Arenberg, also spelled as Aremberg or Ahremberg, is a former

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

and finally

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

that was located in what is now

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The Dukes of Arenberg remain a prominent Belgian noble family.

History

First mentioned in the 12th century, it was named after the village of Aremberg in the

Ahr Hills The Ahr HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . ( or ''Ahreifel'' ) are a range of low mountains and hills up to and long in the Eifel region of Germany, which lie roughly southwest of Bonn on the borde ...

, located in today's

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) 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 sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

region of Germany.

1549–1645

Aremberg was originally a

. It became an immediate ()

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

in 1549, was raised to a princely county in 1576, then became a

in 1645.

1789

The territorial possessions of the Dukes of Arenberg varied through the ages. Around 1789, the duchy was located in the

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

region on the west side of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

and contained, amongst others, Aremberg, Schleiden and

Kerpen Kerpen (; Ripuarian: ''Kerpe'') is the most populated town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). It is located about 20 kilometres southwest from Cologne. As of 2023, Kerpen has a total population of 67,627. Division of ...

. However, although the duchy itself was in Germany, from the 15th century onward, the principal lands of the Dukes of Arenberg have been in what is now

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The pre-Napoleonic duchy had an area of and a population of 14,800. It belonged to the Electoral Rhenish Circle and was bordered by the Duchy of Jülich, the Electorate of Cologne, the

Electorate of Trier The Electorate of Trier ( or '; ) was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince-archbishop of Trier (') wh ...

, and the County of Blankenheim.

1798

After the French occupation of the west bank of the

around 1798 (see

Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...

and

Treaty of Lunéville The Treaty of Lunéville (or Peace of Lunéville) was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary do ...

), the Duke of Arenberg received in 1803 new lands: the county of Vest Recklinghausen, the county of Meppen, and later the lordship of Dülmen.

1810

Arenberg joined

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

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

, although that did not prevent it from being mediatised in 1810, with France annexing Dülmen and

Meppen Meppen (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Möppen'') is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems (river), Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund–Ems Canal (DEK). The name stems from t ...

, and the Grand Duchy of Berg annexing Recklinghausen.

1814

After Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine, the former Arenberg territories were divided between the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

and the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

. In both Prussia and Hanover, the dukes became local peers subordinate to the king.

1826

In 1826, the Arenberg territory in Hanover was named the duchy of Arenberg-Meppen, and it had an area of and a population of 56,700. The county of Recklinghausen, in Prussia, had an area of and a population of 64,700. The Dukes of Arenberg remain a prominent Belgian aristocratic family. The immediate family members of the dukes are called by the nominal title of Prince of Arenberg. The ducal family descends

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

ally from the House of Ligne. The Forest of Arenberg is located in northeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and it is famous for its cobbled roads used in the classic road cycle race

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

. Its areas saw extensive

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

in the past.

Counts, Princely Counts and Dukes

Counts of Arenberg (1117–1576)

* Franko (1117–1129) * Henry I (1129–1187) * Eberhard I (1188–1202) * Eberhard II (1202–1229) * Henry II (1220–1250) * Gerard (1252–1260) * John I (1260–1279) * Mathilde (1282–1299) * Eberhard III ''(Count of Marck)'' (1282–1308) * Engelbert (1308–1328) * Eberhard IV (1328–1387) * Eberhard V (1387–1454) ''Partition into Arenberg and Rochefort'' * John II (1454–1480) * Eberhard VI (1480–1496) * Eberhard VII (1496–1531) * Robert I (1531–1541) * Robert II (?–1536) * Robert III (1541–1544) *

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

(1544–1576) * John III (1547–1568) * Charles (1568–1576)

Princely Counts of Arenberg (1576–1645)

(1576–1596) ''with'' Jean de Ligne *

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

(1576–1616) * Philip Charles (1616–1640) * Philip Francis (1640–1645)

Dukes of Arenberg (1645–1810)

* Philippe François, 1st Duke of Arenberg (1645–1675) * Charles Eugene, 2nd Duke of Arenberg (1675–1681) * Philip Charles Francis, 3rd Duke of Arenberg (1681–1691) * Leopold, 4th Duke of Arenberg (1691–1754) * Charles Marie Raymond, 5th Duke of Arenberg (1754–1778) * Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg (1778–1803) * Prosper Louis, 7th Duke of Arenberg (1803–1810) '' Mediatised 1810''

References

Sources

Official site of the House of Arenberg

''Meyers Konversationslexikon''

External links

* This has a detailed account of the inheritance of the noble titles from the 13th century onward.

{{coord, 50.8633, N, 4.6832, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:DE, display=title 1549 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1810 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1549 House of Ligne States of the Confederation of the Rhine Electoral Rhenish Circle History of the Eifel Counties of the Holy Roman Empire Duchies of the Holy Roman Empire States and territories disestablished in 1810