The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the

House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...

, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, then part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the principalities of

Nassau-Usingen Nassau-Usingen was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Upper Rhenish Circle that became a principality in 1688. The origin of the county lies in the medieval county of Weilnau that was acquired by the counts of Nassau-Weilburg in 1602. ...

and Nassau-Weilburg both joined the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria a ...

. Under pressure from

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, both principalities merged to become the Duchy of Nassau on 30 August 1806, under the joint rule of Prince Frederick August of Nassau-Usingen and his younger cousin, Prince Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg. As Frederick August had no heirs, he agreed that Frederick William should become the sole ruler after his death. However, Frederick William died from a fall on the stairs at Schloss Weilburg on 9 January 1816 and it was his son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

who later became duke of a unified Nassau. The sovereigns of this house afterwards governed the Duchy of Nassau until 1866. Since 1890, they have reigned over the Grand Duchy of

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Religion

The first two Grand Dukes of Luxembourg, Adolphe and Guillaume IV, were Protestants, however, the

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

of the house changed after Grand Duke Guillaume IV's marriage to Marie Anne de Braganza, who was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Gallery

File:Weilburg Luftbild 058.jpg, Weilburg Weilburg Schloss Gesamtansicht.jpg, Weilburg Castle Schloss Biebrich fg01.JPG,

Biebrich Palace Biebrich Palace (german: link=no, Schloss Biebrich) is a Baroque residence (''Schloss'') in the borough of Biebrich in the city of Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. Built in 1702 by Prince Georg August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein, it served as the ducal ...

Luxembourg Grand Ducal Palace 01.jpg,

Grand Ducal Palace, Luxembourg The Grand Ducal Palace ( lb, Groussherzogleche Palais, french: Palais grand-ducal, german: Großherzogliches Palais) is a palace in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is the official residence of the grand duke of Luxembourg, and w ...

Residenz der Grossherzoeglichen Familie.jpg, Berg Castle, Luxembourg

Sovereigns from the House of Nassau-Weilburg

Nassau

Counts of Nassau-Weilburg

* 1344–71:

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I ...

* 1371–1429: Philip I * 1429–42: Philip II and John II * 1442–92: Philip II * 1492–1523: Louis I * 1523–59: Philip III * 1559–93: Albrecht * 1559–1602: Philip IV * 1593–1625: Louis II * 1625–29: William Louis, John IV and

Ernst Casimir Ernest Casimir I (22 December 1573 – 2 June 1632) was a Count of Nassau-Dietz and Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe. Biography He was the 11th child of John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, and Countess Elisabeth of Leuch ...

* 1629–55:

* 1655–75: Frederick * 1675–88: John Ernst

Princely counts of Nassau-Weilburg

* 1688–1719: John Ernst * 1719–53: Charles August * 1753–88: Charles Christian * 1788–1816: Frederick William * 1816:

Dukes of Nassau

* 1816–39:

* 1839–66:

Adolphe ''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illicit ...

Grand Dukes of Luxembourg

* 1890–1905:

* 1905–12: William IV * 1912–19: Marie-Adélaïde * 1919–64:

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

* 1964–2000: Jean * 2000–''present'':

Henri Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mon ...

Family Tree

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nassau-Weilburg German noble families Luxembourgian noble families Counties of the Holy Roman Empire