Leiningen-Westerburg was a historic state 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 ...
, located in the vicinity of
Leiningen and
Westerburg
Westerburg () is a small town of roughly 6,000 inhabitants in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is named after the castle built on a hill above the medieval town centre (''Burg'' is German for “castle”)
Geograph ...
in what is now the German state 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 ...
.
Leiningen-Westerburg was formed in 1467, when the last
Landgrave
Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...
of Leiningen died childless and Leiningen passed to his sister Margaret, who was married to Reinhard III of Westerburg. Reinhard's grandson moved his capital to Leiningen in 1481 and began styling himself
Reinhard I of Westerburg-Leiningen.
Rulers of Leiningen-Westerburg
See also
*
Barony of Westerburg
*
County of Leiningen
The County of Leiningen was a territory comprising a group of counties—some of which held Imperial immediacy—that were ruled by the Leiningen family.
Most of these counties were annexed by the First French Republic in 1793, following the con ...
References
{{Coord missing, Germany
Counties of the Holy Roman Empire
Leiningen family
States and territories established in 1467