DALBERG, the name of an ancient and distinguished Ger man noble family, derived from the hamlet and castle (now in ruins) of Dalberg or Dalburg near Kreuznach. In 1494 the Ger man king, Maximilian I., granted the Dalbergs the honour of being the first to receive knighthood at the coronation, this part of the ceremonies being opened by the herald asking in a loud voice "Is no Dalberg present?" (Ist kein Dalberg da?).
The following are the most noteworthy members of the family: I. KARL THEODOR ANTON MARIA VON DALBERG archbishop-elector of Mainz, arch-chancellor of the Holy Roman empire, and afterwards primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and grand-duke of Frankfurt. Karl had devoted himself to the study of canon law, and entered the Church. He was made governor of Erfurt (1772), elected coadjutor of Mainz and of Worms (1787) and of Constance (I800) ; in 1802 he became arch bishop-elector of Mainz and arch-chancellor of the empire. Dal berg tried to galvanize the atrophied machinery of the empire into some sort of effective central government of Germany. Failing in this, he turned to the rising star of Napoleon, believing that he had found in him the only force strong enough to save Germany from dissolution. On the dissolution of the empire in I 8o6 he was appointed by Napoleon prince primate of the Confederation of the Rhine. In 181o, after the peace of Vienna (Schonbrunn), the grand-duchy of Frankfurt was created for his benefit out of his territories, which in spite of the cession of Regensburg to Bavaria were greatly augmented. Dalberg's fortunes fell with those of Napoleon, and, when he died on Feb. io, 1817, of all his dignities he was in possession only of the archbishopric of Regensburg. He was a notable patron of letters, and was the friend of Goethe, Schiller and Wieland.
See Karl v. Beaulieu-Marconnay, Karl von Dalberg and seine Zeit (Weimar, 1879).
2. WOLFGANG HERIBERT VON DALBERG (1750-18o6), brother of the above, was intendant of the theatre at Mannheim, and was the first to stage Schiller's earlier dramas. The poet's Brie f e an den Freiherrn von Dalberg (Karlsruhe, 1819) are addressed to him. He himself wrote several plays, including adaptations of Shakespeare. His brother, Johann Friedrich Hugo von Dalberg (1752-1812), canon of Trier, Worms and Spires, was a corn poser and writer on musical subjects.
See Alafberg, Von Dalberg als Biihnenleiter and Dramatiker (19o7).
3. EMMERICH JOSEPH, Duc DE DALBERG son of Baron Wolfgang Heribert, was born at Mainz on May 3o, In 1803 he entered the service of Baden, which he repre sented as envoy in Paris. After the peace of Schonbrunn (1809) he entered the service of Napoleon, who, in 181 o, created him a duke and councillor of state. In 1814 he was a member of the provisional Government by whom the Bourbons were recalled, and he attended the congress of Vienna, with Talleyrand, as min ister plenipotentiary. He signed the decree of outlawry launched in 1815 by the European powers against Napoleon. At the second restoration he became a minister of State and a peer of France. In 1816 he was sent as ambassador to Turin. He died at Herrns heim on April 27, The duc de Dalberg had inherited the family property of Herrnsheim from his uncle the arch-chancellor Karl von Dalberg, and this estate passed, through his daughter and heiress, Marie Louise Pelline de Dalberg, by her marriage with Sir R. E. Acton, 7th baronet (who assumed the additional name of Dalberg), to her son the historian, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (q.v.).
D'ALBERT, EUGEN FRANCIS CHARLES (1864 1932), Anglo-French pianist and composer, was born in Glasgow, April io, 1864, being the son of Charles Louis Napoleon d'Albert, whose dance music enjoyed great popularity in its day. His exceptional talents were manifest from the first and he made rapid progress at the National Training School, London (which later became the Royal College of Music), eventually winning the Mendelssohn scholarship and going to Vienna to continue his studies. He succeeded Joachim as director of the Hochschule in Berlin in 1907. As pianist d'Albert excelled especially in the interpretation of Beethoven ; as composer he devoted his atten tion chiefly to opera, Tie fland being the best known of his many works in this form.