Hahnsberg

Page from the Tyrolian Armorial

Variously spelt Hahnberg, Hahn von Hahnberg/Hahnsberg, Haan von Hahnenberg, Hahnsperg; an ancient German noble family settled in the Rhineland, the first recorded ancestor dates from the 11th century. Originating as vassals of the counts of Jülich, the family held the lordship of Bruck, which enjoyed imperial immediacy, and consequently were enrolled in the Free Imperial Knights of the Holy Roman Empire (1520), in the canton of Middle Rhine. Since 1704 the family hold the title of Reichsfreiherr (imperial barons).

A branch of the Hahnsbergs settled in Austria in the late 13th century.

The family's holdings were mediatized in 1803 (see German Mediatisation).

Sources

• Johann Kaspar Bundschuh: Versuch einer Historisch-Topographisch-Statistischen Beschreibung der unmittelbaren Freyen Reichs-Ritterschaft in Franken nach seinen sechs Orten. Ulm, 1801.
• Johann Georg Kerner: Allgemeines positives Staatsrecht der unmittelbaren freyen Reichsritterschaft in Schwaben und am Rhein. 3 Bde. Lemgo, 1786-89.
• Traugott Märcker: Diplomatisch-kritische Beiträge zur Geschichte und dem Staatsrechte von Sachsen, Erster Band: Das Burggrafthum Meissen. Leipzig, 1842. ‘…nos Milites, Vlricus de Maltycz, et Heinricus de Hunsberch… (No. 30, pg. 430), from a document dated 21 July 1290.
• A charter from Seitenstetten Abby dated 1142: "Huic rei hii adhibiti sunt testes....et Gotschalkus de hunsberch..."