Imperial Circle
At the end of the Holy Roman Empire, the Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt and the Count of Bentheim-Bentheim each had one voice in the Assembly of the Imperial Circle of the Lower Rhine-Westphalia. As members of the College of the Counts of Westphalia, they were represented in the Council of Princes of the Imperial Diet ("Reichstag"). These representation made the House of Bentheim a member of the German High Nobility.