Leiningen family


The House of Leiningen is the name of an old German noble family whose lands lay principally in Alsace, Lorraine, Saarland, Rhineland, and the Palatinate. Various branches of this family developed over the centuries and ruled counties with Imperial immediacy.

Origins

The first count of Leiningen about whom anything definite is known was a certain Emich II. He built Leiningen Castle, which is now known as "Old Leiningen Castle", around 1100 to 1110. Nearby Höningen Abbey was built around 1120 as the family's burial place.
This family became extinct in the male line when Count Frederick I died about 1220. Frederick I's sister, Liutgarde, married Simon II, Count of Saarbrücken. One of Liutgarde's sons, also named Frederick, inherited the lands of the counts of Leiningen, and he took their arms and their name as Frederick II. He became known as a Minnesinger, and one of his songs was included in the Codex Manesse. Before 1212, he built himself a new castle called Hardenburg, about 10 kilometers south of Altleiningen. This was outside the county of Leiningen on the territory of Limburg Abbey, of which his uncle was the overlord, which caused some trouble.
His eldest son, Simon, married Gertrude, heiress of the County of Dagsburg, bringing that property into the family. They had no children and Simon's two brothers inherited the county of Leiningen together: Frederick III also inherited Dagsburg and Emich IV Landeck Castle; he founded the town of Landau, but the Landeck branch extinguished with his grandson in 1290. Frederick III, who disliked sharing Leiningen castle with his brother, had a new castle built in 1238–41 about 5 kilometres northeast of Leiningen, called Neuleiningen Castle. Frederick III's son, Frederick IV, had two sons, who divided the county into Leiningen-Dagsburg and Leiningen-Hardenburg.

Line of Descent

Note that different sources use different sequence numbers for some of the Counts. For consistency across sources, dates of birth and death are useful.

Earliest Counts

  • The Count Emicho from the Hebrew Chronicles was
the Count of Flonheim. He is often mistaken for Count Emicho of Leiningen, who was not involved
in any of the Crusades but did in fact live during this time period.
  • Emich I was Count of Leiningen in 1127, but it is unclear when he died, or his relation to the other counts.
  • Emich II is attested as Count of Leiningen in documents from 1143 to 1179
  • *His son, Friedrich I had taken over the county by 1189
  • Emich III is attested as Count of Leiningen in documents from 1193 through 1208, though it is unclear his relationship to the previous Counts
  • Friedrich I, cousin of Emich III, was recorded as junior count under Emich in 1205, and as count in his own right from 1210 to 1217. A document from 1220 refers to his widow.

Saarbrücken Line

  • Simon II, Count of Saarbrücken married Liutgarde, the heiress of Leiningen whose descent from the original counts of Leiningen is unclear
  • *Their son, Friedrich II inherited the County of Leiningen
  • **His son, Simon married Gertrude, heiress of the County of Dagsburg, bringing that property into the family.
  • **Friedrich III, son of Friedrich II, was attested as count in documents from 1239 and 1249, and married Adelheid of Kyburg
  • ***Their son, [|Friedrich IV], whose sons divided the County into Leiningen-Dagsburg and Leiningen-Hartenburg.
  • **Emich IV, brother of Friedrich III ruled a portion of the lands at Leiningen-Landeck
  • ***His son, Emich V, Count of Leiningen-Landeck had no heir.
  • ***Agnes married Otto I, Count of Nassau
  • ***Kunigunde married Heinrich I of Salm-Blamont

Leiningen-Dagsburg (First Line)

[Leiningen-Westerburg]

  • Kuno I, Lord of Westerburg, was the son of Margaret of Leiningen and Reinhard of Westerburg
  • *Reinhard I, Count of Leiningen-Westerburg inherited the county from his grandmother.
  • **Kuno II, Count of [|Leiningen-Westerburg]
  • ***Philipp I, Count of Leiningen-Leiningen
  • ***George I, Count of Leiningen-Schaumburg
  • ***Reinhard II, Count of Leiningen-Westerburg
  • ****Albrecht Philipp, Count of Leiningen-Westerburg
  • ****Johann Ludwig, Count of Leiningen-Westerburg, last of this branch.
This county was then absorbed into Leiningen-Schaumburg.

[|Leiningen-Leiningen]

This branch ended in 1705, and this county was also absorbed into Leiningen-Schaumburg.

[|Leiningen-Schaumburg]

Leiningen-Westerburg-Altleiningen

  • Christoph Christian, Count of [|Leiningen-Altleiningen], son of George Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Schaumburg
  • *George Hermann, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
  • **Christian Johann, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
  • ***Christian Karl, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
  • ***Friedrich I Ludwig Christian, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
  • ****Friedrich II Eduard, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
  • ****Károly Leiningen-Westerburg
  • ****Johann Ludwig
  • *****Friedrich III Wipprecht Franz, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen
  • ******Gustav Friedrich Oskar, Count of Leiningen-Altleiningen

Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen

  • George II Karl Ludwig, Count of [|Leiningen-Neuleiningen], son of George Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Schaumburg
  • *George Karl I August Ludwig, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
  • **Karl II Gustav Reinhard Waldemar, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
  • ***Ferdinand Karl III, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
  • ***August George Gustav, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
  • ****Christian Franz Seraph Vincenz, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
  • *George Ernst Ludwig
  • **Karl IV Joseph Philipp Ludwig Ernst, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
  • ***George Karl August, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen
  • ****Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Neuleiningen

Leiningen-Hardenburg

Leiningen-Dagsburg (Second Line)