Counts of Manderscheid
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The family Manderscheid was the most powerful family in the Eifel region of Germany for a long time. In 1457 Dietrich III. von Manderscheid was made a Count of the empire (Reichsgraf) by the Emperor (probably Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor). Dietrich, who died on February 20, 1498, had appointed his sons Johann, Konrad and Wilhelm as new rulers. In 1488 the properties of the family were shared out. Johann formed the lineage Manderscheid Blankenheim Gerolstein, William the lineage Manderscheid Kail, and Konrad (Cuno) the lineage Manderscheid Schleiden. Augusta von Manderscheid-Blankenheim was the last countess. She was married to the count of Sternberg, a bohemian noble.
[edit] The line Manderscheid Kail
The ancestral seat was the former moated castle in Oberkail. Because of this Oberkail became an important place in the Eifel region for some hundred years. Today the moated palace does not exist anymore. The last count of Oberkail died without descendants1762. The moated castle was destroyed and Oberkail later went back to its status as a normal boring Eifel village.
[edit] Driven out by the Frenchmen
The Eifel of the 17. Century was underdeveloped and and troubled by plagues, Witch-hunts and feuds. Within the area of the Manderscheider counties about 260 humans were executed as witches between 1528 and 1641. In other regions of Germany, reformation and technical inventions had led to great progress. In 1794 French revolutionary troops occupied the Rhine country and the Eifel region without much fighting. Following this, the aristocracy and the Feudalismus was eliminated. Frondienste as well as tenth deliveries and local customs duties were abolished. French became the office language, the judiciary was updated and the economy in the Eifel experienced an upswing.
[edit] Archives situation
Originals of the certificates and documents (such as deed of ownership and commercial documents) that the family had taken with them on their flight to Bohemia, are stored in the National Museum (Prague). After these documents were copied on Microfilm in the 1970s, a copy was stored in an archive in Brauweiler near Cologne. These documents are still waiting for a scientific evaluation.
