A baronial family of the Upper Aargau named from the castle of Grünenberg above Melchnau, heirs of the Langenstein who founded the Cistercian abbey of St.
Urban a few miles away in 1194, where the family is buried. A small lordship with its own court round the castle.
Who he is
- Name
- Walther I and Heinrich I of Grünenberg (both dead before 1224), heirs of the Langenstein
- Title
- Lords of Langenstein and Grünenberg
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Barons of the Upper Aargau (Kleinburgund), probable heirs of the Langenstein, who founded the Cistercian abbey of St. Urban (1194). Related to the lords of Aarburg, Balm, Wolhusen and Aarwangen.
- Confidence
- medium
HLS article on the family; earliest members Walther I and Heinrich I, benefactors of St. Urban.
Overlord
Not recorded.
What it holds
- Grünenberg castle above Melchnau with a small lordship and court
- Langenstein castle beside it (the founders' seat)
- Patronage of St. Urban abbey, founded 1194, the family's burial church
How it was acquired
Inherited from the Langenstein (probable).
Allies and rivals
Kin of the Aarburg, Balm, Wolhusen and Aarwangen; neighbours of the Frohburg (Zofingen) and of the Zähringen's Burgdorf.
How things stand that morning
Holds the castle lordship; no side recorded.
Wealth
Farm rents of the Upper Aargau; the new abbey's prayers rather than its income.
Military
The castles of Grünenberg and Langenstein.
Threats
- The Frohburg and the Zähringen on either side
Places of note
- St. Urban abbey: Cistercian abbey founded by the Langenstein in 1194
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The family and castle are well attested; the extent of the lordship in 1200 is not.
On the map: A small castle lordship drawn as the communes round Melchnau.
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.