County of Schaumburg

County of Schaumburg
Grafschaft Schaumburg
State of the Holy Roman Empire
1110–1640
Coat of arms
County of Schaumburg about 1560
Capital		Rinteln
Languages		Northern Low Saxon
Government		Principality
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Established	1110
•	Partitioned to create     Schaumburg-Lippe,     remainder to Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)	1640
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Saxony Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel

Coat of arms

The County of Schaumburg (German: Grafschaft Schaumburg), until ca. 1485 known as Schauenburg, was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Lower Saxony. Its territory was more or less congruent with the present district Landkreis Schaumburg.

Schaumburg originated as a medieval county, which was founded at the beginning of the 12th century. It was named after Schauenburg Castle, near Rinteln on the Weser, where the owners started calling themselves Lords (from 1295 Counts) of Schauenburg. Adolf I probably became the first Lord of Schauenburg in 1106.

In 1110, Adolf I, Lord of Schauenburg was appointed by Lothair, Duke of Saxony to hold Holstein and Stormarn, including Hamburg, as fiefs. Subsequently, the House of Schaumburg were also counts of Holstein and its partitions Holstein-Itzehoe, Holstein-Kiel, Holstein-Pinneberg (till 1640), Holstein-Plön, Holstein-Segeberg and Holstein-Rendsburg (till 1460) and through the latter at times also the dukes of Schleswig.