Johann's mother was Elisabeth, a daughter of Adolph I of Nassau-Wiesbaden (1307–1370).

After Philipp I's death, his daughter Anna inherited the County, including Dornberg Castle, and so it fell to her husband, Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse.

In 1435, Klaus Kleinfisch, an administrator of Johann, bought a new white grape variety from a vineyard in Rüsselsheim for 22 shillings.

In this invoice, the name Riesling is mentioned for the first time in a document.

His body was later transferred to Eberbach Abbey, which had been the family's burial site since Eberhard I of Katzenelnbogen.