The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediatestate 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. The main parts were the original Untergrafschaft ('lower county') with its capital at Katzenelnbogen in the Middle Rhine area and the Obergrafschaft ('upper county') south of the Main River around Darmstadt, predecessor of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt.
History
An ancient tribe known as the ChattiMelibokus may have stayed on a high hill in the Bergstraße region of Hesse (the part that lies south), in Germany.[1][2]
Katzenelnbogen Castle
One Diether I (c. 1065–1095) of Katzenelnbogen (literally, 'cat's elbow'), then serving as Vogt of Prüm Abbey, was first mentioned about 1070 in a deed issued by Archbishop Anno II of Cologne. From 1094 onwards, Diether and his son Henry I built Katzenelnbogen Castle in the Taunus mountain range; in 1138, King Conrad III of Germany vested his grandson Henry II with the comital title, when the Kraichgau was bequeathed to him. The counts also built Burg Rheinfels and Auerbach Castle in the 13th century and finished Burg Katz in 1371, they rebuilt the Marksburg purchased from the Lords of Eppstein and acquired highly lucrative customs rights on the Rhine River. Over nearly four centuries, the county grew bit by bit, from the Neckar to the Moselle Rivers.
The counts founded many cities, and for centuries or decades, they owned others, such as Offenbach, Gießen, Diez and Limburg. They also contributed to the enlargement of Eberbach Abbey, which became their family tomb in the 14th century. After the early death of Count Philipp's only son in 1453, he called himself Count of Katzenelnbogen-Diez. When Philipp died in 1479, the male line of the Katzenelnbogens became extinct. The Obergrafschaft was passed to the Landgraves of Hesse by virtue of the 1458 marriage of Henry III of Upper Hesse to Count Philipp's daughter Anna of Katzenelnbogen. Thereafter, the Landgraves of Hesse added to their title "Count of Katzenelnbogen".
William III of England as Prince of Orange had the title Katzenelnbogen in his reign from 1689-1702 and today, both the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the King of the Netherlands have the title "Count of Katzenelnbogen" as part of their style.
History of wine
In 1435, Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen was building his last castle in Rüsselsheim, where he ordered the famous Riesling variety should be grown. Hundreds of vineyards were documented, many of which still exist: among them the famous rock Loreley documented in 1395.
Vogts (Vögte) of Katzenelnbogen
Diether I (born 1065; died 1095), vogt of Prüm Abbey
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