The Schwarzenbergs are members of the German and Czech nobility, and they once held the rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

The family belongs to the high nobility and traces its roots to the Lords of Seinsheim during the Middle Ages.

Due to the absence of a male heir and his only daughter Maria Anna married to Prince Ferdinand of Schwarzenberg, Johann Ludwig II Count of Sulz proposed a family unification between the Counts of Sulz and Princes of Schwarzenberg at the Imperial Court.

The cadet branch, which was established by Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg at Orlík Castle, continues to the present day.

The German and Austrian properties from the primogeniture were embedded (with some exceptions) into the Fürstlich Schwarzenberg'sche Familienstiftung (Princely Schwarzenberg Family-Foundation) based in Vaduz.

His marriage with Maria von Grumbach (†1564) ensured Groot Terhorne Castle until 1879 as the family seat in the Netherlands.

The Frisian line was made a member of the Dutch nobility by a Royal decree of King William I of the Netherlands on August 28, 1814.

Henceforth, the Dutch version thoe Schwartzenberg en Hohenlansberg was applied for this branch of the family.

He and his descendants were made members of the Prussian nobility by an Imperial decree, issued by Emperor Wilhelm II, and are entitled to carry the German title Freiherr.

The House of Schwarzenberg produced many military commanders, politicians, church dignitaries (including a Cardinal), innovators and patrons of the arts.

[1] Upon the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, the possessions of Prince Adolph of Schwarzenberg were seized by the Nazi authorities.

Back then, the Spanish Netherlands, Prince-Bishopric of Liège and Duchy of Luxemburg were states within the Holy Roman Empire.

[4] In 1599, Adolf von Schwarzenberg became an Imperial Count, and was given by the emperor a quarter with a canting arms showing the head of a Turk being pecked by a raven.

[5][8] Due to the absence of a male heir, Count Rudolf requested at the imperial court that the two families should be consolidated.

This was granted, which meant for the Schwarzenberg family not only to assume all titles, rights and duties of the Counts of Sulz, but also to inherit all of Rudolf's properties.

The last augmentation of the family coat of arms was granted by the Austrian Emperor Franz II/I, he rewarded Field Marshal Karl I Philipp Prince of Schwarzenberg with the right to bear the three-part arms of the Habsburg family with the addition of an upright standing sword.

This unique distinction was granted to commemorate the field marshal's victory in the Battle of the Nations, where he was the Generalissimo of the Sixth Coalition.