After expanding its possessions, the Leiningen family was divided around 1317 into two branches:
Leiningen-Westerburg The elder branch, headed by a
landgrave, became extinct in 1467. Upon the death of the last landgrave, his sister Margaret—wife of Reinhard, Lord of
Westerburg—inherited the lands, and her descendants became known as the
Leiningen-Westerburg family. Later, this family split into two branches:
Leiningen-Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen and
Leiningen-Westerburg-Neu-Leiningen, both of which are extinct today. Following the
French Revolution, the
Left Bank of the Rhine was conquered during the
War of the First Coalition and annexed by
France in 1793. The counts of Alt- and Neu-Leiningen were arrested and imprisoned in Paris, resulting in the loss of their territories. In 1803, they were compensated with the secularized Ilbenstadt Abbey (at
Niddatal) and
Engelthal Abbey. The
German mediatization of 1806 ended these short-lived counties when their territories were divided among the
Grand Duchy of Berg, the
Grand Duchy of Hesse,
Nassau-Weilburg, and
Nassau-Usingen. Ilbenstadt Abbey was sold by the House of Leiningen-Westerburg-Altleiningen in 1921, and Engelthal Abbey was sold by the heirs of the House of Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen in 1952.
Leiningen-Hardenburg Meanwhile, the younger branch of the Leiningen family, known as
Leiningen-Hardenburg, flourished. On 27 June 1560, this branch was divided into two lines:
Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg, founded by Count
Johann Philip (d. 1562), and
Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim or Falkenburg, founded by Count
Emicho (d. 1593). In 1658, the Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg line further divided into: • Leiningen-Dagsburg (extinct 1706) • Leiningen-Heidesheim (extinct 1766) • Leiningen-Guntersblum (extinct 1774) The county of Leiningen-Dagsburg was inherited by the Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg line in 1774. Leiningen-Guntersblum subsequently split into two side branches: • Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg-Guntersblum – This branch was deprived of its lands on the Left Bank of the
Rhine by France but received
Billigheim as compensation in 1803, thereafter known as Leiningen-Billigheim. In 1845, they acquired Neuburg Castle at
Obrigheim. This branch became extinct in 1925. • Leiningen-Heidesheim – In 1803, this branch received
Neudenau and became known as Leiningen-Neudenau; it became extinct in 1910. In 1779, the head of the Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg line was raised to the rank of
Prince of the Holy Roman Empire with the title
Prince of Leiningen. In 1801, this line was deprived of its lands on the
left bank of the Rhine however, in 1803 it received
Amorbach Abbey as compensation. A few years later, the
Principality of Leiningen at Amorbach was
mediatized, and its territory is now mainly included in
Baden, with parts in
Bavaria and
Hesse. Amorbach Abbey remains the family seat of the Prince of Leiningen. Since 1991, the head of the princely line has been Prince Andreas (b. 1955). His eldest brother, Prince
Karl Emich, was excluded from the succession after
marrying morganatically. ==Rulers==