Coat of arms of the Princes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Hohenlohe-Langenburg (German pronunciation:[hoːənˌloːəˈlaŋənbʊɐ̯k]) was a German county and later principality in the Holy Roman Empire. It was located around Langenburg in what is now northeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Starting in medieval times and continuing until 1806, this small state was ruled by a branch of the House of Hohenlohe, first as lords, then as counts and ultimately as ruling princes of the Holy Roman Empire after 1764. The princely House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg still owns and lives in Langenburg Castle today.
In 1253, the town and castle of Langenburg were inherited by the lords of Hohenlohe, after the lords of Langenburg had become extinct. Despite repeated divisions during the 13th and 15th centuries and a donation to the Teutonic Order in 1219, the House of Hohenlohe was able to form an almost complete territory of which Langenburg was a part. The lordship of Hohenlohe was elevated to the status of a county in 1495. The house often divided its possessions so that different lines emerged and sometimes merged again later.
In 1586–1590, the Neuenstein line split into the Langenburg side line under Count Friedrich. Of the Protestant branch of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein, which underwent several partitions and inherited the county of Gleichen in Thuringia (with its residence at Ohrdruf) in 1631, the senior line became extinct in 1805, while in 1701 the junior line divided itself into three branches, those of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen and Hohenlohe-Kirchberg. Hohenlohe-Langenburg was raised from a county to a principality in 1701, and it was mediatised to Württemberg in 1806.