Philipp Franz Wilhelm Ignaz Peter, Fürst von der Leyen und zu Hohengeroldseck (1 August 1766 – 23 November 1829) was a German nobleman who briefly ruled the Principality of Leyen.

Early life

He was born at

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, the son of Franz Georg Karl Anton von der Leyen und zu Hohengeroldseck and his wife, Baroness Maria Anna Sophia of

Dalberg The House of Dalberg is the name of an ancient and distinguished German nobility, German noble family, derived from the hamlet and castle (now in ruins) of Dalberg or Dalburg, near Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate. They were the ruling family ...

. His mother's brother was

Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (8 February 1744 – 10 February 1817) was a Catholic German bishop and statesman. In various capacities, he served as Archbishop of Mainz, Prince of Regensburg, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Bi ...

, who later became Prince-Primate of the

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 ...

. On 26 September 1775 Philipp Franz succeeded his father as Count of

Hohengeroldseck Hohengeroldseck was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was founded by the House of Geroldseck, a German noble family which arrived in the Ortenau region of Swabia reputedly in 948, though the first mention of the family is documented in the 1080 ...

Career

On the establishment of the Confederation of the Rhine on 12 July 1806, the County of Hohengeroldseck was raised to a Principality, and Philipp Franz became Fürst von der Leyen und zu Hohengeroldseck. The Confederation was dissolved in 1813 and from 30 May 1814 the Principality of Leyen was under Allied administration. By the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

, it was given to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, but was sold to the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

in 1819. Philipp Franz kept the title of

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German language, German word for a ruler as well as a princely title. ' were, starting in the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ...

(Prince), though now without a Principality.

Personal life

On 15 May 1788 at

Pommersfelden Pommersfelden is a community in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg in Germany. Geography The community lies north of Höchstadt an der Aisch on the river Reiche Ebrach. Constituent communities The community of Pommersfelden is subdivided ...

, Philipp Franz was married to Sophia Therese Walpurgis (

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, 15 August 1772 –

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 4 July 1810), daughter of Count Hugo Damian Erwein von Schönborn-Wiesentheid. Together, they had two children: * Maria ''Amalia'' Theodora Maria Antonia Charlotte Friederike Sophie Walpurgis (

Blieskastel Blieskastel () is a city in the Saarpfalz-Kreis, Saarpfalz (Saar-Palatinate) district, in Saarland, Germany which is divided into villages. It is situated on the river Blies, approximately southwest of Homburg (Saar), west of Zweibrücken, and e ...

, 2 September 1789 – Sulz, 21 July 1870), married at Paris 10 August 1810 to Count Louis Tascher de La Pagerie, a first cousin of the French Empress Josephine. * Karl Eugen Damian Erwein (

Wiesentheid Wiesentheid is a municipality in the district of Kitzingen in Bavaria in Germany. History It was first mentioned in 918 as "Wisenheida". Mediatization in 1806 brought the former county of Schönborn into the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, along with w ...

, 3 April 1798 –

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM; "The Whale") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station continuou ...

, 17 May 1879), who succeeded his father as Fürst von der Leyen und zu Hohengeroldseck. He married his

double first cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, c ...

Sophie Therese of Schönborn-Buchheim, daughter of Count Franz Philipp von Schönborn-Buchheim. The Prince of Leyen died on 23 November 1829 at the age of 63 in

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Descendants

Through his daughter Amalia, he was a grandfather of Charles, who later became

Duc de Tascher de La Pagerie The title of Duke of Dalberg was created by the French Emperor Napoleon I on 14 April 1810 for Emmerich Joseph de Dalberg, Emmerich von Dalberg, the nephew of Karl Theodor von Dalberg, Prince-Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Grand Du ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philip Francis, Prince Of Leyen House of Leyen 1766 births 1829 deaths 18th-century German nobility