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23-539: The Kulmbach-Bayreuth principality arose from the northern uplands ( Oberland ) of the former Burgraviate of Nuremberg , while the southern lowlands ( Unterland ) formed the Principality of Ansbach . The final border demarcation was settled by the 1541 House Treaty of Regensburg , adding some smaller Unterland territories to Bayreuth. However, it was not connected with the Oberland core territory stretching up to

46-705: A lifelong annuity. He married socialite Elizabeth Craven and retired to private life in England , while Bayreuth and Ansbach were governed by the Prussian minister Karl August von Hardenberg . Occupied by French troops during the War of the Fourth Coalition , Prussia had to cede Bayreuth according to the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit . At the 1808 Congress of Erfurt , the French emperor Napoleon offered it for sale to

69-764: Is nowhere near Brandenburg). Kulmbach-Bayreuth became part of the Franconian Circle in 1500. After in 1541 the ambitious Margrave Albert Alcibiades assumed the rule over Kulmbach-Bayreuth, he barged onto the battlegrounds of the Schmalkaldic War , several times switching sides between Emperor Charles V and the Lutheran princes of the Schmalkaldic League . In 1552 he sparked the Second Margrave War against Nuremberg and

92-724: The Ordre de la Sincerité , predecessor to the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle . Margrave Frederick , ruling from 1735, and his wife Wilhelmine of Prussia , both patrons of arts and sciences, had the Bayreuth residence largely rebuilt in a distinct Baroque style ( Markgrafenstil ), including the erection of the Margravial Opera House finished in 1748. A university was founded in 1742 and relocated to Erlangen

115-561: The Franconian Forest and the Fichtel Mountains . Mountainous and densely wooded, most of the lands were of less agricultural use, nevertheless mineral resources, predominantly ore deposits led to the construction of numerous mines . Beside the residence Bayreuth , the separate Oberland and Unterland territories were administered from Hof and Neustadt an der Aisch respectively. The principality arose upon

138-692: The Brandenburg electorate. Ansbach passed to the third son Albert Achilles . As John the Alchemist had no male heirs, he renounced his rights in 1457, whereupon Kulmbach-Bayreuth fell to his brother, Albert Achilles. When the eldest brother, the Brandenburg elector Frederick Irontooth abdicated in 1470, Albert united all Hohenzollern territories under his rule. After Albert's death in 1486 the Franconian principalities were finally partitioned according to his Dispositio Achillea disposition, passing to

161-528: The Nordgau . From 1050 to 1571, the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade routes. King Conrad III established the burgraviate and the first administration and courts over the surrounding Imperial territories. The first burgraves were from the Austrian House of Raabs but, with the extinction of their male line around 1190, the burgraviate was inherited by

184-499: The burgraves and the castellan finally broke out into open enmity, which greatly influenced the history of the city. Nuremberg is often referred to as having been the 'unofficial capital ' of the Holy Roman Empire , particularly because Imperial Diets ( Reichstage ) and courts met at Nuremberg Castle . The Diets of Nuremberg were an important part of the administrative structure of the empire. The increasing demand of

207-527: The burgraviate lost power over the city, which became independent from 1219. Eventually, the burgraviate was partitioned to form Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth . Nuremberg was probably founded around the turn of the 11th century, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, as the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of

230-490: The city from the purview of the burgraves. Nuremberg soon became, with Augsburg , one of the two great trade centers on the route from Italy to Northern Europe. George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach ( German : Georg Friedrich der Ältere ; 5 April 1539 in Ansbach – 25 April 1603) was Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth , as well as Regent of Prussia . He

253-731: The death of his cousin Albert Alcibiades in 1557, also in Kulmbach . He took over the administration of the Duchy of Prussia in 1577, when the then-reigning Duke Albert Frederick became ill. He was the last of the old Franconia line of the House of Hohenzollern. Upon his death Ansbach and Kulmbach were inherited by younger princes of the Brandenburg line according to the House Treaty of Gera of 1598. George Frederick rebuilt

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276-584: The death of the Hohenzollern burgrave Frederick V of Nuremberg on 21 January 1398, when his lands were partitioned between his two sons: the elder, Burgrave John III received Kulmbach-Bayreuth and the younger, Frederick VI , received the Principality of Ansbach . The two principalities were once again united under the younger son, Frederick, after John's death on 11 June 1420. At the Council of Constance in 1415, Emperor Sigismund vested Frederick with

299-428: The elder Bayreuth line became extinct. He left his successor, Margrave Christian , younger son of the Brandenburg elector John George , an orderly and functioning state. Margrave Christian took his residence in Bayreuth; in 1655 he was succeeded by his grandson Christian Ernst , who gained power and influence on Imperial politics in the military rank of a Field marshal . In 1705 his son Prince George William founded

322-539: The hereditary title of an Elector of Brandenburg (as Frederick I). Frederick finally sold his burgravial title to the citizens of the Imperial City of Nuremberg . On his death in 1440, his territories were again divided between his sons: the eldest, John the Alchemist had waived his right of primogeniture and succeeded his father in Kulmbach-Bayreuth, while the second, Frederick Irontooth , received

345-491: The imperial lands surrounding Nuremberg, but levied taxes and constituted the highest judicial court in matters relating to poaching and forestry; he also was the appointed protector of the various ecclesiastical establishments, churches and monasteries, even of the Bishopric of Bamberg . The privileges of this castellanship were transferred to the city during the late-14th and early-15th centuries. The strained relations between

368-584: The last count's son-in-law, of the House of Hohenzollern . From the late 12th century to the Interregnum (1254–73), however, the power of the burgraves diminished as the Staufen emperors transferred most non-military powers to a castellan, with the city administration and the municipal courts handed over to an Imperial mayor ( German : Reichsschultheiß ) from 1173/74. This castellan not only administered

391-541: The neighbouring Prince-bishoprics of Würzburg and Bamberg . His soaring plans to re-establish the medieval Duchy of Franconia under his rule ended with his utter defeat and an Imperial ban in 1554. Albert was succeeded by his cousin Margrave George Frederick in 1557, who from 1577 als ruled in the Duchy of Prussia as regent for his incapable Hohenzollern relative Duke Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia . With George Frederick's death in 1603,

414-414: The newly established Kingdom of Bavaria ; it changed owners in 1810 against a payment of 15 million francs. Burgraviate of Nuremberg The Burgraviate of Nuremberg ( German : Burggrafschaft Nürnberg ) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the early 12th to the late 15th centuries. As a burgraviate , it was a county seated in the town of Nuremberg ; almost two centuries passed before

437-471: The next year. The younger line of the Brandenburg-Bayreuth margraves died out in 1769 with the death of Frederick Christian , whereafter Bayreuth and Ansbach were once again ruled in personal union by Margrave Charles Alexander . On 2 December 1791, Charles Alexander signed a treaty with King Frederick William II of Prussia , whereby he ceded his principalities to the Prussian state against

460-642: The palace and fortress of Plassenburg , which had been destroyed in the Second Margrave War (1552–1554). It became one of the most impressive residences of the Renaissance in Germany. He also built the fortress of Wülzburg and the old palace in Bayreuth . During his reign between 1557 and 1603 in the Franconian territories of the Hohenzollern (Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach) he kept peace, rebuilt cities and castles, founded several schools and

483-555: The royal court and the increasing importance of the city attracted increased trade and commerce to Nuremberg, supported by the Hohenstaufen emperors. Frederick II (reigned 1212–50) granted the Großen Freiheitsbrief (English: Great Letter of Freedom ) in 1219, including town rights , Imperial immediacy ( Reichsfreiheit ), the privilege to mint coins and an independent customs policy, almost wholly removing

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506-536: The younger sons of his second marriage with Anna of Saxony , Margrave Siegmund and his brother Frederick II . While the Brandenburg electorate became the power base for the rising Hohenzollern dynasty, the Principality of Kulmbach-Bayreuth was held by Frederick's descendants, temporarily in personal union with Ansbach. The rulers were commonly known as the Margraves of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (though Bayreuth

529-476: Was the son of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and a member of the House of Hohenzollern . He married firstly, in 1559, Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin (29 August 1540 – 8 March 1578). He married secondly, in 1579, Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (30 October 1563 – 1639), daughter of William of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Dorothea of Denmark . George Frederick reigned in his native Ansbach , Franconia and Jägerndorf , Upper Silesia since 1556 and, after

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