county · Germany and Central Europe
County of Stolberg
Origins
The counts of Stolberg, perhaps descended from the counts of Hohnstein, appear around 1210 with a castle above the narrow valley of Stolberg in the southern Harz. They expanded by purchase and inheritance, gaining the County of Wernigerode in 1429 and later lands in Thuringia and on the Rhine.
Rule and society
The county was small and hilly, its wealth drawn from silver and copper mining, smelting and forestry. The radical reformer Thomas Müntzer was born in Stolberg around 1489. Count Botho III's daughter Juliana of Stolberg was mother of William the Silent, and his sons introduced the Reformation after his death in 1538. The counts were vassals of Saxony and of the bishops of Halberstadt for parts of their lands.
Decline and legacy
In 1645 the family divided into the Stolberg-Wernigerode and Stolberg-Stolberg lines, which later also produced Stolberg-Rossla. These remained minor rulers under Saxon and Prussian overlordship until mediatisation, and the old town of Stolberg survives in Saxony-Anhalt.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- County of Stolberg was part of Holy Roman Empire1210 CE – 1645 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Stolberg. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-stolberg
- MLA
- “County of Stolberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-stolberg. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “County of Stolberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-stolberg.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Stolberg’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-stolberg (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻