Harxheim and the Counts of Falkenstein
What does Harxheim have to do with a dynasty of counts whose ancestral seat is at Falkenstein Castle near Falkenstein/Donnersberg, almost 60 kilometers away? The answer is simple – a long shared history.
As early as 1190, the ministerial Werner II of Bolanden received fiefs in Harxheim. As a partisan of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, he cleverly managed to significantly increase his possessions. When around 1220 the family of Bolanden split into three lines – Bolanden, Hohenfels and Falkenstein – Harxheim became the property of the Falkensteins. Philipp IV of Bolanden (deceased after 1271), the great-grandson of Werner II of Bolanden, was the first to call himself Philipp I of Falkenstein. The new ancestral seat of this line became the already mentioned Falkenstein Castle, which today is only a ruin. Philip I of Falkenstein also played an important role in imperial politics, as he was entrusted with guarding the imperial regalia (including the imperial crown and the Holy Lance) at Trifels Castle and was appointed imperial chamberlain in 1257. Through his marriage to Isengard von Münzenberg, who inherited part of the Münzenberg estate due to a lack of male descendants, as well as through clever politics, he and his son Werner I von Falkenstein were able to expand their territory in the Rhine-Main area. The seat of the family now shifted to the Wetterau region, which is why they were henceforth referred to as the Hessian noble family. Finally, in 1397/1398 Philipp VII of Falkenstein was raised to the rank of count.
With the death of the Trier archbishop Werner III of Falkenstein in October 1418, the counts of Falkenstein died out in the male line. The inheritance – including the county of Falkenstein with Harxheim – fell to Ruprecht IV of Virneburg. The latter had married Agnes von Solms, daughter of Count Otto von Solms and Agnes von Falkenstein, who was a sister of the just mentioned Werner III von Falkenstein. Already his son Count Wilhelm von Virneburg-Falkenstein had to sell the county to Wirich VI von Daun in 1456. From 1518 this family also added the suffix Falkenstein to their own name and called themselves Counts of Daun-Falkenstein. When Wirich von Daun-Falkenstein divided up the count’s property, the three sons of the count, Philipp, Sebastian and Johann, each received a part. Harxheim came into the possession of the latter as part of the county. This is significant because Johann, who founded the Daun-Falkenstein-Falkenstein line, already professed Protestantism at this time. As a result, the Lutheran confession was also introduced in Harxheim. The Daun-Falkenstein-Falkenstein line died out in the male line in 1628. Thus the inheritance fell to the Falkenstein-Oberstein and later Falkenstein-Broich lines. At the same time, the counts of Löwenhaupt-Rassberg and Manderscheid-Keil, who traced their female lineage back to the house of Daun-Falkenstein-Falkenstein, also made claims to the county but were unable to assert themselves.
Just under 120 years later, Wilhelm Wirich sold the county in March 1667 for 18,000 imperial thalers to Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, who passed the county on to his son Prince Charles Henry of Vaudemont. One reason for this was, among others, inheritance disputes after Wirich’s only son had been “shot in an assassin-like manner” in 1659 (Heintz, p. 86). Therefore, as early as 1660, a secret agreement had been concluded between Daun-Falkenstein and Lorraine on the sale of the county. When on 25.5.1667 the county was handed over to the Duke of Lorraine, at least one representative of Harxheim was also present.
As a result of the marriage of Duke Franz Stephan of Lorraine and Maria Theresa in 1736, the county and the title associated with it finally passed to the House of Habsburg and became its northernmost locality. It is reported that Emperor Joseph II, the son of Franz Stephan and Maria Theresa, used the title of Count of Falkenstein when traveling incognito. After the occupation of the territories on the left bank of the Rhine by the French army and the Treaty of Luneville in 1801, Austria ceded the Falkenstein property to the French Republic. This meant the end of the county.
In the course of time, the rights and duties between the respective Falkenstein lord and Harxheim, as well as the rules for the coexistence of the people of Harxheim among themselves, were recorded in so-called Weistümer. Four such records still exist for Harxheim in the Speyer State Archives, which were written down between 1469 and 1758 by the respective bailiff and the aldermen of the Harxheim court. For example, it was recorded which taxes were to be paid or how the public offices of aldermen and others were to be filled. It also regulated the use of public facilities, for example the Bannbackhaus, as well as the penalties for certain offenses.
Benedict, Henry. Francis I (December 31, 2022). https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118692925.html#ndbcontent.
Brilmayer, Karl Johann. Rheinhessen in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart: Geschichte der bestehenden und ausgegangenen Städte, Flecken, Dörfer, Weiler und Höfe, Klöster und Burgen der Provinz Rheinhessen nebst einer Einleitung. Giessen 1905.
Brommer, Peter. The time of territories: Smaller territories, dominions and parts of foreign territories northern part. In: History of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate ed. by Franz-Josef Hayen. Freiburg, Würzburg 1981, pp. 67 to 76.
Daun-Falkenstein (December 29, 2022). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daun-Falkenstein.
The Travels of Count von Falkenstein (December 31, 2022). https://www.habsburger.net/de/kapitel/die-reisen-des-grafen-von-falkenstein.
Doll, L. Anton. Mr. von Bolanden (December 27, 2022). https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd123286468.html#ndbcontent.
Falkenstein: Hessian noble family (October 24, 2022). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkenstein_(hessisches_Adelsgeschlecht).
Falkenstein am Donnersberg (February 14, 2023). http://www.ms-visucom.de/cgi-bin/ebidat.pl?id=2999.
County of Falkenstein (October 24, 2022) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafschaft_Falkenstein.
Harxheim (December 5, 2021). https://www.regionalgeschichte.net/rheinhessen/harxheim.html.
Heintz, August. Some sheets from the history of the county Falkenstein am Donnersberg. Speyer 1878.
Kentenich, Gottfried. Werner von Falkenstein (December 28, 2022). https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd104238445.html#adbcontent.
Krämer, Gerhard. Unpublished notes.
Mahlerwein, Gunter. Rhinehesse 1816-2016: The Landscape – The People. Mainz 2015.
New, Peter. Manderscheid (December 28, 2022). https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118730584.html#ndbcontent.
Philip I of Falkenstein, Lord of Falkenstein and of Königstein (December 28, 2022). https://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1206.htm#i36211.
Rübsamen, Dieter. Münzenberg, of (December 29, 2022). https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd119295091.html#ndbcontent.
Schnettger, Matthias. The territories at a glance. In: Kreuz, Rad, Löwe – Rheinland-Pfalz – Ein Land und seine Geschichte: Von den Anfängen der Erdgeschichte bis zum Ende des Alten Reiches ed. by Lukas Clemens et al. Mainz 2012, pp. 555 to 556.
