Palatinate-Neuburg (german: Herzogtum Pfalz-Neuburg) was a territory 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 ...

, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was

Neuburg an der Donau Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany. Divisions The municipality has 16 divisions: * Altmannstetten * Bergen, ...

. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of some 100,000.

History

The Duchy of Palatinate-Neuburg was created in 1505 as the result of the Landshut War of Succession and existed until 1799 or 1808. After the so-called ''Kölner Spruch'' (Verdict of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

) the duchy was created from the territories north of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

for Otto Henry and

Philipp Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (1864 ...

, the sons of Ruprecht of the Palatinate. While they were minors, their grandfather Philip, Elector Palatine, ruled the duchy until his death in 1508, followed by Elector Frederick II. In 1541 elector Otto Henry converted to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

and his palace chapel at Neuburg Castle was the first newly built Protestant church of all, consecrated on 25 April 1543 by the reformed theologian Andreas Osiander. In 1557 Otto Henry ceded his duchy (the so-called ''Young Palatinate'') to Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken. The eldest son of Wolfgang, Philipp Louis, founded in 1569 the ''elder line of Palatine Zweibrücken-Neuburg'', from which the Palatine Sulzbach lineage was separated in 1614. Palatinate-Neuburg joined the Protestant Union in 1608. In 1800, the duchy was invaded by the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and on June 26, 1800, the Habsburg,

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

and Bavarian armies fought a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

there. After fighting for most of a day, the Coalition armies withdrew. Neuburg was occupied by the French, and General Ney established his headquarters in the castle there.Marceau, p 105. The Duchy of Palatinate-Neuburg was abolished in 1808. In the partition of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

in 1837 Palatinate-Neuburg was joined with

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

but became a part of

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat ...

in the 1970s.

Dukes of Palatinate-Neuburg

* Two brothers, first under regency of

Frederick II, Elector Palatine Frederick II, Count Palatine of the Rhine (9 December 1482 – 26 February 1556), also Frederick the Wise, a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was Prince-elector of the Palatinate from 1544 to 1556. The Kurfürst-Friedrich-Gymnasium in Heidelb ...

** Otto Henry, 1505–57 (

Elector Palatine The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kin ...

from 1556 until death) **

, 1505–41

House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Neuburg

* Wolfgang, 1557–69 * Philipp Ludwig, 1569–1614 (also Duke of

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', nl, Gulik, french: Juliers, Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. As a border region betw ...

and Berg in 1614) * Wolfgang Wilhelm, 1614–53 (also Duke of

and Berg from 1614) * Philip William, 1653–90 (also Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1653 and

from 1685) * Johann Wilhelm, 1690–1716 (also Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1679 and

from 1690) * Charles Philip, 1716–42 (also Duke of Jülich and Berg and

from 1716) With the death of Elector Charles Philip in 1742 all his territories including the state of Palatinate-Neuburg passed to the Palatinate-Sulzbach line of the Wittelsbach dynasty. Charles Theodor of the Sulzbach line was a descendant of

Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach Augustus (german: August von Pfalz-Sulzbach; 2 October 1582 – 14 August 1632) was Count Palatine of Sulzbach from 1614 until 1632. Life Augustus was born in Neuburg in 1582 as the second son of Philip Louis of Palatinate-Neuburg and Anna of ...

, a brother of Wolfgang Wilhelm.

House of Palatinate-Sulzbach

* Charles Theodore, 1742–99 (

from 1742, Elector of Bavaria from 1777)

House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld

* Maximilian Joseph, 1799-1808, ( Elector of Bavaria from 1799)

References