View source for Stauffenberg

{{Short description|German noble family}}
{{onesource|date=June 2021}}
{{About||the 2004 film|Stauffenberg (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
[[File:Stauffenberg-Wappen_MK1908.jpg|thumb|right|Coat of arms of the family]]
The '''Schenk von Stauffenberg''' family is a [[Roman Catholic]] ''[[Uradel]]'' [[German nobility|German noble family]] from [[Swabia]], [[Germany]]. The family's best-known recent member was Colonel [[Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]] – the key figure in [[20 July plot]] in 1944 to assassinate [[Adolf Hitler]].

== History ==
[[File:Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg.jpg|thumb|right|[[Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg]] (1658–1740)]]
[[File:Reichsgrafenstands-Diplom Schenk von Stauffenberg 1785.jpg|thumb|Patent awarding the title of [[Imperial Count|Count]] to Anton Schenk von Stauffenberg by [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Joseph II]], 1785]]
The recorded history of the Schenk von Stauffenberg family begins in Swabia in the 13th century, when the family, who belonged to the [[Reichsritter]]n (Imperial Knights), originated from the settlement Cell, where they owned extensive estates surrounding the village and the Zollerberg.

Its first known member is mentioned in 1251 as Wernherus Pincerna de Celle, who in 1255 was appointed to the ceremonial court office of {{ill|Schenk (title){{!}}Schenk|de|Schenk (Adelstitel)}} ([[cup-bearer]], [[sommelier]], [[butler]]) with the [[House of Hohenzollern#County of Zollern|Counts of Zollern]]. The officeholder was in charge of his lord's wine cellars and vineyards, and when the office of Schenk later became hereditary within the family, the title was adopted into the family name.

Surnames were appended according to the officeholder's place of residence, and so the family name varied between ''Schenk von Zell'', ''Schenk von Neuenzell'', ''Schenk von Andeck'', ''Schenk von Erpfingen'' and ''Schenk von Stauffenberg''. By the end of the 15th century, the family's permanent name was Schenk von Stauffenberg, which refers to [[:File:Gabriel_Bucelin_Burg_Stauffenberg.jpg|''Burg Stauffenberg'']], a former castle situated by a small cone-shaped mountain of the same name between the small town of [[Hechingen]] and its suburb [[Rangendingen]] in Land [[Württemberg]]. A tradition in the family also associates it with the [[Hohenstaufen|Staufen]] dynasty.

The Stauffenbergs rose in the world in 1698 when Emperor [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]] conferred upon the brothers Maximilian Gottfried and Johann Philipp the hereditary title of [[Reichsfreiherr]] (Imperial Baron). The family was later split into four branches: the Katzensteiner, Bacher, Wilflinger and Amerdinger ones. The former two became extinct during the 18th century, while a member of the Wilflinger branch was raised to the rank of hereditary [[Reichsgraf]] (Imperial Count) by Emperor [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II]] in 1785. Since the Wilflinger branch also became extinct in 1833, only the baronial Amerdinger branch remained. All now living members of the family are descendants of the brothers Franz Ludwig and Friedrich of the Amerdinger branch. Franz Ludwig was made a hereditary [[Graf]] (Count) in the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]] by [[King Ludwig II of Bavaria|King Ludwig II]]. Since then, there exist two sub-branches: one which holds the title of Count and one which bears the title of Imperial Baron. Both of these branches are still extant and their members reside mostly in [[Baden-Württemberg]] and in [[Bavaria]]. 

In the 16th century, the Stauffenberg family acquired the Amerdingen castle near [[Nördlingen]] through marriage. Before that, the Stauffenbergs were owners of Wilflingen and Jettingen. Over the course of the years, further estates were added to the family's possessions, such as [[Schloss Greifenstein]] and [[:File:Schloss_in_Burggrub.jpg|Schloss Burggrub]] in [[Heiligenstadt (Upper Franconia)|Heiligenstadt]] near [[Bamberg]], the [[:File:Lautlingen_Schloss_3.jpg|Lautlingen castle]] near [[Ebingen]] on the southern slopes of the [[Schwäbische Alb]], [[:File:Rißtissen_Schloss_Stauffenberg_Frontalansicht_2.jpg|Schloss Rißtissen]] some twenty kilometers south of [[Ulm]], and the Straßberg and Wildentierberg estates in Lautlingen near [[Albstadt]].

After 1918, when the [[constitution]] of the [[Weimar Republic]] abolished all [[noble title]]s in Germany and declared them to be part of the family name, the family came to have two names in order to preserve the former titles of Schenk, Graf (Count) and Freiherr (Baron) as parts of the surnames.

Since the title of Schenk is considered to be of superior rank due to being a hereditary office title, it is placed before the noble title, which in turn is placed before the surname. The correct versions of the family's surnames are thus ''Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg'' and ''Schenk Freiherr von Stauffenberg'' respectively. Two of the family's members also served as [[Prince-bishop|Prince-Bishops]] – of Bamberg (Marquard Sebastian), and of [[Augsburg]] and [[Konstanz]] (Johann Franz) – and thus they used the title of [[Fürst]] (Prince) instead of their other noble titles, such as [[Imperial Count]].

== Notable family members ==
* [[Marquard Sebastian Schenk von Stauffenberg]], [[Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg|Prince-Bishop of Bamberg]] (14 May 1644 – 9 Oct 1693)
* [[Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg]]. [[Prince-Bishopric of Constance|Prince-Bishop of Constance]] (1658–1740)
* [[Franz Schenk Freiherr von Stauffenberg]] (1878-1950)
* [[Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]] (15 Mar 1905 – 10 Aug 1944)
* [[Philippe von Stauffenberg]] (born 17 May 1964)
* [[Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]] (15 Mar 1905 – 27 Jan 1964)
* [[Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg]] (9 Jan 1903 – 8 Apr 1945)
* [[Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]] (15 Nov 1907 – 20 Jul 1944)
* [[Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg]] (27 Aug 1913 – 2 Apr 2006)
* [[Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]] (born 3 Jul 1934)
* [[Franz-Ludwig Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]] (born 4 May 1938)

== See also ==
*[[Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece]]

== References ==
*http://www.schwaben-kultur.de/pdfs/2003-3.pdf

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline|Stauffenberg (Adelsfamilie)|Stauffenberg family}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Stauffenberg family| ]]
[[Category:German families]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic families]]