Johann Reinhard I (Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg)

The son and heir of Count Philip V. He studied at the University of Strasbourg , made a grand tour of England, France, the Netherlands and Italian lands; He was interested in history, genealogy and heraldry. In 1599, he inherited the count title after the death of his father.

After the suppression in 1570 of the dynasty that ruled in the county of Zweibrucken-Bitsch , its possessions were inherited by the counts of Ganau-Lichtenberg, however, some of these lands were feuds of the duchy of Lorraine . In 1572, the case was transferred to the Imperial Cameral Court , and an agreement was reached only in 1606: Bitsch returned to Lorraine, and Ganau-Lichtenberg received the (this section roughly corresponded to the then distribution of religious sentiments among the population). Johann Reinhard also began a case against the regarding rights to Dreieich .

In 1610, Johann Reinhard concluded with Philippe Ludwig II , who ruled the county of Ganau-Münzenberg , an agreement on inheritance, according to which, if the line ruling in one part of the former county of Ganau was suppressed, the corresponding county was inherited by the line ruling in another county. At that time, it seemed that this agreement was more beneficial to the county of Ganau-Münzenberg, since at that moment there were several men in the ruling dynasty, while in the line ruling Ganau-Lichtenberg there was only one. Perhaps this explains the fact that after the conclusion of this agreement Johann Reinhard received several large loans (he really needed money to maintain his vast yard). The contract was updated in 1618 and approved by the emperor.

In 1612, Johann Reinhardt took part in the coronation ceremony of Emperor Matthias , and in 1619, in the election of Ferdinand II as Emperor.

During the Thirty Years War, the county was badly damaged. Johann Reinhardt tried to maintain strict neutrality, but the location of the county near Kurpfalts near the border with France on the paths running along the Rhine Valley made it almost impossible. Amt Babenhausen, where the old capital of the county was located, was most devastated. He was occupied several times by the armies of various parties to the conflict, and his villages were destroyed in the very first years of the war, their population fled. About 2,500 people took refuge in the city of Babenhausen, in which after that a plague broke out. The county lands located on the right bank of the Upper Rhine are also badly damaged. The part of the county in Lower Alsace was rescued after Johann Reinhard paid 100,000 guilders for the patronage.

Johann Reinhard opened an unofficial mint in Willstätt , which minted a coin that did not meet the standards. In the fiscal year 1621–1622 alone, Johann Reinhardt minted 110 centners of silver, receiving 70 thousand guilders as a seigniorage .

Johann Reinhard I was married twice. The first time he married on October 22, 1593 in Weikersheim , was Mary Elizabeth of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein (1576-1605). They had four children:

1. Philip Wolfgang (1595-1641), inherited the title
2. Agatha Maria (1599-1636), who married George Friedrich Rappoltstein
3. Anna Magdalena (1600-1673), who was married several times
4. Elizabeth Juliana (1602-1603)

The second time he married on November 17, 1605, Anna von Salm (1582-1636). This marriage was childless.