principality · Germany and Central Europe
Principality of Lichtenberg
Origins
The Congress of Vienna promised the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld territory for his services against Napoleon. In 1816 he received a district around St. Wendel on the upper Nahe and Blies, far from Coburg, which was named the Principality of Lichtenberg in 1819 after the castle near Kusel.
Rule and society
The principality had about 25,000 inhabitants, Catholic and Protestant, living from farming and small crafts. It was governed by Coburg officials who were unpopular, and the region was touched by the radical democratic movement around the Hambach Festival of 1832. Unrest in St. Wendel in 1832 required troops to restore order.
Decline and legacy
Duke Ernest I found the distant territory hard to govern and sold it to Prussia in 1834 for an annual payment. It became the district of St. Wendel in the Rhine Province and is now part of Saarland.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- Principality of Lichtenberg was part of Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld1816 CE – 1826 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Principality of Lichtenberg. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-lichtenberg
- MLA
- “Principality of Lichtenberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-lichtenberg. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Principality of Lichtenberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-lichtenberg.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Principality of Lichtenberg’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-lichtenberg (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻