Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn was a county of

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 ...

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 ...

, comprising the lands of the region of

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

. 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 (1314-1392), a member of the House of Sponheim, married ...

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 governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

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

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

) 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. History When Count William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn died in 1623 without clear heirs, the Archbishop ...

soon after.

Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, First Creation

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...

(ruled from 1607–1623), third son of Count Louis I; married Countess Anna Elizabeth of Sayn-Sayn (1572-1608), 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 Countess 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 ...

(1582-1635) became Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. The branch became extinct in 1846 with the death of Count Gustaf zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1811-1846).

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-SaynGenealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XIX. "Sayn-Wittgenstein". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2011, pp. 331-333. (German). . (born 22 November 1943) is a German businessma ...

(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 name of Greek origin. 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 ar ...

, 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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

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 George of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (born 2023) ********* 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) *******

Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (14 August 1916 – 21 January 1944) was a German night fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. At the time of his death, Sayn-Wittgenstein was the highest-scoring night fighter pilot in t ...

(1916–1944)

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