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 Oberhessen. It is located northeast of Hanau at the foot of the Vogelsberg, one of the largest inactive volcanoes in Europe. Neighboring towns Gedern ...

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 Vogelsb ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is first recorded in a document from

Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries o ...

dating to 780.

History

The lords of Ortenburg (descended from the

Lords of Büdingen Lords may refer to: * The plural of Lord Places *Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina * Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club People *Traci Lords (born 1 ...

) 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 ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus 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 Charle ...

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 The County of Königstein was an imperially immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire within the Upper Rhenish Circle. House of Eppstein On 6 August 1505 Maximilian I granted the titles of lords of Königstein, Eppstein and Munzenberg to the ...

passed to the

Counts of Stolberg The County of Stolberg (german: Grafschaft 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 pro ...

. 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 (german: Grafschaft 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. ...

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 ( 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 o ...

from

Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII (6 August 1697 – 20 January 1745) was the prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 to his death. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor thus marked the ...

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 The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

, that line had to cede it to

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-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 betwee ...

. 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