county · Germany and Central Europe

County of Württemberg

1083 CE – 1495 CE (approx.) · capital Stuttgart

The Swabian county that grew from a single hilltop castle into the leading territory of south-west Germany, becoming a duchy in 1495.

Origins

Conrad of Wirtemberg is first mentioned in 1081 to 1083, with a castle on the Wirtemberg hill near Stuttgart. After the fall of the Duchy of Swabia in 1268, Count Ulrich I and his successors bought and seized many of its lands, building a compact territory on the Neckar.

Rule and society

Eberhard I fought the Swabian imperial cities and Emperor Henry VII, and Stuttgart became the residence in the 14th century. The county was divided between Urach and Stuttgart lines in 1442. Count Eberhard V the Bearded reunited it by the Treaty of Münsingen in 1482 and founded the University of Tübingen in 1477.

Decline and legacy

In 1495 at the Diet of Worms, Emperor Maximilian I raised Württemberg to a duchy under Eberhard the Bearded. The Duchy of Württemberg became an electorate in 1803 and a kingdom in 1806, and today forms part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Lineage

Duchy of Teck 1187 CE – 1439 CECounty of WürttembergDuchy of Württemberg 1495 CE – 1803 CE

Connections (1)

More states of Germany and Central Europe →

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻