photographed in 2009.Schaumburg originated as a
medieval county, which was founded at the beginning of the 12th century. It was named after
Schauenburg Castle, near
Rinteln on the
Weser, where the owners started calling themselves
Lords (from 1295
Counts) of Schauenburg.
Adolf I probably became the first
Lord of
Schauenburg in 1106. In 1110,
Adolf I, Lord of Schauenburg was appointed by
Lothair, Duke of Saxony to hold
Holstein and
Stormarn, including
Hamburg, as
fiefs. Subsequently, the
House of Schaumburg were also counts of Holstein and its partitions
Holstein-Itzehoe,
Holstein-Kiel,
Holstein-Pinneberg (until 1640),
Holstein-Plön,
Holstein-Segeberg and
Holstein-Rendsburg (until 1460) and through the latter at times also the dukes of
Schleswig.
Count Adolf IV was an active ruler and founded the cities of
Stadthagen and
Rinteln. From 1500 the County of Schaumburg belonged to the
Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle of the
Holy Roman Empire. After the childless death in 1640 of
Count Otto V, the
House of Schaumburg became extinct. The County of Holstein-Pinneberg was merged with the
Duchy of Holstein. The County of Schaumburg proper was partitioned among the
agnatic Schaumburg heirs into three parts, one incorporated into the ducal
Brunswick and Lunenburgian Principality of Lüneburg, the largest portion becoming the County of
Schaumburg-Lippe, and the eastern territory continuing the name County of Schaumburg (, 'County of Schaumburg Hessian portion'), ruled in
personal union by
Hesse-Cassel. Even after the
Prussian annexation of both
Hanover (the successor to Brunswick-Lüneburg) and
Electoral Hesse (the successor to Hesse-Cassel) the Hessian part remained an
exclave of the
Province of Hesse-Nassau until it was transferred to the
Province of Hanover in 1932. All three are now part of the state of
Lower Saxony. When the
District of Schaumburg () was formed in middle
Lower Saxony in 1977, it chose to use a coat of arms derived from the ancient arms of the Counts of Schaumberg. ==Counts of Schauenburg==