Bentheim-Tecklenburg was a German county, later principality, based in the region around

Tecklenburg Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor ...

in northern

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Germany.

History

Bentheim-Tecklenburg emerged as a partition of the

County of Bentheim The County of Bentheim (, Low German ''Benthem'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the south-west corner of today's Lower Saxony, Germany. The county's borders corresponded largely to those of the modern administrative district ...

in 1277, and was partitioned between itself and Bentheim-Lingen in 1450. Count Conrad converted his county to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

in 1541. In 1557, it was inherited by

Bentheim-Steinfurt Bentheim-Steinfurt was a historical county located in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia in the region surrounding Steinfurt, Germany. Bentheim-Steinfurt was a partition of Bentheim-Bentheim, itself a partition of the County of Bentheim. Benthei ...

Arnold III, Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt-Tecklenburg-Limburg Arnold III of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Steinfurt-Limburg (10 or 11 October 1554 in Neuenhaus – 11 January 1606 in Tecklenburg) was a German nobleman. He was Count of Bentheim, Tecklenburg and Steinfurt, and Count of Limburg. He ruled as Ar ...

(1554-1606) held the counties of Bentheim,

Steinfurt Steinfurt (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From –1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north-west of Münster, North Rhine-Westp ...

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

(with Hohenlimburg Castle), the Lordship of Rheda, possessions on the Lower Rhine and bailiff rights in the Archbishopric of Cologne. After his death his possessions were divided between his three eldest sons while the younger sons received lands from their mother. Adolf (1577-1623) received Tecklenburg and Rheda, Wilhelm Heinrich (1584-1632) Steinfurt (with

Burgsteinfurt Steinfurt (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Steinfurt (district), district of Steinfurt. From –1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north-west of Münst ...

Castle), but left no offspring, Konrad Gumprecht (1585-1618) received Limburg, but his only son died early. Adolf had four sons of whom Moritz (1615-1674) inherited Tecklenburg and Rheda in 1623 and Limburg in 1629. Moritz' two sons Johann Adolf (1637-1704) and Friedrich Moritz (1653-1710) partitioned the territories again, but in 1701 Brandenburgian troops occupied Tecklenburg, as there had been a dispute about the county with the counts of

Solms-Braunfels Solms-Braunfels was a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany. History Solms-Braunfels was a partition of Solms, ruled by the House of Solms, and was raised to a Princi ...

since 1577, and the latter sold their rights to Brandenburg. After the loss of Tecklenburg, the family still ruled in Limburg and Rheda, however about 100 kilometers apart from each other. In 1756 the residence was moved from Hohenlimburg to Rheda, which remains the main seat of the family to this day. In 1803 the secularized monasteries of Herzebrock and Clarholz, both located within the territories, were taken over by the counts. However, their sovereignty ended with the

mediatisation Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation, German historical territorial restructuring * Mediatization (media) Mediatization (or medialization) is a method whereby the mass media influence other sectors of society, inclu ...

in 1808 when the county became part of the

Grand Duchy of Berg The Grand Duchy of Berg (), also known as the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves, was a territorial grand duchy established in 1806 by Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) on territories between the French Empire at the Rhi ...

, and after the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

(1815) of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. In 1817, the count was created 1st Prince of Bentheim-Tecklenburg and Rheda by the Prussian king. In 1854 he received a hereditary seat in the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords () in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Representatives (), it formed the Prussian bicameral legislature ...

. The castles of Hohenlimburg and Rheda and the abbeys of Herzebrock and Clarholz are still today owned by the House of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda. Il castello di Bentheim (Jacob Van Ruisdael).jpg,

Bentheim Castle Bentheim Castle () is an early medieval hill castle in Bad Bentheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. The castle is first mentioned in the 11th century under the name ''binithem''. Situation The castle is built on a protrusion of Bentheim sandstone, whi ...

(by

Jacob van Ruisdael Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achie ...

(1653) Tecklenburg, Wierturm.jpg,

Castle Schloss Hohenlimburg - Ansicht.jpg, Hohenlimburg Castle Rheda Schloss.jpg, Rheda Castle

Counts of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1277–1557)

*Otto III (1277–1338) *Otto IV (1289–1302) *Otto V (1302–1328) *Richardis (1328–1338) * Nicholas I ''(Count of Alt-Bruchhausen and

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

)'' (1338–1360) * Otto VI (1360–1388) *

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

(1388–1426) * Otto VII (1426–1450) *Nicholas III ''(Count of Bentheim-Lingen)'' (1450–1493) *Otto VIII (1493–1526) *Conrad ''(Count of Bentheim-Lingen)'' (1526–1557)

Counts of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1562–1817)

(1562–1606)

Counts of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda

*Adolf, Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1606–1623) *Moritz, Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg, Rheda and Limburg (1623–1674) *Johann Adolf, Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg and Rheda (1674–1704) *Friedrich Moritz, Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1704–1710), sold his rights on Tecklenburg to Brandenburg in 1707 *Moritz Kasimir I of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1710–1768), brother of Friedrich Moritz *Moritz Kasimir II of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1768–1805), son of Friedrich Moritz *Emil Friedrich I of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1805–1817), count of Limburg and Rheda, regent of Bentheim-Tecklenburg, 1817 1st Prince of Bentheim-Tecklenburg and Rheda

(Mediatized) Princes of Bentheim-Tecklenburg and Rheda (1817–)

* Emil, 1st Prince 1817–1837 (1765-1837) ** Moritz Kasimir, 2nd Prince 1837–1872 (1795-1872) ** Franz, 3rd Prince 1872-1885 (1800-1885) ** Prince Adolf Ludwig (1804-1874) ***

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

, 4th Prince 1885-1909 (1849-1909) **** Adolf, 5th Prince 1909-1967 (1889-1967) ***** Moritz Casimir, 6th Prince 1967-2014 (1923-2014) ****** ''Prince Carl-Gustav Moritz-Casimir'' (1960-) - renounced succession rights ****** Maximilian, 7th Prince 2014- (1969-) ∞ Marissa Clara

Fortescue Fortescue may refer to: People * Fortescue (surname), a list of people with the name * Fortescue Ash (1882–1956), Anglican bishop in Australia * Fortescue Graham (1794–1880), British Royal Marines general Places * Fortescue, Missouri, United ...

, granddaughter of

Denzil Fortescue, 6th Earl Fortescue Denzil George Fortescue, 6th Earl Fortescue MC TD (13 June 1893 – 1 June 1977) was a British peer and farmer who served in both the First World War and Second World War. Early life and education Fortescue was the third born and second sur ...

******* Prince Moritz (2003-) ******* Prince Carl-Emil (2010-)

References

Counties of the Holy Roman Empire States and territories established in 1277 {{Germany-hist-stub