The great silver town of the march.
Margrave Otto cleared the forest here from 1156-62 and gave the land to his monks of Altzella; when rich silver-bearing lead ore was found by the village of Christiansdorf about 1168-70 he took the villages back, and within a few years a town of miners, smelters, merchants and craftsmen grew up: by the end of the century it covers about 46 hectares, as large as Leipzig, and is the biggest town of the march. Anyone may dig here (the mountain is 'free'), which brought miners from the Harz and beyond. The margrave built a castle about 1170-80; St Mary's church was founded in 1180-85, the planned upper town round the Obermarkt and St Peter's has been building since the 1180s, and the old village church of St Nicholas was rebuilt in stone.
The name 'Freiberg' is first written in 1201.
Who holds it
- Name
- Margrave Dietrich of Meissen
- Title
- Lord of the town and of the mines
- Since
- 1198
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
Margrave Dietrich, through his castle officers and mining officials.
How things stand that morning
The margrave's richest possession; quiet.
Charter
No written town charter yet; the mining freedom (Bergfreiheit) and the miners' customs are the town's law. Freiberg law is first cited in 1233.
Council
None yet; the council appears in the 1220s, the earliest in the march (seal from 1227).
Communities
Miners from the Harz and elsewhere (the 'Saxons' town' (Sächsstadt) round St James, attested 1241, is said to have been founded by miners from Goslar); merchants; the Altzella monks' estates around.
Walls and castle
The margrave's castle (later Freudenstein), built about 1170-80; walls not pinned for 1200.
Trade and crafts
Silver mining and smelting; trade in silver, lead and supplies; the margrave's coinage is fed by its silver (a mint in the town is attested from the 13th century).
Where the sources disagree
- The often cited foundation date of 1186 rests on errors (de.wikipedia); the town grew in the years after 1168-70.
Evidence: Archaeology and later documents; few charters before 1200.
Primary sources for Meissen
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 Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. 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
- 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
- Deeds of the archbishops of Magdeburg (main text to 1142, continued in the 13th and 14th centuries). The Magdeburg house history, with a continuation covering Archbishop Ludolf of Kroppenstedt (1192 to 1205), a firm supporter of Philip who hosted the king's Christmas court at Magdeburg on 25 December 1199. Read online
- Charters and letters of the kingdom of Bohemia, volume 2, 1198 to 1230 (documents of 1198 to 1230, edited 1912). The critical edition of every Bohemian and Moravian charter and letter from Ottokar I's accession to 1230.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.