The House of Kotzau was an old minor German noble family in

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

The House of Kotzau took its name from the village of Kotzau, today called

Oberkotzau Oberkotzau is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the nor ...

and it is 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, municip ...

Hof in

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

. Famous members of the family were

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

in the abbeys of

Himmelkron Himmelkron is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps ...

and Hof. Hans von Kotzau fought against the

hussite file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...

s at

Wunsiedel (; Northern Bavarian: ''Wåuṉsieḏl'' or ''Wousigl'') is the seat of the Upper Franconian district of in northeast Bavaria, Germany. The town is the birthplace of poet Jean Paul. It also became known for its annual Festival and the Rudolf ...

in 1430. In

Second Margrave War The Second Margrave War () was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, who was attempting to form a Duchy of Franconia under his ru ...

Georg Wolf of Kotzau Georg Wolf of Kotzau, nicknamed ''the rich'' (died 1560) was an Imperial Knight and ''Amtmann'' and Governor. Georg Wolf of Kotzau was a member of the ancient knightly family of Kotzau. According to the genealogists Alban of Dobeneck, Georg W ...

, originally a knight in the fellowship of

Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach Albert II (; 28 March 15228 January 1557) was the margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (Brandenburg-Bayreuth) from 1527 to 1553. He was a member of the Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. Because of his bellicose nature, Albert was g ...

, turned against his prince and supported

Henry IV, Burgrave of Plauen Henry IV of Plauen (1510, probably on 24 August, Hartenštejn Castle – 19 May 1554, Stadtsteinach, during the siege of the Plassenburg), was List of Bohemian High Chancellors, High Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Burgrave of Meissen, Lor ...

. 1553 the town of Hof was besieged, captured and Georg Wolf was appointed to be governor. The family was directly related with the Houses of Guttenberg,

Sparneck Sparneck is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north ...

and

Zedtwitz The Zedtwitz family is the name of an old and distinguished German noble family, which also belonged to the Bohemian nobility. The family originated in Franconia, Germany. History The family first appeared in a written document in 1235 and la ...

. The last knight died in 1661 in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

. The

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

founded the dynasty of the

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

en of Kotzau, though not related to the knightly family. It was Georg Albrecht, son of Georg Albrecht, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach, who entered into a

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

. For his wife Regina Magdalena Lutz and his descendants the title was created and they received castle and land at Oberkotzau. The Freiherren died out in 1976.

References

* Alban von Dobeneck: ''Geschichte des ausgestorbenen Geschlechtes von Kotzau.'' In: ''Archiv für die Geschichte von Oberfranken.'' Bayreuth 1909, S. 1 - 111. (German) * Kurt Stierstorfer: ''Die Belagerung Hofs 1553''. Hof 2003. S.215f. . (German) {{Commons category Franconian nobility German noble families House of Hohenzollern