Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck was a small

imperial county Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, ranking as the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is ...

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 ...

. Its territory was the area around

Dyck Dyck is a form of the Dutch surname (van) Dijck, which is also common among Russian Mennonites. Notable surnames * Aganetha Dyck (born 1937), Canadian artist * Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), Flemish artist * Arnold Dyck (1889-1970), Canadian ...

(south-east of

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

) in present

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 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

Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck was a partition of

Salm-Reifferscheid Salm is the name of several historic countships and principality, principalities in present Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. History Origins and first division The County of Salm arose in the tenth century in Vielsalm, in the Ardennes r ...

, divided between two grandsons of the ruling family in 1649. The Salm-Reifferscheids ruled the Dyck Land Absolutely until the French invasion in 1795. It was annexed in 1811 by the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. The county was mediatised to 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 1813. Three years later in 1816, as compensation for their loss, the Head of the family was raised to the title of

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German language, German word for a ruler as well as a princely title. ' were, starting in the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ...

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, ...

, but without the material rights of the lords of the manor (since, according to Prussian legal theory, they were not part of the Empire), such as tax exemptions, official police, free use of hunting, etc. This meant that they lost all sovereign rights. Their prior rights as lords of the manor (before 1795) included, among other things, the high court, civil jurisdiction, customs duties, tolls, and excise taxes. Thus, from 1816 onward, the Princes of Salm-Reiferscheid, unlike other lords of the manor (who lost sovereignty over the land), were legally equal to all their former subjects, simple Prussian subjects. When this branch of the

Salm family The House of Salm was an ancient Lotharingian noble family originating from Salmchâteau in the Ardennes (present-day Belgium) and ruling Salm (state), Salm. The dynasty is above all known for the experiences of the Salm (state)#Upper Salm, Upper ...

died out in 1888, the style was assumed by their closest agnatic cousins,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

s of

Salm-Reifferscheid-Krautheim Salm-Reifferscheid-Krautheim was a short-lived Imperial Estate to the Holy Roman Empire, which was created as a succession of in 1803. It was raised to a Principality in 1804, and was German Mediatisation, mediatised to the Kingdom of Wurttember ...

. Upon the death of

Franz Josef Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...

, Prince and Count of Salm-Reiferscheid in 1958, the male line of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Krautheim and Dyck became extinct. The full princely style was '' Imperial

of Salm,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Hoogstraten Hoogstraten () is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises Hoogstraten, Meer, Meerle, Meersel-Dreef, Minderhout and Wortel (Meersel-Dreef includes the northernmost point in Belgium). Ho ...

, Forest Count of Dhaun and

Kyrburg Kirn () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Kirner Land. Kirn is a middle centre serving an area on the Nahe and in the Hunsrück. Geography Location Kirn lies in ...

, Rhine Count of

Stein Stein may refer to: Places Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria * Stein, Styria, a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeld, Styria * Stein (Lassing), a village in the district of Liezen, Styria * Stein a ...

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

Diemeringen Diemeringen () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The communes c ...

and

Anholt Anholt may refer to: Places *Anholt (Denmark), Danish island * Anholt, Netherlands, village in Drenthe, Netherlands *Anholt, Germany, district of the city of Isselburg, Germany **The Lordship of Anholt, historical state People *Christien Anholt ( ...

''.

Counts of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck (1639–1806)

* Ernest Salentin, Count 1639–1684 (1621–1684), ''second son of Ernst Friedrich, Count of Salm-Reifferscheidt'' ** Francis Ernest, Count 1684–1727 (1659–1727) *** Augustus Eugene Bernard, Count 1727–1767 (1706–1767) *** Johann Franz Wilhelm, Count 1767–1775 (1714–1775) **** Joseph Franz, Count 1775–1806 ( mediatised from 1806), raised to the title of

in 1816

Princes of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck (1816–1888)

* Johann Franz Wilhelm, Count 1767–1775 (1714–1775) ** Joseph Franz, 1st Prince 1816–1861 (1773–1861) ** ''Prince Franz Joseph August of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck (1775–1826)'' *** Alfred Joseph Klemens, 2nd Prince 1861–1888 (1811–1888)

References

1639 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1811 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1639 Counties of the Holy Roman Empire States of the Confederation of the Rhine States and territories disestablished in 1811 {{Germany-hist-stub