county · Germany and Central Europe
County of Hohenems
Origins
The lords of Ems held castles above the Rhine valley near Dornbirn from the 12th century. Wolf Dietrich of Ems married Chiara de Medici, whose brother became Pope Pius IV in 1559; with papal backing their sons rose quickly, and in 1560 the family was made imperial counts of Hohenems.
Rule and society
Count Jakob Hannibal I was a general in Spanish service, while his brother Mark Sittich became a cardinal. Count Kaspar built up the Renaissance palace at Hohenems and in 1617 invited Jewish families to settle, founding a notable Jewish community. The counts also acquired the County of Vaduz and the Lordship of Schellenberg.
Decline and legacy
Heavy debts forced the sale of Vaduz and Schellenberg to Liechtenstein. When the male line died out in 1759, the county reverted to Austria and became part of Vorarlberg. Two manuscripts of the Nibelungenlied were found in the palace library in 1755 and 1779.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- County of Hohenems was part of Holy Roman Empire1560 CE – 1759 CE
- County of Vaduz was part of County of Hohenems1613 CE – 1712 CE
More states of Germany and Central Europe →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Hohenems. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hohenems
- MLA
- “County of Hohenems.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hohenems. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “County of Hohenems.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hohenems.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Hohenems’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-hohenems (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻