It originally sprang out from the Graben family (an apparent or illegitimate branch of the House of Meinhardin)[1] from Castle Alt-Grabenhofen near the city of Graz.

[2] The earliest known member of the Orsini-Rosenberg family, Konrad (von Graben) ab dem Roesenperg, lived around 1322.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the success of the family arose from the steady accumulation of land, and loyalty to the Habsburg Emperor.

On 2 August 1633, Johann Andreas von Rosenberg, Herr von Rosenberg, was elevated to the Reichsfreiherrenstand with the title of Freiherr of the Holy Roman Empire, Freiherr of Lerchenau, Herr of Magereckh and Grafenstein, and in 1648 to the Austrian Grafenstand.

On 9 October 1790, Count Franz Xaver Wolfgang was elevated to Reichsfürst von Orsini-Rosenberg.