county · Germany and Central Europe

County of Wertheim

1132 CE – 1556 CE (approx.) · capital Wertheim

A Franconian county at the meeting of the Main and the Tauber, whose castle still dominates the town, inherited by the Löwenstein family in 1556.

Origins

The counts of Wertheim appear in 1132, with their castle on a hill at the confluence of the Main and Tauber. They held lands in the Spessart and the Main valley as vassals of the bishops of Würzburg and gradually built a small territory.

Rule and society

The town of Wertheim developed as a river port with trade along the Main. The counts adopted the Reformation in the 1520s. Their castle, one of the largest in southern Germany, was expanded in the Renaissance. The counts held offices at the courts of the Palatinate and the Empire.

Decline and legacy

Count Michael III died in 1556, the last of his line, and after disputes the county passed to Count Ludwig of Stolberg and then, through marriage, to the Löwenstein family, founding Löwenstein-Wertheim. It was mediatised in 1806 and divided between Baden and Bavaria.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

County of WertheimCounty of Löwenstein-Wertheim 1574 CE – 1806 CE

Connections (1)

More states of Germany and Central Europe →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Wertheim. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-wertheim
MLA
“County of Wertheim.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-wertheim. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “County of Wertheim.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-wertheim.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Wertheim’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-wertheim (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻