House of Graben von Stein | |
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Country | Austria |
Parent house | House of Meinhardin |
Titles | Burggraf of Graz Burggraf of Marburg Burggraf of Lienz Burggraf of Hohenwang Burggraf of Heinfels Burggraf and Lord of Gleichenberg Burggraf and Lord of Sommeregg Lord of Kornberg Lord of Stein im Drautal Lord of the high Lordship of Straß in Steiermark Stadtholder of Lienz and East Tyrol etc. |
Founded | early 12th century |
Founder | Konrad and his brother Grimoald von Graben |
Final ruler | Felix Jakob von Graben |
Deposition | 1776 |
Graben von (zum) Stein, also named ab dem Graben, von (dem) Graben and vom Graben, is the name of an old Austrian noble family. Originally from Carniola, an apparent (or illegitimate) branch of the House of Meinhardin, the family went on to rule some Carinthian, Tyrolian, East Tyrols, Styrian, Gorizian and modern Italian districts as Burggrafen (a sort of viscount) and Herren (lords) from the early Middle Ages until the 16th-17th centuries.
Like the Princely Counts of Görz and the Princely Counts of Tyrol, the Graben family descended from the Meinhardins. The earliest known members of the Graben family, Konrad and his brother Grimoald von Graben, lived around 1170. Konrad's father may have been a son of Count palatine Engelbert I or his younger brother Count palatine Meinhard I of Gorizia. During the later 13th century the princely family Orsini-Rosenberg descended from a member of the Von Graben family lived at the Grazer Schloss Alt-Grabenhofen, between Reinerkogel and Rosenberg.
During the Middle Ages, the success of that family arose from the steady accumulation of land, and loyalty to the Counts of Görz and later to the Habsburg Emperor. The first prominent member of the family was Ulrich II von Graben (named between 1314–1361), who was elevated to the Styrian title of Burggraf of Hohenwang. After the death of Leonhard of Gorizia in 1500, they became his successors as stadtholders of Lienz and East Tyrol. The last member was Felix Jakob von Graben; the family died out in 1776. The Dutch family De Graeff claimed descent from Wolfgang von Graben, a member of the Graben family. Andries de Graeff and his son Cornelis became Free Imperial knights of the Holy Roman Empire. That diploma dates from 19 July 1677.