Philipp I, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg was Count of Hanau. The county was divided between him and his nephew, Count Philipp I "the Younger". Philipp the Elder's part of the county was later called Hanau-Lichtenberg; Philipp the Younger's part is known as Hanau-Münzenberg.

The County of Hanau was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire, evolved out of the Lordship of Hanau in 1429. From 1456 to 1642 and from 1685 to 1712 it was divided into the County of Hanau-Münzenberg and the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg. After both lines became extinct the County of Hanau-Münzenberg was inherited by the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg by the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1736.