page_title: House of Habsburg
section_title: Counts of Habsburg
hierarchical_section_title: House of Habsburg / History / Counts of Habsburg
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Die Schweiz um 1200. Feudalherrschaften, Kirche und Verkehrsverbindungen. Die Grenzen der Gebiete geben nur den ungefähren Machtbereich der Adelsgeschlechter wieder
context_page_description: The House of Habsburg, also officially called the House of Austria, was one of the most influential and distinguished royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs from 1440 until their extinction in the male line in 1740 and after the death of Francis I from 1765 until its dissolution in 1806.
  The house also produced kings of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Galicia, Portugal and Spain with their respective colonies, as well as rulers of several principalities in the Netherlands and Italy and emperors of Austria, Austria-Hungary and Mexico. From the 16th century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they nevertheless maintained close relations and frequently intermarried including the House of Braganza of Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil and House of Habsburg of his wife, Empress Maria Leopoldina.
  The house takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau, who named his fortress Habsburg.
context_section_description: The progenitor of the House of Habsburg may have been Guntram the Rich, a count in the Breisgau who lived in the 10th century, and forthwith farther back as the medieval Adalrich, Duke of Alsace, from the Etichonids from which Habsburg derives. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, after which the Habsburgs are named. The origins of the castle's name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. 
  There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg (hawk castle), or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, as there is a river with a ford nearby. The first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108.
  The Habsburg Castle was the family seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
  The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, especially countship rights in Zürichgau, Aargau and Thurgau. In the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to gain high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other noble families such as the House of Kyburg.
caption: The Habsburg dominions around 1200 in the area of modern-day Switzerland are shown as      Habsburg, among the houses of      Savoy,      Zähringer and      Kyburg
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