The lords of Württemberg were first named in 1092. Supposedly a Lord of Virdeberg by Luxembourg had married an heiress of the lords of Beutelsbach. The new Wirtemberg Castle (castle chapel dedicated in 1083) was the central point of a rule that extended from the Neckar and Rems valleys in all directions over the centuries.
Since the Margraves of Baden descended from the Zähringers, their origins are to be found in the Breisgau. The family name "Baden" comes directly from a new acquisition, Baden in the Ufgau, today's Baden-Baden, where Margrave Herrmann II (died 1130) built the Hohenbaden Castle. From the beginning of their history the margraves show a large measure of flexibility. This is evident from a glance at the map, to which one might add the caption: Baden in Württemberg? or: Württemberg in Baden?
A certificate from 1297 gives a clue to the entanglement of the Württembergers and the Badeners: Count Eberhard of Wirtemberg (1279 - 1325) and his consort Irmengard (died after 1297), daughter of the Margrave Rudolf of Baden (died 1288), declare that by virtue of the surrender of the Reichenberg Castle, their claims on the House of Baden are satisfied.
The Reichenberg Castle lies 6 kilometers northeast of Backnang, and the city of Backnang was part of the Reichenberg rule. The contents of the certificate state that Count Eberhard of Wirtemberg had acquired the rule of Reichenberg as dowry of his consort of the House of Baden. It was a quite normal occurrence that a domain of nobility would be bequeathed in succession like a private property. What is surprising is that the Margraves of Baden had at their disposal properties east of the middle Neckar, so far from their point of departure. The margraves, for their part, came into this territory through marriage and inheritance.
The property around Reichenberg and Backnang were so important to the
family that up to 1268 the burial ground of the margraves was in the Foundation
Church in Backnang. There, before 1116, they had founded a canons' (or
prebendaries') home, a monastic-like community. Later, the burial ground
was moved to the Lichtental monastery near Baden (-Baden).
Even more interesting is that among the Neckar-Swabian properties of the
margraves, Stuttgart is also to be found, and that Stuttgart was founded
as a city around 1220 by Margrave Hermann V (died 1242). Servants of the
aristocracy around Cannstatt and Stuttgart carried a coat of arms that
was just like or resembled the Baden chevron coat of arms. The oldest
part of the Foundation Church in Stuttgart and the Castle Church in Pforzheim
show similarities. Pforzheim fell to the margraves by inheritance in 1219.
Before the time of the founding of the city other important bequests
fell to the margraves. While the Württembergers profited from the fall
of the Staufers after 1246, the margraves already received from the Staufers
by exchange (with inheritances in north Germany) some important cities:
Durlach, Eppingen, Ettlingen and Pforzheim; not permanently Lauffen (1219
- 1346) and Sinsheim (1219 - 1345). Besigheim belonged to them for a longer
period (1153 - 1595). So Baden then appeared to develop as a territory
along the Durlach - Backnang line.
In the Breisgau, a related line resided on the Hachberg (also Hochberg)
by Emmendingen, as well as in the deep south the Rötteln - Sausenberg
line (later "Markgräflerland" - the Margrave land). After the loss of
most of the Neckar-Swabian properties, the Upper-Rhenish gained importance
and later laid the basis for the north-south alignment of the margraviate
on the Upper Rhine.
In the same way as Backnang the margraves also lost Stuttgart. Then Count Ulrich the Founder around 1245 married Mathilde, the daughter of the Margrave of Baden. As dowry, she brought to the marriage the city of Stuttgart, which had been founded not long before. Stuttgart did not immediately become the capital of the County of Württemberg. Waiblingen was at least as important. Only the removal of the family burial ground from Beutelsbach to Stuttgart (in 1321, or as early as after 1309) signified the decision in favor of Stuttgart as the capital, but at the same time demonstrated that Stuttgart was not the original central point of the holdings of the Württembergers.
From the 13th to the 15th century Baden and Württemberg developed independently
of one another. The margraviate received in 1387 a part of the County
of Eberstein. Württemberg enlarged itself continually.
Both territories acquired far-flung possessions: Baden the County of Sponheim
in the Hunsrück (15th century and later), Württemberg the County of Mömpelgard
in the Burgundian gateway. Mömpelgard and the Württemberg possessions
in Alsace had to be returned to France in 1796. The sovereignties of Hachberg
and Sausenberg fell back to the Baden main line.
Württemberg, after the partition from 1442 to 1482, had no further land partitions to endure and remained a relatively closed country. In Baden, a partitioning occurred that lasted from 1515 to 1771. Moreover, the various parts of Baden were always physically separated one from the other.
