House of Franckenstein
Encyclopedia
Franckenstein is the name of a Franconia
n, noble
family, descendants from the Lords of Lützelbach from Höchst im Odenwald
, respectively their offspring, the Dynasts of Breuberg.
in two contracts to "grant defense and shield the carriages travelling on the Bergstraße
and passing through Frankenstein realm". In the same year, this knight Arbogast is supposed to have won the Tournament (medieval)
of Cologne, thanks to an invitation of the Archbishop Bruno the Great, who was said to have been the former abbot of Lorsch Abbey.
Arbogast von Franckenstein is mentioned in Georg Rüxners Turnierbuch, a tournament book, but is probably legendary as Rüxners's statements, especially when citing "earlier centuries", are often deemed.
One has to add, that the contracts are not to be found in the Lorsch Abbey archives, but are appearing in secondary literature.
As a matter of fact, it is certified that the Franckenstein clan is directly originating from Lord Konrad II. Reiz von Breuberg and therefore starting to exist in the 13th century.
Conradus, Reis de Lucelenbach, was the first ancestor of the Frankenstein dynasty and is documented in the year 1189 for the first time
Conrad I. and his offspring build the homonymous Breuberg
Castle around 1200 and named themselves after it. In 1239, owing to his son's Eberhard I. Reiz von Breuberg marriage with Mechtild (Elisabeth?), one of the five heiresses of Gerlach II. von Büdingen, imperial bailiff
of the Wetteraukreis
, the power, possessions and interests were also relocated into the Wetterau region, where the Breubergians Arrois, Gerlach and Eberhard III. held the bailiffship consecutively. They found their last resting-place in the monastery of Konradsdorf, where the family had made many donations.
Before 1250, Lord Konrad II. Reiz von Breuberg erected Castle Frankenstein
and since named himself von und zu Frankenstein. He was the founder of the free imperial lordship Frankenstein, which was subject only to the jurisdiction of the emperor, with possessions in Nieder-Beerbach, Darmstadt
, Ockstadt, Wetterau
and Hesse
. Additionally the Frankensteins held other possession and Sovereignty
-rights as Burgraves in Zwingenberg (Auerbach (Bensheim)
), in Darmstadt
, Groß-Gerau
, Frankfurt am Main and Bensheim
.
In the year 1292 the Frankensteins opened the castle to the counts of Katzenelnbogen (County of Katzenelnbogen
) and leagued with them.
Being both strong opponents of the Protestant Reformation
and following territorial conflicts, connected disputes with the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
, as well as the adherence to the catholic faith and the associated "right of patronage
", the family head Lord Johannes I. decided to sell the lordship to the landgrave in 1662, after various lawsuits at the Imperial Chamber Court.
Due to many vacancies in relation with the reformation, some family members could fill a number of unengaged offices and posts in various Chapters, Abbies and Dioceses as Canon
s, Abbesses and Prince-Bishop
s.
After the sale of Frankenstein, the family retired to its possessions in Wetterau and acquired the lordship of Ullstadt
in the beginning of the 17th century in Middle Franconia
. In the 19th century they also bought the Lordship of Thalheim bei Wels
in Austria
. The family still consists of two existing branches in Germany, Austria, England and the US.
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
n, noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
family, descendants from the Lords of Lützelbach from Höchst im Odenwald
Höchst im Odenwald
Höchst im Odenwald is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Höchst lies 25 km east of Darmstadt, in the northern Odenwald at elevations between 175 and 400 m....
, respectively their offspring, the Dynasts of Breuberg.
Family legend
In 948 an Arbogast von Franckenstein shall have confirmed to the abbot of Lorsch AbbeyLorsch Abbey
The Abbey of Lorsch is a former Imperial Abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km east of Worms, one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany...
in two contracts to "grant defense and shield the carriages travelling on the Bergstraße
Bergstraße
Bergstraße is the name of a mountainous theme route, and the area around it, stretching across the western edge of the Odenwald in southern Hesse and northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany....
and passing through Frankenstein realm". In the same year, this knight Arbogast is supposed to have won the Tournament (medieval)
Tournament (medieval)
A tournament, or tourney is the name popularly given to chivalrous competitions or mock fights of the Middle Ages and Renaissance . It is one of various types of hastiludes....
of Cologne, thanks to an invitation of the Archbishop Bruno the Great, who was said to have been the former abbot of Lorsch Abbey.
Arbogast von Franckenstein is mentioned in Georg Rüxners Turnierbuch, a tournament book, but is probably legendary as Rüxners's statements, especially when citing "earlier centuries", are often deemed.
One has to add, that the contracts are not to be found in the Lorsch Abbey archives, but are appearing in secondary literature.
As a matter of fact, it is certified that the Franckenstein clan is directly originating from Lord Konrad II. Reiz von Breuberg and therefore starting to exist in the 13th century.
History
Conrad I. and his offspring build the homonymous Breuberg
Breuberg
Breuberg is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km east of Darmstadt, and 20 km southwest of Aschaffenburg.- Neighbouring communities :...
Castle around 1200 and named themselves after it. In 1239, owing to his son's Eberhard I. Reiz von Breuberg marriage with Mechtild (Elisabeth?), one of the five heiresses of Gerlach II. von Büdingen, imperial bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
of the Wetteraukreis
Wetteraukreis
The Wetteraukreis is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Landkreis Gießen, Vogelsbergkreis, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, district-free Stadt Frankfurt, Hochtaunuskreis, Lahn-Dill-Kreis.-History:...
, the power, possessions and interests were also relocated into the Wetterau region, where the Breubergians Arrois, Gerlach and Eberhard III. held the bailiffship consecutively. They found their last resting-place in the monastery of Konradsdorf, where the family had made many donations.
Before 1250, Lord Konrad II. Reiz von Breuberg erected Castle Frankenstein
Castle Frankenstein
Frankenstein Castle is a hilltop castle about 5 km south of Darmstadt in Germany. Modern claims of the castle having an influence on the work of Mary Shelley remain controversial.- History :...
and since named himself von und zu Frankenstein. He was the founder of the free imperial lordship Frankenstein, which was subject only to the jurisdiction of the emperor, with possessions in Nieder-Beerbach, Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, Ockstadt, Wetterau
Wetterau
The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains....
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. Additionally the Frankensteins held other possession and Sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
-rights as Burgraves in Zwingenberg (Auerbach (Bensheim)
Auerbach Castle
Auerbach Castle is one of several dramatic fortresses along the Bergstrasse in southern Hesse, Germany.The castle was originally built by King Charlemagne, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and then re-built by Count Diether IV of the Katzenelnbogen dynasty in the second quarter of the 13th century...
), in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, Groß-Gerau
Groß-Gerau
Groß-Gerau is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area.-Location:...
, Frankfurt am Main and Bensheim
Bensheim
Bensheim is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hesse, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstraße and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain...
.
In the year 1292 the Frankensteins opened the castle to the counts of Katzenelnbogen (County of Katzenelnbogen
County of Katzenelnbogen
The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse.The estate comprised two separate territories...
) and leagued with them.
Being both strong opponents of the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
and following territorial conflicts, connected disputes with the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Philip I, the last Landgrave of Hesse....
, as well as the adherence to the catholic faith and the associated "right of patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
", the family head Lord Johannes I. decided to sell the lordship to the landgrave in 1662, after various lawsuits at the Imperial Chamber Court.
Due to many vacancies in relation with the reformation, some family members could fill a number of unengaged offices and posts in various Chapters, Abbies and Dioceses as Canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
s, Abbesses and Prince-Bishop
Prince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
s.
After the sale of Frankenstein, the family retired to its possessions in Wetterau and acquired the lordship of Ullstadt
Sugenheim
Sugenheim is a municipality in the district of Neustadt -Bad Windsheim in Bavaria in Germany.The municipality consists of eleven villages:...
in the beginning of the 17th century in Middle Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
. In the 19th century they also bought the Lordship of Thalheim bei Wels
Thalheim bei Wels
Thalheim bei Wels is a town in the Wels-Land district, Upper Austria, Austria. 11.6% of the municipality are forested, 69% are farmlands. The north to south width is 5.9 km and east to west is 5.2 km.-Subdivisions:*Bergerndorf*Edtholz*Ottstorf...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The family still consists of two existing branches in Germany, Austria, England and the US.
Coat of arms
Divided and split two times coated with a golden heartshield, therein an oblique red battle axe on Gold.Famous Family Members
- Konrad II. Reiz von Breuberg, also Konrad I. von Frankenstein first bearer of the family name (1245 to 1292)
- Apetzko (Apeczko - Arbogast) von Frankenstein, Bishop of LebusLebusLebus is a town in the southeast of the Märkisch-Oderland District in Brandenburg, Germany. It had a population of 3,375 as of 2005. It was the center of the historical region known as Lubusz Land.-Location:...
(1345 to 1352) - Rudolf von und zu Frankenstein, Prince-bishof of SpeyerSpeyerSpeyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
(1552 to 1560) - Johann Karl von und zu Franckenstein, Princebishop of WormsWorms, GermanyWorms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
(1683 to 1691) - Johann Philipp Anton Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein, Princebishop of BambergBambergBamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
(1746 to 1753) - Johann Karl Friedrich Franz Xaver Freiherr von Frankenstein auf Ockstatt, Holstatt und Erpen was Minister Plenipotentiary of the Großherzogtum Frankfurt at the Royal Bavarian Court
- Sir Georg von und zu FranckensteinGeorg von und zu FranckensteinGeorg Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein was the eldest son of Karl Baron von und zu Franckenstein and his wife, Elma née Countess von Schönborn-Wiesentheid and a member of the Franckenstein family.thumb|Sir George FranckensteinHis younger brother was the composer and General Intendant of Munich...
, K.u.K.K.u.k.The German phrase kaiserlich und königlich , typically abbreviated as k. u. k., k. und k. , or k. & k., refers to the Court of the Habsburgs in a broader historical perspective . Some modern authors restrict its use to the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918...
Envoyé Spécial to the Osman Imperial Court, Austrian Ambassador in London from 1920–1938 - Clemens von und zu FranckensteinClemens von und zu FranckensteinClemens Erwein Heinrich Karl Bonaventura Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein was a German opera composer, studying in Vienna, Austria, and later in Munich, Germany, with Ludwig Thuille and at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt with Iwan Knorr...
(1875–1942), German composer and last General Intendant of the royal bavarian Opera and Theatres - Georg Arbogast, Reichsfreiherr von und zu Franckenstein, German member of Parliament, Vice President of Zentrumspartei, President of the Bavarian House of Lords (1825–1890)
- Joseph Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein, Austro-German fighter against the Nazi Regime, Editor in chief of Die Neue Zeitung
- Kay Baroness Franckenstein, née Kay BoyleKay BoyleKay Boyle was an American writer, educator, and political activist.- Early years :The granddaughter of a publisher, Kay Boyle was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up in several cities but principally in Cincinnati, Ohio...
, US-writer and political activist
External links
- Frankenstein Crest in the Ortenburger Wappenbuch from 1466
- Frankenstein Armorial Bearings in Johann Siebmachers Wappenbuch
- Frankenstein coat of arms in www.geocities.com
- Crest in Ingeram-Codex
- Geschichte der Familie Frankenstein in www.muehltal-odenwald.de
- www.eberstadt-frankenstein.de
- EBIDAT - Burgendatenbank des Europäischen Burgeninstitutes
- Die Geschichte der Wappen der von Franckenstein
- Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, Burgen in Bayern