Arenberg
Encyclopedia
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.
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 http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/9243.0.html. Its areas saw extensive mining
in the past.
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
, principality
Principality
A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
and finally duchy
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
located in modern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The Dukes of Arenberg
House of Arenberg
The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families who took their name from Arenberg, a small principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot made the Arenbergs the most influential and most wealthy...
remain a prominent Belgian aristocratic family.
History
First mentioned in the 12th century, it was named after the village ArembergAremberg
Aremberg is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
in the modern district of Ahrweiler
Ahrweiler
Ahrweiler is a district in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts Euskirchen, Rhein-Sieg and the city Bonn in the state North Rhine-Westphalia, and the districts of Neuwied, Mayen-Koblenz and Vulkaneifel.- History :The region was conquered by the Romans under...
, in the Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
.
Aremberg was originally a county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
. It became a state of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
(reichsunmittelbar) in 1549, was raised to a principality
Principality
A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
in 1576, and finally a duchy
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
in 1645.
The territorial possessions of the dukes of Arenberg varied through the ages. Around 1789 the duchy was located in the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
region on the west side of the Rhine, and contained amongst others Aremberg
Aremberg
Aremberg is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
, Schleiden
Schleiden
Schleiden is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the Eifel hills, in the district of Euskirchen, and has 13,957 inhabitants...
and Kerpen
Kerpen
Kerpen is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia. Germany. It is located about 30 kilometers southwest from Cologne.-Division of the town:...
.
However, although the Duchy itself was in Germany, from the 15th century on, the principal lands of the Dukes of Arenberg
House of Arenberg
The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families who took their name from Arenberg, a small principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot made the Arenbergs the most influential and most wealthy...
have been in modern day Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
The pre-Napoleonic duchy had an area of 413 km² and a population of 14,800. It belonged to the Electoral Rhenish Circle
Electoral Rhenish Circle
The Electoral Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle derived its name from four of the seven prince-electors whose lands along the Middle Rhine comprised the vast majority of its territory....
, and was bordered by the duchy of Jülich
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay left of the Rhine river between the Electorate of Cologne in the east and the Duchy of Limburg in the west. It had territories on both sides of the river Rur, around its capital...
, the Archbishopric of Cologne
Archbishopric of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne . It was ruled by the Archbishop in his function as prince-elector of...
, the Archbishopric of Trier
Archbishopric of Trier
The Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th...
, and the county of Blankenheim
Blankenheim, North Rhine-Westphalia
Blankenheim is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Blankenheim is located in the Eifel hills, approx. 27 km south-west of Euskirchen...
.
After the French occupation of the west bank of the Rhine around 1798 (see Treaty of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
and Treaty of Lunéville
Treaty of Lunéville
The Treaty of Lunéville was signed on 9 February 1801 between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, negotiating both on behalf of his own domains and of the Holy Roman Empire...
) the duke of Arenberg received new lands: the county of Vest Recklinghausen, the county of Meppen
Meppen, Germany
Meppen is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund-Ems canal...
, and the lordship of Dülmen
Dülmen
Dülmen is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Dülmen is situated in the south part of the Münsterland area, between the Lippe river to the south, the Baumberge hills to the north and the Ems river to the east...
.
Arenberg joined Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
, although that did not prevent it being mediatised
German Mediatisation
The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era....
in 1810, with France annexing Dülmen
Dülmen
Dülmen is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Dülmen is situated in the south part of the Münsterland area, between the Lippe river to the south, the Baumberge hills to the north and the Ems river to the east...
and Meppen
Meppen, Germany
Meppen is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund-Ems canal...
, and the duchy of Berg
Berg (state)
Berg was a state – originally a county, later a duchy – in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.-Ascent:...
annexing Recklinghausen
Recklinghausen
Recklinghausen is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south...
.
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
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
and the kingdom of Hanover
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German...
. 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
House of Ligne
The House of Ligne is one of the oldest Belgian noble families, dating back to the eleventh century. It s name comes from the village in which it originated, between Ath and Tournai. The lords of Ligne belonged to the entourage of the Count of Hainaut at the time of the Crusades...
.
The forest of Arenberg is located in northeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and is famous for its cobbled roads used in the classic road cycle race
Classic cycle races
The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...
Paris–Roubaix http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/9243.0.html. Its areas saw extensive mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in the past.