The Thuringian branch of the Ascanians, holding Weimar and Orlamünde on the Saale.
Siegfried III married a Danish king's daughter and spent long periods in Denmark; his son Albert will become the Danish king's count in Holstein after 1201-02. The family stood with the Staufen against Henry the Lion. Their side in 1200 is not pinned: Ascanian kin all back Philip, but the Danish king, Siegfried's brother-in-law, is drifting into alliance with Otto.
Who he is
- Name
- Siegfried III
- Title
- Count of Weimar and Orlamünde
- Since
- 1176, after his father Hermann I
- Born
- about 1155 (died 1206)
- Family
- Ascanian: grandson of Albert the Bear, nephew of Margrave Otto I of Brandenburg and of Duke Bernhard of Saxony. Wife: Sophia of Denmark (born 1159, died about 1208), daughter of King Valdemar I and so sister of King Canute VI and of Valdemar of Schleswig. Sons: Albert (later count of Holstein under the Danes, from 1202-03) and Hermann (count of Weimar-Orlamünde from 1206).
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia Siegfried III. (Weimar-Orlamünde), Grafschaft Weimar-Orlamünde
Overlord
The king; the counties lie inside the landgraviate.
What it holds
- Weimar castle and its district
- Orlamünde castle on the Saale and the lands round it
- Rudolstadt and the Orlagau (later holdings; not pinned for 1200)
How it was acquired
The county passed to Albert the Bear in 1140; Hermann I (1140-76) founded the line.
Allies and rivals
Ascanian kin (Saxony, Brandenburg, Anhalt); Danish in-laws; rivals of the landgrave in the long run.
How things stand that morning
Holds Weimar and Orlamünde; whereabouts (Thuringia or Denmark) and allegiance not pinned.
Wealth
Ilm and Saale valleys.
Military
Castles of Weimar and Orlamünde. No numbers.
Threats
- The landgrave's expansion on the Saale (the royal Orla lands just granted to Hermann lie beside Orlamünde)
Places of note
- Weimar castle: Seat
- Orlamünde: Castle on the Saale
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Genealogy secure; the 1200 lands and side are not.
On the map: Core districts only.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.