Counts · Duchy of Bavaria · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Wasserburg

The counts of Wasserburg descend from the Hallgrafen, the counts who once held the comital rights over the salt town of Reichenhall.

Count Engelbert (died 20 September 1161) is said to have moved the house's seat from the Limburg to Wasserburg, the castle on the narrow neck of a loop of the Inn (the charter for the move is a forgery). The counts hold the Inn crossing on the salt road from Reichenhall towards Munich, the land round it, and Viechtenstein on the Danube below Passau. Wasserburg is not yet a town: walls and ditch are first recorded in 1220, town rights come in the first half of the century, and the burgesses' charter about 1245.

Count Dietrich is the count attested nearest to 1200. The line will fall when Wittelsbach troops take Wasserburg after a siege of seventeen weeks in 1247.

Who he is

Name
Dietrich of Wasserburg
Title
Count of Wasserburg (and Viechtenstein)
Since
Not pinned (attested 1192)
Born
Not pinned
Family
Wife: Heilika of Wittelsbach (whether the duke's sister or aunt is not pinned). Daughters Haidewich and Mechtild are named with their parents in a gift to Schäftlarn in 1192; Mechtild will marry Count Friedrich II of Hohenburg and, after May 1209, Margrave Diepold of Vohburg. No son can be shown to have been born by 1 January 1200 (the last count, Konrad, is documented later).
Confidence
low

fmg.ac (Bavarian nobility: Wasserburg, Vohburg); de.wikipedia (Wasserburg am Inn)

Overlord

The duke of Bavaria (comital rights) and the king.

What it holds

  • Wasserburg castle and the Inn crossing on the salt road
  • The older seat of Limburg near Wasserburg
  • Viechtenstein castle on the Danube below Passau
  • The advocacy of Attel abbey on the Inn (probable)
  • Lands round Wasserburg in the Inn valley

How it was acquired

Inheritance of the Hallgrafen and the Formbach-Viechtenstein line (FMG lists the Wasserburg and Viechtenstein branches under the Formbach counts).

Allies and rivals

Kin by marriage of the Wittelsbach. Neighbours: the archbishop of Salzburg (Reichenhall), the counts of Kraiburg and Falkenstein, the duke.

How things stand that morning

Holds Wasserburg on 1 January 1200 (the count's name that winter is not pinned; Dietrich is attested in 1192). No feud is recorded for 1199.

Wealth

The salt traffic on the Inn and the road at Wasserburg; Inn shipping.

Military

Wasserburg and Viechtenstein castles and the count's ministeriales. No figures.

Threats

  • The duke's interest in the salt roads

Places of note

  • Wasserburg castle: The counts' castle in the Inn loop.
  • Viechtenstein castle: The counts' castle on the Danube.

Where the sources disagree

  • de.wikipedia (Wasserburg am Inn) names no count for 1200; the name Dietrich comes from FMG's 1192 charter.

Evidence: The count's identity in 1200 is not pinned; the house's lands are known mostly from later records.

On the map: Only the centres are drawn.

Primary sources for Bavaria

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Wasserburg am Inn (de.wikipedia)
  2. Medieval Lands: Bavarian nobility (fmg.ac)

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