The price of Hermann's changes of side.
Otto gave him money and Nordhausen and Saalfeld in 1198; Hermann took Nordhausen after a six-week siege that autumn. When he went over to Philip on 15 August 1199, Philip gave him Mühlhausen, Orla and Ranis besides. So on 1 January 1200 the king's two Thuringian towns, the old Cologne and royal lordship of Saalfeld, and the royal castle of Ranis with the Orla lands east of the Saale are all the landgrave's.
The royal officers on the spot (a burgrave in the king's castle at Mühlhausen, advocates and Schultheissen in both towns) are attested only later, and their names that winter are not pinned.
Who he is
- Name
- Hermann I
- Title
- Landgrave Hermann I as holder of royal fiefs (Reichslehen); the king's own officers in the towns serve under him
- Since
- Nordhausen and Saalfeld granted by Otto in 1198 (Nordhausen taken by siege in the autumn of 1198); Mühlhausen, Ranis and the Orla granted by Philip on 15 August 1199, when Philip also confirmed the rest
- Born
- about 1155
- Family
- Ludowingian
- Confidence
- medium
ADB (Winkelmann); Meyer, Die Ebersburg; de.wikipedia Nordhausen, Mühlhausen, Saalfeld
Overlord
The king (Philip, whose grant of August 1199 stands; Otto regards all of it as forfeit).
What it holds
- Mühlhausen: the king's town (villa regia 1135) and royal castle; Philip was elected there on 8 March 1198
- Nordhausen: royal castle and town beside the canonesses' convent founded by Queen Mathilda in 961 (Barbarossa gave the royal property there to the convent in 1158)
- Saalfeld: royal again after Cologne's lordship, with Barbarossa's new town beside Archbishop Anno's abbey of 1071
- Ranis: royal castle above the Orla valley
- The Orla lands (royal property in the Orlagau east of the Saale; extent not pinned)
How it was acquired
By grant of Otto IV (1198) and of Philip (15 August 1199).
Allies and rivals
The townsmen of Mühlhausen and Nordhausen have their own interest in staying the king's; the canonesses of Nordhausen; the counts of Schwarzburg, who later receive Saalfeld and Ranis.
How things stand that morning
In Hermann's hands under Philip's grant. Nordhausen had been held against him for Philip in 1198 and fell after a siege; it is the most recently fought-over place in the area.
Wealth
Town markets and tolls; the royal dues of two of the largest towns of Thuringia; Saalfeld's position on the Saale road to Franconia.
Military
Royal castles at Mühlhausen, Nordhausen and Ranis. No numbers.
Threats
- Otto treats the grants as forfeit
- Philip can take them back if Hermann wavers (he does take back Nordhausen in 1202 and the 1199 grants in 1204: not yet)
Places of note
- Mühlhausen royal castle: Seat of the king's burgrave
- Nordhausen castle and convent: Royal castle and canonesses' house
- Saalfeld abbey: Benedictine abbey founded by Anno of Cologne in 1071
- Ranis castle: Royal castle above the Orla
Where the sources disagree
- The ADB's wording ('besides, Mühlhausen, Orla and Ranis') and the Ebersburg local history (Philip granted Nordhausen, Saalfeld, Mühlhausen and Ranis) differ on whether Philip re-granted Otto's gifts; both leave all of them with Hermann on 1 January 1200. The ADB also notes that Nordhausen 'did not come to the landgrave' as a reward at the end of his life, which concerns 1217, not 1200.
Evidence: The grants are dated in the ADB and the local history; how far the landgrave's officers actually ran the towns is not documented.
On the map: Royal property in Thuringia was scattered; only the towns and the Ranis block are drawn.
Primary sources for Thuringia
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.
- 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
- 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 Pegau; Annals of Magdeburg (12th and 13th centuries; Pegau continued to 1227). The annals of the Wettin lands and of Magdeburg. Read online
- Chronicle of the Lauterberg (Petersberg near Halle), Konrad of Lauterberg (about 1225). The house chronicle of the Wettin foundation on the Lauterberg, sharp-tongued and well informed on Saxony, Meissen and Magdeburg. 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
- The political songs of Walther von der Vogelweide, 1198 to 1201, Walther von der Vogelweide (about 1198 to 1201). Three stanzas of the Reichston, composed between 1198 and 1201 after Walther left Vienna, lament the disorder of the double election and call on Philip to take the crown. Read online
Sources and studies
- ADB/NDB: Hermann I.
- Meyer, Die Ebersburg
- de.wikipedia: Nordhausen
- de.wikipedia: Mühlhausen/Thüringen
- de.wikipedia: Saalfeld/Saale
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.