House of Hatzfeld

Hatzfeld, also spelled Hatzfeldt, is a German noble family.

History

They belonged to high nobility originally from Hesse. The family is first mentioned in 1138 and has its ancestral seat in Hatzfeld. In 1418 the family inherited Wildenburg Castle near Friesenhagen, a Lordship with Imperial immediacy, from the Lords of Wildenburg.

Melchior von Hatzfeld (1593–1658), Field Marshal in the Thirty Years' War, became the first Count in 1635.

Franz Phillip Adrian became the first Prussian Fürst (Prince of Hatzfeld-Gleichen-Trachenberg) in 1741 (the branch extinguished in 1794). The Hatzfeldt-Werther-Schönstein branch inherited Trachenberg and became Prussian Princes of Hatzfeldt and Trachenberg in 1803 and Prussian Dukes of Trachenberg in 1900 (still existing). The Hatzfeld-Wildenburg-Weisweiler branch inherited Crottorf, Schönstein, Kalkum as well as numerous other properties in 1794 and became Prussian Princes of Hatzfeld-Wildenburg in 1834 (the branch extinguished in 1941 and was inherited by Count Hermann Dönhoff who took on the name of his mother's family: Count von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg-Dönhoff).

Members

Melchior von Hatzfeld (1593–1658), field marshal in the Thirty Years' War
Franz von Hatzfeld (1596–1642), Prince-Bishop of Bamberg
Carl Friedrich Hatzfeldt zu Gleichen (1718–1793), Austrian statesman
Franz Ludwig von Hatzfeld (1756−1827), Prussian general
Sophie von Hatzfeldt (1805–1881), "The Red Countess"
Paul von Hatzfeld zu Trachenberg (1831–1901), diplomat and Foreign Secretary of Germany
Elisabeth von Hatzfeldt (1839–1914), Princess of Carolath-Beuthen
Hermann von Hatzfeldt (1848–1933), politician
Prince Franz Edmund J.G.V. von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg (1853-1910), race-horse owner.
Princess Clara von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg (1860-1928), heiress.
Georg von Hatzfeld (1929–2000), publisher, politician

Crottorf Castle near Friesenhagen (since 1563 owned by the family)
Schönstein Castle near Wissen (since 1589 owned by the family)
Trachenberg, Silesia (today Żmigród, Poland, 1641-1945 owned by the family)
Kalkum Castle near Düsseldorf (early 18th century until 1946)
Prince Franz von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg (Lafayette, 1906, to celebrate winning the Grand National with Ascetic's Silver).