Principality of Halberstadt

The Principality of Halberstadt ( _de. Fürstentum Halberstadt) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by Brandenburg-Prussia. It replaced the Bishopric of Halberstadt after its secularization in 1648. Its capital was Halberstadt. The principality was dissolved in 1807 and its territory made part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. In 1815, all the sovereign rights to the principality were restored to the Kingdom of Prussia.

History

In the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, the Bishopric of Halberstadt was secularized as the Principality of Halberstadt and given to the electors of Brandenburg. This was negotiated by Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal, the Great Elector's representative at the Westphalia negotiations, who was made Halberstadt's first secular governor as a reward.

The newly-created Principality of Halberstadt consisted of the old County of Osterwieck, the County of Halberstadt, the Principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben, the County of Regenstein (including Hainburg), and the County of Valkenstein. The Lordship of Darenburg was added in 1701, and after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Principality of Halberstadt obtained the Barony of Schauen and the Lordship of Hessenrode. Lost territories included the County of Weferlingen in 1701, a subdivision of the County of Hohnstein about the same time, Stapelburg in 1727, and Hesserode in 1714.Fact|date=March 2008

The Principality of Halberstadt was dissolved according to the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit following the Kingdom of Prussia's defeat in the War of the Fourth Coalition. Its territory became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, a Napoleonic client-state. After the French defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, the territory was restored to Prussia in 1815 and made part of the new Province of Saxony in 1817. The Hohenzollern monarchs of Prussia continued to style themselves as princes of Halberstadt until 1918. [http://web.archive.org/web/20070314063126/http://regiments.org/biography/royals/1859wilG.htm]