Meran, Grafen von#

Meran, Grafen von (Counts of Merano); descendants of Archduke Johann and Anna Plochl, who became Countess of Merano in 1844. Their son Franz (1839-1891) was made Count of Merano on Dec. 30, 1845; he administered his father's estates from 1862 and further expanded the institutions that had developed out of the Joanneum. He and his descendants became related to the higher Austrian nobility.