County of Oettingen

Last updated
County (Principality) of Oettingen
Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Oettingen
1147–1806
Arms of the house of Oettingen.svg
Coat of arms
Oettingen Counties 1744.png
1744 map: Ö-Spielberg (north, pink); Ö-Oettingen (southeast, pale yellow); Ö-Wallerstein (midwest, yellow-orange); Ö-Baldern (west, blue-green).
Status State of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital Oettingen in Bayern
GovernmentPrincipality
Historical era Middle Ages
 First documentary mention
1147
 Partitioned
1418, 1442 and 1485 1147
 Partitioned to Ö-Oettingen and Ö-Wallerstein
1522
 Ö-Wallerstein partitioned to create Ö-Baldern and Ö-Spielberg
1623/94
 Ö-Oettingen extinct; to Ö-Spielberg and Ö-Wallerstein
1731
 Ö-Spielberg raised to principality
1734
 Ö-Wallerstein raised to principality
1774
 Ö-Baldern extinct; to Ö-Wallerstein
1798
1806
 Partitioned with Württemberg
1810
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Arms of Swabia.svg Duchy of Swabia
Kingdom of Bavaria Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg

The House of Oettingen was a high-ranking noble Franconian and Swabian family. It ruled various estates that composed the County of Oettingen between the 12th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1674 the house was raised to the rank of prince for the first time. Despite the annexation of their lands following the German mediatisation of 1806, the family retained their titles and still have representatives today.

Contents

Origins

Arms of the House of Oettingen Oettingen Arms.png
Arms of the House of Oettingen

The Oettingen family traces its descent back to Fridericus comes, documented in 987, and his father Sieghard V. (Sigehardus comes in pago Riezzin, 'Sieghard, Count in Riesgau') from the Sieghardinger family, documented in 1007. These are also considered to be the ancestors of the Staufers.

The Oettingen family was first mentioned in 1147 with Ludovicus comes de Otingen, a relative of the Imperial House of Hohenstaufen who was granted the county surrounding the Imperial city of Nördlingen as a fief, possibly with his brother Chuno comes de Othingen. [1] The relationship between the family and the Hohenstaufens is also proven by documents. The family built Steinsberg Castle around 1200 as vassals of the Hohenstaufen dynasty

From the 12th to the 14th century the family gained the largest secular territory in East Swabia. The county of Oettingen lay around the imperial city of Nördlingen in present-day Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg. At the end of the Old Kingdom in 1806, the area covered around 850 km2 (330 sq mi) and had around 60,000 inhabitants.

Main branches

From 1410, the county started its first divisions within the family, as noted below. Following the partitions, the remaining land was called Oettingen-Oettingen and was located in modern-day eastern Baden-Württemberg and western Bavaria. This branch was Protestant, created Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1674 but became extinct in 1731, when the county was divided and inherited by Oettingen-Spielberg (Princes since 1734) that obtained the town and castle of Oettingen, and Oettingen-Wallerstein (Princes since 1774).

Wallerstein

Arms of the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein Arms of the house of Oettingen-Wallerstein.svg
Arms of the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein

Oettingen-Wallerstein (German: Öttingen-Wallerstein) is a noble family related to a former County in modern-day eastern Baden-Württemberg and western Bavaria, Germany.

Oettingen-Wallerstein was twice created; first, as a partition of Oettingen (modern-day town of Oettingen in Bayern) in 1423 which became extinct in 1486 and was inherited by Oettingen-Oettingen, and the second time as a partition of Oettingen-Oettingen in 1557, as a Catholic branch of the family. Oettingen-Oettingen suffered one partition, between itself and Oettingen-Spielberg in 1602. It was raised to a Principality in 1774 by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. [2] In 1806, it was mediatised to the Kingdom of Bavaria, and divided with the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1810. At this time, the Principality had a territory of 850 km2 (330 sq mi) with 60,000 inhabitants.

Spielberg

Oettingen-Spielberg is a noble family and former principality in modern-day eastern Baden-Württemberg and western Bavaria, Germany. It was partitioned of Oettingen-Wallerstein in 1602. [3] [4] It was raised to a Principality in 1734 (after it inherited the town and the castle of Oettingen in 1731), mediatised to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806, and divided with the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1810. The other still-existing branch of the Oettingen family is the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein.

Baldern

Oettingen-Baldern was a line of the Swabian-Franconian noble house of Oettingen. It was created by dividing the Oettingen-Alt-Wallerstein line in 1623. The Counts of Oettingen-Baldern died out in 1789. The possessions including Baldern Castle and Katzenstein Castle as well as the Sötern lordship went over to the Oettingen-Wallerstein line.

Rulers

House of Oettingen

Partitions of Oettingen under the Oettingen family

      
County of Oettingen
(1147-1674)
County of
Wallerstein

(1st creation)
(1423-1486)
County of
Flochberg

(1423-1549)
      
      
            
Raised to
Principality
of Oettingen

(1674-1731)
County of
Wallerstein

(2nd creation)
(1557-1774)
County
of Baldern

(1602-1687)
County of
Spielberg

(1579-1734)

Raised to
Principality
of Spielberg

(1734-1806)
            
County of
Katzenstein

(1626-1787)
Raised to
Principality
of Wallerstein

(1774-1806)
      
Mediatised to the Kingdom of Bavaria (from 1806)

Table of rulers

Like the Reuss family and the House of Schwarzburg, the Oettingen Family also has the tradition of numbering members of the family by order of birth, independently of having ruled or not. As so, the table below will present the birth numbering in comma "", followed, in brackets (), by the counting of those who actually ruled. Despite the more known divisions having begun only in the 15th century, it is clear (or at least hints to), by the simultaneous use of the title Comes Ötingen by various rulers at the same time, that the period 1141-1440 was also marked by various, but short-lived divisions between the counts. The un-definition of the concrete limits of the counts' possessions contributed to this as well [5] . Therefore, in the referred period, it is unknown, in this early divisions of the land, which branch kept which part. As so, the divisions will be called, at this early stage of the history of the couts of Oettingen, as Part A, Part B and so on.

Lines of succession (post-mediatisation)

Mediatized line of Wallerstein

Princely arms of the family Oettingen Wallerstein Oettingen Spielberg - Tyroff AT.jpg
Princely arms of the family

Mediatised line of Spielberg

  • Johann Aloys III Anton, 4th Prince 1806–1855 (1788–1855)
    • Otto I Karl, 5th Prince 1855–1882 (1815–1882)
      • Franz Albrecht II, 6th Prince 1882–1916 (1847–1916)
      • Emil, 7th Prince 1916–1919 (1850–1919)
        • Otto II Joseph, 8th Prince 1919–1952 (1879–1952)
          • Aloys Philipp, 9th Prince 1952–1975 (1920–1975)
            • Albrecht Ernst, 10th Prince 1975–present (born 1951)
              • Franz Albrecht, Hereditary Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg (born 1982)
                • Prince Louis-Albrecht of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg (born 2019)

Other important members

Residences

The following castles are still owned by the Princes of Oettingen-Spielberg and Oettingen-Wallerstein:

See also

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References

  1. Gerhard Köbler: Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder. Die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. 7., revised edition. C.H. Beck, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1, S. 490 ( County of Oettingen at Google Books)
  2. "BLKÖ:Oettingen-Wallerstein, die Fürsten von, Genealogie – Wikisource" . Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  3. "Geschichte Oettingen-Spielberg". Website des fürstlichen Hauses Oettingen-Spielberg (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  4. "Stammbaum Oettingen-Spielberg". Website des fürstlichen Hauses Oettingen-Spielberg (in German). Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  5. The county of Oettingen has remained a "territorium non clausum" (a territory not precisely defined in terms of space). See Kudorfer, Dieter, Oettingen, Grafschaft/Fürstentum in Historisches Lexikon Bayerns.
  6. Marek, Miroslav. "oett/oett1.html". genealogy.euweb.cz.[ self-published source ]
  7. 1 2 He started to appear in documents by this year. See Regesta Boicarum (1825), Vol. III, p. 281.
  8. Kudorfer, Dieter, Oettingen, Grafschaft/Fürstentum in Historisches Lexikon Bayerns.
  9. Gesta Episcoporum Eichstetensium 5, MGH SS XXV, p. 593.
  10. 1 2 Ludwig der Alte, Friedrich und Ludwig seine Söhne Graffen von Oettingen are cited in a document from 1311. See Falkenstein (1733), CLXIX, p. 147.
  11. Arnold, Benjamin (2016), Count and Bishop in Medieval Germany - A Study of Regional Power, 1100-1350 , p.156.
  12. This Wolfgang didn't survive his father and as so he didn't actually rule. His birth number was Wolfgang III.
  13. This William didn't survive his father and as so he didn't actually rule. His birth number was William III.

Bibliography