The landgrave's marshal, entrusted with the Ebersburg, the castle Hermann built in the southern Harz in 1181-83 and sold to Mainz and took back in fief in 1189-90.
The Ebersburg watches the road from Nordhausen into the Harz and the Welf lands beyond; it was the landgrave's base for the siege of Nordhausen in 1198 (likely, not pinned). The marshal's kin also hold Eckartsberga.
Who he is
- Name
- Heinrich, called of Eversberch (Ebersburg)
- Title
- Marshal of the landgrave, castellan of the Ebersburg
- Since
- not pinned (his father Kunemund, marshal of Hermann in the 1180s-90s, had died before 1199)
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Son of Kunemund of Vargula, called of Eckartsberga after 1186, and Hedwig Schenk of Vargula. In 1199 he placed a daughter in the Cistercian nunnery of Ichtershausen. A marshal Heinrich of Ebersburg is named down to 1243, probably more than one man.
- Confidence
- medium
Meyer, Die Ebersburg; de.wikipedia Schenken von Vargula
Overlord
The landgrave (the castle is itself a Mainz fief of the landgrave).
What it holds
- The Ebersburg
- Office of marshal
How it was acquired
Office and castle by the landgrave's grant.
Allies and rivals
The landgrave; his Vargula kin. Faces the Hohnstein counts and the Welf lands of the Harz.
How things stand that morning
Holds the Ebersburg for the landgrave (Staufen).
Wealth
Office and castle fiefs.
Military
The Ebersburg. No numbers.
Threats
- Welf raids out of the Harz
Where the sources disagree
- de.wikipedia (Schenken von Vargula) says the Vargula-Ebersberg family holds the marshal's office from 1209; the Ebersburg history shows a marshal Heinrich of the family well before that.
Evidence: Local history based on charters (1199 gift to Ichtershausen; 1207 witness list at Nordhausen).
On the map: Castle only.
Primary sources for Thuringia
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.
- 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
- 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
- Annals of Pegau; Annals of Magdeburg (12th and 13th centuries; Pegau continued to 1227). The annals of the Wettin lands and of Magdeburg. Read online
- Chronicle of the Lauterberg (Petersberg near Halle), Konrad of Lauterberg (about 1225). The house chronicle of the Wettin foundation on the Lauterberg, sharp-tongued and well informed on Saxony, Meissen and Magdeburg. Read online
- Regesta Imperii V: calendar of the acts of Philip, Otto IV and Frederick II, 1198 to 1272 (calendar of documents of 1198 to 1272, published 1881 to 1901). A dated calendar of every known act of King Philip and King Otto IV, with the acts of popes and princes that bear on the Empire. Read online
- The political songs of Walther von der Vogelweide, 1198 to 1201, Walther von der Vogelweide (about 1198 to 1201). Three stanzas of the Reichston, composed between 1198 and 1201 after Walther left Vienna, lament the disorder of the double election and call on Philip to take the crown. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.