county · Germany and Central Europe
County of Castell
Origins
The lords of Castell, named after a castle on the western edge of the Steigerwald, appear as counts around 1200. Their family is among the oldest noble houses in Franconia, and they held lands between Würzburg and Bamberg, often as vassals of the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg, while claiming imperial immediacy.
Rule and society
The county was small, rural and divided among branches of the family, with vineyards on the Steigerwald slopes a key source of income. The counts adopted Lutheranism in the 16th century and maintained it in the face of their powerful Catholic neighbours. In 1774 they founded a bank to manage the county's finances, the Castell Bank.
Decline and legacy
Castell was mediatised in 1806 and absorbed into the Kingdom of Bavaria, its counts becoming landowners. The family still lives at Castell and Rüdenhausen, and the Castell Bank remains one of Germany's oldest banks.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- County of Castell was part of Holy Roman Empire1200 CE – 1806 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Castell. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-castell
- MLA
- “County of Castell.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-castell. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “County of Castell.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-castell.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Castell’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-castell (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻