County/Principality of Nassau-Dillenburg

The first County of Nassau-Dillenburg was established in 1303, when Ottonian Nassau lands were partitioned among three counties. In 1328, it was inherited by the Count of Siegen who retained the Dillenburg name. In 1343, it spun off the County of Beilstein. Thereafter, it slowly reunited (and expanded) the Ottonian lands as follows:

 

• Acquired the Ottonian County of Hadamar in 1394, and
• Reacquired the County of Beilstein in 1561;
• Acquired half of the non-Ottonian County of Dietz in 1564.

 

When the Ottonian lands were partitioned again in 1607, Dillenburg shrunk to its smallest size since 1327. It added territory on the following two occasions:

 

• When the new Beilstein line died out in 1620, it added Amt Driedorf and the Ottonian shares of Freier Grund and Amt Wehrheim.
• In 1717, six years after the new Hadamar line died out, it added Amt Mengerskirchen-Ellar.

 

In 1654, Dillenburg became a principality. The Dillenburg line died out in 1739 and its territory fell to the Principality of Nassau-Dietz, where, within roughly its 1620 boundaries, it became a Landesteil.