The House of Kotzau 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 House of Kotzau took its name from the village of Kotzau, today called Oberkotzau

Oberkotzau

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

 and it is located in the 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 ....

 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...

 in Upper Franconia

Upper Franconia

Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...

. Famous members of the family were abbess

Abbess

An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....

 in the abbeys of Himmelkron

Himmelkron

Himmelkron is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:Himmelkron is arranged in the following boroughs:* Gössenreuth* Himmelkron* Lanzendorf...

 and Hof. Hans von Kotzau fought against the hussite

Hussite

The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...

s at 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 :...

 in 1430. In Second Margrave War

Second Margrave War

The Second Margrave War was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, it involved numerous raids, plunderings and the destruction of many towns and castles in the empire, especially in...

 Georg Wolf of Kotzau

Georg Wolf of Kotzau

Georg Wolf of Kotzau, nicknamed the rich was an Imperial Knight and Amtmann and Governor.Georg Wolf of Kotzau was a member of the ancient knightly family of Kotzau...

, originally a knight in the fellowship of Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

Albert Alcibiades was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, also known as Brandenburg-Bayreuth.Because of his bellicose nature Albert received the cognomen Alcibiades after his death; during his lifetime Albert was known as Bellator .He was a member of the Franconian branch of the House of...

, turned against his prince and supported Henry IV, Burgrave of Plauen

Henry IV, Burgrave of Plauen

Henry IV of Plauen , was Colonel Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Burgrave of Meissen, Lord of Plauen, Gera, Greiz, Schleiz and Bad Lobenstein, Lord of Toužim, Hartenštejn Castle, Andělská Hora Castle and Žlutice...

. 1553 the town of Hof was besieged, captured and Georg Wolf was appointed to be governor. The family was directly related with the Houses of 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...

, Sparneck

House of Sparneck

The House of Sparneck was a local noble family in Franconia.The family is known to exist from 1223 to 1744 and was named after the market village of Sparneck. One of their first castles was the Waldsteinburg; further castles were located in Sparneck, Weißdorf, Stockenroth, Uprode near Weißdorf,...

 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...

. The last knight died in 1661 in a duel

Duel

A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...

.

The House of Hohenzollern

House of Hohenzollern

The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...

 founded the dynasty of the Freiherr

Freiherr

The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...

en of Kotzau, though not related to the knightly family. It was Georg Albrecht, son of Georg Albrecht, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach, who entered into a morganatic marriage

Morganatic marriage

In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...

. For his wife Regina Magdalena Lutz and his descendants the title was created and they received castle and land at Oberkotzau. The Freiherren died out in 1976.