page_title: House of Fürstenberg (Swabia)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: House of Fürstenberg (Swabia) / History
caption_attribution_description: Karte des Fürstentums Fürstenberg
context_page_description: Fürstenberg is the name of a Swabian noble house in Germany, based primarily in what is today southern Baden-Württemberg near the source of the Danube river.
  Numerous members of the family have risen to prominence over the centuries as soldiers, churchmen, diplomats, and academics. Sometimes the name is gallicized as de Furstenberg or anglicized as Furstenberg.
context_section_description: Fürstenberg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in Swabia, present-day southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The county emerged when count Egino IV of Urach by marriage inherited large parts of the Duchy of Zähringen upon the death of Duke Berthold V in 1218, and was originally called the county of Freiburg. Egino's grandson Count Henry started naming himself after his residence at Fürstenberg Castle around 1250. 
  The county was partitioned in 1284 between itself and the lower county of Dillingen, and then again in 1408 between Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg and Fürstenberg-Wolfach. Over the centuries, the various counts and Princes expanded their territories to include the Landgraviate of Baar, the Lordships of Gundelfingen, Hausen, Heiligenberg, Höwen, and Meßkirch, and the Landgraviate of Stühlingen in Germany; as well as estates around Křivoklát Castle (German: Pürglitz), Bohemia, Tavíkovice Castle (German: Taikowitz) in Moravia, and from 1733 Lány Palace in Bohemia.
  In 1607, Count Frederick IV of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg acquired the fief of Weitra in Lower Austria by marriage. The House of Fürstenberg held Weitra until the Revolutions of 1848. The members of the Fürstenberg-Weitra cadet branch built a Renaissance castle on medieval foundations.
  In 1664, Count Hermann Egon of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg and his brothers, the bishops Franz Egon of Strasbourg and Cardinal William Egon of Furstenberg, became Princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1667, the county of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg was formally raised to a principality and received a vote in the Imperial Diet. After the Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg branch of the family became extinct in 1716, the counts Froben Ferdinand of Fürstenberg-Messkirch and Joseph Wilhelm Ernst of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen became princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
  In 1744, various Fürstenberg territories were reunified to the Principality of Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg, as all lines except one had become extinct. Between 1664 and 1716 the residence had been Heiligenberg. The residences of the two partial principalities between 1716 and 1723 were Stühlingen and Meßkirch. In 1723 Prince Joseph of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen built his new residence at Donaueschingen, being more centrally located, which remained the residence of the united principality after the Meßkirch branch of the family had become extinct.
  The Rheinbundakte of 1806 dissolved Fürstenberg. Most of its territory was given to the Grand Duchy of Baden; smaller parts were given to the Kingdom of Württemberg, the principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and the Kingdom of Bavaria.
  The princely family is still today residing at Donaueschingen, Heiligenberg and Weitra.
caption: The principality of Fürstenberg, composed of the counties of Baar, Stühlingen and Heiligenberg, c. 1800
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