Solms-Baruth was a

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; szl, Dolnŏ Łużyca; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the sou ...

state country State country (german: Freie Standesherrschaft; cs, stavovské panství; pl, państwo stanowe) was a unit of administrative and territorial division in the Bohemian crown lands of Silesia and Upper Lusatia, existing from 15th to 18th centuries. ...

, from 16th century until 1945.

History

The

House of Solms A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

had its origins at

Solms Geography Location Solms lies right in the Lahn valley at the mouth of the eponymous little river Solmsbach and is nestled between the foothills of both the Taunus and Westerwald at heights from 140 to 400 m above sea level. It is about 7& ...

, Hesse, and ruled several of the many minor states of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

. These lost their independence in the

German Mediatization German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large numbe ...

of 1806. Later the Baruth branch also purchased the estates of

Golßen Golßen (; dsb, Gólišyn) or Golssen is a town in the district of Dahme-Spreewald, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the '' Amt'' ("collective municipality") Unterspreewald. Geography It is situated in the northwest of t ...

and Casel in the March of Lusatia and, in 1767,

Kliczków Castle Kliczków Castle (german: Schloss Klitschdorf) is located in Kliczków in Poland. It was owned by the Solms-Baruth dynasty until 1942. History Kliczków was founded as a border fortress at the river Kwisa by Duke Bolko I of Jawor in 1297. In ...

(Klitschdorf) in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...

which became their main seat. They owned Baruth and the other estates from 1615 to 1945 (when they were expropriated in communist

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

), including the manor houses, ten villages and about 15,000 hectares of agriculture and forestry land. In 1635, the March passed from 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 ...

to the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charle ...

which in 1806 became the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Sax ...

, with the counts of Solms-Baruth occupying a hereditary seat in the Saxonian

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

. In 1815, when Saxony was punished at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...

for its loyalty to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

by the confiscation of a significant part of its territory, the March of Lusatia, including Solms-Baruth, was transferred to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

. The Prussian representative at the Congress was Prince

Karl August von Hardenberg Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg (31 May 1750, in Essenrode- Lehre – 26 November 1822, in Genoa) was a Prussian statesman and Prime Minister of Prussia. While during his late career he acquiesced to reactionary policies, earlier in his career ...

and his assistant, Count of Solms-Sonnewalde. The Counts of Solms-Baruth were granted a seat in the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Re ...

, until the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 The German Revolution or November Revolution (german: Novemberrevolution) was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a d ...

. Count Friedrich zu Solms-Baruth (1821–1904) was elevated to the hereditary rank of a

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...

(Prince) by the King of Prussia in 1888. Prince Friedrich zu Solms-Baruth (1886–1951) was not a member of the

Kreisau Circle The Kreisau Circle (German: ''Kreisauer Kreis'', ) (1940–1944) was a group of about twenty-five German dissidents in Nazi Germany led by Helmuth James von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia. The circle was com ...

, dissidents who opposed Hitler's Nazi regime. Schloss Golssen Sammlung Duncker.jpg,

castle Schloss Kasel-Golzig.jpg,

Kasel Kasel is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after R ...

castle Kliczków, zamek (Klitschdorf-Schloss5).jpg,

(Klitschdorf), Silesia

Lords

* '' Frederick Magnus, Count of Solms-Laubach (1521-1561)'' ** Otto, Count of Solms-Sonnenwalde 1596−1612 (1550-1612), ''second surviving son'' *** Friedrich Albert, Count of Solms-Sonnenwalde 1612−1615 (1592-1615) ** ''Johann Georg I, Count of Solms-Laubach (1546-1600), eldest surviving son'' *** Johann Georg II, Count of Solms-Baruth in Wildenfels 1615-1632 (1591-1632), ''sixth surviving son''

Counts of Solms-Baruth

* Johann Georg III, Count 1632–1690 with his brother (1630–1690), ''fifth and youngest surviving son of Johann Georg II'' * Friedrich Sigismund I, Count 1632–1696 initially with his brother (1627-1696), ''fourth surviving son of Johann Georg II'' ** Friedrich Sigismund II, Count 1696–1737 (1669-1737) *** Friedrich Gottlob Heinrich, Count 1737–1787 (1725-1787) **** Friedrich Carl Leopold, Count 1787–1801 (1757-1801) ***** Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig, Count 1801–1879 (1795-1879) ****** Friedrich Hermann Carl, Count 1879-1888 (1821-1904), created Fürst 1888

Princes (Fürsten) of Solms-Baruth

* Fürst Friedrich Hermann Carl, 1st Prince 1888-1904 (1821–1904) ** Fürst Friedrich Hermann Johann, 2nd Prince 1904–1920 (1853-1920) *** Fürst Friedrich Hermann Heinrich, 3rd Prince 1920–1951 (1886-1951) **** Fürst Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand, 4th Prince 1951-2006 (1926-2006) ***** Fürst Friedrich Eduard Philipp, 5th Prince 2006–present (born 1963) ***** Count Julian of Solms-Baruth (born 1965) ****** Count Afonso of Solms-Baruth (born 1997) *** ''Count Hans Georg Eduard of Solms-Baruth (1893-1971)'' **** ''Count Friedrich-Hans of Solms-Baruth (1923-2006) ***** Count Christian-Friedrich of Solms-Baruth (born 1954) ****** Count Alexander of Solms-Baruth (born 1989) **** ''Count Hubertus of Solms-Baruth (1934-1991)'' ***** Count Ruprecht of Solms-Baruth (born 1963) ****** Count Kasimir of Solms-Baruth (born 1991) ****** Count Humbertus of Solms-Baruth (born 1993) ****** Count Clemens of Solms-Baruth (born 1996)

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links