Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn was a county of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

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 ...

, comprising the lands of the region of

Sayn Sayn was a small German county of the Holy Roman Empire which, during the Middle Ages, existed within what is today Rheinland-Pfalz. There have been two Counties of Sayn. The first emerged in 1139 and became closely associated with the County o ...

. It was created as a partition of

Sayn-Wittgenstein Sayn-Wittgenstein was a county of medieval Germany, located in the Sauerland of eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. History Sayn-Wittgenstein was created when Count Salentin of Sayn-Homburg, a member of the House of Sponheim, married the heiress Co ...

in 1607, although it was not until the next year that it obtained fully the Countship of Sayn. The succession was never clear, leading to the annexation of the county in 1623 by the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...

. It was not until a treaty in 1648 (at the end of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

) that it was decided the county would pass to the sisters Ernestine and Johanette of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, under the regency of their mother Countess Louise Juliane von Erbach (1603–1670). They partitioned the county into

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen (sometimes called Sayn-Altenkirchen) was a German county located in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, near the river Sieg. When Count William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn died in 1623 without clear heirs, the ...

and

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg (sometimes called Sayn-Hachenburg) was a German County located in Rhineland-Palatinate, near the river Sieg. When Count William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn died in 1623 without clear heirs, the Archbishop of Colog ...

soon after.

Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, First Creation

* William III (ruled from 1607–1623), third son of Count Ludwig von Sayn-Wittgenstein; married Anna Elisabeth von Sayn, the niece and heiress of Henry IV, Count of Sayn-Sayn.

Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, Second Creation

Count William III's sons from his second marriage with Anna Ottilie of

Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...

became Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. The branch became extinct in 1846 with the death of Count Gustaf zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.

Princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn

Count Ludwig Franz II of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg (1694–1750) founded a branch which in 1834 became Prussian princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg and in 1861 princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. The present head of this branch is

Alexander, Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn Alexander Konrad Friedrich Heinrich Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn,Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XIX. "Sayn-Wittgenstein". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2011, pp. 331-333. (German). . (born 22 November 1943 in Salzburg, Austria), ...

(born 1943), the 7th prince.

Line of succession

* ''Ludwig Franz II, 1st Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg (1694–1750)'' ** '' Christian Ludwig Casimir, 2nd Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg (1725–1797)'' *** '' Ludwig Adolf Peter, 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg (Prussia) 1834 (1769–1843)'' **** Ludwig Adolf Friedrich, ''succeeded to Prussian titles 1843'', 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn 1861–1866 (1799–1866) ***** ''Peter, succeeded to Prussian titles 1866 (1831–1887)'' ***** Friedrich, ''succeeded younger brother Ludwig as'' 3rd Prince 1876–1879, resigned in favor of younger brother Alexander, ''succeeded older brother in Prussian titles 1887'' (1836–1909) ****** ''his descendants hold various Prussian and Russian titles'' ***** Ludwig, 2nd Prince 1866–1876 (1843–1876) ***** Alexander, 4th Prince 1879–1883, resigned in favor of his son (1847–1940) ****** Stanislaus, 5th Prince 1883–1958 (1872–1958) ****** ''Prince Gustav Alexander of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1880–1953) ******* Ludwig Stanislaus, 6th Prince 1953–1962 (1915–1962) ********

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, 7th Prince 1962–present (born 1943) ********* Heinrich,

Hereditary Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 1971) ********** Prince Ludovico of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 2006) ********* Prince Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 1976) ********** Prince Alexander of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 2002) ********** Prince Johann of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 2020) ********* Prince Ludwig of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 1982) ********* Prince Peter of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 1992) ******** Prince Peter of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 1954) ********* Prince Constantin of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 1994)

References

External links

{{Commons category, House of Sayn-Wittgenstein
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn family website

Portrait of Leonilla, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn
from the Getty Collection *