Noble Estates

38.1 the Fausts of Stromberg

The Fausts of Stromberg were ministeriales of the Counts of Sponheim in the 14th century. Like their ‘lords,’ they originated from the Hunsrück.

In Kirchheimbolanden, no less than four members of this family served as bailiffs,

thus, they represented the ‘rulers’ to the subjects: Philipp Faust von Stromberg (d. 1540), his son of the same name (year of death unknown), Bartel Faust von Stromberg (year of death also unknown), and Philipp Richard Faust von Stromberg (d. 1596).

The original connection of the Fausts of Stromberg to the Counts of Sponheim is shown by the marriage coat of arms above the entrance gate at Mozartstr. 7. It documents, under the date ‘1582,’ the union of Johann Friedrich Faust von Stromberg with Eva von der Fels. The husband’s coat of arms is checky. The difference lies in the coloring (Counts of Sponheim: white-blue – Fausts of Stromberg: gold-red with an additional star).

Another clue to the Fausts of Stromberg in Kirchheimbolanden is a Renaissance tombstone in St. Peter’s Church [Location 18] for Johann Paul Faust von Stromberg, who died in 1622. He is honored on it as SPLENDIDA FAUSTOIAE GLORIA GENTIS (radiant glory of the Faustian lineage).

The Lords of Schweinheim

The Lords of Schweinheim – probably originating from a no longer existing village of the same name near Jockgrim in Vorderpfalz – were enfeoffed several times by the Sponheim Counts in the 14th and 15th centuries, including in Kirchheimbolanden.

In 1442, in St. Peter’s Church [Location 18], located in the immediate vicinity of their local estate (Mozartstraße 9), they donated a St. Nicholas and Catherine altar.

The family died out in the 16th century. Therefore, the heirs sold the Kirchheimbolanden property to Rothenkirchen Monastery in 1530.

However, just eleven years later, the monastery was dissolved. The last abbot, Nikolaus Rauschkolb, thus received the Schweinheim estate on Mozartstraße as compensation.