Zinzendorf family

Not to be confused with Sinzendorf.

The House of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf was an old noble family originating in Lower Austria, documented from the High Middle Ages and later elevated to the rank of Imperial Counts of the Holy Roman Empire. The family belonged to the regional landed nobility of the Austrian duchies and is recorded in standard works of Austrian noble genealogy and heraldry.[1] It is not to be confused with the princely House of Sinzendorf, as these two families do not share the same ancestry.

History

The earliest documented ancestor of the family appears in 1114, in a document written by Hermann von Vohburg, Bishop of Augsburg, when a nobleman named Wisint de Cincendorf is mentioned as a witness in ecclesiastical charters. Further documentary references during the 12th century indicate the family’s continuous presence among the ministerial and landed nobility of Lower Austria.[2]

The family’s early seat was located at Zinsenhof near present-day Ruprechtshofen in Lower Austria. Over subsequent centuries, members of the family held estates and lordships in Lower Austria and participated in regional administration under both the Babenberg and later Habsburg dynasties.[3] At first, their estates were all near St. Poelten which is roughly between Vienna and Salzburg. Through marriage with the noble house of Pottendorf, the family adopted the combined name Zinzendorf und Pottendorf. Apart from their possessions in Austria, they also reigned over the Lordship of Pottendorf in Baden, which was incorporated into their name as Zinzendorf und Pottendorf.

In 1460, members of the family were elevated to the rank Baron by Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. On 16 November 1662 the family was raised to the dignity of Imperial Count (Reichsgraf) by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.[4][5]

Association with the Apostelgeschlechter tradition

In early modern and 19th-century Austrian noble historiography, ancient noble families established during the Babenberg period were sometimes described as belonging to the so-called Apostelgeschlechter (“Apostle families”). Within this historiographical tradition, the lords of Zinzendorf are included among these old noble houses, such as Starhemberg, Liechtenstein, Salm, Fürstenberg, Collalto, Abensberg-Traun, Stubenberg etc. Modern scholarship treats this designation as a traditional and symbolic classification rather than a formally defined or legally binding group.[6]

Religious developments

During the Reformation, parts of the family adopted Lutheran Protestantism, which led to emigration from the Habsburg hereditary lands during the Counter-Reformation. Protestant branches settled primarily in Franconia and Saxony, where they retained noble status under territorial rulers.[7] Nevertheless they made sure that at least one member of the family remained Catholic in order to look after their vast estates back in Austria.[8]

Notable members

Properties of Zinzendorf und Pottendorf family

  • Burgruine Dürnstein, Wachau
  • Castle Karlstetten, Lower Austria
  • Castle Wasserburg, Austria
  • Castle Pottendorf, Baden
  • Burg Schwarzenbach, Lower Austria
  • Herrnhut palace, Saxony
  • Berthelsdorf castle, Saxony
  • Schloss Stiebar, Lower Austria

References

  1. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Gräfliche Häuser, Bd. XXIII, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg an der Lahn 1979, pp. 520–526, ISBN 978-3798002320; Johann Siebmacher, Großes und Allgemeines Wappenbuch, Niederösterreichischer Adel, Nürnberg 1883.
  2. ^ Constantin von Wurzbach, Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, Bd. 60, Wien 1891, pp. 1–6; Heinrich Appelt (ed.), Die Urkunden der Babenberger, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1968.
  3. ^ Karl Lechner, Die Babenberger: Markgrafen und Herzöge von Österreich, Böhlau Verlag, Wien 1976, ISBN 978-3205085485; Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Gräfliche Häuser, Bd. XXIII.
  4. ^ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Gräfliche Häuser, Bd. XXIII; Ernst Heinrich Kneschke, Deutsches Adels-Lexikon, Bd. 9, Leipzig 1870, pp. 635–637.
  5. ^ https://www.roskildehistorie.dk/stamtavler/adel/tyske_smaa/Zinzendorf.htm
  6. ^ Georg Adam von Starhemberg, Apologia pro antiqua nobilitate Austriaca, Wien 1700; Johann Baptist Suttinger, Conspectus Historiae Domus Austriacae, Salzburg 1718; Walter Kleindel, Österreichs Adel, Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 1968.
  7. ^ Heinz Schilling, Konfessionalisierung und Staatsinteressen, Gütersloher Verlagshaus 1988, ISBN 978-3579001504; Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Gräfliche Häuser, Bd. XXIII.
  8. ^ https://olypen.com/zob/genealogy/Austria-tree/Zinzendorf/Zinzendorf.html
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