The House of Sparneck was a local noble family in 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...

.

The family is known to exist from 1223 to 1744 and was named after the market village of Sparneck

Sparneck

Sparneck is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany.- Location :The market town of Sparneck lies at an average height of in the Pfarrbach valley, which forms the larger part of the area. The Saxon Saale river flows through this valley in a northerly direction...

. One of their first castles was the Waldsteinburg

Waldsteinburg

The Waldsteinburg, also called the Red Castle is a ruined castle on the summit of the Großer Waldstein in the Fichtelgebirge Mountains of Germany...

; further castles were located in Sparneck, Weißdorf

Weißdorf

Weißdorf is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany....

, Stockenroth

Stockenroth

Stockenroth is a village now belonging to Sparneck in the Hof district, Bavaria, Germany.- Geography :The village is situated on the river Saale between the mountains of Fichtelgebirge and Frankenwald. Highest Point is the Schachtel- or Schlegelsberg in the southwest, lowest point is the Saale...

, Uprode near Weißdorf

Weißdorf

Weißdorf is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany....

, Stein near Gefrees

Gefrees

Gefrees is a town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the Fichtelgebirge, 21 km northeast of Bayreuth. It was the site a of battle during the Napoleonic Wars....

, Hallerstein (now part of Schwarzenbach an der Saale

Schwarzenbach an der Saale

Schwarzenbach an der Saale is a town in the district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, 11 km south of Hof. Within the town is the Gedenkstätte Langer Gang, a memorial to the Nazi victims of the Helmbrechts concentration camp, which was near Schwarzenbach an der...

) and Gattendorf

Gattendorf

Gattendorf is a municipality in Upper Franconia in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany.The distinctive swan coat-of-arms of the municipality of Gattendorf was adopted as municipal coat-of-arms in 1974 after the extinction, in 1944, of the local noble family von Schmidt auf Altenstadt....

. Their homeland corresponds to the old district

Districts of Germany

The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....

 of Münchberg

Münchberg

Münchberg is a small town in Upper Franconia , Germany. It is sometimes referred to as the Textile Town of Bavaria. Its sister city is Jefferson City, Missouri, USA.-The city district's:-History:...

, now part of the district of Hof

Hof (district)

Hof is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Wunsiedel, Bayreuth, Kulmbach and Kronach, the states of Thuringia and Saxony , and the Czech Republic...

. The family is directly related to the Houses of Bibra

Bibra family

For other Bibra and Bibran entries, go to Bibra disambiguation pageBibra family was one of the leading families in Franconia and Thuringia from the mid-15th century to about 1600. Later on the family rose from Reichsritter to Reichsfreiherr...

, Gravenreuth

Gravenreuth

Gravenreuth was a German local noble family.The familys origin seat was located in Grafenreuth, now part of Thiersheim in the District of Wunsiedel in Upper Franconia, first mentioned in 1180. Up to the 18th century, the family, supplied with the title Freiherren, was the owner of nearby land and...

, Guttenberg

House of Guttenberg

The House of Guttenberg is a prominent Franconian family which traces its origins back to 1149 with a Gundeloh v. Blassenberg . Though, the first mention in a document is dated 1158. The name Guttenberg is derived from Guttenberg and was adopted by a Heinrich von Blassenberg around 1310...

, Kotzau

Kotzau

The House of Kotzau was a local noble family in Franconia.The House of Kotzau took its name from the village of Kotzau, today called Oberkotzau and it is located in the district Hof in Upper Franconia. Famous members of the family were abbess in the abbeys of Himmelkron and Hof. Hans von Kotzau...

, Künsberg

Künsberg

Künsberg was a German dynasty of knights from Frankenwald and Upper Franconia.The House of Künsberg took its name from Künsberg near Creußen. The family was directly related to the House of Sparneck. Caroline von Holnstein was married with Wilhelm Freiherr von Künsberg....

, Notthafft

Notthafft

Notthafft was a German local noble family.The history of the family started in the Egerland, with castles in Wildstein , Falkenau and Thierstein at the end of the 12th century...

, Pappenheim

Pappenheim (state)

Pappenheim was a German statelet in western Bavaria, Germany, located on the Altmühl river between Treuchtlingen and Solnhofen, and south of Weißenburg. Pappenheim originated as a Lordship around 1030, and was raised to a county in 1628. Pappenheim was partitioned twice: between itself, Aletzheim,...

, Reitzenstein

Reitzenstein

Reitzenstein was a German dynasty of Franconian knights.The House of Reitzenstein took its name from Reitzenstein near Issigau. The family was directly related to the House of Sparneck.Prominent members of the family:...

 and Zedtwitz

Zedtwitz

Zedtwitz is a noble house from Bohemia and Germany. Between c. 1400]and c. 1945 controlled region around town of Aš.* Curt Franz Wenzel Christoph Erdmann Zedtwitz, Graf von Moraván und Duppau...

. As a consequence of supporting the robber baron

Robber baron

A robber baron or robber knight was an unscrupulous and despotic nobility of the medieval period in Europe, for example, Berlichingen. It has slightly different meanings in different countries. In modern US parlance, the term is also used to describe unscrupulous industrialists...

 Thomas von Absberg

Thomas von Absberg

Hans Thomas von Absberg was a Frankish knight of Absberg family, known as robber baron.He kidnapped important travellers like royal legates or merchants from Nuremberg or Augsburg. He was supported by several Frankish knights, who helped to hide the hostages, e.g. members of the houses of Sparneck...

, they were forced to give up their origin land and moved to Upper Palatinate

Upper Palatinate

The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...

, keeping only few fiefs, the so-called Afterlehen, e.g. in Bernstein near Wunsiedel

Wunsiedel

Wunsiedel is the county town of the Upper Franconian district of Wunsiedel in northeast Bavaria, Germany. The town became well known for its annual Luisenburg Festival and the Rudolf Hess Memorial March held by the Neo-Nazis here until 2005.- Geography :...

 and Dörflas, now a part of Marktredwitz

Marktredwitz

Marktredwitz is a municipality in the district of Wunsiedel, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 22 km west of Cheb, 50 km east of Bayreuth and 50 km south of Hof/Saale.The town celebrated the Horticultural Show 2006 in cooperation with Cheb....

. For two generations they can be found in Libá

Libá

Libá, formerly Libštejn, is a village and municipality in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic.-Notes:...

. At last they owned manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

s in Trausnitz

Trausnitz

Trausnitz is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf in Bavaria, Germany....

, Püchersreuth

Püchersreuth

Püchersreuth is a municipality in the district of Neustadt in Bavaria in Germany....

 and Reuth bei Erbendorf

Reuth bei Erbendorf

Reuth bei Erbendorf is a municipality in the district of Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, Germany....

.