A small comital house at the southern foot of the Harz between Walkenried and Ellrich, holding the castle of Klettenberg (built probably about 1087) and estates in many villages of the Golden Aue (Goldene Aue), the rich lowland of the Helme.
The county is first named in 1187; its founder Konrad of Ballhausen probably owed it to Barbarossa for his services. The Cistercians of Walkenried, the richest house of the southern Harz, sit on its doorstep. The counts of Hohnstein fight the Klettenbergers through the thirteenth century and swallow the county in 1253.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned (the county is first named in 1187; Konrad of Ballhausen counts as the founder of the line)
- Title
- Count of Klettenberg
- Since
- By 1187
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- The Klettenbergers, descended from Konrad of Ballhausen, a Thuringian noble. Their neighbours and eventual heirs are the counts of Hohnstein, who absorb the county in 1253.
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Grafschaft Klettenberg
Overlord
The Empire for the county (probably a grant of Barbarossa); the counts of Weimar-Orlamünde for the villages of Branderode and Neuendorf, held as under-fiefs.
What it holds
- Klettenberg castle at the Harz foot
- Branderode and Neuendorf, held in full as under-fiefs of the counts of Orlamünde
- Estates in many villages of the Golden Aue (not listed in the source)
- Ellrich, the market below the castle (later a Hohnstein town; Klettenberg's hold in 1200 is not pinned)
How it was acquired
Probably granted by Frederick Barbarossa to Konrad of Ballhausen; the county is first named in 1187.
Allies and rivals
Rivals of the counts of Hohnstein at Ilfeld and Neustadt; neighbours of Walkenried abbey; under-vassals of the counts of Weimar-Orlamünde for two villages.
How things stand that morning
Hold Klettenberg; the head of the house that winter is not pinned, and no act of 1198-1199 puts the family with either king.
Wealth
Grain and pasture in the Golden Aue, the forest of the Harz foot, and the road along the Harz edge from Nordhausen west towards Osterode.
Military
One castle; no recorded part in the fighting of 1198-1199.
Threats
- The counts of Hohnstein next door, who will take the county in 1253
- Walkenried abbey's growing granges in the same villages
- The war of the two kings round Nordhausen, besieged and taken by the landgrave in the autumn of 1198
Places of note
- Klettenberg castle: The comital castle, built probably about 1087
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One short de.wikipedia article without the counts' names for 1200; the FMG Saxon nobility page could not be reached in this run.
On the map: The castle district only; the county's scattered estates in the Golden Aue are not drawn, and Walkenried's ground next door is left to the Church map.
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.