Last Updated: 13 Jan 2004

List And Brief History of the German States, Grand Duchies, Principalities, etc before 1806.......Page B.  Remmick-Hubert Site

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List And Brief History of the German States, Grand Duchies, Principalities, etc

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button Baden.  This principaltities  [German State] occured in various places throughout the history of Germany. Presently, it is an area connected with Baden-Wuerttemberg and the area between the Rhine River  and old Wuerttemberg....  Baden-Baden was represented by the Grafschaft Eberstein in the Schwaebische Grafenkolleg.  The Marquisates were at  the Peace of Westphalia: (1) Baden-Baden was member of the Catholic corpus which followed suit of the ruling dynasty of Baden [House of Zaehringen];  (2) Marquisates of Baden-Durlach was part of the Protestant Corpus;  (3) Baden-Hochberg were, also, Protestant..  Other branches of the Zaehringen family are the  (4) Dukes of Teck and  (5) Margrave of Hachberg and Sausenberg....

View from the Scholosshotel of Buehlerhohe  [the old hunting lodge of the  kings of the House of Hohenzollern,  Schwarzwaldhochstrasse [Black Forest resort road] in Baden-Wuerttemberg.  The stag faces toward the northern Black Forest and on the other side [westward] is Baden-Baden and past this village nestled in the hills is the Rhine River.

In the 18th c, the territories were divided between Baden-Durlach (Lutheran) and Baden-Baden (Catholic).

Baden-Durlach  held Amt Rhodt (Kreis Landau) until the time of the French Revolution.  Some of my ancestors were from the village of Rhodt / Landau which is found in Rhineland-Pfalz.

Baden-Baden owned Herrschaft Beinhein in Lower Alsace, Amt Grefenstein, which was near the town of Rodalben of the Kreis Pirmasens, Herrschaft Hesperlingen and Herrschaft Rodemachern in Luxemburg, plus a portion of Grafschaft Sponheim in the Hunsrueck.  After 1803 the territory included the Breisgau, which had been Austrian, and the city of Constance.

Serfdom was abolished in Baden in 1783.

button Baindt. Presently in Kreis Ravensburg, Baden-Wuerttember. Earlier  referred to the Abbey for Women which was secularized in 1803. The village which surrounded the Abbey was, also, called Baindt.

button Bamberg.  Presently in the Regierngebezirk Oberfranken of Bavaria [Bayern].  Was a Bishopric of the Catholic corpus at the Peace of Westphalia which owned the Vilach in Carinthia until 1759 which was sold to the Hapsburgs of Austria.... then became  an Archbishopric.

button Barby and Muelingen. Presently in Kreis Schoenebeck, Church of Magdeburg....  in Saxony... Was represented by Kursachsen  (Electoral Saxony) until 1659... Those who controlled this area were:  Sachsen-Weissenfels, Anhalt-Zerbst, and Magdeburg.  The area held Protestant in the majority.

button Basel.  In 1501 this area became part of the Swiss Confederation. After 1531 Basel took no part in the Reichstadt.  In the time of the Reformation the area became Protestant.

button Bavaria [Bayern].  Presently a German state known as Freistaat Bayern.  Was a Kingdom and an Electoral Principality which was ruled by the Wittelsbach Dynasty whose ancestor was a tribal leader of the Bajuwaren and connected to the Babenbergs to  the time of Otto I, Count of Scheyern who d. 1072....  Thereafter, the area was divided many times into these known areas and ownerships: Bavaria, Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Palatinate, Holland, Simmern, Munich, Pr. of Loewenstein-Wertheim, Zweibruecken, United Bavaria, Counts Palatine of Veldenz, Birkenfeld, Neuburg, Sulzbach, Kings of Sweden, Dukes in Bavaria, Kings of Bavaria, Baron of Zweibruecken, Princes of Spain......  The history is complex.  The Wittelsbach family was and remained Catholic..

The Bavarian Alps (Bayerische Alpen) and Bavarian Forest Bayerischer Wald) were part of the originial Bavaria State and parts of it still exists in the present state of Bavaria..

button Bayern.  See Bavaria

button Bayreuth.  Presently in Bavaria.  Earlier was a Marquistate of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, whose palace, Plassenburg, was found 15 miles north-east of Kulmbach.  The area had been owned by the this branch of the  Hohenzollern family since 1340.  Majority was Protestant.  Here the houses of Wagner and Liszt can be found.  

button Beckenfried Estate.  Presently in Switzerland.  Former Prelate Nullius.

button Beilstein. See Winneburg and Beilstein. Presently in Rheinland-Palatinate.  Was owned by the  Catholic family of von Metternich-Winneburg.  In 1801 the territory was part of France and in 1815 became a part of Hohenzollern's Prussia.

button Bentheim... Owned by the family of Gueterswyk under the titles of  von Fuersten and Grafen...  The family, also, owned Tecklenburg-Rheda. See Steinfurt.  Family was Reformed.... 

button Berg. Presently in North Rhineland-Westphalia.  Was a Duchy owned by  various branches of the Wittelsbach of Bavaria... Palatinate-Neuburg then Palatinate..  Then in 1815 became part of Prussia under the rule of the Hohenzollerns....

button Bergen.  Was a Grafschaft and in 1581 became Dutch territory then regained it's position in the German Grafenkolleg in 1654.... which was cancelled in 1712..... Became part of Netherlands and presently in the Province of Zutphen.

button Bergen and Walen  [Bergen and Zoom). Was a Grafschaft.  Became Dutch in 1567....1648... 1712 became part of the Netherlands.

button Bergisches Land.  See Berg

button Berleburg.  See Wetterauische Grafenkolleg  (Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg)

button Bernburg.  See Anhalt.  Presently in Saxony-Anhalt. One the residence of the Princes and Dukes of Anhalt-Bernburg

button Besancon.  Presently part of France in the Dept. of Doubs. Was formerly part of the Reichsstadt and  Catholic archbishopric at the Peace of Westphalia.  It became part of the Franche-Comte after Burgundy took control in 1674-1679.

button Beuchlingen.  Was a Grafschaft.  Vote in the Reichsstadt   was cancelled in 1560.

button Bieberach an der Riss.  Pressently in Baden-Wuerttemberg.  Was earlier in the Reichsstadt..  At the time of the Peace of Westphalia was a part of the Catholic Corps.  However, many of the citizens were Protestant and this created unrest between the Protestant and the elite who were Catholic.  In 1649 a treaty was signed between the Catholics and Protestants which provided equal rights for both.  The town was destroyed during the Thirty Years War and later rebuilt....

button Birstein.  See Wetterauische Grafenkolleg....  Represented by the Brandenburg.

button Bitsch. Presently in Lorraine, France. Was earlier in the Grafschaft.  Held a vote in the Reichstag until 1570.  The area merged with Lothringen [Lorraine].  

button Blankenberg.  Presently part of Lorraine, France.  Was earlier part of the Grafschaft.  Merged with Lothringen [Lorraine] in 1542.

button Blankenburg.  Was earlier part of the prelate nullius. Presently in Saxony-Anhalt.  Was thought to have been part of the Lorraine, or, Oldenburg...  Connected to Counts of Wernigerode whose old castle is found in Wernigerode.  South east of Wernigerode is Blankenburg with its own castle hill [Bergberg] but this belonged to Kleines.  Near there is the remains of a medieval fortification and perhaps built in the times ......  

button Blankenheim and Geroldstein Estates.  Presently part of the Kreis Schleiden, North Rhineland-Westphalia.  Was earlier a Grafschaft. Other estates linked by the family were Gerolstein [sic] , Kronenburg,  and Dollendorf  [all Eifel Herrschaften).  Member of the Westfaelische Grafenkolleg. Area was mostly Catholic.  Represented before 1780 by Grafen  von Manderscheid-Blankenheim , and, afterwards by Grafen von Sternberg.

button Boehmen [Bohemia].  Former kingdom and Electoral Principality.  An original member of the electoral  college but in 1780 lost its position.  Many Protestant groups came into being in Bohemia under Emperor Matthias who granted religious freedom in 1609....  For a short period of time Frederick, the Winter King ruled.... In 1620 the religious freedom ended when the Catholic Hapsburgs took Bohemia.  The Hapsburgs   took action against the Protestants [this encluded one-fourth of all the nobels and Burghers ], who were forced to flee, if they could, to other areas less hostile.  The estimated number of families who fled is given at about 36,000 between the years of 1620 - 1627.  The serfs and others who had not been able to leave were forced to become Catholics.  After 1918 the area became part of Czechoslovakia.....

button Bonndorf.  Presently in Kreis Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Was part of the Reichsstadt.  At the time of the Peace of Westphalia it was represented by the Protestant Corpus in Ulm.  1802 the town was taken by Bavaria. In 1810 it was given to Wuerttemberg

button Bopfingen.  Presently in Kreis Aalen in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Was part of the Reichsstadt.  At the time of the Peace of Westphalia, Bopfingen was represented by the Protestant Corpus in Ulm.

button Brakel.  Presently in Kreis Hoexter in North Rhineland-Westphalia. Was in the Reichstadt.  Family connected the Hinnenburg Estate.

button Brandenburg.  There  were many areas connected to this area by the rulling family which was known as  House of Brandenburg. Their ancesstor,   Albert I "the Bear",  had been the first Margrave in 1134... The territories connected were:  Brandenburg, Uckermark, Prignitz, Herrschaft Cottbus, Herrschaft Peitz, Crossen, Zuellichau, Beeskow, Storkow, Kleve [Cleve], Mark, Ravensberg, Ravenstein, Duchy of Prussia...  Some of them had been part of the  Brandenburg lands since the 1200s. The Brandenburg rulers stood apart from the Catholics when they became Lutherans [Protestant] and were so at the time of the Peace of Westphalia. They held a electoral vote and were raised to be part of the Council of Electoral Princes in 1692. The minor branch of the Brandenburgs who were known as the Hohenzollerns who  inherited their territories in 1411. See Prussia as well as the Hohenzollern family history.  In 1945 parts of the Brandenburg territory were given to Poland.  When the Berlin Wall fell 8 Nov 1989,  East Germany [East Brandenburg/Prussia] was reunited with West Germany [West Brandenburg/Prussia]..

button  Brandenburg of the Franconian Lineage. Presently in Bavaria.  Was earlier a Margquisate [Margraviate] of Ansbach, Bayreith [Bayreuth] and Kulmbach. At the time of the Peace of Westphalia the Marquisates of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach were in the Protestant Corpus.  As were the rest of the Brandenburgs, they were raised in rate of be part of the Councileof Electoral Princes in 1692.  They  had become part of the Hohenzollern dynasty after the 1200s.

button Brandenstein - Roenis.  Presently part of Saxony and has been so since the 1400s.

button Braunfels.  See Wetterauische Grafenkolleg.  Represented by the Brandenburgs.

button Braunschweig [Brunswick] - Lueneburg - Hanover.  Presently in Lower Saxony. Was part of "Niedersachsen".  Was a member of the Protestant Corpus at the Peaace of Westphalia.  Earlier, the territory had been part of Duke of Saxony Henry "the Lion's" domain. which emerged from the 12th century as a Duchy ....... The various branches of this family were: Braunschweig - Lueneburg-Kalenberg and Braunschweig-Lueneburg-Grubenhagen with the ruling house of  Welf [Braunschweig - Lueneburg]   Welf is German for Guelph....  At various times, the different branches of the familyis just mentioned ruled. There were other branches: House of Este [Dukes of Ferrara and Modena] and  Wolfenbuettel  Territories connected though Lordships were: Lueneburg, Brunswick, Eberstein, Homburg, Diepholz, Lauterberg, Hoja [Hoya], Bruckhausen, Hohenstein, Regenstein, Klettenberg, and, Blankenburg.  A large group of soldiers were sent to fight in the American Revolution and many remained after 1783. French ruled under Napoleon  who had made it a part of Westphalia and gave the crown to his brother Jerome Bonaparte (1807-1813)..... In 1871 it became part of the German Empire which was ruled by the Hohenzollerns ...  1918....  Joined the Weimer Republic in 1919.... . House of Hanover is often spoken seperately, however,  it was part of the Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg in 1235.  In 1714 Georg, "the Elector" of Hanover became King George I of England and created his own lineage [House of Hanover] ...  See the lineage of the present Queen Elizabeth  II of England who is from the House of Hanover..

button Bremen.  Presently State [Land] of Bremen.  Was a free state in German Federal Republic..... .  A free City... It was in the Reichsstadt and archbishopric. Both were members of the Protestant Corpus at the Peace of Westphalia.  First mentioned in history in 845 .... Entered the Hanseatic League in 1358.... The people were greatly influenced by the Reformation movements in Holland and then took up a modified Calvinistic view....  The area was taken by Sweden in 1648 and taken back into German rule by the Hanover in 1719. Joined the German Empire in 1871.....  Weimar Republic in 1919.... Federal Republic of [Western] Germany in 1949.....  Was the port of exit for many Germans and German-Russians....

button Brixen [Bressanone].  Presently in the Province of Bozen in Italy.  For a time the territory held a great number of Germans... During that time, it was presented by Trient in the Catholic Corpus and was so listed at the Peace of Westphalia...   See the history of the Austrian Tirol and the Vorarlberg.

button Bronkhorst.  Was a Herrschaft.  Held a vote in the Reichstag until 1719.  The Lords of Bronkhorst also owned Anholt.  They were a branch of the House of Salm-Salm who held the title of Prince.

button Buchau am Federsee. Presently in Kreis Saulgau in Baden-Wuerttemberg.  Originally was an Abbey for women.  It was part of the Reichsstadt and member of the Schwaebishche Grafenkolleg.  At the time of the Peace of Westphalia is was Catholic.  It was listed in 1521 and, again, in 1792 in the Reichsmatrikel.  In 1802 the town, which grew around the Abbey and the Abbey went to the family of Thurn and Taxis.... In 1806 the administration went to Wuerttemberg.  The Abbey was headed by a Princess-Abbess  [Gefuerstete Abtissin].

button Buchhorn  [Friedrichshafen].  Presently in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Was part of the Reichsstadt.  Other estates connected were: Herrschaft Baumgarten-Eriskirch and  Kloster Hofen. Was part of the Catholic Corpus at the Peace of Westphalia. In 1810 the lands went to the Wuerttemberg and in 1811 was renamed Friedrichshafen.

button Bueckburg.  Was part of Kreis Schaumburg-Lippe in North Saxony in the German Federal Republic. Was a Grafschaft.  Town was the residence of the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe who became part of the Reformed Church. The towns people were mostly Protestant.

button Buedingen.  See Wetterauische Grafenkolleg  [Isenburg-Buedingen-Meerholz-Waechtersbach)

button Burgund  [Burgundy, Bourgogne].  Presently in  eastern France.  Was a Duchy.  Lands connected were Brabant, Namur, Limburg, Hennegau, Holland, Seeland [Zeeland] and Luxemburg.  At the Peace of Westphalia the territories were under the Catholic Corpus....  Burgund was a Hoch-Freigrafschaft then exalted and became the Free Gravine of Burgundy.  Its early history dates back to the Roman Gaul  of which it was a part,  which was  settled the area in the 5th century A.D. by the Germanic Burgundii...   877 became the Duchy of Burgundy...  Passed to the hands of the Hapsburgs in 1477 and taken by Louis XI who turned it into a French Province....  

button Burscheid. Was in Rhein-Wupper-Kreis in North Rhineland-Westfalen... during the German Federal Republic period. Was formerly a prelate nullius.  It is not listed in any Matrikel as having belonged to Reichsstand....  Town was listed as having Protestants as the majority.

Continued....

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