Absberg was a local noble family in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper F ...

History

The family received its name from the village of

Absberg Absberg is a municipality in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. The Absberg family was named by this place and had their home castle there. References Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen {{WeißenburgGunzenhausen-g ...

, today located in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Bavaria, Germany with a population of 95,000. Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Ansbach, Roth, Eichstätt and Donau-Ries. It is located in the south of Middle Franconia, 50 kilomet ...

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the west of Bavaria and borders the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; however, ...

. Famous members of the family were ''Henry IV of Absberg'', Bishop of Regensburg, and

Thomas von Absberg Hans Thomas von Absberg (1477 – 3 July 1531) was a Frankish knight of the Absberg family, known as a robber baron. He kidnapped important travellers like royal legates or merchants from Nuremberg or Augsburg. He was supported by several Fran ...

, a robber baron who kidnapped important travellers such as royal legates or merchants from

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...

. To punish the behaviour of Thomas of Absberg the

Swabian League The Swabian League (''Schwäbischer Bund'') was a mutual defence and peace keeping association of Imperial Estates – free Imperial cities, prelates, principalities and knights – principally in the territory of the early medieval stem duchy of ...

destroyed the family's castle seat in 1523. This was documented in a

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only t ...

Hans Wandereisen Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

. The family died out in 1647.

References

* Reinhardt Schmalz: ''Der Fränkische Krieg 1523 und die Schuld der Sparnecker''. In: ''Archiv für die Geschichte von Oberfranken''. Band 85, 2005, S. 151–158. (German) {{Commons category, Absberg (Adelsgeschlecht), Absberg family

Absberg, House of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen