The counts take their name from their castle at the mouth of the Lech into the Danube (Lechsgemünd, at Lechsend), a toll point on both rivers, and hold Graisbach castle north of the Danube.
Lechsgemünd will be destroyed in 1248 after a toll dispute and the counts will move to Graisbach.
Who he is
- Title
- Counts of Lechsgemünd (and Graisbach)
- Family
- Sophia of Lechsgemünd is the wife of Count Ludwig II of Oettingen. The house founded Kaisheim abbey (1133; general reference knowledge, not checked in a fetched source).
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia (Graisbach); en.wikipedia (County of Oettingen).
Overlord
The king; their lands straddle the Lech, the old boundary of Swabia and Bavaria.
What it holds
- Lechsgemünd castle at the Lech mouth (river toll)
- Graisbach castle
- The patronage of Kaisheim abbey (not pinned for 1200)
How it was acquired
Inheritance.
Allies and rivals
The Oettingen by marriage; the Staufen at Donauwörth and Mertingen; the Wittelsbach across the Lech.
How things stand that morning
Hold their castles on 1 January 1200. Throne war: not pinned.
Wealth
Tolls at the meeting of the Lech and the Danube.
Military
Lechsgemünd and Graisbach castles.
Places of note
- Kaisheim abbey: Cistercian abbey founded by the house.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No count is named for 1200 in the sources fetched; the Historisches Lexikon Bayerns article on the house could not be reached.
On the map: Rough.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.