The Sparneck family was an old German noble family from

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 ...

History

The family is known to exist from 1223 to 1744 and was named after the market village of

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 ...

. One of their first castles was the Waldsteinburg; further castles were located in Sparneck, Weißdorf,

Stockenroth Stockenroth is a village now belonging to Sparneck in the Hof district, Bavaria, Germany. Geography The village is situated on the river Saale between the Fichtel Mountains and Franconian Forest. The highest point is the Schachtel- or Schlege ...

, Uprode near Weißdorf, Stein near

Gefrees Gefrees () is a town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the Fichtel Mountains, 21 km northeast of Bayreuth. It was the site of a battle during the Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict ...

, Hallerstein (now part of

Schwarzenbach an der Saale Schwarzenbach an der Saale is a town in the district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, 11 km south of Hof. Within the town is the Gedenkstätte Langer Gang, a memorial to the Nazi victims of the Helmbrechts ...

) and

Gattendorf Gattendorf is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria, 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 ...

. Their homeland corresponds to the old

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 ...

Münchberg Münchberg is a small town in Upper Franconia (Bavaria), Germany. It is sometimes referred to as the ''Textile Town of Bavaria''. Its sister city is Jefferson City, Missouri, United States. Geography The town districts History The first set ...

, now part of the district of Hof. The family is directly related to the Houses of Bibra, Gravenreuth, Guttenberg, Kotzau,

Künsberg The Künsberg family was an old German nobility, German noble family of knights from the Franconian Forest and Upper Franconia. History The Künsberg family took its name from Künsberg near Creußen and was directly related to the House of S ...

Notthafft The Notthafft family (also ''Nothafft, Notthaft, Nothaft'') was an old German noble family. History The history of the family started in the Egerland, with castles in Wildstein (now Skalná), Falkenau (now Sokolov) and Thierstein at the end o ...

Pappenheim Pappenheim is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Altmühl, south of Weißenburg in Bayern. History Historically, Pappenheim was a statelet within the Holy Roman Empire. It was ...

, Reitzenstein 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 ...

. As a consequence of supporting the robber baron Thomas von Absberg, they were forced to give up their origin lands and moved to

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (; , , ) is an administrative district in the east of Bavaria, Germany. It consists of seven districts and 226 municipalities, including three cities. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and nume ...

, keeping only few

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s, the so-called ''

Afterlehen An ''Afterlehen'' or ''Afterlehn'' ''(plural: Afterlehne, Afterlehen)'' is a fief that the liege lord has himself been given as a fief and which he has then, in turn, enfeoffed wholly or partially to a lesser vassal or vassals. The term is German. ...

'', e.g. in Bernstein near

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 ...

and Dörflas, now a part of

Marktredwitz Marktredwitz () is a town in the district of Wunsiedel, in Bavaria, Germany, close to the Czech border, 22 km west of Cheb, 50 km east of Bayreuth and 50 km south of Hof/Saale. Marktredwitz station is at the junction of the Nuremb ...

. For two generations they can be found in

Libá Libá (until 1948 Libštejn; ) is a municipality and village in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central ...

. At last they owned

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

s in

Trausnitz Trausnitz is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf in Bavaria, 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 Alp ...

, Püchersreuth and

Reuth bei Erbendorf Reuth bei Erbendorf is a municipality in the district of Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, 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 ...

References

* Peter Braun: ''Die Herren von Sparneck. Stammbaum, Verbreitung, Kurzinventar''. In: ''Archiv für die Geschichte von Oberfranken''. Vol. 82, 2002, pp. 71–106. * Peter Braun: ''Ordenszugehörigkeiten der Herren von Sparneck''. In: ''Jahrbuch 2004 des BDOS - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ordenskunde e.V.'' 2004. * Alban Freiherr von Dobeneck: ''Geschichte des ausgestorbenen Geschlechtes der von Sparneck''. In: ''Archiv für die Geschichte von Oberfranken''. Vol. 22, Heft 3, 1905, p. 1–65 and Vol. 23, Book 1, 1906, pp. 1–56. Nachdruck: . * František Kubu: ''Die staufische Ministerialität im Egerland''; übers. Bohus Wallisch; (''Quellen und Erörterungen der Otnant-Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Kultur in der Euregio Egrensis'' 1), Bodner, Pressath 1995; . * Reinhardt Schmalz: ''Der Fränkische Krieg 1523 und die Schuld der Sparnecker''. In: ''Archiv für die Geschichte von Oberfranken''. Vol. 85, 2005, pp. 151–158. {{Authority control German Bohemian noble families

Sparneck, House of