The ground between the Welf Brunswick land and the archbishopric of Magdeburg, round Helmstedt, Warberg and Schöningen on the east side of the Elm, is the one place in this sheet where the evidence shows a raided zone in the winter of 1199-1200.
While Philip of Swabia kept his Christmas court at Magdeburg, Otto's brother Henry the count palatine rode into the archbishopric and burned Calbe on the Saale; in reprisal the troops of Philip and Archbishop Ludolf destroyed Helmstedt almost completely, and the castle of Warberg, at the turn of 1199/1200. The road from Brunswick to Magdeburg runs straight through this ground.
How things stand that morning
Raided, unsafe ground. Neither side holds it firmly; Helmstedt is burned or about to be.
Who raids here
Staufen: Philip's army and Archbishop Ludolf's men from Magdeburg (and probably Halberstadt's) raid west into the Welf side. Welf: Henry the count palatine from Brunswick raids east and south-east into the archbishopric (Calbe).
Anchoring castles
Welf side: Brunswick, Wolfenbüttel, Königslutter (abbey). Staufen side: Magdeburg, the archbishop's castles of the Börde (Wanzleben, Haldensleben site), Halberstadt's Hornburg. Warberg (destroyed) and Helmstedt (destroyed) lay inside the belt.
Last campaign
Christmas 1199 and the turn of the year 1199/1200: the burning of Calbe and the destruction of Helmstedt and Warberg. Whether the reprisal on Helmstedt falls before or after first light on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- August 1200Philip's army crosses this ground to attack Brunswick and fails (21 August 1200).Depends on: Philip's campaign. Stopped by: A truce.
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment suggested a belt between Brunswick, Goslar, Hildesheim and Halberstadt; the evidence reached shows the raids of that winter east of Brunswick instead (Helmstedt, Warberg, and Calbe deep in Magdeburg's land). Goslar was garrisoned without a fight in January 1199 and no raid round it is pinned for winter 1199-1200.
Evidence: Two independent statements (de.wikipedia's Helmstedt article and the ADB on Archbishop Ludolf); the extent of the belt is an estimate.
On the map: The raids are attested; the line of the belt is drawn round the places named.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.