Hochstaden was a medieval county in the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

. It existed from the 11th to the 13th century. After the extinction of a senior line, a junior line was created by marital connection with the counts of Are-Hochstaden. After the main line Are died out, their property fell to the high Stader line. Finally, Archbishop

Konrad von Hochstaden Konrad von Hochstaden (or Conrad of Hochstadt) (1198/1205 – 18 September 1261) was Archbishop of Cologne from 1238 to 1261. Konrad was a son of Count Lothar of Hochstadt, canon of St. Maria ad Gradus and of the old Cologne Cathedral, and Mat ...

and his brother bequeathed the property to the Cologne archbishopric.

History

The origin was the early medieval

Motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

of Husterknupp northwest of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. Hardly anything is known about the early owners and since the Middle Ages the castle had already disappeared. The last remnants were destroyed by

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

mining. The counts of Hochstaden date back to Gerhard I. This is attested for the period 1074-1096. His mother possibly came from the Ezzonen. His father was probably Gerhard Wassenberg. Gerhard I and his father were sometimes referred to as "princes", a status that was beyond a simple count. The origin of his wife is unknown. His brother was Cologne Archbishop Hermann III. of Hochstaden. This older line died out with Gerhard II, in 1149. The heiress of Hochstaden and Wickrath Adelheid married Otto von Are in about 1167. From then, the ownership of Hochstaden was in the hands of the family of Are. After the death of the father of Otto Dietrich I von Are the inheritance was divided. The lines Are,

Nürburg Nürburg () is a town in the German district of Ahrweiler, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is also the name of the local castle, Nürburg Castle, which was built in the High Middle Ages. The castle is made of basalt which usually has ...

and Hochstaden emerged. After the death of Otto the line of Hochstaden was also divided. In addition to the main line Hochstaden there was a line

Wickerode Wickerode is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, in central Germany. Since 1 September 2010, it is part of the municipality Südharz. During World War II, in 1945, it was the location of a subcam ...

. Between 1283 and 1331 a Cologne canon named Heinrich became extinct. About the throne of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, the counts of Hochstaden supported the Guelph side against Frederick II. The line Hochstaden possessed this region after the death of Theodoric II, The last representatives of the senior line of Are. This line-Are Hochstaden came to Archbishop Konrad and his brother Friedrich (ruling 1228-1265). After her nephew Theodoric and Gerhard had died childless, his brothers, from the archbishopric of Cologne, including Neuenahr, Altenahr, Heimbach, Hardthöhe and Nürburg took over the possession.Donald C. Jackman: ''Hochstaden: Public Succession in Ripuaria of the High Middle Ages.'' Archive for Medieval Prosopography 7/2009

Genealogy

Senior line

*Gerhard I. († after 1096) **Gerhard II. († after 1145) ***Adelheid († before 1162), married to Otto Graf von Are († before 1162). *Hermann III. († November 21, 1099)

Junior Line

*Adelheid and Otto von Are **Otto († after 1208), the founder of the line Wickrath **

Lothar Lothar or Lothair is a Danish, Finnish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish masculine given name, while Lotár is a Hungarian masculine given name. Both names are modern forms of the Germanic Chlothar (which is a blended form of ''Hlūdaz'', me ...

Bishop of Liège A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

**Dietrich († 1194 or 1197), married to Liuitgart von Dagsburg ***Lothar I. († after 1215), married with Mathilde of

Vianden Vianden ( or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Éislek region, north-eastern Luxembourg, with a population of 2,203 as of 2023. It is part of the canton of the same name. Vianden lies on the Our river, near the border between ...

****Lothar II. († 1237 or 1242) *****Dietrich († 1246) *****Gerhard († 1242 or 1245) ****

Konrad Konrad is a German (English equivalent: Conrad or Coonrod) given name and surname that means "bold counselor" and may refer to: People Given name Surname * Alexander Konrad (1890–1940), Russian explorer *Antoine Konrad (born 1975), birth nam ...

(† September 18, 1261),

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

****Friedrich († 1265) ****Elisabeth, married to Eberhard von Hengebach ****Mechthild († after 1243), married to Konrad von Müllenark ****Margareta (1220-1314), married to

Adolf VII of Berg Adolf VII of Berg (also referred to as Adolf IV, especially in the Netherlands and in Germany) (c. 1220 – 22 April 1259) was the eldest son of Henry IV, Duke of Limburg and Irmgard of Berg. In 1247, Adolf succeeded his father as Count of Berg w ...

References

{{reflist

External links

List on Medieval Genealogy: Family of the Counts of Are High Graffenstaden
Rhineland Counts in Germany