The House of Colloredo-Mansfeld () is an originally Italian noble family of which a branch came to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the late 16th century. There they were raised to barons in 1588,

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 1727 and imperial princes (in primogeniture) in 1763. They obtained Opočno Castle in the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

in 1634 and acquired numerous further estates in Bohemia and Austria. In 1945 they were expropriated and expelled from the Czechoslovak Republic, but returned after 1990 and had parts of their former estates restituted.

History

Colloredo di Monte Albano Castello 23072008 01

The Colloredo family is originally from Colloredo di Monte Albano, Italy, where they owned numerous estates. According to family tradition, it descends from the Swabian

Lords of Waldsee The Lords of Walsee were a German noble family between the 13th and 15th centuries. Taking their name from Bad Waldsee in Upper Swabia, they were originally ministerials (unfree knights) in the service of the abbey of Weissenburg and the Stau ...

. Allegedly, Liebhart (''Liobardo'') of Waldsee came to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

attending King

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

and about 1031 was

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ...

by Patriarch Poppo of Aquileia with Mels Castle near

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with ...

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giul ...

.Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XIV. "Colloredo-Mannsfeld". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1991, pp. 247-252. (German). His descendants from 1309 onwards built Colloredo Castle as their residence. The Waldsee lineage however is disputed today. The house was elevated to the noble rank of ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

'' by the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II in 1588 and became ''

Reichsgraf Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

'' in 1724. In 1634 two Colloredo brothers were granted Opočno Castle in Bohemia by

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were d ...

. Rudolph Joseph von Colloredo (1706-1788), Vice-Chancellor of Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

, was appointed

Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. '' Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors ...

in 1763. The Colloredo-Mansfeld line emerged when his son Franz de Paula Gundakar von Colloredo married Princess Maria Isabella of

Mansfeld Mansfeld, sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Protestant reformator Martin Luther grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became one of sixteen places ...

in 1771 and was able to inherit her family's Bohemian estates with Dobříš Castle upon the extinction of the dynasty's male line in 1780, while the original Mansfeld possessions passed to the Prussian Duchy of Magdeburg. The union of the houses of Colloredo and Mansfeld was officially approved by decree of Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 u ...

in 1789; the decree used the spelling ''Colloredo-Mannsfeld'' whilst the spelling ''Colloredo-Mansfeld'' was more common. In 1803 Prince Franz Gundakar purchased a part of the County of Rieneck from the House of Nostitz because its

Imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pr ...

granted him a seat in the Imperial Diet, although he never moved there. In 1806 this territory was mediatised by the Archbishop of Regensburg,

Karl Theodor von Dalberg Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (8 February 1744 – 10 February 1817) was Prince- Archbishop of Regensburg, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Bishop of Constance and Worms, prince-primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Gra ...

, as part of his Principality of Aschaffenburg. In 1815 Rieneck was annexed by the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

. The Prince purchased in 1804 a portion of the

County of Limpurg A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

known as the Lordship of Limpurg-Gröningen; this was mediatised by the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...

in 1806. In the

Second Czechoslovak Republic The Second Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, Druhá československá republika, sk, Druhá česko-slovenská republika) existed for 169 days, between 30 September 1938 and 15 March 1939. It was composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia an ...

about half of the family possessions of 60,000

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s of forests and farmland was expropriated during a

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultur ...

. Under German occupation (

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...

), when the Colloredos who had become Czechoslovak citizens refused to become Germans, their remaining estates were confiscated by the Nazis and some of the nephews of prince Joseph II. (who lived in Paris) were arrested for slave work, others emigrated. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the family returned but only to face arrest and torture again, and subsequently expulsion from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

where they were again expropriated, this time "as Germans" under the

Beneš decrees The Beneš decrees, sk, Dekréty prezidenta republiky) and the Constitutional Decrees of the President of the Republic ( cz, Ústavní dekrety presidenta republiky, sk, Ústavné dekréty prezidenta republiky) were a series of laws drafted by t ...

. They emigrated to Canada and the US. Their only remaining possession was Gstatt forest estate in Austria that they had purchased in 1929, while a younger branch still owns Sierndorf in Austria (purchased in 1756). Parts of the Colloredo's possessions, among them Dobříš Castle and Zbiroh Castle and their farmlands, were restored by the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

to Jerome Colloredo-Mansfeld (who sold the latter and left the first to his nephew ). Opočno Castle was returned to prince Joseph III's daughter Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeld. A high court decision however forced her to give the castle back to the State while she was allowed to keep the farmland. A lawsuit over the arts collection at Opočno Castle is still pending. Countess Kristina is living in Opočno and in Gstatt, Austria. The family now owns again about 20,000 of their original 60,000 hectares. File:Opočno zámek.jpg, Opočno Castle, Czech Republic File:Zámek Dobříš 02.jpg, Dobříš Castle, Czech Republic File:Zámek Zbiroh, Rokycany.jpg, Zbiroh Castle, Czech Republic File:Schloss Gstatt.jpg, Gstatt Castle, Austria File:Sierndorf Schloß.jpg, Sierndorf Castle, Austria

Princes of Colloredo-Mannsfeld (1789–present)

Arms of the house of Colloredo-Mannsfeld

* Franz Gundackar, Count 1788–1789, 1st Prince 1789-1807 (1731-1789), son of Rudolph Joseph, Prince (1763) and Vice-Chancellor ** Rudolf, 2nd Prince 1807-1843 (1772-1843) ** ''Count Hieronymus (1775-1822)'' *** Franz, 3rd Prince 1843-1852 (1802-1852) ** ''Count Ferdinand (1777-1848)'' *** Joseph, 4th Prince 1852-1895 (1813-1895) **** ''Hieronymus, Hereditary Prince of Colloredo-Mannsfeld (1842-1881)'' ***** Joseph, 5th Prince 1895-1957 (1866-1957) ***** ''Count Hieronymus (1870-1942)'' ****** Joseph, 6th Prince 1957-1990 (1910-1990) ****** Hieronymus, 7th Prince 1990-1998 (1912-1998) ****** ''Count Friedrich (1917-1991)'' ******* , 8th Prince 1998–present (b.1949) ******** Paul-Josef Count of Mannsfeld, Hereditary Prince of Colloredo-Mannsfeld (b.1981) ********* Count Hieronymus (b.2011) ********* Count Felix (b.2013) ********* Count Paul (b.2016) ******** Count Lelio (b.1985)

Notable members

* Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo (1732–1812) was Prince-Bishop of Gurk from 1761 and last Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1771 until 1803, when the Archbishopric was

secularized In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

. * Hieronymus Karl Graf von Colloredo-Mansfeld (1775–1822) was an Austrian corps commander during the Napoleonic Wars. *

Franz Gundaker von Colloredo-Mansfeld Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

(1802–1852), his son, was an Austrian corps commander during the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. * Filippo di Colloredo-Mels (1778–1864), leader of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from the Italian branch of the family

References

External links

* (in German and Czech) {{Authority control House of Mansfeld Austrian noble families German noble families