The House of Sparneck was a local noble family in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper F ...

. The family is known to exist from 1223 to 1744 and was named after the market village of Sparneck. One of their first castles was the

Waldsteinburg The Waldsteinburg, also called the Red Castle (german: Rotes Schloss) is a ruined castle on the summit of the Großer Waldstein in the Fichtel Mountains of Germany. It is also known as the ''Westburg'' ('west castle') to distinguish it from the old ...

; 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 mountains of Fichtelgebirge and Frankenwald. Highest Point is the Schachtel- or Schleg ...

, Uprode near Weißdorf, Stein near Gefrees, 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 Helmbrech ...

) and Gattendorf. 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, municipa ...

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 Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, ...

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

Gravenreuth Gravenreuth was a German noble family. The family's origin seat was located in Grafenreuth, now part of Thiersheim in the District of Wunsiedel in Upper Franconia, first mentioned in 1180. Up to the 18th century, the family, supplied with the t ...

, Guttenberg,

Kotzau The House of Kotzau was a local noble family in Franconia. The House of Kotzau took its name from the village of Kotzau, today called Oberkotzau and it is located in the district Hof in Upper Franconia. Famous members of the family were abbess i ...

Künsberg Künsberg was a German dynasty of knights from Frankenwald and Upper Franconia. The House of Künsberg took its name from Künsberg near Creußen. The family was directly related to the House of Sparneck. Caroline von Holnstein was married with ...

Notthafft Notthafft (also ''Nothafft, Notthaft, Nothaft'') was a German local noble family. The history of the family started in the Egerland, with castles in Wildstein (now Skalná), Falkenau (now Sokolov) and Thierstein at the end of the 12th century. ...

Pappenheim Pappenheim is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Altmühl, 11 km south of Weißenburg in Bayern. History Historically, Pappenheim was a statelet within Holy Roman Empire. It ...

Reitzenstein Reitzenstein was a German dynasty of Franconian knights. The House of Reitzenstein took its name from Reitzenstein near Issigau. The family was directly related to the House of Sparneck. Prominent members of the family: * Franziska von Reitz ...

and

Zedtwitz The House of Zedtwitz is the name of an old and distinguished German nobility, German and Czech nobility, Czech noble house which originated from Franconia, Germany. History The family first appeared in a written document in 1235 and later in ...

. As a consequence of supporting the robber baron

Thomas von Absberg Hans Thomas von Absberg (1477 – 3 July 1531) was a Frankish knight of the Absberg family, known as a robber baron. He kidnapped important travellers like royal legates or merchants from Nuremberg or Augsburg. He was supported by several Fran ...

, they were forced to give up their origin lands and moved to

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

, keeping only few

fief A fief (; la, feudum) 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 f ...

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 has then, in turn, enfeoffed it wholly or partially to a lesser vassal or vassals. The term is German. It is ...

'', 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 H ...

and Dörflas, now a part of

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

. For two generations they can be found in

Libá Libá (until 1948 ''Libštejn'', german: Liebenstein) is a municipality and village in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Administrative parts The village of Hůrka is an administrative ...

. 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 held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...

s in

Trausnitz Trausnitz is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf in Bavaria, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Ge ...

Püchersreuth Püchersreuth is a municipality in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria, Germany. References Neustadt an der Waldnaab (district) {{NeustadtWaldnaabdistrict-geo-stub ...

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 (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the Europe ...

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 Sparneck, House of