County of Rietberg

County of Rietberg Grafschaft Rietberg
1237–1807
Coat of arms
County of Rietberg in 1560
Status	County
Capital	Rietberg 51°48′N8°26′E
Official languages	German
Religion	Catholicism Protestantism(after1560) Judaism
Government	Comital
Historical era	Middle Ages
• BecameReichsfrei county	1237
• Raised to Imperial county	1353
• Subordinated to Landgraviate of Hesse	1807
•Mediatisedto Westphalia	1807
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Westphalia Kingdom of Westphalia

TheCounty of Rietberg(German:Grafschaft Rietberg) was astateof theHoly Roman Empire,located in the present-dayGermanstate ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia.It was situated on the upperEmsinWestphalia,between thePrince-Bishopric of Paderbornand thePrince-Bishopric of Münster.It existed as an independent territory from 1237 to 1807, when it wasmediatisedto theKingdom of Westphalia.

History

Historical sight ofRietberg(1647).

Rietberg was first mentioned asRietbikearound the year 1100. This name refers to the German wordsried(an old name for "reed") andbach( "creek"). There was a castle that dated back to the 11th century. From 1237 until 1807, Rietberg was an independent German territory, although very small. Nevertheless, the county had its own militia, its own currency and its own laws; even foreign policy, on a small scale, was conducted independently. Until the 17th century, Rietberg coined its own money.

In 1699, the County of Rietberg came into the possession of theMoravian noble familyof theCounts of Kaunitz(Czech:Kounic) through the marriage of heiress Maria Ernestine Franziska ofOstfriesland,Countess von Rietberg (1687-1758) withCount Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz,and that family subsequently renamed itself asKaunitz-Rietberg.Under the rule of thiscomital(laterprincely) family, the territory remained independent until the end of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1807, Rietberg becamemediatisedto theKingdom of Westphalia.After the dissolution of that kingdom in 1813, the territory of Rietberg became part of theKingdom of Prussia,which integrated it into itsProvince of Westphalia.

Comital title

The title of Count of Rietberg (Grafzu Rietberg) remains extant in theHouse of Liechtenstein,which has claimed it since 1848, when the last member of the Moravian branch of the Kaunitz family (PrinceAloys von Kaunitz-Rietberg) died.Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein,and alldynasticmembers of his family (and their dynastic wives) bear the title currently.