OK...I have been doing some digging...

Let's see, earlier this week, I posted about the explosion of Nesselroads (Nazelrod/Nesselrode/Nestlerod/Nazelroad etc) through Facebook. We even found one on the "other side of the pond" in Germany!

Well, ever curious, I started typing in search terms, starting with Nesselrath (Sardin's spelling when he left Germany in 1757-58) and Castle Dagstuhl. I found a brochure about 24 pages long with a brief history of that particular region of Germany. After reading it, I think I may have found where at least two of the branches may have come together.

Here is a portion of the brochure:

1290 Dagstuhl Fortress is built, Boemund von Saarbrücken becomes
the first lord of the fortress.

1330 The male lineage of the fortress lords dies out. Dagstuhl becomes a
„Ganerbenburg“ and is administered by the four royal families into which
the female heirs marry.

1616 onward Philipp Christoph von Sötern (1567-1652), Bishop of Speyer
and later Archbishop of Trier and Elector of Trier, acquires all property rights
concerning Dagstuhl Fortress.

1634 Dagstuhl Fortress becomes a Fideikommiss.

1635 Philipp Franz von Sötern (1634-96) is vested with the Fideikommiss.

1698 Kraft Anton von Öttingen (1684-1751), son from the marriage between Philipp Franz von Sötern’s daughter, Maria Sidonia (1656-91), and Graf Notger Wilhelm von Öttingen (1653-93).

1751 Josef Anton von Öttingen-Sötern (1720-78) comes into the Dagstuhl Castle inheritance. This marks the actual history of Dagstuhl Castle, which takes the place of the fortress, which starts to dilapidate in 1717. It is under his reign that Wadern County and Dagstuhl Castle experience economic and cultural growth.

1779 Rule over Dagstuhl Castle passes on to Hermann Friedrich Otto von Hohenzollern-Hechingen (1751-1810), the second husband of Antonia von Zeil-Wurzbach (1753-1814), who was first married to Josef Anton von Öttingen-Sötern in his second marriage.

1792 Countess Antonia flees Dagstuhl Castle ahead of the advancing French revolutionary troops. Ownership of Dagstuhl Castle is transferred into the hands of the French.

1806 Wilhelm Albert de Lasalle von Louisenthal (1768-1845) moves into Dagstuhl Castle with his family.

1815 Dagstuhl Castle has permission to call itself a manor.

The particular section that caught my eye was around 1330. The males died out and the FOUR daughters married various nobility. I don't know about you, but I am thinking this may be where the "Count Karl Branch" and the "Sardin Branch" actually began to grow their separate ways.

I have a copy of the brochure which I will attempt to stick up on facebook for familial perusal and research.

*HUGS*