County of Leiningen
The County of Leiningen was a territory comprising a group of counties—some of which held Imperial immediacy—that were ruled by the Leiningen family.
Most of these counties were annexed by the First French Republic in 1793, following the conquest of the left bank of the Rhine by French troops during the War of the First Coalition. Several branches of the family subsequently received secularized abbeys as compensation; however, shortly thereafter, these newly established counties were mediatized, and the family lost its immediacy. Today, the only extant branch is that of the Princes of Leiningen.
Origins
The first count of Leiningen of whom anything definite is known was Emich II. He—and perhaps his father, Emich I—built Leiningen Castle circa 1100–1110. Nearby, Höningen Abbey was constructed around 1120 as the family’s burial place. The first reliable mention of the family dates to 1128, when Emicho, Count of Leiningen, testified to a document from Adalbert I of Saarbrücken, Archbishop of Mainz.The original family became extinct in the male line when Count Frederick II died around 1214 or 1220. Frederick I’s sister, Liutgarde, married Simon II, Count of Saarbrücken, and one of their sons—also named Frederick—inherited the Leiningen lands and adopted their arms and name, becoming known as Frederick II. A Minnesinger, one of his songs was included in the Codex Manesse. Before 1212, he built a new castle called Hardenburg, approximately 10 kilometers south of Altleiningen. This castle was constructed outside the county of Leiningen on the territory of Limburg Abbey—of which his uncle was the overlord —leading to some conflict.
His eldest son, Simon, married Gertrude, heiress of the County of Dagsburg, thereby bringing that property into the family. They had no children, and Simon’s two brothers jointly inherited the county of Leiningen: Frederick III inherited Dagsburg, while Emich IV inherited Landeck Castle. Emich IV founded the town of Landau; however, the Landeck branch became extinct with his grandson in 1290. Frederick III, who disliked sharing Leiningen Castle with his brother, had a new castle built between 1238 and 1241 approximately 5 kilometers northeast of Leiningen, called Neuleiningen Castle. His son, Frederick IV, had two sons who divided the county into Leiningen-Dagsburg and [|Leiningen-Hardenburg].
History
After expanding its possessions, the Leiningen family was divided around 1317 into two branches:[|Leiningen-Westerburg]
The elder branch, headed by a landgrave, became extinct in 1467. Upon the death of the last landgrave, his sister Margaret—wife of Reinhard, Lord of Westerburg—inherited the lands, and her descendants became known as the Leiningen-Westerburg family. Later, this family split into two branches: [|Leiningen-Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen] and [|Leiningen-Westerburg-Neu-Leiningen], both of which are extinct today.Following the French Revolution, the Left Bank of the Rhine was conquered during the War of the First Coalition and annexed by France in 1793. The counts of Alt- and Neu-Leiningen were arrested and imprisoned in Paris, resulting in the loss of their territories. In 1803, they were compensated with the secularized Ilbenstadt Abbey and Engelthal Abbey. The German mediatization of 1806 ended these short-lived counties when their territories were divided among the Grand Duchy of Berg, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Nassau-Weilburg, and Nassau-Usingen. Ilbenstadt Abbey was sold by the House of Leiningen-Westerburg-Altleiningen in 1921, and Engelthal Abbey was sold by the heirs of the House of Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen in 1952.
Leiningen-Hardenburg
Meanwhile, the younger branch of the Leiningen family, known as Leiningen-Hardenburg, flourished.On 27 June 1560, this branch was divided into two lines: Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg, founded by Count Johann Philip, and Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim or Falkenburg, founded by Count Emicho.
In 1658, the Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg line further divided into:
- Leiningen-Dagsburg
- Leiningen-Heidesheim
- Leiningen-Guntersblum
Leiningen-Guntersblum subsequently split into two side branches:
- Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Guntersblum – This branch was deprived of its lands on the Left Bank of the Rhine by France but received Billigheim as compensation in 1803, thereafter known as Leiningen-Billigheim. In 1845, they acquired Neuburg Castle at Obrigheim. This branch became extinct in 1925.
- Leiningen-Heidesheim – In 1803, this branch received Neudenau and became known as Leiningen-Neudenau; it became extinct in 1910.
In 1801, this line was deprived of its lands on the left bank of the Rhine however, in 1803 it received Amorbach Abbey as compensation.
A few years later, the Principality of Leiningen at Amorbach was mediatized, and its territory is now mainly included in Baden, with parts in Bavaria and Hesse. Amorbach Abbey remains the family seat of the Prince of Leiningen.
Since 1991, the head of the princely line has been Prince Andreas. His eldest brother, Prince Karl Emich, was excluded from the succession after marrying morganatically.
Rulers
House of Leiningen">Leiningen family">House of Leiningen
The post-mediatization
Succession in the Principality of Leiningen
- Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, 1st Prince of Leiningen
- Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen
- Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen
- Ernst, 4th Prince of Leiningen
- Emich, 5th Prince of Leiningen
- Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen
- Emich, 7th Prince of Leiningen
- *his heir-apparent, Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen
Succession in the County of Altleiningen
- Christian Karl, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
- Friedrich I Ludwig Christian, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
- Friedrich II Eduard, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
- Friedrich III Wipprecht Franz, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen, nephew
- Gustav Friedrich Oskar, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
Succession in the County of Neuleiningen
- Ferdinand Karl III, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
- August George Gustav, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
- Christian Franz Seraph Vincenz, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
- George Karl August, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen, cousin of the previous
- Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen - Inherited by Altleiningen