A small comital house on the south-western edge of the Harz between Herzberg and Walkenried, holding the rock castle of Scharzfeld and the castle on the Hausberg above Lauterberg.
Scharzfeld came to Henry the Lion in the 1158 exchange, so the counts sit inside the Welf Harz. Names and side in 1200 are not pinned.
Who he is
- Title
- Counts of Scharzfeld and of Lauterberg
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- One comital house with two seats, Scharzfeld and the Lauterberg (Hausberg)
- Confidence
- low
No page on the family could be reached; Scharzfeld's Welf overlordship rests on Barbarossa's exchange of 1158 (Herzberg, Scharzfeld and Pöhlde for Badenweiler).
Overlord
The Welfs for Scharzfeld (since 1158); otherwise not pinned.
What it holds
- Scharzfeld castle
- Lauterberg castle
Allies and rivals
Neighbours of the Welf Herzberg and of Walkenried abbey.
How things stand that morning
Not pinned beyond Welf overlordship of Scharzfeld.
Wealth
Forest and mining country (iron), not pinned.
Military
Two castles. No figures.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Existence and castles only.
Primary sources for Welf
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 Egmond (12th century to about 1205). The house annals of Egmond, the counts of Holland's abbey, and the main native source for Holland around 1200. Read online
- 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
- Annals of Stade, by Albert of Stade, Albert of Stade (about 1240 to 1256). A world chronicle written at Stade in the 1240s from older Stade and Bremen annals. 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
18 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.