County of Eberstein explained

Native Name:Grafschaft Eberstein
Conventional Long Name:County of Eberstein
Common Name:Eberstein
Era:Middle Ages
Status:County
Empire:Holy Roman Empire
Coordinates:48.7495°N 28.6°W
Year Start:1085
Year End:1660
Event1:Sold land to Baden
Date Event1:1387
Event End:Comital line extinct,
to Speyer and
Württemberg
P1:Ufgau
S1:Margraviate of Baden
S2:Bishopric of Speyer
S3:Duchy of Württemberg
Capital:Alt Ebersteina
Neu Ebersteinb
Footnotes:a: Alt Eberstein is in Ebersteinburg, now an outlying district of Baden-Baden.
b: Neu Eberstein is now known as Schloss Eberstein, near Gernsbach.

The County of Eberstein was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire, situated in the southwest of modern Germany. From 1085 up into the 13th century, the Counts of Eberstein lived in the castle known today as Alt Eberstein which lies on a mountain top between the valleys of the rivers Murg and Oos (in Ebersteinburg, now an outlying district of Baden-Baden). They then moved to Neu Eberstein, today known as Schloss Eberstein, near Gernsbach.

From 1085, the counts were Vögte of Reichenbach Priory.

After the financial ruin of Wolf von Eberstein in 1387, half of the family possessions had to be sold to the Margraves of Baden. When the last male member of the family died in 1660, the remaining possessions were taken over by the bishopric of Speyer and by the duchy of Württemberg.

The Counts of Eberstein from south-west Germany should not be confused with the Franconian lords of the same name with their ancestral home at Eberstein Castle near Hilders. Another medieval comital family were the counts of Everstein (sometimes also called Eberstein) from Lower Saxony with their ancestral home Everstein on the Burgberg (ridge).