Though older sources mentioned one Eberhard zu Eltz, a
Frankish citizen of
Trier in the late 7th century, the otherwise first recorded instance of the name occurred in 1157, when Rudolph zu Eltz was mentioned as witness to the donation of a property deed by Emperor
Fredrick Barbarossa. At that time, Eltz lived in a small manor on the banks of the
River Elz, a tributary of the
Moselle, in what is now the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate. The family members had been
ministeriales and loyal supporters of the Imperial
Hohenstaufen dynasty. In the early 14th century they inherited the
Vogtei over Rübenach near
Koblenz, a possession of
Imperial Abbey of St Maximin at Trier.
Eltz Castle was built in the early 12th century on a site that held a 9th-century manor house with a simple earthwork
palisade. Before 1268 three brothers shared the ownership of the castle and it was kept jointly by their descendants, the Kempenich, Rodendorf and Rübenach branches until 1815 when it was taken over by the Kempenich branch, which still owns it today. , owned by the family since before 1157 From 1331 until 1336 the Eltz were stuck in a fierce feud with the mighty
Baldwin of Luxembourg, then
Elector and Prince-Archbishop of Trier enforcing his acknowledgement as their suzerain, whereafter the Eltz family remained vassals of the Trier archbishops. In 1324
Pope John XXII had appointed Canon Arnold von Eltz
Prince-Bishop of Cammin in
Pomerania against the resistance of King
Louis IV. Robin von Eltz served as Master of the
Livonian Order from 1385 until 1389. Canon Jakob zu Eltz was elected Prince-Archbishop of Trier in 1567; he was one of the strongest champions of the
Counter-Reformation and allied himself with the
Jesuits in opposing
Lutheran and
Calvinist influence in the region. In 1624, Hans Jakob zu Eltz was given the hereditary office of
Field Marshal for the Electorate of Trier. This made him the supreme military commander of the region in time of war, including leader of the vassals on this important region of the
Holy Roman Empire. The Eltz family,
Imperial Knights since 1729, reached their greatest influence with
Philipp Karl von Eltz-Kempenich, from 1732
Prince Elector and Archbishop of Mainz and German
Archchancellor, making him the most noble and one of the most powerful
Catholic princes north of the
Alps. As a result of their service throughout the troubles of the
Reformation and during the wars against the
Ottoman Empire, the elder line of Eltz were awarded the title of
Reichsgrafen (Counts of the Empire) by the
Habsburg Emperor
Charles VI in 1733 in
Vienna. The additional "Great Palatinate" (Große Pfalzgrafschaft) privilege entitled the Eltz lords to knight others in the name of the Emperor, select notaries public,
legitimate illegitimate children, confer
coats of arms and crests, appoint judges and clerks, and release serfs from service. In 1736 Archbishop Philipp Karl von Eltz had acquired the Lordship of
Vukovar in eastern
Slavonia (present-day
Croatia) affiliated with the
Hungarian nobility. From 1749 onwards his heirs had
Eltz Manor erected, the main residence of the
Grafen von und zu Eltz until the family was expelled by the
Yugoslav communist regime in 1945. After Croatia
declared independence from
Yugoslavia,
Jakob Eltz returned to Croatia and as a naturalized citizen became a member of the new
Sabor parliament, where he represented Vukovar, the seat of his former Eltz Manor. ==Properties==