Pappenheim originated as a Lordship around 1030, and was raised to a county in 1628.
The first member of the House of Pappenheim was Henricus Caput, mentioned in 1111 as vassal of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor. From about 1100 until 1806 the Lords and Counts of Pappenheim held the position of hereditary marshals of the Holy Roman Empire, a court office that made them deputies of the Empire's arch marshals, the Electors of Saxony, with certain ceremonial tasks at the Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor. Being immediate to the Emperor, Pappenheim was a member of the Swabian bench of Imperial Counts with one collective vote in the Imperial Diet.
Pappenheim was partitioned twice: between itself, Alesheim (Aletzheim), Gräfenthal and Treuchtlingen in 1439; and between itself and Stühlingen in 1558. Pappenheim absorbed Alesheim in 1697, Gräfenthal in 1536, and Treuchtlingen in 1647. Treuchtlingen was purchased in 1447/53 and, after the Treuchtlingen branch went extinct in 1647, became part of the Principality of Ansbach. Stühlingen, acquired in 1582, was inherited by Fürstenberg in 1639. Pappenheim was mediatised by Bavaria in 1806.
In 1815, the Congress of Vienna recognized that Pappenheim should receive compensation for their loss of the hereditary office of Imperial marshal. The former Saar department of the First French Empire was divided five ways, with one of the portions granted to Pappenheim as sovereign territory. Shortly thereafter, the family exchanged title to their land to Prussia for a monetary payment.[1] Pappenheim was formally recognized by Bavaria as a mediatized house in 1831, after all claims were settled.
The arms of Pappenheim are Vair plain. The head of the family has Quarterly 1&4 Arch-Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire (parti per fess Sable and Argent, two swords in saltire Gules), 2&3 Pappenheim (Vair plain).
Heads of state
Lords of Pappenheim (c. 1030–1628)
Coat of arms of the Lords and Counts of Pappenheim as hereditary marshals of the Holy Roman Empire
