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Arms of the Duchy of Nassau
Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire and later in the German Confederation. Its ruling dynasty, now extinct in male line, has been the House of Nassau.
Nassau, originally a county, emerged on the lower Lahn river in what is today Rhineland-Palatinate. The town of Nassau was founded in 915. The castle of Nassau was built in 1125, and since 1160 the county was named after the town where the castle was located. In 1255 Nassau was divided for the first time. During the next centuries several states named Nassau emerged. One of those counties was Nassau-Dillenburg, from where the House of Orange-Nassau originated. Another was Nassau-Weilburg, whose reigning house now reigns in Luxembourg.
Through the extinction of most lines, Nassau became a united duchy again in 1806. In 1866 it was annexed by Prussia and incorporated into the Province of Hesse-Nassau. Today, all legitimate Houses of Nassau are extinct in their original male line.
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 States of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13) |
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Rank elevated
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Pre-existing
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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
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| * until 1809 ** from 1809 † until 1810 ‡ from 1810 ††† until 1811 |
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