Counts of Castell
[1] Although the immensely wealthy Lothar von Faber had been ennobled in 1861 and titled as Freiherr (Baron) von Faber in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1881,[2][4] in the German Empire, a mediatised nobleman's marriage to Lothar's granddaughter would have been deemed morganatic, and the count's trafficking in commerce considered an act of social derogation for a member of the Hochadel, so Alexander renounced his birth rank prior to the marriage.
He was granted the new hereditary title of Graf (Count) von Faber-Castell by Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, for the descendants of his marriage to the Faber heiress.
[6] In 1927, Alexander resumed his original name for himself, his second wife (born a countess, Margit Zedtwitz von Moravan und Duppau, 1886–1973), and their son, Radulf (1922–2004).
[5] Alexander's issue by his first marriage had never been considered dynasts of the House of Castell, but they inherited the vast Faber fortune and continue to include 'Castell' in their surname with the comital title.
Yet in the conservative German Empire of fin-de-siècle Europe, the marriage of a Faber into a family of the high nobility was regarded as too bold a leap upward socially.
A morganatic marriage would have been required, and the Faber pencil works could not have remained in the hands of their descendants because trafficking in commerce was still considered an act of social derogation among members of the Hochadel.
Although deprived of sovereignty, in 1815 the Castells were mediatized, their rank with the reigning dynasties of Europe being formally recognized,[1] and family would be granted the hereditary title of Prince.
[6] In 1927 Alexander resumed his original name for himself, his second wife (born a countess, Margit Zedtwitz von Moravan und Duppau, 1886–1973), and their son, Count Radulf (1922–2004).
His eldest son, Hubertus Graf von Faber-Castell [de], left the family business after a dispute with his father and was succeeded by his younger brother, Anton-Wolfgang (1941-2016).
1974) was married at Kronberg on 17 May 2003 in a much-publicised wedding attended by members of Europe's reigning families, to Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse,[11] a great-grandson of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and a grand-nephew of Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, sister of Britain's prince consort Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
[13] Castell, Texas in the USA is named after Count Carl Frederick Christian of Castell-Castell (1801–1850), who was the Vice President and Business Manager at the beginning of the Adelsverein, a German settlement organization.
