The House of Kirchberg were a Swabian aristocratic family, once wealthy that held the County of Kirchberg, mainly south of Ulm, on the right and left of the Iller . They are difficult to document, but at the end of the early Middle Ages and the beginning of the High Middle Ages they may have had a significance that went beyond regional power. By the end of the 12th century, the family had split into two lines, later into three, becoming impoverished towards the end of the Middle Ages and dying out in 1510 after the sale of their possessions and rights.

The ancestral seat of the Kirchbergers was probably in Unterkirchberg, in what is now the municipality of Illerkirchberg . Towards the end of the 11th century, it was moved up the Iller to Oberkirchberg, where a hilltop castle was built, where the Fugger Castle now stands. The Kirchberg coat of arms, which has not been interpreted satisfactorily, shows a woman (later often a Mohrin) holding a helmet or a lily, later a mitre, in her hands.^[2]

History

Origins

The origin of the Kirchbergs and their early genealogy cannot be taken seriously historically. The frequent use of the first names Otto and Hartmann could indicate family ties to the Counts of Buchhorn, a branch of the Udalrich line that was wealthy on Lake Constance and had died out in 1089 , or to the Hupaldings. A Hartmann is mentioned in 980 as Gaugraf im Illergau. The first documented mention is in 1087, when an Otto de Chirchperg testifies to a donation to the Salvator monastery in Schaffhausen. The foundation and rich endowment of the Wiblingen Abbey in 1093 by the brothers Otto and Hartmann from Kirchberg shows the financial possibilities of the Kirchbergs at that time. The Wiblingen monastery remained the burial place of this noble family until the Kirchbergs died out.

Domain

The County of Kirchberg was an imperial fiefdom that arose from the eastern parts of the former Rammachgau. The area can be described as an irregular square, the northern border of which is formed by the Danube river from the confluence of the Roth upstream to about Obermarchtal , the eastern border originally probably by the Roth , later by the Iller and the western border by the Riss and the upper reaches of the Schussen. The cornerstones of the irregular southern border are Boos in the south-east, the lower reaches of the Aitrach in the south and the area south of Schussenried in the southwest. In this area, the Kirchberg family had the County rights to rule, enjoyed the corresponding rights of use and had the wildlife sanctuary. Their allodial holdings were concentrated between the Rot and Roth, but also lay partly north of the Danube and east of the Roth. In the High and Late Middle Ages, parts of it went as subfiefs or fiefdoms to the local lower nobility and to the citizens of Ulm.

Divisions of the Kirchberg family

In the High Middle Ages, probably still in the 12th century, the Kirchbergs split into two, and in 1250 finally into three lines. The reasons for the first division are not documented.

Kirchberg-Kirchberg: The main line retained its headquarters in Oberkirchberg and the rights of the counts. Count William I died in 1366. His daughter Agnes had been married to Ulrich IV, Lord of Matsch since 1346 and brought her inheritance into this marriage. Parts of the Kirchberg family estate went to this powerful aristocratic family, wealthy in Vinschgau, Engadin, Veltlin and Graubünden, who soon bought the remaining part, the dowry from William I's sister Bertha. As a result, the House of Matsch also temporarily held the additional title of Count of Kirchberg.
Kirchberg-Brandenburg: Southwest of this is the rule of Kirchberg-Brandenburg. Their center of power was in Dietenheim, which received city rights as early as 1280. From their family castle (probably Regglisweiler Castle) only overbuilt ditches are preserved. The branch seem to have been the most politically active line; representatives of this family appear on royal charters several times. The first documentary evidence of a Kirchberg-Brandenburg (Count Otto) dates to 2 February 1239. According to the chronicle of the Imperial Abbey of Rot (Roth) on the Rot, the line could have split off even earlier. After the serious wounding of Count Hartmann VI in the Battle of Oberndorf (17 April 1298) the Brandenburg estates were confiscated by Albert I of Germany and passed on without regard to the inheritance claims of the surviving Kirchbergs, first to the knights of the Ellerbach family. The last of this branch was abbot Conrad, from the monastery of Allerheiligen/Schaffhausen, who died on 12 March 1322 (1323).
Kirchberg-Wullenstetten: This line originated in 1250 from an inheritance division made by the brothers Conrad II and Eberhard III. Eberhard was the founder of the Wullenstetten line. His possessions were mainly to the right of the Iller. On 25 January 1322, Eberhard's son, Count Conrad the Elder, was named as having his seat in Wullenstetten. It is possible that the Wullenstetten line became the administrators of the Kirchberg part that had been annexed by the Matsch family and was then returned to the original family. They resided in the family castle on the Oberkirchberg. Kirchberg-Wullenstetten line was able to get back the old Kirchberg possessions as a pledge in 1390; Finally, in 1434, Eberhard von Kirchberg-Wullenstetten was enfeoffed again by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor with the county, so that large parts of the Kirchberg family estate came back into the hands of the family.

Extinction of the family

The last representatives of the count's family were the two cousins William (died around 1489) and Philip from the Wullenstetten line, who shared the inheritance. Both were heavily in debt. William, who was apparently from 1473 personal servant of Eberhard V, Count of Württemberg-Urach,^[3] sold his half in 1481 to George, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut, and Philipp in 1498. Duke George was already in possession of the dominions of Weissenhorn and Pfaffenhofen bordering to the east. After George's death in 1503 and the beginning of the Landshut War of Succession , King Maximilian I.the lordships and pledged them in 1507 for the very large sum of 50,000 guilders to the Fuggers , who called themselves Count of Kirchberg and Weisenhorn after being elevated to the hereditary imperial count (1526).^[4] Philip had retained some of his Kirchberg estates until his death on August 20, 1510. In November 1510, his daughter and heiress Apollonia and her husband, John, Count of Montfort-Tettnang, sold the Wain estate they had acquired in 1499 .

Coat of arms

Present coat of arms Oberkirchberg (left) and Illerkirchberg (right)

The first heraldic testimony of the Kirchberg family is a seal from around 1200 that shows three covered towers. It is preserved in a reduced form in the coat of arms of the city of Bruneck. Only from the middle of the 13th century are further pictorial sources available, which always show a crowned female figure carrying either a helmet or a lily in her hands. The heraldic statement of this figure is not clear. From the late 13th century, a lily or helmet was replaced by a miter, which is probably due to the Bishop of Brixen, Bruno of Kirchberg. In the late Middle Ages, the female figure was often depicted as a Moor. In this form it was also added to the Fugger's coat of arms, who bought the county in 1507. Likewise, today's coats of arms of Illerkirchberg and Oberkirchberg go back to the late medieval coats of arms of the Kirchbergs.

Counts of Kirchberg

There are attestations of two early counts of Kirchberg:
- Alban (r.c.1028)
- Berthold (?)

House of Kirchberg

Partitions of Kirchberg under Kirchberg family


County of Kirchberg (1st creation) (1090-1367)
County of Kirchberg- Brandenburg (1195-1298)
		County of Kirchberg- Wullenstetten (1240-1434)
Annexed to the Holy Roman Empire
	Annexed to the House of Matsch (1367-1434)
	County of Kirchberg (2nd creation; Wullenstetten line) (1434-1510)

Table of rulers

(Note: Despite a general idea of who have ruled the county, there is doubt on some of the co-rulers included here, who may of may have not co-ruled at all.)

Ruler	Born	Reign	Death	Ruling part	Consort	Notes
Hartmann I	1063	c.1090-1125	1125 aged 61–62	County of Kirchberg	Unknown two children	Brothers and founders of the family and the county. They also founded Wiblingen Abbey.
Otto I	c.1065	c.1090-1107	1107 aged c.41-42	County of Kirchberg	Unknown one child
Hartmann II	c.1095	1125-1170	1170 aged c.74-75	County of Kirchberg	Unknown no children	Children of Hartmann I, ruled jointly.
Eberhard I	1099	1125-1166	1166 aged 66–67	County of Kirchberg	Unknown five children	Children of Hartmann I, ruled jointly.
Hartmann III	1119	1170-1198	1198 aged 78–79	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	Unknown three children	Children of Hartmann II, divided the land.
Otto II	c.1120	1170-1188	1188 aged 57–58	County of Kirchberg	Unknown five children	Children of Hartmann II, divided the land.
Eberhard II	c.1170?	1188 - 27 August 1240	27 August 1240 aged 69–70?	County of Kirchberg	Bertha of Alpeck three children	Children of Otto II and Hartmann III, ruled jointly. Eberhard and Otto were Otto III's sons and Hartmann IV was Hartmann III's son.
Otto III	c.1140?	c.1198	1198 aged 57–58?	County of Kirchberg	Unmarried
Hartmann IV	1146?	1198-1215	1215 aged 68–69	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	? of Korsch-Eichelberg one child	Left only a daughter, and his land went to his nephew, Otto IV.
Otto IV	c.1190	1215-1220	1220 aged 29–30	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	Unknown two children	Son of Eberhard II.
Otto V	c.1210?	1220 - 23 July 1296	23 July 1296 aged 85–86?	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	? of Maschetten one child	Children of Otto IV, ruled jointly. After his brother's death, Otto V associated his own son Otto VI and nephew Otto VII (son of Hartmann V) to the co-rulership.
Hartmann V	c.1210?	1220-1246	1246 aged 35–36?	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	? of Wurttemberg four children
Otto VI	c.1230?	1246-1281	1281 aged 50–51?	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	? of Gundelfingen three children
Otto VII	c.1230?	1246-1280	1280 aged 49–50?	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	Unmarried
Conrad I	c.1200	27 August 1240 - 1268	1268 aged 67–68?	County of Kirchberg	Bertha of Eberstahl (1201-1264) two children
Conrad II	1229	1268-1286	2 February 1286 aged 56–57	County of Kirchberg	Unknown three children	Children of Conrad I, divided the land.
Eberhard III	1231	1268-1283	1283 aged 51–52	County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten	Uta of Neuffen five children	Children of Conrad I, divided the land.
Conrad III the Elder	1268	1283-1326	1326 aged 57–58	County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten	Bertha of Vaz (d.1335) three children
Conrad IV	c.1250	1286 - 30 March 1315	30 March 1315 aged 64–65	County of Kirchberg	Unknown four children
Hartmann VI	c.1250	23 July 1296 - 23 April 1298	23 April 1298 aged 47–48	County of Kirchberg-Brandenburg	Sophia of Wangen (d.c.1330) four children	Son of Otto VI. After his death in battle, Kirchberg-Brandenburg was annexed to the Holy Roman Empire.
Kirchberg-Brandenburg was annexed to the Holy Roman Empire
Bruno^[5]	c.1280?	1315-1356	1356 aged 75–76?	County of Kirchberg	Unknown four children	Children of Conrad IV, ruled jointly.
Conrad V	c.1270	1315	1315 aged 44–45	County of Kirchberg	Anna of Taufers (d.21 June 1351) three children	Children of Conrad IV, ruled jointly.
Eberhard IV	?	1326	c.1326 aged 47–48	County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten	Liutgard two children
William II^[6]	c.1323?	1326 - 1 September 1370	1 September 1370	County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten	Anna of Eichen (d.1369) five children
Conrad VI	c.1300?	1356-1367	1367 aged 66–67	County of Kirchberg	Unmarried	Children of Bruno, ruled jointly. After their deaths, Kirchberg was inherited by William's daughter Agnes, and the County of Matsch.
William I	c.1300?	1356-1366	1366 aged 65–66	County of Kirchberg	Agnes of Teck (d.23 September 1384) one child
Kirchberg was annexed to the House of Matsch
Conrad VII	1354	1370 - 17 January 1417	17 January 1417 aged 62–63	County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten	Anna of Hohenberg-Wildberg (c.1360-1421) c.1380 four children	Children of William II, ruled possibly jointly. Eberhard may have abdicated to pursue a religious career, and became Bishop of Augsburg.
Eberhard V	c.1360	1370-1404	12 August 1413 aged 52–53	County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten	Unmarried
Eberhard VI	c.1385	17 January 1417 - 1434	15 May 1440 aged 54–55	County of Kirchberg-Wullenstetten	Agnes of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Bludenz (d.1436) 1415 five children	Son of Conrad VII. Despite having already inherited the older Kirchberg inheritance (given by the Matsch family after the pledge of 1390, he was only recognized as possessor of the entirety of the county in 1434.
Eberhard VI	c.1385	1434 - 15 May 1440	15 May 1440 aged 54–55	County of Kirchberg
Eberhard VII	c.1415	15 May 1440 - 4 July 1472	4 July 1472 aged 56–57	County of Kirchberg	Kunigunde of Wertheim (d.1481) eight children	Children of Eberhard VI, ruled jointly. It's not certain if Conrad VIII associated his son Conrad IX.
Conrad VIII	c.1415	15 May 1440 - 5 June 1470	5 June 1470 aged 54–55	County of Kirchberg	Anna of Fürstenberg-Baar (c.1426-1481) five children
Conrad IX	c.1440?	1450? - 24 July 1460	24 May 1460 aged 19–20?	County of Kirchberg	Unmarried
Philip	c.1455?	4 July 1472 - 20 August 1510	20 August 1510 aged 54–55	County of Kirchberg	Elisabeth of Schonburg (d.20 July 1491) three children	Cousins, ruled jointly. Philip was Eberhard VII's son, and William III was Conrad VIII's son. Indebted, William sold his part of the land to Bavaria in 1481, and Philip may have done the same with some of his inheritance. The core Kirchberg domains were, however, retained by Philip until his own death. In his own lifetime he saw the Fugger family being nominated as Counts of Kirchberg (1507), and they may have succeeded him after his death.
William III	c.1430	4 July 1472 - 1481	22 March 1488 aged 57–58	County of Kirchberg	Elisabeth of Erbach-Erbach no children

Later counts of Kirchberg

Main article: Fugger family

In 1536, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor recreated the title count of Kirchberg for the wealthy Fugger family.

Other important members of the family

Conrad of Kirchberg: Konrad is shown on the miniature 24r of the Codex Manesse as a knight (Graue Chunrat vo Kilchberg) who is giving his beloved a poem on horseback. 22 stanzas have survived, divided into three summer and three winter songs, which are reminiscent of Neidhart and Tannhäuser in terms of motif and form.^[7] The historical person is uncertain; it is either Konrad (documented between 1255 and 1268) or his son of the same name (documented between 1286 and 1315).^[7]
Bruno of Kirchberg, Bishop of Brixen: Bruno's father was most likely Conrad I, Count of Kirchberg. The tradition from Brixen is likely to apply, since both Bruno's brothers Conrad II and Eberhard III of Kirchberg named their firstborn Conrad. According to the necrologists from Stams and Brixen, his mother's name was Bertha. She came from the family of the House of Gorizia. It could be the daughter of Engelbert III, Count of Gorizia (unnamed in 1206 (Strasbourg/Carinthia) in the Gurk historical sources) and Matilda of Andechs. Mathilde's sister was also called Bertha (Abbess of Gerbstett). This would make Bruno's mother a sister of Meinhard III of Gorizia. Presumably through this connection with the people of Gorizia, Bruno came to the cathedral school in Brixen as a child; on the occasion of a certification in Lyon (5 July 1274) he thanks for the education there. Bruno was originally for the bishopric in Trent, which he had to renounce after papal intervention. From 1250 until his death on 24 August 1288 he was bishop of Brixen. The founding of the city of Bruneck and the construction or expansion of Bruneck Castle can be traced back to him. The city's name is variously derived from his first name.^[8] He is also a co-founder of the Cistercian Abbey of Stams in the Inn Valley.^[9]
Ida of Toggenburg : According to legend, Saint Ida (* ca. 1156, † ca. 1226) or Idda (as it is usually written in Switzerland) comes from the Kirchberg family. Married to a Count of Toggenburg, she spent many years as a cloistered nun in Au and at Fischingen Abbey. Places of worship are the Idda chapel in the Fischingen monastery and the St. Iddaburg on the former Toggenburg ancestral seat.