81 Via Magdalena's relatives, they had close ties with the leading Calvinist princes in the Holy Roman Empire.
After her brother Adolf died in 1589, Magdalena inherited the Lordships of Alpen, Helpenstein, Linnep and the office of city advocatus of Cologne.
However, the Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, who was the liege lord of Limburg, did not recognize her right to inherit and claimed Limberg for himself as a completed fief.
Archbishop Ernest of Cologne occupied Limburg militarily in 1584, with permission from the Emperor, to prevent this expansion of the Duke's territory.
In 1618, he died and ownership of the county reverted to Magdalena, who appointed her son's widow Johanetta Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg as governor.