Stolberg-Stolberg

Stolberg-Stolberg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the southern Harz region. Its capital was the town of Stolberg, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg.

County of Stolberg-Stolberg Grafschaft Stolberg-Stolberg
1548–1803
Coat of arms
Status	State of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Stolberg
Government	Principality
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Division of Stolberg	19 March 1548
• Creation of     Stolberg-Wernigerode	31 May 1645
• Creation of     Stolberg-Rossla	1706
• Under Vogterei of     the Electorate of Saxony	1730–38
• Mediatised to Saxony	1803
• Awarded to Prussia	1815
Preceded by Succeeded by County of Stolberg County of Wernigerode Stolberg-Wernigerode Stolberg-Rossla Electorate of Saxony

Coat of arms

Stolberg Castle

In 1429, the County of Wernigerode passed to the Counts of Stolberg, who ruled Wernigerode through a personal union. In 1548, the line was split between a Harz line (Stolberg-Stolberg) and a Rhenish line which had possessions in Rochefort (Stolberg-Rochefort) and Königstein im Taunus (Stolberg-Königstein).

With the death of Count Wolf Georg zu Stolberg in 1631, Stolberg-Stolberg was inherited by members of the Rhenish line. On 31 May 1645, Stolberg-Stolberg was divided between a senior Stolberg-Wernigerode line and a junior Stolberg-Stolberg line. In 1706, Stolberg-Stolberg divided again, with Stolberg-Rossla being created.

Stolberg-Stolberg was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the Electorate of Saxony in 1738. It was awarded to the Kingdom of Prussia in the 1815 Congress of Vienna.

The children of Fürsten and Erbprinzen zu Stolberg-Wernigerode bore the title of Prince[ss] (Prinz[essin]) zu Stolberg-Wernigerode and were styled Serene Highness. Other members of this line bore the title of Count[ess] (Graf/Gräfin) zu Stolberg-Wernigerode, with the style of Illustrious Highness.

Rulers of Stolberg-Stolberg

Counts of Stolberg-Stolberg

• Christoph Friedrich (1704-1738)
• Christoph Ludwig II (1738-1761), son
• Karl Ludwig (1761-1815), son, mediatised in 1803
• Joseph (1815-1839), son
• Alfred (1839-1903), Fürst from 1893 on

Princes of Stolberg-Stolberg

• Alfred, 1st Prince 1893-1903 (1820-1903)
  • Wolffgang, 2nd Prince 1903 (1849-1903)
    • Wolff-Heinrich, 3rd Prince 1903-1972 (1903-1972)
      • Jost-Christian, 4th Prince 1972-present (b.1940)
        • Christoph, Hereditary Prince of Stolberg-Stolberg (b.1982)
        • Prince Heinrich-Victor (b.1986)

References

• Köbler, Gerhard (1988). Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder (in German). Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck. p. 639. ISBN 3-406-33290-0.
• Schwineköper, Berent (1987). Handbuch der historischen Stätten Deutschlands, Band 11, Provinz Sachsen/Anhalt (in German). Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag. p. 644. ISBN 3-520-31402-9.