County of Holzappel
| County of Holzappel | |||||
| Grafschaft Holzappel (de) | |||||
| State of the Holy Roman Empire | |||||
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| Capital | Holzappel | ||||
| Government | County | ||||
| History | |||||
| • | Peter Melander, Count of Holzappel | 1643 | |||
| • | Disestablished | 1806 | |||
Coat of arms
The County of Holzappel (German: Grafschaft Holzappel) was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
It was centered on the town of Holzappel. It was founded in 1643 by Peter Melander, an imperial field marshal during the Thirty Years' War. In 1806, the county lost its imperial immediacy and was mediatised to the Duchy of Nassau. It was dissolved in 1918.
The County of Holzappel emerged from the small lordship of Esterau consisting of 12 villages centered on the town of Esten.
In 1643, the Lordship of Esterau along with the bailiwick of Isselbach was purchased by Peter Melander from John Louis of Nassau-Hadamar, who was in considerable financial difficulty. Peter Meleander was an imperial field marshal who had become rich due to his position in the Thirty Years' War and had been appointed Count of Holzappel in 1641. Emperor Ferdinand III subsequently raised the small Lordship to the Imperial County of Holzappel as a reward for the services Melander had performed while in the imperial army. The Count of Holzappel became a member of the Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts in the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire.
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