Counts · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Rhinegraves

The title of Rhinegrave, once the count's office in the Mainz Rheingau, passed to the lords of Stein on the Nahe when the old line died out, and Wolfram vom Stein bears it from 1194.

In 1200 the family holds its Nahe seat, the Stein above Bad Münster (later called Rheingrafenstein), and Rheinberg castle near Lorch in the Rheingau as a Mainz fief. They keep their Rheingau rights until the battle of Sprendlingen in 1279 and their Nahe lands round Kreuznach and Kirn after it.

Who he is

Name
Wolfram vom Stein (born about 1166, died 1220 or 1221); a Werner the younger, also Rhinegrave, is living (died 1223 without heirs)
Title
Rhinegrave (Rheingraf)
Since
1194, after the old Rheingau line ended with Embricho (died 1194 without heirs)
Family
Lords of Stein on the Nahe. His father Siegfried I vom Stein married Lukardis, daughter of Rhinegrave Embricho I, about 1160. Wolfram went on the Third Crusade (1189-1191) and married Guda (Jutta) of Bolanden about 1187.
Confidence
medium

de.wikipedia, Rheingrafen

Overlord

The archbishop of Mainz (Rheinberg near Lorch is a Mainz fief from 1170)

What it holds

  • The Stein (later Rheingrafenstein) on the cliff above the Nahe at Bad Münster, the family seat
  • Rheinberg castle near Lorch in the Rheingau, a Mainz fief since 1170 (Mainz ground)
  • The title and remaining rights of the Rhinegrave in the Rheingau
  • Villages on the Nahe below the Stein (Norheim, Traisen, Hüffelsheim, Niederhausen: their attachment in 1200 is not pinned)

How it was acquired

The Stein is the family seat; the Rhinegrave's title came by the marriage of about 1160 and the extinction of the old line in 1194.

Allies and rivals

Kin by marriage of the Bolanden, the great Staufen ministerial house; neighbours of the counts of Sponheim at Kreuznach, the Raugraves on the Alsenz and the Wildgraves at Kirn (whose lands the Rhinegraves inherit in the 14th and early 15th centuries).

How things stand that morning

In possession of the Stein and Rheinberg. Their side in the throne war is not recorded.

Wealth

Rheingau wine and rights; the Nahe lands below the Stein.

Military

The Stein and Rheinberg castles; no numbers.

Threats

  • The archbishop of Mainz, who wants the Rheingau rights for himself
  • The counts of Sponheim at Kreuznach

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.

  1. 25 or 27 October 1200Archbishop Conrad of Mainz dies and the Mainz chapter splits between a Staufen and a Welf candidate (campaign notes, Part 10); the Rhinegraves, as Mainz vassals, must choose.Depends on: Conrad's natural death on its date Stopped by: Play that changes Conrad's circumstances

Places of note

  • The Stein (Rheingrafenstein): family seat on the Nahe
  • Rheinberg castle (near Lorch): Mainz fief in the Rheingau, in the Wisper valley above Lorch; the point marks Lorch

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Wolfram's succession in 1194 and the Mainz fief of Rheinberg are documented; the Nahe lordship's extent in 1200 is not.

On the map: A small block round the Stein; the family's scattered rights are not drawn.

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.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. de.wikipedia: Rheingrafen

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.