At the Diet of Worms in 1495, Count Eberhard V was raised to Duke (Herzog) by the German King, later Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I.

In the 18th Century, the Protestant male line became extinct, the head of the house was succeeded by Duke Charles Alexander, a Roman Catholic.

In 1828 King William I adopted a new house law, the rights and obligations of the ruling family have been established, including the exclusive primogeniture in the male line as well as marriage restrictions on coequal level.

At the end of World War I during the German Revolution all the monarchies in Germany were abolished, King William II abdicated on 30 November 1918.

Succession is on the basis of Agnatic primogeniture[2] Through the marriages of its female members, many royal families descend from any of the Württemberg branches.