The Andechs inherited the Wolfratshausen line's lordships in 1157: the county on the lower Inn, the county of the Norital and the advocacy of the church of Brixen; they also hold Brixen's Puster valley county in fief.
In the Inn valley they rule as lords in their own right. They set up a market on the left bank of the Inn in 1133, bridged the river, and in 1180 took land on the south bank from Wilten abbey by exchange; there the market of Innsbruck (first named 1180) received market rights in 1187 and town rights at some point between 1187 and 1205. Their comital rights run from Rottenburg near Jenbach to Vellenberg near Götzens and up the Wipptal to the Brenner.
Their old castle of Ambras was destroyed by Henry the Proud in 1133 and is not rebuilt until about 150 years later. Duke Berthold signed the Speyer declaration for Philip in person on 28 May 1199; his daughter Agnes's marriage is the cause of the interdict now falling on France.
Who he is
- Name
- Berthold (Berthold IV of Andechs)
- Title
- Duke of Merania, margrave of Istria, count of Andechs; advocate of the church of Brixen; count in the Inn valley, the Norital and the Puster valley by Brixen's grant
- Since
- Head of the house since his father Berthold III's death in 1188; duke of Merania from 1180-85
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- See the Rhineland sheet record Andechs-Merania. A widower since 1195. Sons: Otto (later duke), Henry (later margrave of Istria, who holds the Tyrolean lands by 1208), Ekbert (provost at Bamberg) and Berthold (later archbishop of Kalocsa); daughters include Agnes, queen of France.
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia Andechs (Adelsgeschlecht), Innsbruck, Schloss Ambras; Tirol Atlas; Rhineland sheet Andechs-Merania.
Overlord
The bishop of Brixen for the counties and the advocacy; the king for the duchy and the margraviate.
What it holds
- The market of Innsbruck on the south bank of the Inn, with the bridge and its toll: market rights 1187; town rights between 1187 and 1205 (not pinned for 1 January 1200)
- The older market on the left bank (1133), today St. Nikolaus
- Comital rights in the Inn valley from Rottenburg near Jenbach to Vellenberg near Götzens (Tirol Atlas)
- Comital rights in the Wipptal north of the Brenner
- The advocacy of the church of Brixen and the county of the Norital (Eisack, Wipp and middle Inn valleys), inherited 1157
- The county of the Puster valley, a Brixen fief (drawn on the Brixen record)
- Ambras, the family's old seat, in ruins since 1133
- Outside this area: Andechs and Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, the Franconian lands (Rhineland sheet), the margraviate of Istria and Carniola (fri)
How it was acquired
The Wolfratshausen inheritance of 1157; Innsbruck by the exchange with Wilten in 1180.
Allies and rivals
Allies: King Philip; the bishop of Brixen, his lord and a Staufen bishop. Rivals: the counts of Tyrol, who want the Brixen advocacy; the dukes of Bavaria, who will take their Bavarian lands after 1208.
How things stand that morning
The duke holds the Inn valley round Innsbruck, the Wipptal north of the Brenner and the Brixen advocacy securely, and backs Philip (Staufen, firm: Speyer, 28 May 1199). In the Eisack and Puster valleys his comital rights are a fief of Brixen beside the bishop's own lordship and ministeriales. Where he spent the winter is not pinned.
Wealth
The Brenner road from the Inn to the pass; the Innsbruck bridge, market and toll; the Inn valley's farms. Hall's salt is not yet worked (first recorded 1232).
Military
Andechs ministeriales and castles in the valley (Vellenberg, Rottenburg are named as the limits of their rights); no figures.
Threats
- The papal war on his daughter Agnes's marriage
- The counts of Tyrol's ambition for the Brixen advocacy
- His age: the Tyrolean lands pass to his son Henry
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.
- 12 August 1204 (beyond 1200)Berthold dies; his sons divide the house's offices, Henry taking Istria and the Tyrolean lands.Depends on: Nature. Stopped by: Play.
- 21 June 1208 and after (beyond 1200)Philip is murdered at Bamberg; the Andechs are accused and banned (1208-1209), and Brixen gives the advocacy and their Norital rights to Albert of Tyrol (1210). They regain the Wipptal rights in 1228; the line ends in 1248.Depends on: Philip's murder. Stopped by: No murder.
Places of note
- Innsbruck market and bridge: Andechs market on the south bank (1180), market rights 1187
- Ambras (in ruins): Old Andechs seat, destroyed in 1133
- Wilten abbey: Premonstratensian abbey; exchange with the Andechs in 1180
Where the sources disagree
- de.wikipedia's Andechs article dates the Brixen fiefs of the Inn valley and Puster valley to the end of the eleventh century, which clashes with its own dating of Berthold III; and it says Berthold III founded Innsbruck in 1180, while the Innsbruck article dates the first Andechs market to 1133.
Evidence: The inheritance of 1157, the Innsbruck dates and the extent of the Inn valley rights are attested; the Andechs' castles in the valley in 1200 are not fully pinned.
On the map: The ground is Brixen's county in law; it is coloured empire here because the Andechs, imperial princes with no realm of their own on this sheet, govern it. The Puster valley county, also theirs in fief, is left to the Brixen record because the bishop's own estates and ministeriales dominate there.
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.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Andechs (Adelsgeschlecht) (de.wikipedia)
- Innsbruck (de.wikipedia)
- Schloss Ambras (de.wikipedia)
- Tirol Atlas: territorial development (University of Innsbruck)
- Speyerer Fürstenerklärung (de.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.