county · Germany and Central Europe
County of Ziegenhain
Origins
The counts of Ziegenhain appear around 1144, with a moated castle in the marshy Schwalm valley. Through marriage they also acquired the County of Nidda in the Wetterau in the 12th century. Their lands lay between the Landgraviate of Hesse and the abbeys of Fulda and Hersfeld.
Rule and society
The counts were advocates of Fulda Abbey and often in conflict with the landgraves of Hesse. Their territory was rural, centred on the small town of Ziegenhain and the castle at Nidda. Little is known of their administration in detail.
Decline and legacy
The last count, John II, died in 1450, and both Ziegenhain and Nidda passed to the landgraves of Hesse. Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous later turned Ziegenhain into a fortress, used as a prison in later centuries.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- County of Ziegenhain was part of Holy Roman Empire1144 CE – 1450 CE
More states of Germany and Central Europe →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Ziegenhain. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-ziegenhain
- MLA
- “County of Ziegenhain.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-ziegenhain. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “County of Ziegenhain.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-ziegenhain.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Ziegenhain’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-ziegenhain (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻