Arenberg

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Other uses d'Arenberg (disambiguation)

Grafschaft (Herzogtum) Arenberg County (Duchy) of Arenberg State of the Holy Roman Empire, then State of the Confederation of the Rhine 1549 – 1810 →   →   →   → Coat of arms Capital Aremberg Government Principality Historical era Middle Ages  - County established ca 1177  - Gained Reichsfreiheit 1549  - Raised to Princely county 1576  - Joined Council of Princes 1580  - Raised to Duchy 1644  - Joined Confederation     of the Rhine   1806  - Mediatised to Hanover     and Prussia   1810 Area  - 1798 413 km² (159 sq mi) Population  - 1798 est. 14,800       Density 35.8 /km²  (92.8 /sq mi)

Arenberg (also spelled as Aremberg or Ahremberg) is a historic county, principality and finally duchy located in modern Germany. The Dukes of Arenberg remain a prominent Belgian aristocratic family.

[edit] History

First mentioned in the 12th century, it was named after the village Aremberg in the modern district of Ahrweiler, in the Rhineland-Palatinate.

Aremberg was originally a county. It became a state of the Holy Roman Empire (reichsunmittelbar) in 1549, was raised to a principality in 1576, and finally a duchy in 1645.

The territorial possessions of the dukes of Arenberg varied through the ages. Around 1789 the duchy was located in the Eifel region on the west side of the Rhine, and contained amongst others Aremberg, Schleiden and Kerpen.

However, although the Duchy itself was in Germany, from the 15th century on, the principal lands of the Dukes of Arenberg have been in modern day Belgium.

The pre-Napoleonic duchy had an area of 413 km² and a population of 14,800. It belonged to the Electoral Rhenish Circle, and was bordered by the duchy of Jülich, the Archbishopric of Cologne, the Archbishopric of Trier, and the county of Blankenheim.

After the French occupation of the west bank of the Rhine around 1798 (see Treaty of Campo Formio and Treaty of Lunéville) the duke of Arenberg received new lands: the county of Vest Recklinghausen, the county of Meppen, and the lordship of Dülmen.

Arenberg joined Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine, although that did not prevent it being mediatised in 1810, with France annexing Dülmen and Meppen, and the duchy of Berg annexing Recklinghausen.

After Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine the former Arenberg territories were divided between the kingdom of Prussia and the kingdom of Hanover. Both in Prussia and Hanover, the dukes became local peers subordinate to the king.

In 1826, the Arenberg territory in Hanover was named duchy of Arenberg-Meppen. Arenberg-Meppen had an area of 2,195 km² and a population of 56,700. The county of Recklinghausen, in Prussia, had an area of 780 km² and a population of 64,700.

The dukes of Arenberg remain a prominent Belgian aristocratic family. The direct family of the reigning duke are called by the nominal title of prince of Arenberg. The ducal family descends agnatically from the House of Ligne.

The forest of Arenberg is located in northeastern France, and is famous for its cobbled roads used in the classic road cycle race Paris-Roubaix [1]. Its areas saw extensive mining in the past.

[edit] Counts, Princely Counts and Dukes

[edit] Sources

• Official site of the House of Arenberg The dukes of Arenberg
• Meyers Konversationslexikon

[edit] External links

• Map of Luxembourg and the Duchy of Arenberg in 1789

v • d • e Holy Roman Empire — Electoral Rhenish Circle (1512–1806) Electorates Cologne | Mainz | Palatinate | Trier Other territories Arenberg | Beilstein | Koblenz | Nieder-Isenburg | Rheineck | Thurn and Taxis

v • d • e States of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13) Rank elevated by Napoleon Kingdoms: Bavaria · Saxony · Württemberg Grand Duchies: Baden · Hesse States created Kingdoms: Westphalia Grand Duchies: Berg · Frankfurt‡ · Würzburg Principalities: Aschaffenburg† · Leyen · Regensburg† Pre-existing states Duchies: Anhalt: Bernburg, Dessau, Köthen · Arenberg · Mecklenburg: Schwerin, Strelitz · Nassau · Oldenburg · Saxony: Coburg-Saalfeld, Gotha-Altenburg, Hildburghausen, Meiningen, Weimar*, Eisenach*, Weimar-Eisenach** Principalities: Hohenzollern: Hechingen, Sigmaringen · Isenburg-Birstein · Liechtenstein · Lippe-Detmold · Reuß: Ebersdorf, Greiz, Lobenstein, Schleiz · Salm††† · Schaumburg-Lippe · Schwarzburg: Rudolstadt, Sondershausen · Waldeck * until 1809     ** from 1809       † until 1810     ‡ from 1810    ††† until 1811