Helfenstein

The County of Helfenstein was named for its counts' ancestral castle above Geislingen on the Swabian Alb. In 1337 the county remained united under the House of Helfenstein.

In 1356 the house split into Wiesensteig and Blaubeuren branches. Wiesensteig pledged Geislingen lands to Ulm in 1382; unable to repay over 123,000 gulden, it lost the castle and twenty-seven villages in 1396. Blaubeuren lost most of its lands to Württemberg in 1448, and the male line died out in 1627.