Dornburg is a castle on the east bank of the Elbe below Barby (river kilometre 300), first named in 1155 and held in 1156 by Count Baderich, the first burgrave of Brandenburg.
His son Baderich II took Dornburg from his brother Siegfried in 1194 and Mühlingen west of the Elbe (Rhineland map ground) in 1195. He is last mentioned in 1198: whether he is alive on 1 January 1200 is not pinned (his death is given as after 1198 or after 1240, and a namesake of 1205 may be his son).
Who he is
- Name
- Baderich II
- Title
- Count of Dornburg (from 1194) and of Mühlingen (from 1195)
- Since
- 1194
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Son of Baderich of Jabilinze, first burgrave of Brandenburg; brother of Siegfried, burgrave of Brandenburg (later of Belzig). A Baderich of Dornburg and Mühlingen appears from 1205, possibly his son.
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia (Baderich von Dornburg; Dornburg (Gommern)).
Overlord
Not pinned (the family's allods and fiefs on the middle Elbe; Dornburg passes to the Arnsteins in 1240 and later to the Ascanians).
What it holds
- Dornburg castle on the Elbe
- Mühlingen west of the Elbe (Rhineland map ground)
How it was acquired
By family partition from his brother (1194) and inheritance.
Allies and rivals
Kin of the burgrave Siegfried; neighbours Magdeburg's Leitzkau and the Ascanian enclave of Gommern.
How things stand that morning
The house holds Dornburg; the holder that morning is Baderich II if alive, otherwise not pinned.
Wealth
Rents; an Elbe-side castle.
Military
Dornburg castle. No figures.
Places of note
- Dornburg castle: Count's castle on the Elbe (site of the later Schloss Dornburg).
Where the sources disagree
- The Rhineland map's Magdeburg outline takes in the Dornburg area as the archbishop's; this count's castle is drawn here as its own lordship.
Evidence: Titles dated 1194-1198 only.
On the map: Position from the coordinates of the later Schloss Dornburg, built on the castle site (52.035 N, 11.878 E); the county's extent is not drawn.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.