Since 1180 part of Ratzeburg diocesan area formed a Prince Bishopric, whose ruler was sovereign and as such had a vote at the Imperial Diet.
The Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg was the last state in Northern Germany remaining Catholic.
After the 1550 death of its ruler Prince-Bishop Georg von Blumenthal, who feuded with Thomas Aderpul, the bishopric converted to Lutheranism in 1554.
Though the town of Ratzeburg was part of the Ratzeburg diocese, the town itself was not within the territory of the Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg, but formed a part of the old Duchy of Saxony and became part of its dynastic partition of Saxe-Lauenburg around 1296, remaining with this duchy under altering dynasties until 1876. The cathedral quarter again formed an immunity district (Domfreiheit) to the prince-bishopric, secularised as principality in 1648. In 1619 Saxe-Lauenburg's capital was moved from Lauenburg upon Elbe to Ratzeburg and remained there since. The town was almost completely destroyed in 1693, when Christian V of Denmark reduced Ratzeburg to rubble by bombardment in his unsuccessful attempt to push through his succession to the dukedom against the prevailing House of Hanover. After this event Ratzeburg was rebuilt in baroque style.
In the 17th century Alexandre Wiltheim, from one of Luxembourg's most notable families, operated watermills for flour and for oil on the site. They were driven by the fast-flowing Senninger Brook. During the 18th century, under the ownership of the French immigrant Pierre Bourgeois, the facilities were converted into a paper mill. After a fire in 1750, the mill was renovated and a residence was constructed nearby. Paper production reached its height in the middle of the 19th century when Jacques Lamort managed the mill. However, as a result of economic problems, the mill was finally closed in 1882. The same year, the site was bought by Ernest Derveaux who demolished the mill and transformed the owner's residence into the castle with neo-gothic wings which stands there today. Derveaux also added a lake with a fountain and laid out the surrounding park with ornamental plants and trees
The core of the territory was the town of Limburg an der Lahn and the Vogtship of St. George's Cathedral in Limburg. It also included the villages of Elz, Neesbach (a part of present-day Hünfelden), Oberbrechen and Werschau (both now parts of Brechen), and the Werode Zent. Along with it went the Lordship of Cleeberg, including the places Cleeberg, Oberkleen, and Ebergöns (all now part of Langgöns), Brandoberndorf (now part of Waldsolms), and a share of Schloss Schaumburg (in Balduinstein). The Lordship of Cleeberg and the share in Schaumburg, however, were later given away as a dowry.
The feudal lords of the Countship of Limburg were the Landgraviate of Hesse, Archbishopric of Mainz, and the Holy Roman Empire, each owning a third.
Limburg Castle was the residence of the Counts of Limburg, who built the majority of the structures still extant today. Gerlach I was probably the builder of the residential tower. In 1379 a fire burned parts of the castle. In 1400 John II built the southern two-story hall.[1]
The rulers of the house were buried in the Cathedral in Limburg. Construction of the cathedral had begun in 1212, and was completed by the counts in 1232. It remains the city church today. The town's Franciscan monastery was founded under Gerlach IV. John I of Limburg built St. Peter's Chapel between 1289 and 1298.[1]
Kaiserpfalz Imperial Palace
Kaiserpfalz - The Imperial Palace, built between 1040 and 1050 during the reign of Heinrich III, is a unique secular architecture monument. For more than 200 years German and European history was made here. In the St. Ulrich Chapel at the south end a stone sarcophagus with the figure of Heinrich III on the cover houses the gold capsule containing the heart of the emperor, who died in 1056.
