The Lordship of Gedern (German: ''Herrschaft Gedern'') was a lordship or

herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

centred on

Gedern Gedern () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hesse, Germany, and historically belongs to Upper Hesse, Oberhessen. It is located northeast of Hanau at the foot of the Vogelsberg Mountains, Vogelsberg, one of the largest inactive volcanoes ...

near

Büdingen Büdingen () is a town in the Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is mainly known for its well-preserved, heavily fortified medieval town wall and half-timbered houses. Geography Location Büdingen is in the south of the Wetterau below the Vog ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is first recorded in a document from

Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (; or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms, Germany, Worms. It was one of the most important monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ru ...

dating to 780.

History

The lords of Ortenburg (descended from the Lords of Büdingen) built a castle in Gedern. In 1247, after the death of Gerlach II, Bailiff of Büdingen, Gedern fell to Eberhard I of Breuberg from the House of Reis von Beuberg and Albert I of Trimberg, who had married Gerlach's daughter. Eberhard I of Breuberg was followed by his son Gerlach and that Gerlach's son Eberhard III, both bailiffs of Wetterau. In 1323, Eberhard III died without leaving a surviving son and so the Lordship of Gedern passed to Conrad V of Trimberg and Gottfried V of Eppstein. In 1356,

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

granted the House of Trimberg market rights in Gedern. When they died in 1376/84 in Mannesstam, Gedern passed entirely to the House of Eppstein. After the House of Eppstein divided up its lands in 1433, Gedern passed to the Eppstein-Königstein line. The last of that line, Eberhard IV, had no male issue and so it passed to the house of Stolberg, to which his wife Anna and his nephew Louis of Stolberg belonged. Louis grew up with Eberhard and Anna from 1514 onwards and became Eberhard's heir.

Stolberg-Gedern

On Eberhard IV's death in 1535, Gedern and its associated County of Königstein passed to the

Counts of Stolberg The County of Stolberg () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz mountain range in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. The town of Stolberg was probably founded in the 12th c ...

. Louis took them both over and founded the short-lived County of Stolberg-Königstein. After the male line went extinct, it passed to the

Stolberg-Wernigerode The County of Stolberg-Wernigerode () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz region around Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. History The Counts of Wernigerode h ...

line. In 1677, the house of Stolberg-Gedern was created by the division of the lands of the house of Stolberg-Wernigerode. The second count of Stolberg-Gedern, Frederick Charles, bought promotion to the status of an

Imperial Prince 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 ...

from

Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII (6 August 1697 – 20 January 1745) was elector of Bavaria from 26 February 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 to his death. He was also King of Bohemia (as Charles Albert) from 1741 to 1743. Charles was a member of th ...

on 18 February 1742. The Princes of Stolberg-Gedern became extinct in the male line in 1804 and so the lordship of Gedern was passed back to the main Stolberg-Wernigerode line. However, with the adoption of the sovereignty rights outlined in the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine, that line had to cede it to

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt () was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse among the four sons of Landgrave Philip I. ...

. In 1816, Gedern and the Stolberg-Wernigerode line also briefly fell under Isenburg. In 1945, the area became part of Großhessen, then the following year part of

Stolberg Regents

{{Main, House of Stolberg

External links

Gedern on a map of Hesse, 1789