County of Hanau-Münzenberg

Origins

The lords of Hanau, raised to counts in 1429, ruled lands around Hanau on the Main and had inherited part of the Münzenberg lordship in the Wetterau. In 1458 the county was divided: the elder line kept Hanau-Münzenberg, while a younger line went on to found the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg in Alsace.

Rule and society

Count Philip Louis II adopted Calvinism and in 1597 invited Reformed refugees from the Netherlands and Wallonia to found the New Town of Hanau, which brought gold-working, silk and other crafts. The county belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. During the Thirty Years' War Hanau withstood a long imperial siege, lifted in 1636.

Decline and legacy

The Münzenberg line died out in 1642 and its lands passed to the Lichtenberg branch. When the last count, Johann Reinhard III, died in 1736, Hanau-Münzenberg went to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. Hanau later became known as the birthplace of the Brothers Grimm.