The cousins of the Battenbergers, named from the castle of Wittgenstein (Widechinstein) built shortly before 1174 above Laasphe in the wooded uplands where the Lahn and the Eder rise.
In 1200 they share the family lands; their own county, the towns of Laasphe (about 1240-1250) and Berleburg (1258) come later.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned for 1 January 1200 (Count Werner I takes the name in 1174; Siegfried I receives the upper Lahn and Eder lands in 1238)
- Title
- Counts of Wittgenstein
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- One stock with the counts of Battenberg.
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Grafschaft Wittgenstein.
What it holds
- Wittgenstein castle above Laasphe (built shortly before 1174)
- A share in the family courts of the upper Lahn and Eder (Laasphe, Feudingen, Erndtebrück)
How it was acquired
Inherited.
Allies and rivals
Battenberg cousins; Nassau in the Siegerland to the west; the Cologne lands of the Sauerland to the north.
How things stand that morning
Head and allegiance not pinned.
Wealth
Forest and upland farms.
Military
Wittgenstein castle.
Threats
- Division of the family lands
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.
- 1200No dated event found.
Places of note
- Wittgenstein castle: Built shortly before 1174.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Only the 1174 naming and the 1238 grant are dated.
On the map: Rough.
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.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 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.