Country Austria Founded early 12th century | Parent house House of Meinhardin Final ruler Felix Jakob von Graben | |
Titles Burggraf of Graz
Burggraf of Marburg
Burggraf of Lienz
Burggraf of Hohenwang
Burggraf of Heinfels
Burggraf and Lord of Gleichenberg
Burggraf and Lord of Sommeregg
Lord of Kornberg
Lord of Stein im Drautal
Lord of the high Lordship of Straß in Steiermark
Stadtholder of Lienz and East Tyrol etc. Founder Konrad and his brother Grimoald von Graben | ||
Graben von (zum) Stein, also named ab dem Graben, von (dem) Graben and vom Graben, is the name of an old Austrian noble family. Originally from Carniola, an apparent (or illegitimate) branch of the House of Meinhardin, the family went on to rule some Carinthian, Tyrolian, East Tyrols, Styrian, Gorizian and modern Italian districts as Burggrafen (a sort of viscount) and Herren (lords) from the early Middle Ages until the 16th-17th centuries.
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History
Like the Princely Counts of Görz and the Princely Counts of Tyrol, the Graben family descended from the Meinhardins. The earliest known members of the Graben family, Konrad and his brother Grimoald von Graben, lived around 1170. Konrad's father may have been a son of Count palatine Engelbert I or his younger brother Count palatine Meinhard I of Gorizia. During the later 13th century the princely family Orsini-Rosenberg descended from a member of the Von Graben family lived at the Grazer Schloss Alt-Grabenhofen, between Reinerkogel and Rosenberg.
During the Middle Ages, the success of that family arose from the steady accumulation of land, and loyalty to the Counts of Görz and later to the Habsburg Emperor. The first prominent member of the family was Ulrich II von Graben (named between 1314–1361), who was elevated to the Styrian title of Burggraf of Hohenwang. After the death of Leonhard of Gorizia in 1500, they became his successors as stadtholders of Lienz and East Tyrol. The last member was Felix Jakob von Graben; the family died out in 1776. The Dutch family De Graeff claimed descent from Wolfgang von Graben, a member of the Graben family. Andries de Graeff and his son Cornelis became Free Imperial knights of the Holy Roman Empire. That diploma dates from 19 July 1677.
The lines of the family
During the early 14th century, the family split into two main lines, the Styrian Grabenhofen Line, the Kornberger Line and during the earlier 15th century in the Carynthian-Lienzer Sommeregger Line. In 1500, the family split into a new line, the Stein Line at Castle Stein. Two other lines of the Graben family can be found in Tyrol.
Prominent members of the Styrian line
The Styrian line's residence between 1328 and 1556 was at Schloss Kornberg. They were linked by marriage with the Lords of Windisch-Graetz, Auersperg, Stubenberg, and Guttenberg.
Prominent member of the Tyrolian line
Prominent members of the Lienzer and West-Carynthian line
The Lienzer line became "the most prominent of the family", some family members held the noble titles as the Burggraf of Sommeregg, Heinfels and Lienz. They were linked by marriage with the Lords of Auersperg, Saurau and Breuner. The Lienzer line died out in the year 1534, and the zum Stein in 1664. Important family members are: