The title of Prince of Leiningen () was created by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

, who elevated Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg (a younger branch of the

House of Leiningen The House of Leiningen is the name of an old German noble family whose lands lay principally in Alsace, Lorraine, Saarland, Rhineland, and the Palatinate. Various branches of this family developed over the centuries and ruled counties with Imp ...

) to the rank of ''Reichsfürst'' (

Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

) on 3 July 1779. Together with all other titles of nobility in Germany, it was abolished with the 1919

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

Principality of Leiningen at Amorbach

From 1560 until 1725, Hardenburg Castle was the main seat of the branch. After its partial destruction during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

, the residence was moved to

Bad Dürkheim Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. It is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim (district), Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and the site of the discovery of the element caesium, in 1860. Geogra ...

. In 1801, this line was deprived by France of its lands on the left bank of the Rhine, namely Hardenburg, Dagsburg and Durkheim. However, it received the secularized

Amorbach Abbey Amorbach Abbey () was a Rule of St. Benedict, Benedictine Princely abbeys and imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire, imperial abbey of the Holy Roman Empire located at Amorbach. It was later the residence of the rulers of the short-lived Princi ...

in 1803 as ample compensation for these losses. The complete titles of Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, 1st Prince of Leiningen, were Imperial Prince of Leiningen,

Count palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

Mosbach Mosbach (; South Franconian: ''Mossbach'') is a town in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the seat of the Neckar-Odenwald district and has a population of approximately 25,000 distributed in six boroughs: Mosbach Town, Lohrbach, ...

, Count of

Düren Düren (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur (river), Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the ter ...

, Lord of

Miltenberg Miltenberg () is a town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the Miltenberg (district), like-named district and has a population of over 9,000. Geography Location The old ...

Amorbach Amorbach () is a town in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the small river Mud, in the northeastern part of the Odenwald. ...

, Bischofsheim, Boxberg, Schüpf and Lauda. A few years later, the short-lived

Principality of Leiningen The Principality of Leiningen () was a short-lived principality ruled by the Prince of Leiningen. It was created in 1803 as part of compensation for the House of Leiningen losing land to France but was mediatized three years later to become par ...

at Amorbach was

mediatized 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 ...

. Its territory is now included mainly in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, but also partly in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and in

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. Amorbach Abbey is still today the seat of the Prince of Leiningen. A former hunting lodge named Waldleiningen Castle at

Mudau Mudau is a municipality in the Neckar-Odenwald district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. it has 4,833 inhabitants. Geography Mudau lies in the southeastern Odenwald mountains between the Neckar and Main rivers, 75 km southeast of Frankfurt ...

is now run as a hospital by the family. File:Dagsburg 18.2.2010.jpg, Dagsburg Castle (1663) File:Hardenburg 1580.jpg, Hardenburg Castle (1580) File:Dürkheim Schloss Rieger.jpg, Durkheim Castle (1787) File:Amorbach-abteikirche.jpg,

File:Waldleiningen.jpg, Waldleiningen Castle

Family connections and events

The second prince, Emich Charles, married

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Marie Louise Victoire; 17 August 1786 – 16 March 1861), later Princess of Leiningen and subsequently Duchess of Kent and Strathearn, was a German princess and the mother of Queen Victoria of the ...

. After his death in 1814, the princess married

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (Edward Augustus; 2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820) was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. His only child, Queen Victoria, Victoria, became Queen of the United Ki ...

, a younger son of

George III of the United Kingdom George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great ...

, by whom she became the mother of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. The Queen's half-siblings, Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and Princess Feodora remained close to their half-sister. The fourth prince, Ernst, pursued a career in the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and married Princess Marie of Baden. The sixth prince, Karl, married Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, daughter of Princess Victoria Melita who was in turn daughter of

Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 22 August 1893 until his death in 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Du ...

's second son. In 1991, the seventh prince, Emich, disinherited his eldest son, the Hereditary Prince Karl Emich, after he married his second wife, Dr Gabriele Thyssen, on May 24 of that same year. The disinheritance was upheld by the German courts, and so on Emich's death later that year, he was succeeded by his second son, Andreas, who has been the eighth prince from that time. He married Princess Alexandra of Hanover.

Princes of Leiningen (from 1779)

* Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, 1st Prince of Leiningen (1724–1807) *

Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen (27 September 1763 – 4 July 1814) was the reigning Fürst of the Principality of Leiningen. After his death, his widow, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathea ...

(1763–1814) * Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen (1804–1856) * Ernst, 4th Prince of Leiningen (1830–1904) * Emich, 5th Prince of Leiningen (1866–1939) * Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen (1898–1946) * Emich, 7th Prince of Leiningen (1926–1991) * (born 1955) The

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

is Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen (born 1982).

Sources

* https://archive.today/20120722083831/http://www.btinternet.com/~allan_raymond/Leiningen_Royal_Family.htm *

External links

{{Commonscat, Princes of Leiningen
Website of the Prince of Leiningen

European Heraldry page
Leiningen Leiningen family Odenwald

Principality of Leiningen at Amorbach

Family connections and events

Princes of Leiningen (from 1779)

See also

Sources

External links