HOHENLOHE

hohenlohe, a german princely family which took its name from the district of hohenlohe in franconia. at first a countship, its two branches were raised to the rank of principalities of the empire in 1744 and 1764 respectively; in 1806 they lost their independence and their lands now form part of the kingdoms of bavaria and of wurttemberg. at the time of the mediatization the area of hohenlohe was 680 sq. m. and its estimated population was 108,000. the family is first mentioned in the 12th century as possessing the castle of hohenloch, or hohenlohe, near uffenheim, and its influence was soon perceptible in several of the franconian valleys, including those of the kocher, the jagst and the tauber. henry i. (d. 1183) was the first to take the title of count of hohenlohe, and in 1230 his grandsons, gottfried and conrad, supporters of the emperor frederick ii., founded the lines of hohenlohe-hohenlohe and hohenlohe-brauneck, names taken from their respective castles. the latter became extinct in 1390, its lands passing later to brandenburg, while the former was divided into several branches, only two of which, however, hohenlohe-weikersheim and hohenlohe-uffenheim-speckfeld, need be mentioned here. hohenlohe-weikersheim, descended from count kraft i. (d. 1313), also underwent several divisions, that which took place after the deaths of counts albert and george in 1551 being specially important. at this time the lines of hohenlohe-neuenstein and hohenlohe-waldenburg were founded by the sons of count george. meanwhile, in 1412, the family of hohenlohe-uffenheim-speckfeld had become extinct, and its lands had passed through the marriages of its heiresses into other families. the existing branches of the hohenlohe family are descended from the lines of hohenlohe-neuenstein and hohenlohe-waldenburg, established in 1551. the former of these became protestant, while the latter remained catholic. of the family of hohenlohe-neuenstein, which underwent several partitions and inherited gleichen in 1631, the senior line became extinct in 1805, while in 1701 the junior line divided itself into three branches, those of langenburg, ingelfingen and kirchberg. kirchberg died out in 1861, but members of the families of hohenlohe-langenburg and hohenlohe-ingelfingen are still alive, the latter being represented by the branches of hohenlohe-ingelfingen and hohenlohe-ohringen. the roman catholic family of hohenlohe-waldenburg was soon divided into three branches, but two of these had died out by 1729. the surviving branch, that of schillingsfurst, was divided into the lines of hohenlohe-schillingsfurst and hohenlohe-bartenstein; other divisions followed, and the four existing lines of this branch of the family are those of waldenburg, schillingsfurst, jagstberg and bartenstein. the family of hohenlohe-schillingsfurst possesses the duchies of ratibor and of corbie inherited in 1824. the principal members of the family are dealt with below.