county · Germany and Central Europe
County of Hanau-Lichtenberg
Origins
In 1458 the County of Hanau was divided, and Philip I the Younger received a share. In 1480 his line inherited half of the lordship of Lichtenberg in northern Alsace through marriage, forming the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg, with Buchsweiler (Bouxwiller) as its capital.
Rule and society
The counts ruled scattered lands on both banks of the Rhine, including the Hanauerland around Kehl. They introduced the Lutheran Reformation in the 1540s and ran a well-ordered small state. In 1642 they inherited the County of Hanau-Münzenberg. From 1680 Louis XIV's Reunions placed the Alsatian lands under French sovereignty, though the counts kept their estates and revenues.
Decline and legacy
When the last count, Johann Reinhard III, died in 1736, Hanau-Lichtenberg passed to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. The French Revolution swept away its Alsatian lordship, and in 1803 the lands east of the Rhine went to Baden.
Lineage
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Hanau-Lichtenberg. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hanau-lichtenberg
- MLA
- “County of Hanau-Lichtenberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hanau-lichtenberg. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “County of Hanau-Lichtenberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hanau-lichtenberg.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Hanau-Lichtenberg’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hanau-lichtenberg (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻