- Eltz
Eltz is the name of a noted German noble family.
The first recorded instance of the name occurred in
1157 when Rudolph zu Eltz was mentioned as witness to the donation of a propertydeed by Emperor Fredrick I Barbarossa. At that time, Eltz lived in a small manor on the banks of theRiver Eltz , in what is now the German state ofRhineland-Palatinate .The Eltz held power in the Electorates of
Mainz andTrier . Jakob von Eltz (b. 1510) was one of the strongest champions of theCounter-Reformation and allied himself with theJesuits in opposingLutheran andCalvinist influence in the region.In
1624 , Hans Jakob zu Eltz was given the hereditary office ofField Marshal for the electorate of Trier. This made him the supreme military commander of the region in time of war, including leader of the Imperialvassal s of this important region of theHoly Roman Empire . The Eltz family reached their greatest influence under the Electorship of Philipp Karl zu Eltz (b. 1665). He held the title of Prince Elector and Archbishop of Mainz, making him the most noble and one of the most powerfulCatholic princes north of theAlps .As a result of their service throughout the troubles of the
Reformation and during the wars against theOttoman Empire , the elder line of Eltz was raised to the position ofCount s of the Empire by the Emperor Charles VI in 1733 inVienna . The additional "Great Palatinate" privilege entitled the Eltz lords to knight others in the name of the Emperor, select notaries public, illegitimate children, confer coats of arms and crests, appoint judges and clerks, and release serfs from service.The Eltz family's most important landholding outside Germany was in East
Slavonia on theDanube inCroatia . In 1736 the Eltz family acquired the Lordship ofVukovar . This was the main residence of the Grafen von und zu Eltz until the family was expelled by the Yugoslavcommunist regime in1945 .After Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia,Jakob Eltz returned to Croatia and became a member of the new Croatian parliament, where he represented Vukovar. During theBattle of Vukovar , the Eltz Manor in Vukovar was destroyed by intense shelling and the bodies in the Eltz tomb desecrated by Serbian forces.ee also
*
Burg Eltz
*Eltz Manor References
* [http://www.burg-eltz.de Burg Eltz]
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