not certain if Conrad VIII associated his son Conrad IX. |
Conrad VIII | ![]() | c.1415 Second son of Eberhard VI and Agnes of Werdenberg-Bludenz | 15 May 1440 – 5 June 1470 | Anna of Fürstenberg-Baar (c.1426-1481) five children | 5 June 1470 aged 54–55 | ||
Conrad IX | ![]() | c.1440? First son of Conrad VIII and Anna of Fürstenberg-Baar | 1450? – 24 May 1460 | 24 May 1460 aged 19–20? | Unmarried | ||
Philip | ![]() | c.1455? Son of Eberhard VII and Kunigunde of Wertheim | 4 July 1472 – 20 August 1510 | County of Kirchberg | Elisabeth of Schonburg (d.20 July 1491) three children | 20 August 1510 aged 54–55 | Cousins, ruled jointly. Indebted, William sold his part of the land to Bavaria in 1481, and Philip may have done the same with some of his inheritance. The core Kirchberg domains were, however, retained by Philip until his own death. In his own lifetime he saw the Fugger family being nominated as Counts of Kirchberg (1507), and they may have succeeded him after his death. |
William III | ![]() | c.1440 Second son of Conrad VIII and Anna of Fürstenberg-Baar | 4 July 1472 – 1481 | Elisabeth of Erbach-Erbach no children | 22 March 1488 aged 57–58 |
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