Timeline of Bibra Family

1245Continuous family tree begins with Berthold de Bibera and his wife Mechthildis
146721 cousins met at Bibra from the 5 lines then existing and concluded a Castle Peace Treaty. All male Bibras were then joint owners of the castle and lands at Bibra as well as having their own properties elsewhere. The Treaty forbid insults and punished attackers with ostracism: one month for using a knife, three months with a sword, a year if a wound inflicted, and forever or until judged reformed in case of death.
1486Emperor Friedrich III conferred to the village of Bibra the right to be a market town.
1490Wilhelm von Bibra, emissary to Rome dies in Verona, Italy.
1492Started construction of the present church in Bibra.
1494Dr. Kilian von Bibra, statesman, head of the cathedral council at Würzburg, advisor to Emperor Maximilian etc., dies.
1495-1519Lorenz v. Bibra elected Prince Bishop of Würzburg, Duke in Franconia.
1525Castle Bibra, along with other castles in region, are burned and destroyed in the Peasants War, contents lost. (Family archives previously sent to Irmelshausen where remained until recently moved to Würzburg.) Irmelshausen left intact due to settlement with peasants. Peasants defeated at Würzburg.
1540-1544Conrad v. Bibra elected Prince Bishop of Würzburg, Duke in Franconia.
1500'sThe family continues in growth in power and numbers. Then at its peak of power, plague, an extra large number of males entering the church, and high ratio of daughters reduces the family to very few.
1602-1681 Heinrich von Bibra dies childless but with many fief properties which he tries to leave to his only living Bibra relatives, the protestant descendants of Bernard and his recently deceased brother Valentin. (All living Bibras are descended from these two brothers. The family was divided into two branches and eventually into seven lines.) The Prince-Bishop of Würzburg opposed this
transfer and a legal battle ensued until a settlement was reached in 1681 almost eighty years later.
1618Thirty Years War 1618 - 1648
1646The rebuilt castle Bibra is attacked and burned for a second time.
1669Hans Caspar, Jr. becomes the single owner of Bibra and begins the reconstruction.
1759-1788Heinrich von Bibra Prince Bishop and Abbot of Fulda
1772Brothers Friedrich Gotthelf of Brennhausen and Carl of Höchheim (later became Bibra-Bibra line) are raised to Imperial Barons from Imperial Knighthood.
1808Napoleon redraws the map of Europe. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Franconia is made part of the new Kingdom of Bavaria. (Later Bibra is transferred to Sachsen-Meinigen. Sachsen-Meinigen becomes part of Thuringia which becomes part of the Russian Zone which becomes East Germany.) To reflect the new political order various lines are made Barons in this new Kingdom of Bavaria (1815-1828).
1839-1843Southerly defense wall removed and a stone bridge built across the moat on the west side.
c.1930The farm and forest land at Bibra are sold off.
1946-1988Castle Bibra allowed to stay in family hands although with limited control.
1996Apparently, the longest continuously owned castle by one family in Thuringia.