Nassau (state) - County of Nassau-Dillenburg

County of Nassau-Dillenburg

After the death of Count Otto I, his county was divided under his sons in 1303:

• County of Nassau-Dillenburg, fell to Nassau-Siegen in 1328
• County of Nassau-Hadamar (Elder), fell to Nassau-Dillenburg in 1394
• County of Nassau-Siegen, called Nassau-Dillenburg from 1328 on, again divided from 1341 to 1561:
  • County of Nassau-Beilstein (Elder)
  • County of Nassau-Dillenburg (Elder)–1606)

In 1504 Henry III of Nassau-Dillenburg inherited the County's estates at Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, while his younger brother William became Count of Nassau-Dillenburg in 1516. After the son of Henry III, René of Châlon died in 1544, Count William's eldest son William the Silent became Prince of Orange and Lord of Breda, Stadtholder in the Low Countries from 1559 on. His younger brother John VI again reunited all Nassau-Dillenburg possessions in 1561, though the County was again divided after his death in 1606:

• County of Nassau-Hadamar (Younger), Principality in 1650, fell to Nassau-Diez in 1743
• County of Nassau-Siegen, (1607–23), again divided from 1623 to 1734:
  • County of Nassau-Siegen (Protestant), Principality in 1664, extinct 1734
  • County of Nassau-Siegen (Catholic), Principality, fell to Nassau-Diez in 1743
• County of Nassau-Dillenburg, fell to Nassau-Beilstein in 1620
• County of Nassau-Beilstein (Younger), called Nassau-Dillenburg (Younger) from 1620 on, Principality in 1652, fell to Nassau-Dietz in 1739
• County of Nassau-Dietz, fell to Joachim Murat's Grand Duchy of Berg after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806

The Counts of Nassau-Dietz, descendants of William Frederick were stadtholders of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe and Princes of Orange from 1702 on. When they lost their Dutch possessions during the Napoleonic Wars, they were compensated with short-lived Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda. Though they lost their German possessions in 1806, the House of Orange-Nassau — in female succession — is still the royal house of the Netherlands and was the reigning house of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg until 1890.