House of Limburg-Stirum

Otto of Limburg obtained the territories of Bronckhorst and Borculo, founding the older line, still flourishing.

In the long conflict (known as the "Borculo question") between the heirs of the last count of

Adolf Ernst of Limburg Stirum obtained the immediate lordship of Gemen and Illereichen in the 1644 partition and ruled it until his death in 1657, founding the line of Limburg Stirum Gemen. In 1782, with the extinction of the Gemen branch, Gemen was inherited by the line of Limburg Stirum Iller-Aicheheim

• 1657-1675 - Countess Maria Isabella von Vehlen und Meggen zu Raesfeld, wife of Adolf Ernst, was regent of Gemen after the death of her husband. The reason for the long regency is not known.
• 1675-1704 -
  Battle of Höchstädt against the French-Bavarian forces. In 1704, he led the second assault on enemy positions in the Battle of Schellenberg
  and was mortally wounded, dying a few days later;
• 1704-1743 - Otto Leopold of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, lord of Gemen and Raesfeld, inherited Gemen at the death of his father. He also inherited from his grandfather Alexander IV, Count von Velen zu Raesfeld the lordship of Raesfeld;
• 1743-1771 - Friedrich Karl of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, lord of Gemen, son of Otto Leopold. He died in 1771 without descendants and both Gemen and Raesfeld passed to his brother, August Philip;
• 1771-1776 -
  Prince-Bishop of Speyer
  , Count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, lord of Gemen, brother of the above;
• 1776-1798 - Karl Josef, Count of Limburg Stirum, lord of Gemen, cousin of the above;
• 1798-1800 - Ferdinand IV, Count of Limburg Stirum zu Illereichen, grandson of the above, was the last lord of Gemen before it passed to the barons von Bomelberg in 1800.

In 1806, Gemen was mediatized to the princes of Salm-Kyrburg. It passed to France in 1810, then to Prussia in 1814.

Limburg Styrum

In the mediatisation of 1806, Styrum came under control of the Grand Duchy of Berg. The last count of Limburg-Styrum-Styrum, Ernst (deceased on 23 March 1809) left Styrum to the sister of his wife, Maria Margaretha von Humbracht, who sold it in 1825. Oberstein was mediatized at the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801, however Ernst was never compensated by the Final Recess of the Empire in 1803.

Mediatisation

The Limburg Stirum held seats in the Holy Roman Empire's

The titles of the House of Limburg Stirum were confirmed in 1812 by

• King William I of the Netherlands, to The Hague
  to avoid anarchy following the retreat of France's troops, and to avoid possible absorption of the Netherlands by Prussia or England.
• Menno David, Count of Limburg Stirum (1807–1891) was a Dutch general and government minister. He lost his right leg during the Siege of Antwerp (1832). After serving as Dutch minister of war he became aide-de-camp and advisor to King William III of the Netherlands.
• foreign minister of Germany
  in 1880–1881.
• Mathilde van Limburg Stirum (1854-1932), secret fiancée of
  King William III of the Netherlands, and great-grandmother of Cara Delevingne
  .
• National Socialism
  , even refusing Nazi officials entry to the Dutch embassy. After leaving Berlin he would serve as Dutch envoy to London.
• Otto Ernst Gelder van Limburg Stirum was a Dutch magistrate and maternal uncle to Audrey Hepburn. As a prominent Dutchman he was taken hostage by the German occupiers and was one of five Dutchmen to be executed in retaliation for resistance activities on 17 April 1942. These five were the first Dutch hostages to suffer this fate.
• Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
  (Austrian branch).
• Franz von Limburg Stirum, a claimant to the headship of the House, lives in Finland.

Others

• The Limburg-Styrum Dragoons Regiment fought with six squadrons (500 men) during the battles of Schellenberg and Blenheim in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession; and in the Battle of Melle in 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession. The Styrum Dragoons uniform was a red coat with green facings, white buttons and straw-yellow breeches. It was disbanded in 1748.^[2]
• The Counts of Limburg Stirum created two orders of knighthood: the Order of the Four Emperors and the Order of St Philip of the Lion of Limburg. In 1806 the Counts of Limburg Stirum were mediatized and lost their rights on their territories. However the Order of St Philip of the Lion of Limburg was still in use until 1838.^{[citation needed]}
• Limburg Stirum is also the name of a mountain, 2350 meters high, standing in the Belgica Mountains in Antarctic. It was discovered by the Belgian expedition (1957–58) under G. de Gerlache, who named it for Count Charles de Limburg Stirum, a patron of the expedition.^[3]
• The Jerusalem Church in Bruges (Belgium) was founded in 1428 by the Adornes family. Anselm Adornes completed this remarkable building after his return from pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was intended to be a copy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Church is still today private property and belongs to the Limburg Stirum as direct descendants of the Adornes.^{[citation needed]}
• In Belgium, Count Evrard de Limburg Stirum (1927–2001), the oldest son of Thierry, Count of Limburg Stirum and Princess Marie-Immaculée de
  Croÿ, married Princess Hélène d'Orléans (1934-), a daughter of Henri d'Orléans, Comte de Paris, the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France. After several years in Rhodesia, they settled in the Castle of Huldenberg in Belgium.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Count Alexis de Limburg Stirum married, in the Castle of
  Ussé (France), Béatrix de Blacas d'Aulps, daughter of the 7th Duke and Prince of Blacas d'Aulps. They live in the castle of Walzin (Belgium).^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Count Rodolphe de Limburg Stirum, son of Count Christian de Limburg Stirum and grandson of Count Thierry, married on 6 December 2008 in
  Archduke Carl Christian of Austria. They have three sons (Leopold, Constantin and Gabriel).^{[citation needed}
  ]

• 
  Original Arms of House of Isenberg used for the County of Altena
• 
  The Abbey of Brauweiler was founded in the early 11th century by Pfalzgraf Ezzo of Lotharingia and his wife Mathilde, daughter of the German Emperor Otto II, near Cologne, the place where their marriage had been celebrated.
• 
  Pfalzgraf Heinrich received the castle

  Richenza of Poland. She wanted to prevent her nephew Conrad I

  from inheriting it.
• 
  In 1133, Count Adolf II built Schloss Burg on a mountain over the river Wupper. It remained the main residence of the counts of Berg until the 14th century.
• 
  Ancient arms of the

  Counts of Berg

  .
• 
  At the beginning of the 12th century Adolf II of Berg donated the site of their old ancestral castle, Schloss Berg, to Cistercian monks from Burgundy. Adolf IV later built the Altenberg Abbey.
• 
  Bust containing the relics of St Engelbert of Cologne, Engelbert II of Berg, Archbishop of Cologne, imperial administrator and guardian of Henry VII of Germany, whom he crowned in 1222 as King of the Romans. It was said that despite his personal piety he was more of a monarch than a churchman.
• 
  Count Dietrich von Altena-Isenberg, disinherited of all his territories following the execution of his father, fought to retrieve his paternal inheritance and built the castle of

  Limburg an der Lenne

  and took the title of Count of Limburg.
• 
  Along with the title of counts of Limburg, the Isenberg changed their arms from the rose of Isenberg to the

  county of Limburg

  .
• 
  Count Frederick I of Altena purchased Schloss Mark near Hamm from the Edelherren of Rüdenberg and made it the residence of the new Counts of the Mark.
• 
  Count Georg of Limburg-Styrum acquired from his wife the county of Bronkhorst in 1539. It was ruled by the family until the 18th century.
• 
  Schloss Styrum around 1840, by Domenico Quaglio the Younger (Städtisches Museum Mülheim an der Ruhr). After the murder of Archbishop Engelbert of Berg, the descendants of Frederick II of Isenberg gained ownership of the castle as Lords of Styrum. They founded the line of Counts of Limburg Styrum.
• 
  The castle of Styrum today, near Mülheim in Germany.
• 
  In 1640, the immediate lordship of Gemen passed for two centuries to the Counts of Limburg Stirum. In 1782, with extinction of Gemen branch of the House of Limburg Stirum, Gemen was inherited by the line of Limburg Stirum Iller-Aicheheim.
• 
  Fürstbischof August von Limburg Stirum was overthrown by the French revolutionary troops and died in exile in Freudenhain castle, near Passau, Germany.
• 
  Oberstein was known as a gemstone centre, source for agate and jasper. It belonged to the Limburg Stirum until it was mediatized

  in 1801.
• 
  Castle of

  Wisch

  , in Gelderland, was inherited by the Limburg Stirum in the 16th century from Irmgard von Wisch, Countess von Bronckhorst.
• 
  Ending a long succession dispute between the heirs of the last lords of Borculo, the Court of Gelders gave on 20 December 1615 the lordship of Borculo to Count Joost van Limburg and Bronkhorst.
• 
  Leopold of Limburg Stirum (1758–1840), member of the Driemanschap of 1813 with Frans van der Duyn van Maasdam and Gijsbert van Hogendorp.
• 
  The monument to Leopold of Limburg Stirum, G.K. van Hogendorp and F.A. van der Duyn van Maasdam on the 1813 square in The Hague.
• 
  Castle of Lichtenvoorde, in Gelderland, Netherlands
• 
  The castle fortress of

  Esterhazy

  .
• 
  Menno van Limburg Stirum, as Minister of War, defended the suppression of military service in the Netherlands until he was sacked by the King who didn't share his view.
• 
  Louis Gaspard Adrien van Limburg Stirum, President of the Dutch Parliament in 1849 and Governor of Groningen and Gelderland.
• 
  The castle of Wemmel was given by the Limburg Stirum to the municipality, and now serves as town hall.
• 
  Opening of the Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies by Governor-General J.P. van Limburg Stirum in 1918.
• 
  Johan Paul van Limburg Stirum, Dutch Ambassador to Germany in 1924
• 
  The castle of Rumbeke in Belgium was inherited by the Limburg Stirum from Marie Therese Countess de Thiennes, Leyenburg et de Rumbeke.
• 
  The Order of St Philip of the Lion of Limburg was created by the Limburg Stirum to reward persons of exceptional scientific, artistic or civil virtue.
• 
  Mathilde van Limburg Stirum was the beloved of Crown Prince William of the Netherland. Their marriage was opposed by both King William III and Mathilde's father, Leopold van Limburg Stirum.
• 
  The Coloma castle in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw near Brussels dates from the 17th century. It was inherited by Albert de Limburg Stirum from the van der Dilft de Borghvliet family.
• 
  The current arms of the counts of Limburg Stirum display the arms of

  Wisch and Gemen

  .
• 
  Coat of arms of

  Limburg. Also used by the provinces of Limburg (Belgium) and Limburg (Netherlands)

  .
• 
  Coat of arms of Bronckhorst
• 
  Coat of arms of

  Wisch
• 
  Coat of arms of Borculo
• 
  Arms of Limburg Stirum
• 
  Coat of arms of the immediate lordship of Gemen, mediatized in 1806.
• 
  The castle of Walzin in Belgium belongs to Count Alexis de Limburg Stirum.
• 
  The House's coat of arm, as found in the stable at one of the family's estate in the Netherlands.

See also

• Belgian nobility

Literature

• Genealogische Handbuch des Adels, Gräfliche Häuser A Band II, 1955;
• W. Gf v. Limburg Stirum, "Stamtafel der Graven van Limburg Stirum", 's Gravenhage 1878;
• A.M.H.J. Stokvis, "Manuel d'Histoire, de Genealogie et de Chronologie de tous les États du Globe", Tome III, Leiden 1890–93;
• W. K. Prins v. Isenburg, "Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europaischen Staaten", 2. Aufl., Marburg/Lahn, 1953.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to House of Limburg-Stirum.

• Marek, Miroslav. "Genealogy of the counts of Altena, Berg and Limburg Stirum". Genealogy.EU.
• On Mount Limburg Stirum (Antarctic)