The House of Guttenberg is a prominent Franconian family which traces its origins back to 1149 with a Gundeloh v. Blassenberg (Plassenberg). Though, the first mention in a document is dated 1158. The name Guttenberg is derived from Guttenberg

Guttenberg, Bavaria

Guttenberg is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town is closely tied to the aristocratic family by the same name, the House of Guttenberg, which owns most of the land in the area...

 and was adopted by a Heinrich von Blassenberg around 1310. The Plassenberg family were ministerial

Ministerialis

Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...

 of the Counts of Andechs

Counts of Andechs

The House of Andechs was a feudal line of German princes in 12th and 13th century. The Counts of Dießen-Andechs obtained territiories in northern Dalmatia on the Adriatic seacoast, where they became Margraves of Istria and ultimately Dukes of a short-lived Imperial State named Merania from 1180 to...

 (later the dukes of Andechs-Meranien) and used as their seat the Plassenburg

Plassenburg

Plassenburg is a castle in the city of Kulmbach in Bavaria. It is one of the most impressive castles in Germany and a symbol of the city. It was first mentioned in 1135. The Plassenberg family were ministerial of the counts of Andechs and used as their seat the Plassenburg...

 of Kulmbach

Kulmbach

Kulmbach is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town is famous for Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier museum in the world, and for its famous sausages, or Bratwürste.-Location:...

. The castle of Guttenberg remains the main seat of the family. The family currently consists of two branches. The elder branch, von und zu Guttenberg and the younger Steinhausen branch. In 1700 the family rose from Reichsritter (Imperial Knight

Imperial Knight

The Free Imperial Knights, or the Knights of the Empire was an organisation of free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor, remnants of the medieval free nobility and the ministeriales...

s) to Reichsfreiherr (Barons of the Holy Roman Empire). After the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 dissolved, they were made ‘’Freiherr’‘ (Barons) of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 (1814 & 1817).

Prominent members

• Johann Gottfried von Guttenberg
  Johann Gottfried von Guttenberg
  Johann Gottfried Freiherr von Guttenberg was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1684 until his death....
  
  , Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
  Bishopric of Würzburg
  The Bishopric of Würzburg was a prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire, located in Lower Franconia, around the city of Würzburg, Germany. Würzburg was a diocese from 743. In the 18th century, its bishop was often also Bishop of Bamberg...
  
   (1684–1698)
• Elisabeth Johanna Freifrau von und zu Guttenberg (1900–1998), chair of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Katholischer Frauen Bayerns
• Emil Freiherr von Guttenberg (1841–1941), Austrian politician
• Enoch zu Guttenberg
  Enoch zu Guttenberg
  Georg Enoch Robert Prosper Philipp Franz Karl Theodor Maria Heinrich Johannes Luitpold Hartmann Gundeloh Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg , known as Enoch zu Guttenberg, is a German conductor...
  
   (born 1946), conductor
• Karl Ludwig Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg
  Karl Ludwig Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg
  Karl Ludwig Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg The von Guttenberg family originates back to 1149 in Franconia in the southern part of Germany. Karl Ludwig Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg studied law and history in Munich and graduated in 1929...
  
   (1902–1945), anti-Nazi activist and Catholic monarchist
• Karl Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg
  Karl Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg
  Karl Theodor Maria Georg Achaz Eberhardt Josef Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg was a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria...
  
   (1921–1972), German CSU politician
• Karl-Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg
  Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
  Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg is a German politician of the Christian Social Union ....
  
   (born 1971), German CSU politician, former Federal Minister of Defense in the Merkel Cabinets
  Merkel Cabinet
  Merkel Cabinet is the name of either of two cabinets of the Federal Republic of Germany:*Cabinet Merkel I *Cabinet Merkel II...
  
  
• Philipp Anton Christoph Freiherr von Guttenberg, Domherr of Würzburg
  Würzburg
  Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
  
  

Literature

• Genealogisches Handbuch des in Bayern immatrikulierten Adels, Band XXV, 2004, Pages 420-430