Katzenelnbogen
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Katzenelnbogen is the name of a medieval German county as well as, today, of a castle and small city in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
- Postal code: 56368
- Location:
- 50.3667/50°17' N
- 7.95/7°57' E
- Elevation: 319 m
- Car marking:
EMS
Katzenelnbogen originated as a castle built on a promontory over the river Lahn around 1095. The lords of the castle became important local magnates, acquiring during the centuries some key and highly lurative customs rights on the Rhine. The family died out in 1479, and the county became disputed between Hesse and Nassau. In 1557, the former won, but when Hesse was split due to the testament of Philipp the Magnanimous, Katzenelnbogen was split as well, between Hesse-Darmstadt and the small new secondary principality of Hesse-Rheinfels, and when that line expired in 1583, to Hesse-Kassel. Hessia-Kassel added its part of the Katzenelnbogen property to its side-line principality of Hesse-Rotenburg; after the Congress of Vienna, it was given in exchange for some other property to Nassau. After the War of 1866, this part of Katzenelnbogen came to Prussia. Only in 1945 was Hesse-Darmstadt united with most of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, which included the former Hesse-Kassel along with Nassau and the formerly Free City of Frankfurt, becoming the federal state of Hesse. Hessia now includes the larger part of former Katzenelnbogen. A smaller part of Nassau (today the Rhein-Lahn and Westerwaldkreis districts), including the old castle and village bearing the name of Katzenelnbogen, ended up as part of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Outside of Germany, Katzenelnbogen is primarily known because the name Katzenellenbogen ("cat's elbow"; this is folk etymology and probably not the genuine origin of the place name) was adopted by a rabbinical family descended from twelve Jews, who settled in Katzenelnbogen in 1312, with thousands of descendants and huge family connections throughout Europe and the Americas. The name was first used after the family moved to Padan, Italy by Meir Katzenellenbogen (1482-1565).