The House of Althann (also spelled Althan, Altham or Altheim) is the name of an ancient German noble family that originated from Lower Bavaria, whose members occupied many important political and clerical positions during the Holy Roman Empire. From 1714, they held the position of

hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

Cup-bearers for the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

History

They are one of the oldest extant German noble families, going back to at least 1129. By 1400, they had moved to Austria, where they were created barons, in 1574, and

Imperial Counts (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

, in 1610. After

Brandenberg-Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a Germans, German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved ...

annexed Silesia in the First Silesian War, a branch of the family joined the Prussian nobility. In the nineteenth century, they had seats in both the Austrian and Prussian ''Herrenhauser'', or House of Lords. A list of notable members and possessions of the family may be found in the corresponding German Wikipedia article.

References

Bibliography

* Wilhelm Hauser, ''Das Geschlecht derer von Althann''. Dissertation: Vienna, 1949. * Joseph Kögler, ''Die Chroniken der Grafschaft Glatz''. ''Neu bearbeitet von Dieter Pohl'', (Köln, 1992ff): Volume 2: 257–259; Volume 4: 220–225. {{Authority control Austrian noble families European noble families German noble families Prussian nobility