County of Rietberg

This name refers to the German words ried (an old name for "reed") and bach ("creek").

Nevertheless, the county had its own militia, its own currency and its own laws; even foreign policy, on a small scale, was conducted independently.

In 1699, the County of Rietberg came into the possession of the Moravian noble family of the Counts of Kaunitz (Czech: Kounic) through the marriage of heiress Maria Ernestine Franziska of Ostfriesland, Countess von Rietberg (1687-1758) with Count Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz, and that family subsequently renamed itself as Kaunitz-Rietberg.

Under the rule of this comital (later princely) family, the territory remained independent until the end of the Holy Roman Empire.

The title of Count of Rietberg (Graf zu Rietberg) remains extant in the House of Liechtenstein, which has claimed it since 1848, when the last member of the Moravian branch of the Kaunitz family (Prince Aloys von Kaunitz-Rietberg) died.

Engraved view of Rietberg (1647).
Map of a large region (in white) including all the territory of modern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, plus parts of most neighbouring countries, including most of Northern Italy. Some of the northwest part region is highlighted in color, including Münster, most of the Netherlands and parts of modern Belgium.
The Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (red) within the Holy Roman Empire (white) after 1548