Vitzthum

The Vitzthums were a Thuringian ministerial family, named for the office of vicedominus they held for the archbishops of Mainz. They first appear in 1123 with Dietrich de Abbolde at Apolda. By the mid-twelfth century they ran the archiepiscopal administration from Erfurt, with Apolda Castle as their seat.

They acquired Eckstedt in 1249 and split into the Apolda, Eckstadt and Rossla lines. Around 1300 they were the archbishops' stattholders in Erfurt; in 1342 the archbishop bought back the vicedominus office, but the title survived as their name.

The Apolda line, which included Berthold Vitzthum around 1300, held the castle as a Wettin fief and remained lords until 1631. The Rossla branch became notorious as robber barons in the fifteenth century, with Apel nicknamed the fire-master of Thuringia, while the Eckstadt line became counts and supplied Saxony with generals and statesmen.