Guttenberg is a crown castle on the edge of the Wasgau above the Bienwald, at the southern end of the Speyergau where the Palatinate meets Alsace.
It is one of the ring of Staufen castles round the Trifels, kept by unfree knights, and its district runs from the hill villages below the castle down into the Rhine plain at Kandel and Minfeld. The crown's bailiwick of the Speyergau, of which it is part, is still in the king's own hand that winter: Philip will give it to the counts of Leiningen in 1204-1205.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned for 1 January 1200 (a Landolf of Guttenberg, "Landolfo de Gudenburc", is a possible first mention in 1151; an Ulrich of Guttenberg gave to Eusserthal abbey in 1174)
- Title
- The king's ministeriales at Guttenberg
- Since
- a Staufen imperial castle since the mid 12th century (the 1151 mention is uncertain)
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Royal ministeriales; by 1246 the castle is in the hands of the imperial steward Philip I of Falkenstein, of the Bolanden kin, whose wife Isengard hands it to King Conrad IV
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Burg Guttenberg (Pfalz): possible first mention 1151 as a Staufen Reichsburg under the ministerialis Landolfo de Gudenburc; Ulrich of Guttenberg 1174; first secure mention 1246; half to Leiningen as a fief in 1317, half to the Palatinate soon after. The later lordship had an upper community (Guttenberg, Oberotterbach, Dörrenbach, Rechtenbach, Mundorf) and a lower one (Minfeld, Kandel, Freckenfeld, Vollmersweiler, Niederotterbach).
Overlord
King Philip
What it holds
- Guttenberg castle above Oberotterbach (a Staufen imperial castle; first secure mention 1246)
- The hill villages below it: Oberotterbach, Dörrenbach, Rechtenbach (later the upper community of the lordship)
- The plain villages: Minfeld, Kandel, Freckenfeld, Vollmersweiler and Niederotterbach (later the lower community)
- The king's bailiwick of the Speyergau (Landvogtei), still the crown's: the counts of Leiningen receive it only in 1204/05
How it was acquired
Crown land of the Salian and Staufen kings in the Speyergau; the castle district is described from the later lordship.
Allies and rivals
Neighbours: the Trifels and Annweiler (Trifels), the abbey and Mundat of Weissenburg to the south (Weissenburg), the bishop of Speyer (Lauterburg, Dahn), the counts of Leiningen, who will get the Speyergau bailiwick, and the counts of Zweibrücken, who hold half of Landeck with villages round Bergzabern as a royal fief (date not pinned).
How things stand that morning
The castle and its villages are the king's, kept by ministeriales for Philip, in the solidly Staufen country round the Trifels.
Wealth
The wine villages of the Haardt foot, the Bienwald's timber and pasture, and the road from Speyer to Weissenburg and Hagenau.
Military
A hill castle held by ministerial castle-men; no numbers known.
Threats
- A Welf thrust up the Rhine (Otto reaches Weissenburg at the very end of 1200)
- Grants of crown land to the Leiningen or other lords
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.
- Late December 1200Otto IV, having seized Mainz at Christmas, drives south past Speyer to Weissenburg, just south of the district.Depends on: Conrad of Mainz dying (25 October) and the Welf party taking Mainz. Stopped by: A truce, or Philip holding the Rhine below Speyer.
Places of note
- Guttenberg castle: Staufen imperial castle
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The castle's Staufen origin rests on an uncertain mention of 1151 and a name of 1174; the district is taken from the later lordship. Good enough to say whose ground this is, not who commanded it.
On the map: The district follows the later lordship of Guttenberg; in 1200 it was part of the king's Speyergau.
Primary sources for Staufen
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
- Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online
23 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Burg Guttenberg (Pfalz) (de.wikipedia)
- Leiningen (Adelsgeschlecht) (de.wikipedia)
- Grafschaft Zweibrücken (de.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.