The Notthafft family (also ''Nothafft, Notthaft, Nothaft'') was an old German noble family.

History

The history of the family started in the Egerland, with castles in Wildstein (now

Skalná Skalná (; until 1950 Vildštejn, german: Wildstein) is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Kateřina, Starý Rybník, Vonšov and Zelená are a ...

), Falkenau (now Sokolov) and Thierstein at the end of the 12th century. Up to the 18th century three lines existed, named by the most important castles, Wernberg, Weißenstein near

Friedenfels Friedenfels is a municipality in the district of Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, 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 Bodenstein near

Nittenau Nittenau () is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Regen, 18 km southeast of Schwandorf, and 24 km northeast of Regensburg. It is the "sister city" of Lake Zurich, Illinois. ...

. The family is directly related with the

House of Sparneck The House of Sparneck was a local noble family in Franconia. 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; further castles were located in Sp ...

. It became

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 ...

en. A prominent member of the family is

Cajetan Anton von Notthaft Cajetan Anton Freiherr Notthafft von Weißenstein (23 June 1670 - 4 July 1752) was a member of the House of Notthafft in the line named by Wernberg. From 1732 to 1752 he was Prince-Provost of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officiall ...

. The last male descendant died in 1952. Beginning with the 14th century there was a

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

n family in the region of

Remseck Remseck am Neckar () is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Rems and Neckar, about 12 km northeast of Stuttgart, and 7 km southeast of Ludwigsburg. The to ...

, carrying a different coat of arms. Though there is no familiar link found, the two families are regarded to be related.

References

* Harald Stark:
Die Familie Notthafft - auf Spurensuche im Egerland, in Bayern und Schwaben
', Weißenstadt 2006, (German) {{Authority control Bavarian noble families Franconian nobility Swabian nobility