The Principality of Salm-Salm (german: Fürstentum Salm-Salm; french: Principauté de Salm-Salm) was a state 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 ...

. It was located in the present-day French departments of

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lo ...

and

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...

; it was one of a number of partitions of Salm.

History

Salm-Salm was created as a partition of Salm-Dhaun in 1574, and was raised from a County to a Principality in 1739 after being inherited and renamed by Count Nicholas Leopold of Salm-Hoogstraten. Salm-Salm was partitioned between itself and Salm-Neuweiler in 1608. The last territorial partition occurred in 1751, when Salm-Salm reorganized its borders with the Duchy of Lorraine. In 1790, after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the princes of Salm fled the territory and moved to their castle in Anholt, Westphalia. Salm-Salm then was besieged by the revolutionary army, which blocked food supplies from reaching the state. As a consequence, the population was forced to surrender to France. On 2 March 1793, the French

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...

declared Salm-Salm to be a part of the French Republic and attached it to the Départment of the

. This was recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Lunéville of 1801. Some years later, in 1802/1803, together with Salm-Kyrburg, the prince of Salm-Salm was granted new territories formerly belonging to the Bishops of Münster (

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

). The new territory was governed in union with Salm-Kyrburg and was known as the Principality of Salm.

Geography

In 1165, the original County of Salm was divided into the counties of Lower Salm, in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, and the county of Upper Salm, situated in the

mountains. In 1738, the County of Upper Salm was elevated to Principality of Salm-Salm. The capital of Salm-Salm was first Badonviller, and from 1751 on, Senones. The second part of the name of Salm-Salm derives from Salm Castle near Salm (today La Broque). At the end of its existence, Salm-Salm had an area of about and 10,000 inhabitants. It was separated from the main part of the Holy Roman Empire when most of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

was ceded to France in the 17th century. Until 1766, it was bordered by the Duchy of Lorraine to the west and by France to the east. After Lorraine became a part of France on 24 February 1766, Salm-Salm formed an exclave of the Holy Roman Empire surrounded by French territory. The economy of Salm-Salm was mainly based on an iron mine near Grandfontaine. File:Salm-map.png, County of Upper Salm
() File:Salm 1589.jpg, Salm Castle in 1589

Rulers

Counts and Princes of Salm and Salm-Salm (1574–1738)

* Friedrich I, Count of Salm-Dhaun, Count of Salm-Salm 1574–1608 (1547-1608) ** Philipp Otto, Count 1608–1634 (1576-1634), created 1st Prince of Salm 1623 *** Ludwig, Count and 2nd Prince 1634-1636 (1618-1636) *** Leopold Philipp Karl, Count and 3rd Prince 1636–1663 (1620-1663) **** Karl Theodor, Count and 4th Prince 1663–1710 (1645-1710) ***** Eleonore, Married to Conrard, 1st Duke d'Ursel. ******

Charles, 2nd Duke d'Ursel Charles Elisabeth Conrard, Ursel family, 2nd Duke d'Ursel and of Hoboken, Prince of Arches and Charleville and Lord of Grobbendonk, Count of Grobbendoncq (1717–1775) was a Belgian Duke. He succeeded his father and became the second Duke of Urs ...

(1717–1775) *****

Ludwig Otto Louis Eugen Friedrich Otto (21 July 1850 — 15 May 1920), known as Ludwig Otto, was a German landscape and court painter, etcher, and lithographer. Born at Borna, near Leipzig, in the Kingdom of Saxony, in 1865 he was admitted as a student to ...

, Count and 5th Prince 1710–1738 (1674-1738) At Ludwig Otto's death, the male line became extinct, and the county of Salm-Salm passed to descendants of Friedrich I's youngest son, Friedrich I Magnus (1606-1673). Eventually, the title Prince of Salm was assumed by his descendants as well.

Sovereign princes of Salm-Salm (1739–1813)

* Nikolaus Leopold of Salm-Hoogstraten, 1st Prince 1739–1770 (1701-1770), ''great-grandson of Friedrich I Magnus (see note under Counts)'' ** Ludwig Karl Otto, 2nd Prince 1770–1778 (1721-1778) ** ''Prince Maximilian Friedrich Ernst of Salm-Salm (1732-1773)'' *** Konstantin Alexander, 3rd Prince 1778–1828 (1762-1828), mediatized 1813

Mediatised princes of Salm-Salm (1813–''present'')

* Konstantin Alexander, 3rd Prince 1778–1828 (1762-1828), mediatized 1813 ** Florentin, 4th Prince 1828–1846 (1786-1846) *** Prince Felix of Salm-Salm (1828-1870) *** Alfred, 5th Prince 1846–1886 (1814-1886) **** Nikolaus, 6th Prince 1886–1908 (1838-1908) **** Alfred, 7th Prince 1908–1923 (1846-1923) ***** ''Emanuel, Hereditary Prince of Salm-Salm (1871-1916)'' ****** Isabelle (1903-2009), one of the longest-lived members of any princely family. ****** Nikolaus Leopold, 8th Prince 1923–1988 (1906-1988), 8th Prince of Salm-Kyrburg 1951 ******* Carl-Philipp, 9th Prince of Salm-Salm and of Salm-Kyrburg 1988–present (born 1933) (1988–''present''), 14th Prince of Salm ******** Emanuel, Hereditary Prince of Salm-Salm (born 1961) ******** Prince Philipp of Salm-Salm (born 1963) ********* Prince Wilhelm of Salm-Salm (born 2005) ******** Prince Clemens of Salm-Salm (born 1966) ***** ''Prince Franz Emanuel Konstantin of Salm-Salm (1876-1964)'' ****** Prince Franz Karl Alfred of Salm-Salm (1917-2011) ******* Prince Michael of Salm-Dahlberg (born 1953) ******** Prince Constantin of Salm-Dahlberg (born 1980) ******** Prince Felix of Salm-Dahlberg (born 1981) ******* Prince Franziskus-Hendrick of Salm-Salm (born 1963) ******* Prince Georg-Alfred of Salm-Salm (born 1969)

References

External links

House of Salm
at europeanheraldry.org *

at the ''Office de Tourisme Pays des Abbayes'' *
Salm Castle

Princely museum at Anholt Castle
(in German) {{Authority control States and territories established in 1574 Principalities of the Holy Roman Empire 1793 disestablishments