The House of Egloffstein is an ancient Franconian aristocratic family ( Uradel ) with an eponymous family home in the hill region of Franconian Switzerland in the Bavarian province of Upper Franconia. The family first appears in the records in 1187 with a Heinrich genannt Stuchs ("Henry, named Stuchs") who is also the progenitor. The house belongs to the brotherhood of Franconian Imperial Knights. Egloffstein Castle and Kunreuth Castle are to this day owned by the family.
The Egloffsteins were a mighty, influential Franconian family of Imperial Knights with many branches. They belonged to the Knights' Cantons of Gebürg (Ritterkanton Gebürg) and Steigerwald (Ritterkanton Steigerwald), Gebürg being part of the old name for Franconian Switzerland.
In the 14th century, they not only had their own castles in Egloffstein, [1] but also in Stolzenrode, Leienfels, Burggaillenreuth, Neuhaus an der Pegnitz, Lauterbach, Wolfsberg, Wadendorf, Neunkirchen am Brand, Löhlitz and Henfenfeld as well as a water castle in Kunreuth. The Egloffsteins used their own allodial estates to found the chaplaincy in Egloffstein.
They were related inter alia to the noble families of Lüchau and Rabensteiner zu Döhlau.
Family members engaged in numerous feuds with the Imperial City of Nuremberg. [2]
The Egloffsteins had wealthy possessions in Franconia; these included:
The Egloffsteins had several estates in the State of the Teutonic Order, today Poland and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
A village in Meistersfelde in present-day Poland was called Egloffstein (today: Główczyno) until 1945. Apparently Lagodzin (near Landsberg an der Warthe) also bore this name.
After the end of the Prussian War of the Cities, Deutschmeister, Conrad of Egloffstein, was given the town of Domnau as a fief and a reward for his military service. Conrad of Egloffstein built a new palace on an island in the river. The remains of the old castle were torn down in 1474.
Albert, Freiherr von und zu Egloffstein, had Arklitten Palace built in Arklitten between 1780 and 1782 in the Late Baroque style.
On 19 October 1786, Freiherr Albert Dietrich Gottfried von und zum Egloffstein, a Prussian major general and governor of East and West Prussia, and his brother, Otto Frederick Freiherr of Egloffstein, a Prussian major received the title of count, after the former had founded in 1783 the majorat of Arklitten in East Prussia. [5] This title was confirmed on 8 May 1914 in the Kingdom of Bavaria in the comital class. Its estates included the fideicommissum of Arklitten, the county of Gerdauen, East Prussia, and, from 1889, the Upper Lusatian estates of Kromlau and Groß Düben.
Together with the line of free nobles, the counts of Egloffstein owned Schloss Kunreuth, the estates of Egloffstein, Schloss Schmölz and Schloss Theisenort. From the comital line come Counts Otto Dietrich, Albert Henry, Frederick-Eglolf, Albert and Frederick-Tassilo Rafael von und zu Egloffstein.
From 13 July 1358, a condominium (international law) foundation is mentioned in the records. This family union was re-established in 1505 by cathedral canon, Leonard of Egloffstein and became a registered society in 1911 as the Family Association of the Counts and Lords von und zu Egloffstein. A family day is held every six years in Kunreuth.
The family coat of arms (Stammwappen) with its right-facing, black bear's head with a red tongue on a silver shield is recorded since 1317. On the helmet with its black and silver mantle to the right and black and gold mantle to the left, the bear's head is seen again.
The heraldic device of the Egloffstein bears is recalled on the ruins of the Egloffstein's Bärnfels Castle and Bärenthal Mill on the River Trubach. The coat of arms of Egloffstein with reversed tinctures recalls this family.
Ludwig Robert Oerthel was born in 1894 in Dresden. In the 192 he operated as a con man under the name of Freiherr of Egloffstein:
Franconia is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect.
The House of Hohenzollern is a formerly royal German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. The family came from the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the late 11th century and took their name from Hohenzollern Castle. The first ancestors of the Hohenzollerns were mentioned in 1061.
The Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire located in Lower Franconia, west of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. Würzburg had been a diocese since 743. As established by the Concordat of 1448, bishops in Germany were chosen by the canons of the cathedral chapter and their election was later confirmed by the pope. Following a common practice in Germany, the prince-bishops of Würzburg were frequently elected to other ecclesiastical principalities as well. The last few prince-bishops resided at the Würzburg Residence, which is one of the grandest Baroque palaces in Europe.
Pappenheim was a German county in western Bavaria, Germany, located on the Altmühl river between Treuchtlingen and Solnhofen, and south of Weißenburg. As former sovereign family, mediatized to Bavaria in 1806, the family which ruled the state belongs to High nobility.
The House of Hohenlohe is a former German princely dynasty. It ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire which was divided between several branches. The Hohenlohes became imperial counts in 1450. The county was divided numerous times and split into several principalities in the 18th century.
Plassenburg is a castle in the city of Kulmbach in Bavaria. It is one of the most impressive castles in Germany and a symbol of the city. It was first mentioned in 1135. The Plassenberg family were ministerial of the counts of Andechs and used as their seat the Plassenburg. The House of Guttenberg, a prominent Franconian noble family, traces its origins back to 1149 with a Gundeloh v. Blassenberg (Plassenberg). The name Guttenberg is derived from Guttenberg and was adopted by a Heinrich von Blassenberg around 1310. From 1340, the Hohenzollerns governed from Plassenburg castle their territories in Franconia till 1604. The Plassenburg was fortress and residence for the Hohenzollerns.
The House of Bibra was one of the leading Uradel families in Franconia and present day Thuringia from the mid-15th century to about 1600. Later on the family rose from Reichsritter to Reichsfreiherr. After the Holy Roman Empire dissolved, they were made ‘’Freiherr’‘ (Barons) of Bavaria and Bohemia.
The Second Margrave War was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, who was attempting to form a Duchy of Franconia under his rule, the war resulted in widespread devastation in Franconia, while also affecting the Rhineland and Lower Saxony.
The House of Guttenberg is a prominent Franconian noble family. It traces its origins back to 1149 with a Gundeloh von Blassenberg (Plassenberg), though the first mention in a document is dated 1158. The name Guttenberg is derived from Guttenberg in present-day Bavaria, and it was adopted by a Heinrich von Blassenberg around 1310.
The House of Franckenstein is the name of a feudal, Franconian noble family in Germany, descendants from the Dynasts of the Breuberg family; offsprings of the Lords of Lützelbach from Höchst im Odenwald.
Bibran-Modlau was a Silesian noble family which was raised to Reichsfreiherr 1624.
Franconia is a region that is not precisely defined, but which lies in the north of the Free State of Bavaria, parts of Baden-Württemberg and South Thuringia and Hesse in Germany. It is characterised by its own cultural and linguistic heritage. Its history began with the first recorded human settlement about 600,000 years ago. Thuringii, Alemanni and Franks, who gave the region its name, settled the area in the Early Middle Ages. From the mid-9th century, the Stem Duchy of Franconia emerged as one of the five stem duchies of the Empire of East Francia. On 2 July 1500, during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, as part of the Imperial Reform, the empire was divided into Imperial Circles. The Franconian Circle, which was formed as a result of this restructuring, became decisive in the creation of a Franconian national identity. A feature of Franconia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period was its Kleinstaaterei, an extreme fragmentation into little states and territories. In the 19th century under Napoleon, large parts of Franconia were incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Bavaria.
The Franconian War was waged in 1523 when the Swabian League attacked several robber baron castles in Franconia, whose nobles were supporters of Hans Thomas of Absberg in the Absberg Feud.
Wichsenstein Castle was a hill castle, once owned by noblemen, on a steep and prominent rock reef (Felsriff) outcrop above the church village of Wichsenstein in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in Bavaria, Germany. The castle has been completely demolished and there are no visible remains. The castle rock is now just used as a viewing point.
The ruins of Bärnfels Castle are the remains of a late mediaeval aristocratic castle on the southern edge of the village of Bärnfels in the municipality of Obertrubach in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in Bavaria. The ruins of the spur castle are freely accessible.
Schlüsselberg was a Franconian aristocratic family which was a member of the high nobility. Until it died out in 1347, the family was able to establish itself firmly in the region of Franconian Switzerland and turned out to be unwelcome competition for the bishops of Bamberg. The Schlüsselbergs founded inter alia the town of a number of Schlüsselfeld in 1336 as well as Schlüsselau Abbey.
Egloffstein Castle is a former high mediaeval, aristocratic castle, that stands immediately west of the eponymous village of Egloffstein in the Upper Franconian county of Forchheim in the German state of Bavaria.
Schloss Hundshaupten is a quadrangular castle in the village of Hundshaupten in the municipality of Egloffstein in the German county of Forchheim.
Schloss Kunreuth is situated on the northwestern edge of the eponymous village of Kunreuth which is part of the collective municipality of Gosberg in the county of Forchheim, in the province of Upper Franconia in the south German state of Bavaria.
The German Emperors after 1873 had a variety of titles and coats of arms, which in various compositions became the officially used titles and coats of arms. The title and coat of arms were last fixed in 1873, but the titles did not necessarily mean that the area was really dominated, and sometimes even several princes bore the same title.
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