The House of Fürstenberg () is the name of a

German noble The German nobility () and royalty were status groups of the medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area, until the beginning of the 20th ...

family of

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

, which descended from Hermannus de Vorstenberg. He was a liegeman of 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 ...

, who was among the

prince elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

s 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 ...

. Hermannus held a castle for his lord called

Fürstenberg Fürstenberg (also Fuerstenberg and Furstenberg) may refer to: Historical states * Fürstenberg-Baar, county (1441–1559) * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county (1559–1614) * Fürstenberg-Donaueschingen, county (1617–1698) * Fürstenberg-Fürst ...

("Prince's Hill") at

Ense Ense () is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Ense is situated on the river Möhne, approx. 12 km north-west of Arnsberg and 12 km south-west of Soest. Ense lies at the north side ...

-Höingen in Soest; this castle would give the family its name. His son was Wilhelm von Vorstenberg, the Justiciar and Castellan of

Werl The pilgrimage town Werl (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Wiärl'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the Soest, Germany, Soest district in the Arnsberg administrative district. The official name of pilgrimage town has been ...

History

Already

Imperial Knight The Free Imperial Knights (, ) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility (''edelfrei'') and the ministerialis, ministeriales. What ...

s, the family members were created Imperial Barons ('' Reichsfreiherren'') on 26 April 1660. Matriculation to the baronial class in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

occurred on 22 August 1891 for Friedrich Freiherr von Fürstenberg, ''

Rittmeister Rittmaster () is usually a commissioned officer military rank used in a few armies, usually equivalent to Captain. Historically it has been used in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A is typically in charge of a s ...

à la suite À la suite (, ''in the entourage f') was a military title given to those who were allotted to the army or a particular unit for honour's sake and were entitled to wear a regimental uniform but otherwise had no official position. In Prussia ...

'' in the

Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt () was a Imperial State, 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 among the four sons of Landgr ...

and Freeholder of Egenburg by

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. The baronial Fürstenberg family of Westphalia should not be confused with the princely family of Fürstenberg from

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

. Some members of the family were elevated to

comital Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

dignities during

German Mediatization German mediatisation (; ) was the major redistribution and reshaping of territorial holdings that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany by means of the subsumption and Secularization (church property), secularisation of a large number of ...

for their services to 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 ...

, or given honorific titles for their twentieth-century achievements: *'' Herdringen Line'': a

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n '' graviate''; the title was ''Graf von Fürstenberg-Herdringen'', and an ''estate in tail'', Besitz Herdringen, was given on 16 January 1843 to Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg of Herdringen (1818–1902), a member of the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords () in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Representatives (), it formed the Prussian bicameral legislature ...

and

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

in the

Duchy of Westphalia The Duchy of Westphalia () was a historic territory in the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 1102 to 1803. It was located in the greater region of Westphalia, originally one of the three main regions in the German stem duchy of Saxony and ...

. *''Stammheim Line'': a Prussian graviate; the title of ''Graf von Fürstenberg-Stammheim'', in the Demesne of Stammheim, was given on 15 October 1840 to the Royal Prussian Chamberlain, Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg of Stammheim, and the

heirs Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Official ...

of his body. This line died out in 1925. *'' Belgian

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

'' as ''Baron de Furstenberg'' was granted on 18 April 1887 to Clemens Freiherr von Fürstenberg. A Belgian '' comté'' was created with the title of ''Comte de Furstenberg'' on 3 January 1964 for Wenemar Freiherr von Furstenberg, an

agricultural scientist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

Former holdings

The family's ancestral seat is

Schloss Herdringen Herdringen Castle (German: ''Schloss Herdringen'') is a castle in the ''Ortsteil'' Herdringen of the town of Arnsberg, Germany. It is the seat of the Fürstenberg-Herdringen family and the present building (built from 1844 to 1853 to designs by ...

near

Arnsberg Arnsberg (; ) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Ho ...

. In the nineteenth century, the family also owned the following castles: *Eggeringhausen *Gimborn *Hugenpoet-Borbeck *Körtlinghausen * Köln-Stammheim

Notable members

* Kaspar of Fürstenberg, Drost of

(1545–1618) * Dietrich of Fürstenberg, prince bishop of Paderborn (1546–1618) * Ferdinand Freiherr von Fürstenberg, prince bishop of Paderborn, prince bishop of Münster (1626–1683) *

Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

, statesman and educator (1729–1810) * Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg, prince bishop of Paderborn, prince bishop of Hildesheim (1737–1825) * Franz Egon Graf von Fürstenberg-Stammheim (1797–1859) * Maximilien de Furstenberg-Stammheim (1904–1988), a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the Catholic Church and prefect of the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named the Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches (), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible f ...

* Elimar Freiherr von Fürstenberg (1910–1981)

Fürstenberg-Herdringen

* Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1818–1902) * Engelbert Egon Graf von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1850–1918) * Franz-Egon Graf von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1896–1975), married to

Gloria Guinness Gloria Guinness (née Rubio y Alatorre; 27 August 1912 – 9 November 1980), previously Countess Gloria von Fürstenberg-Herdringen, was a Mexican socialite and a contributing editor to ''Harper's Bazaar'' from 1963 to 1971. She was photographe ...

(1912–1980) * Wenemar von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1897–1972) *

Betsy von Furstenberg Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese, Graf, Gräfin von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (August 16, 1931 – April 21, 2015), known as Betsy von Furstenberg, was a German-born American actress who starred in several Broadway theatre, Broadw ...

-Herdringen (1931–2015), a German-born American radio, television, film, and Broadway actress *

Dolores Guinness Dolores Guinness (31 July 1936 – 20 January 2012) was a German-born "Freiin" (Baroness), socialite, fashion icon and jet set member of the 1950s and 1960s. She has been a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1970. Her mother was ...

''née'' von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1936–2012) * Franz-Egon von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (born 1939) *

Adelina von Fürstenberg Countess Adelina von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (''née'' Cüberyan) is a Swiss curator specialized in contemporary art. Von Fürstenberg was one of the first curators to show an interest in non-European artists, thus opening the way for a multicultur ...

, married to Franz-Egon von Fürstenberg-Herdringen

References

Bibliography

* Andernach, Norbert/Keinemann, Friedrich et al. (rev.): ''Fürstenbergsche Geschichte, 4th vol., Die Geschichte des Geschlechtes von Fürstenberg im 18. Jahrhundert'', Münster, 1979. * * Gosmann, Michael (ed.): ''Fürstenberger Skizzen. Streifzug durch 700 Jahre westfälische Familien- und Landesgeschichte'', Arnsberg, 1995. * v. Klocke, Friedrich (rev.): ''Fürstenbergsche Geschichte, 1st vol., Die Geschichte des Geschlechtes von Fürstenberg bis um 1400'', 2nd edn., Münster, 1971. * v. Klocke, Friedrich und Theuerkauf, Gerhard: ''Fürstenbergsche Geschichte, 2nd vol., Die Geschichte des Geschlechtes von Fürstenberg von 1400 bis um 1600'', Münster, 1971. * Lahrkamp, Helmut/Richtering, Helmut et al. (rev.): ''Fürstenbergsche Geschichte, 3rd vol., Die Geschichte des Geschlechtes von Fürstenberg im 17. Jahrhundert'', Münster, 1971. * Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Freiherrliche Häuser, Vol.XV, pp. 135–177, Vol. 69 of the series, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn), 1989. *Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Adelslexikon Vol. III, p. 420, Vol. 61 of the series, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn), 1975. {{DEFAULTSORT:Furstenberg (Baronial Family) German noble families People from former German states in North Rhine-Westphalia Duchy of Westphalia