An old castle of the counts palatine above the Rhine at Breisig, destroyed on Conrad III's order in 1151 and rebuilt as a Cologne fortress on Archbishop Rainald of Dassel's order from 1164.
Cologne holds it through burgraves drawn from its ministeriales; it is the see's strongpoint between Andernach and the royal places at Sinzig and Remagen, on the war road of 1198-1199.
Who he is
- Name
- Henry I of Rheineck (attested 1200); before him Gottfried and his son John I (1190)
- Title
- Burgrave of Rheineck
- Since
- Not pinned (between 1190 and 1200)
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- A knightly family from Ulmen, probably enfeoffed about 1180, which soon took the name of Rheineck; John II follows (1213-1229).
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia Burg Rheineck
Overlord
The archbishop of Cologne (the burgraves are Cologne ministeriales)
What it holds
- Rheineck castle and its burgraviate
How it was acquired
Cologne since 1164; the Ulmen-Rheineck burgraves from about 1180.
Allies and rivals
Cologne; faces the Staufen middle Rhine upstream.
How things stand that morning
Held for the archbishop by his burgrave (Henry I attested in 1200); Welf with the see.
Wealth
Small; the castle commands the river.
Military
Hill castle over the Rhine.
Threats
- The next campaign along the Rhine
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Burgraves dated 1190, 1200, 1213-1229.
On the map: Castle only.
Primary sources for Cologne
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 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 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
- 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
- Register of Innocent III on the affair of the Roman Empire, Innocent III and the papal chancery (1198 to 1209, compiled as a separate register at the curia). The pope's own file on the German throne war: letters to and from Philip, Otto, the German princes and bishops, and the famous Deliberatio of late 1200 or early 1201 in which Innocent weighs the claims of Frederick, Philip and Otto before deciding for Otto. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
2 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.