Solms-Laubach was a County of southern

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

and eastern

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 betwee ...

. The House of SolmsSee German article on the '' House of Solms'' or French article '' Maison de Solms. had its origins in

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.

History

Solms-Laubach was originally created as a partition of Solms-Lich. In 1537

Philip, Count of Solms-Lich Philipp, Count of Solms-Lich (15 August 1468 - 3 October 1544, Frankfurt) was a German nobleman. He ruled as Count of Solms zu Lich. He was also a councilor at the courts of Maximilian I, Charles V and Frederick III as well as a patron of art ...

, ruling count at Lich, purchased the '' Herrschaft''

Sonnewalde Sonnewalde is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 8 km northwest of Finsterwalde. History From 1815 to 1947, Sonnewalde was part of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg. From 1952 to 19 ...

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 ...

which he left to his younger son Otto of Solms-Laubach (1496–1522), together with the county of

Laubach Laubach is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünberg, Schotten and ...

. While Lich and Laubach were counties with

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 pri ...

, Sonnewalde remained a semi-independent

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. ...

within the

March of Lusatia The March or Margraviate of Lusatia (german: Mark(grafschaft) Lausitz) was as an eastern border march of the Holy Roman Empire in the lands settled by Polabian Slavs. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast '' Marca Geronis''. ...

(the latter being an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire). A later Count Otto (1550–1612) moved to Sonnewalde and built the castle in 1582. In 1596 he also purchased the nearby Herrschaft of Baruth which was also elevated to a state country within the March of Lusatia. The branch then was divided into the twigs of Solms-Laubach, Solms-Sonnewalde and Solms-Baruth. Solms-Laubach partitioned between itself and Solms-Sonnenwalde in 1561; between itself,

Solms-Baruth Solms-Baruth was a Lower Lusatian state country, from 16th century until 1945. History The House of Solms had its origins at Solms, Hesse, and ruled several of the many minor states of the Holy Roman Empire. These lost their independence in the ...

and Solms-Rödelheim 1607; and between itself and Solms-Sonnenwalde 1627. Solms-Laubach inherited Solms-Sonnenwalde in 1615. With the death of Count Charles Otto in 1676, it was inherited by Solms-Baruth and recreated as a partition in 1696. Solms-Laubach was mediatised 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 be ...

in 1806. The counts of Solms-Laubach still own

Castle and

Arnsburg Abbey Arnsburg Abbey (German: Kloster Arnsburg) is a former Cistercian monastery near Lich in the Wetterau, Hesse, Germany. It was founded by monks from Eberbach Abbey in 1174. Although heavily damaged in the Thirty Years' War it was rebuilt later in ...

. Until 1935, Münzenberg Castle also belonged to the estate. Laubach schloss ws ds 05 2008

Counts of Solms-Laubach

First creation: 1544–1676

* Frederick Magnus I (1544–61) *

John George John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(1561–1600) * Albert Otto I (1600–10) * Albert Otto II (1610–56) * Charles Otto (1656–76)

Second creation: 1696–1806

* Frederick Ernest (1696–1723) * Christian Augustus (1723–84), ''with...'' ** Frederick Magnus II (1723–38) * Frederick Louis Christian (1784–1806)

Mediatized

* Friedrich Ludwig Christian, 5th Count 1806 (Mediatized)-1822 (1769-1822) ** Otto, 6th Count 1822-1872 (1799-1872) *** Friedrich, 7th Count 1872-1900 (1833-1900) **** Otto, 8th Count 1900-1904 (1860-1904) ***** Georg, 9th Count 1904-1969 (1899-1969) ****** Otto, 10th Count 1969-1973 (1926-1973) ******* Karl, 11th Count 1973–present (b.1963) ******** August, Hereditary Count of Solms-Laubach (b.1994) ******* Count Gustav (b.1965) ******** Count Oscar (b.2008) ******* Count Franz (b.1971) ***** '' Count Friedrich (1902-1991)'' ****** Count Ernst (b.1939) ******* Count Stefan (b.1976) **** ''Count Reinhard (1872-1937)'' ***** Count Hans (1927-2009) ****** Count Georg (b.1972) *** ''Count Ernst (1837-1908)'' **** ''Count Ernstotto (1890-1977)'' ***** Count Friedrich-Ernst (b.1940) ****** Count Moritz (b.1980) ****** Count Philipp (b.1985)

References

Literature

* Rudolph zu Solms-Laubach: ''Geschichte des Grafen- und Fürstenhauses Solms.'' Adelmann, Frankfurt am Main 1865 1676 disestablishments States and territories established in 1696 Middle Hesse 1544 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1696 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire {{Germany-hist-stub