County of Hanau
| County of Hanau-Münzenberg | ||||||||||||
| Grafschaft Hanau-Münzenberg | ||||||||||||
| State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||||
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| Capital | Hanau | |||||||||||
| Government | County | |||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||
| • | Established | 1429-1736 (with interruptions) | ||||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1736 | ||||||||||
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| Roman Catholic; 16th-century Lutheran; from mid 17th century mixed Calvinist and Lutheran; ruled by counts; language: German | ||||||||||||
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Coat of arms
The County of Hanau was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire, evolved out of the Lordship of Hanau in 1429. From 1456 to 1642 and from 1685 to 1712 it was divided into the County of Hanau-Münzenberg and the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg. After both lines became extinct the County of Hanau-Münzenberg was inherited by the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg by the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1736.
In 1429 Emperor Sigismund of the Holy Roman Empire declared Reinhard II. of Hanau a count, so his possessions, the Lordship (Herrschaft) of Hanau, became the County of Hanau. The main part of it was positioned to the north of the river Main stretching from the West of Frankfurt am Main eastwards through the valley of the river Kinzig to Schlüchtern and into the Spessart mountains to Partenstein. Legally not correct the title County of Hanau is used in later literature sometimes also for its territorial predecessor, the Lordship of Hanau. This elevation in rank was an outer sign for the political and economical success of Reinhard II.
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