The House of Nostitz () is an old and influential

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

n aristocratic family, whose members occupied many important positions within

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 ...

and later in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

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 ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

History

The family was named after Nostitz in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, with its history dating back to 1280 in

Oberlausitz Upper Lusatia (, ; , ; ; or ''Milsko''; ) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia are home to the ...

, today's

. They reigned over the Imperial County of Rieneck from 1673 when it was purchased by (1610–1683) until 1803 when they sold it to the Princes of Colloredo-Mansfeld. Apart from Nostitz-Rieneck several other branches of the family existed: ''Nostitz-Unwürde'', ''Nostitz-Jänkendorf'', ''Nostitz-Wallwitz'', ''Nostitz-Drzewiecky'', ''Nostitz-Rokitnitz'' and ''Nostitz-Ransen'' which lived and spread through

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and

Notable members

* (1725–1794), Bohemian nobleman and patron * Friedrich Moritz, Graf von Nostitz-Rieneck (1728–1796), a field marshal in imperial service to the House of Habsburg * Johann Nepomuk von Nostitz-Rieneck (1768–1840), nephew of Friedrich Moritz, commanded a cavalry division in the army of the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars * August Ludwig von Nostitz (1777–1866), Prussian general, fought in the Waterloo Campaign * (1878–1944), writer and salon Dame * Georg von Nostitz (Georg Karl von Nostitz-Jänkendorf, 1781—1838), German military officer in Imperial Russian service * Gustav-Adolf von Nostitz-Wallwitz (1898–1945), general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II * Nick Nostitz (born 1968), German photographic journalist

Lordships

* 1280: earliest record of the Lords of Nostitz * 1366: Lordship of the

* 1631: Barony of the Holy Roman Empire * 1673: purchased the County of Rieneck * 1692: Counts of the Holy Roman Empire

History

Notable members

Lordships

See also

References

Further reading