House of Stolberg

They played a significant role in feudal Germany's history and, as a mediatized dynasty, enjoyed princely privileges until the collapse of the German Empire in 1918.

The castle there remained in the hands of the family until they were dispossessed as part of the 1945 land reform in the Soviet Zone of occupation in Germany created after the Second World War.

In 1429 the counts of Stolberg succeeded in purchasing the County of Wernigerode in the Northern Harz as part of a contract of inheritance and thereby extended their area of influence considerably.

On the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire's German nation in 1806 the Stolbergs lost their imperial comital status and, in 1815, finally became mediatized Prussian princes.

The head of each comital branch and his first-born son or heir presumptive in the Houses of Stolberg-Wernigerode, Stolberg-Stolberg and Stolberg-Roßla were granted permission on 22 October 1890 and 1893 respectively by Emperor Wilhelm II to bear princely titles.