The Principality of Halberstadt was a state of 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...

 ruled by Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...

. It replaced the Bishopric of Halberstadt

Bishopric of Halberstadt

The Bishopric of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese from 804 until 1648 and an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire from the late Middle Ages...

 after its secularization in 1648. Its capital was Halberstadt

Halberstadt

Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....

. In 1807, the principality was made a state or regional capital of the Kingdom of Westphalia

Kingdom of Westphalia

The Kingdom of Westphalia was a new country of 2.6 million Germans that existed from 1807-1813. It included of territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte...

. In 1815, all the sovereign rights to the principality were restored to the Kingdom of Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

.

History

According to the Peace of Westphalia

Peace of Westphalia

The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...

 of 1648, the former 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...

ric was secularized as the Principality of Halberstadt and together with Magdeburg

Archbishopric of Magdeburg

The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese and Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River....

, Minden

Bishopric of Minden

The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden , of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.-History:...

 and Cammin given to the Brandenburg

Margraviate of Brandenburg

The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....

 Elector Frederick William I of Hohenzollern as a compensation for Western Pomerania, which in the aftermath of the Brandenburg-Pomeranian conflict

Brandenburg-Pomeranian conflict

Starting in the 12th century, the Margraviate, later Electorate of Brandenburg was in conflict with the neighboring Duchy of Pomerania over frontier territories claimed by both Brandenburg and Pomerania, and over the status of the Pomeranian duchy, which Brandenburg claimed as a fief, whereas...

 he had to cede to Sweden

Swedish Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...

. This agreement was negotiated by Frederick William's representative Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal

Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal

Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal was a German nobleman of the von Blumenthal family. He was a diplomat and the founder of the Brandenburg-Prussian Army.-Biography:He was born in 1609 and educated at the Viadrina...

, who in reward was appointed Halberstadt's first secular governor.

The newly-created Principality of Halberstadt consisted of the territory around the historic towns of Osterwieck

Osterwieck

Osterwieck is a historic town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated on the river Ilse, north of Wernigerode and the Harz mountain range. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of the former Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Osterwieck-Fallstein merged in Osterwieck.The...

 and Halberstadt, the former Principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben

Principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben

The Principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben was a German territory which existed from 1252 to 1315. It was created when the Principality of Anhalt was divided among the sons of Prince Henry I into the Principalities of Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst in 1252.Henry II the Fat, the...

, the former County of Regenstein including Heimburg Castle

Heimburg Castle

Heimburg Castle , also called the Altenburg or Alteburg, is a ruined castle on an oval hilltop about 330 metres above sea level which is located just north of the Harz Mountains in central Germany. The ruins of this hilltop castle stand above the village of Heimburg in the borough of Blankenburg...

 and the County of Falkenstein

Falkenstein, Saxony-Anhalt

Falkenstein is a town in the Harz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the northeastern edge of the Harz, approx. 10 km west of Aschersleben. The town was created in 2002 by merging the town Ermsleben with 6 other municipalities. It was named after nearby Falkenstein Castle,...

. The Lordship of Derenburg

Derenburg

Derenburg is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated north of the Harz, approx. 9 km east of Wernigerode, and 10 km west of Halberstadt. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the borough of Blankenburg am Harz....

 was added in 1701, Hasserode

Hasserode

Hasserode has been a quarter in the town of Wernigerode since 1907, a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Location :Hasserode lies at the foot of the Harz Mountains in the valley of the River Holtemme, whose upper reaches include the water cascade of the Steinerne Renne...

 acquired from Stolberg-Wernigerode

Stolberg-Wernigerode

The Principality of Stolberg-Wernigerode was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz region around Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.-History:...

 in 1714 and after the Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...

 in 1815, the Principality of Halberstadt obtained the Barony of Schauen

Schauen

Schauen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Osterwieck....

 and the Lordship of Hessenrode. Lost territories included Weferlingen

Weferlingen

Weferlingen is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Oebisfelde-Weferlingen....

, which King Frederick I

Frederick I of Prussia

Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...

 in 1703 ceded to his cousin Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach

Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach

Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach , was a German prince and member of the House of Hohenzollern and nominal Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach.-Family:...

, a subdivision of the County of Hohenstein

Hohenstein, Thuringia

Hohenstein is a municipality in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany....

 about the same time and Stapelburg

Stapelburg

Stapelburg is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Nordharz....

 left to Stolberg-Wernigerode in 1727.

The Principality of Halberstadt was dissolved according to the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit

Treaties of Tilsit

The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France, when they met on a raft in the middle of the Neman...

 following Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

's defeat in the War of the Fourth Coalition

War of the Fourth Coalition

The Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....

. Its territory became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia

Kingdom of Westphalia

The Kingdom of Westphalia was a new country of 2.6 million Germans that existed from 1807-1813. It included of territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte...

, a Napoleonic

Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

 client-state under his younger brother Jérôme

Jérôme Bonaparte

Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...

. After the French

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

 final defeat at Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, the principality was restored to Prussia in 1815 and incorporated into the new Province of Saxony

Province of Saxony

The Province of Saxony was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1945. Its capital was Magdeburg.-History:The province was created in 1816 out of the following territories:...

in 1817. The Hohenzollern monarchs of Prussia continued to style themselves as Princes of Halberstadt until 1918.http://web.archive.org/web/20070314063126/http://regiments.org/biography/royals/1859wilG.htm