UttershausenFamily
Lords of Uttershausen (von Uttershausen)
History
The ancient precious free and noble (Edelfrei) family von Uttershausen derives its name from the town of Uttershausen (first mentioned as Oderadeshusun in a document faked by the Archibishop of Mainz at Monastery Hasungen in 1100 backdated to 1074). The eldest mentioned ancestor of this family is Otrat of Uttershausen with no other information given. Dates for Otrat are estimated based on his son Udalrich (mentioned in 1108 as Lord of Uttershausen), and even more specific dates for the subsequent generations. Therefore Otrat could be born appx. 1030-1072, for his son Udalrich to have been born by at latest 1090.
The history of this family is indicative of great wealth and influence in the Hessengau during the middle ages. The family split several times during its history into a number of identifiable lines and branches, is the subject of the 1963 article "Das Geschlecht Reinhard Aus Dem Stamme v. Uttershausen. [The Family Reinhard of the Tribe of Uttershausen]"[1] by Wolfgang Sturt, is mentioned prominently in 1868 by Frhr. (Baron) Schenck G. Schweinsberg, in "Zur Stammfolge v. Uttershausen." [The Standard Sequence of Uttershausen: from The History and Genealogies of the Hessian Nobility in the Journal Of The Association For Hessian History And Geography][2], and is considered one of the most successful middle class families to emerge from Hesse during the middle ages. Despite having not been recorded as Count's or higher in the feudal hierarchy (at least since 1108), it is remarkable that the family had many vassal's in its own right [3] (such as von Allendorf, von Grüßen, von Winterscheid, von Linsingen, die Fraß (voratores), die Bugsorge, die von Holzheim) while the family itself was in fief to whomever controlled the bulk of the land comprising the modern state of Hesse such as the Counts Werner, Gisonen, Reichenbach, Ziegenhain, et al. from at least the 10th to 13th century. Many of the records of the history of this family comes to us from monastic and church citations recording the buying, selling, mortgaging, or donating of land and/or tithing rights in at least 20 different towns over an area of appx. 150 square miles in Northern Hesse centered around Homberg (Efze); with prominent towns associated with them or their affiliated families Uttershausen (Wabern), but also Todenhausen (Frielendorf), Rörshain (originally Reginharteshagen in Schwalmstadt), Heiligenberg (by Felsberg), Olfe/Ulfa (by Nidda), and many others.