The noble family possibly descended from Count Palatine
Wigeric of Lotharingia (d. before 923), the founder of the
House of Ardenne. His presumable son
Sigfried (d. 997) appeared as first
Count of Luxembourg about 950. Sigfried's grandson
Giselbert (d. 1059), is documented as a Count of Salm in 1036 and as Count of Luxembourg in 1047. When he divided his estates among his heirs, his younger son
Hermann received the
County of Salm and thereby became the progenitor of the comital dynasty. During the
Great Saxon Revolt, he even was elected German
anti-king in opposition to King
Henry IV in 1081, however, he remained isolated until his death in 1088. In 1163, Hermann's grandson Count Henry I of Salm (d. before 1174) again divided the estates among his son Henry II and his daughter Elizabeth, who had married Frederick II,
Count of Vianden. Henry II received the County of
Upper Salm in the Vosges, while Elizabeth and Frederick II founded the comital line of
Lower Salm in the Ardennes.
Lower Salm The descendants of Elizabeth and Frederick became extinct in 1416. Their possessions were inherited by the Lords of
Reifferscheid, who resided at
Reifferscheid Castle. The succession arrangement was challenged by the
Raugraves, however, they had to accept a 1456 judgement by the
Luxembourg councillor
Antoine I de Croÿ. The
Salm-Reifferscheid line was later divided into the branches of
Salm-Reifferscheid-Bedburg/Krautheim,
Salm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz and
Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck (extinct in 1888).
Upper Salm The Counts of Upper Salm resided at
Château de Salm in
Alsace, where they had to compete with the neighbouring
Prince-Bishops of Strasbourg and the
Dukes of Lorraine. In 1475, half of the estates were inherited by the
Rhinegraves; the remaining half passed to the Lorraine dukes in 1600. The Rhinegraves began to call themselves Counts of Salm too, they were raised to
princes in 1623. Their line included several cadet branches ruling over minor principalities such as
Salm-Salm,
Salm-Horstmar, and
Salm-Kyrburg. In the
German Mediatisation of 1803, the Princes of Salm-Salm and Salm-Kyrburg received the southwestern estates of the former
Prince-Bishopric of Münster with the
Lordship of Anholt. They ruled the newly established
Principality of Salm jointly as a
condominium. ==Rulers==