Dukes · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Andechs (Bavaria)

This record continues Andechs-Merania (the Plassenburg, Kulmbach and Lichtenfels in Upper Franconia, on the Rhineland map) and Andechs (Inn valley) (the Inn valley round Innsbruck, on the Northern Italy map).

In Bavaria the Andechs hold the old country between the Ammersee and the Isar: the castle of Andechs on its hill above the Ammersee, the family's seat since the early twelfth century; the canons of Diessen, founded by the family about 1114-1130 and their burial church; and the castle of Wolfratshausen (built about 1116) with its county on the Loisach and the Isar, inherited when the Wolfratshausen line died out in 1157. On the lower Inn they hold the Formbach inheritance with Neuburg am Inn and Schärding. In the Upper Franconian hills east of the Plassenburg they hold Bayreuth, a village (villa) in a document of 1199, and very probably the Regnitzland round Hof, where their successor Otto founds the new town about 1230.

In 1208, accused of a part in Philip's murder, they will lose their Bavarian lands to Duke Louis and, round Neuburg am Inn, to Rapoto of Ortenburg; Wolfratshausen becomes Wittelsbach for good in 1243.

Who he is

Name
Berthold (Berthold IV of Andechs)
Title
Duke of Merania, margrave of Istria, count of Andechs
Since
Head of the house since his father Berthold III died in 1188; duke of Merania from about 1180-85
Born
Not pinned (first attested about 1170)
Family
See the Rhineland record Andechs-Merania. A widower since 1195 (Agnes of Rochlitz, of the Wettin house). Sons: Otto (later duke), Henry (later margrave of Istria), Ekbert (provost at Bamberg; bishop of Bamberg 1203), Berthold (later archbishop of Kalocsa and patriarch of Aquileia). Daughters include Agnes, queen of France, whose marriage is the cause of the interdict now falling on France; Gertrud, later queen of Hungary; Hedwig, wife of Henry the Bearded of Silesia.
Confidence
high

de.wikipedia (Andechs (Adelsgeschlecht); Bayreuth; Hof (Saale); Rapoto II. (Ortenburg)); the Rhineland and Northern Italy records

Overlord

The king. As duke of Merania Berthold is a prince of the Empire and does not answer to the Wittelsbach duke for these lands.

What it holds

  • Andechs castle above the Ammersee (the family named 'of Andechs' from 1132)
  • Diessen on the Ammersee: the Augustinian canons founded by the family, their burial church (the advocacy is not pinned)
  • Wolfratshausen castle and the county on the Loisach and the Isar (inherited 1157)
  • The advocacy of Tegernsee (about 1195, per the Rhineland record)
  • Neuburg am Inn and Schärding with the comital rights on the lower Inn (the Formbach inheritance); still Andechs in 1208
  • Bayreuth (Baierrute, first named in 1194 in a charter of the bishop of Bamberg; a villa in 1199; a town, civitas, only in 1231) and the land round it
  • The Regnitzland round Hof, the village of Rekkenze and the parish of St Lorenz (probable; the new town is founded under Otto of Andechs about 1230)
  • Rhineland map: the Plassenburg, Kulmbach, Lichtenfels, the Giech and the Banz advocacy; Northern Italy map: Innsbruck, the Inn valley and the Brixen advocacy

How it was acquired

Ancestral lands on the Ammersee; Wolfratshausen by inheritance in 1157; the lower Inn from the Formbach counts (date not given in the sources read); Bayreuth and the Upper Franconian lands through the Schweinfurt heiress Gisela (married 1098) and the family's own clearing and building in the twelfth century.

Allies and rivals

Allies: King Philip; the Wettin kin of his late wife; his son-in-law the king of France (whose marriage is now under the pope's attack). Rivals: the Wittelsbach duke, the other great house of Bavaria; the patriarch of Aquileia in the south. In 1192 the Andechs helped Albert III of Bogen against the duke.

How things stand that morning

Holds all of these lands securely on 1 January 1200; no feud with the Wittelsbach is recorded for 1199. Staufen, firm: he signed the Speyer protest for Philip in person on 28 May 1199. Where he spends the winter is not pinned.

Wealth

The Ammersee and Isar lands; the Inn crossings and tolls at Innsbruck (Northern Italy map) and on the lower Inn; the Franconian clearings round Bayreuth and Kulmbach; the Istrian march.

Military

Andechs, Wolfratshausen, Neuburg am Inn and the Plassenburg, with a large following of ministeriales in Bavaria, Franconia and the Tyrol. No figures.

Threats

  • The Wittelsbach duke inside the duchy
  • The pope's war on his daughter's French marriage, which touches the house's standing

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.

  1. January 1200 onwardThe interdict on France over Philip Augustus's repudiation of Ingeborg in favour of Berthold's daughter Agnes; lifted in September 1200 when the king submits (campaign notes).Depends on: Philip Augustus's choice between his marriage and the interdict. Stopped by: A papal climb-down or the death of Agnes (she dies in 1201).

Places of note

  • Andechs castle: The family seat above the Ammersee.
  • Diessen abbey: The family's house of canons and burial church.
  • Wolfratshausen castle: Seat of the county on the Loisach and the Isar.
  • Neuburg am Inn: Castle of the Formbach inheritance above the Inn gorge.
  • Bayreuth: The Andechs village on the Red Main (villa in 1199).

Where the sources disagree

  • de.wikipedia's Bayreuth article links the 1194 charter's Bishop Otto to Otto (VI) of Andechs; the bishop of Bamberg in 1194 was Otto II of Andechs (bishop 1177-1196), the same man under two numberings.

Evidence: The house's possessions are well known in outline; the Regnitzland in 1200 and the exact extent of each county are not pinned.

On the map: Coloured empire like the Rhineland and Northern Italy records for the same house, since as dukes of Merania the Andechs stood outside the Wittelsbach duke's authority; the ground is Bavarian and Franconian. The Upper Franconian blocks between Bayreuth and Hof are not continuous in the sources.

Primary sources for Empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. Andechs (Adelsgeschlecht) (de.wikipedia)
  2. Bayreuth (de.wikipedia)
  3. Hof (Saale) (de.wikipedia)
  4. Rapoto II. (Ortenburg) (de.wikipedia)
  5. Speyerer Fürstenerklärung (de.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.