A Welf market town in the making beside the old village of Gutingi (953) and the royal palace of Grona.
Henry the Lion is credited with founding the market settlement and St Jacobi. Burghers (burgenses) appear first in 1201-1208 under Henry the count palatine; town rights come about 1230 and the first councillors in 1247. In 1200 it is a market place, not yet a chartered town.
Who holds it
- Name
- The Welfs (Henry the count palatine is named as lord in 1201-1208)
- Title
- Lord
- Since
- founding usually credited to Henry the Lion (about 1150-1200)
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia (Göttingen).
Lord in 1200
The Welfs, from their court north of the old village; the palace of Grona nearby.
How things stand that morning
Welf.
Charter
Not yet (about 1230; confirmation by Otto the Child 1232).
Council
Not yet (1247).
Fairs and markets
Market.
Walls and castle
The first wall is later (before 1250).
Trade and crafts
Leine valley trade.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Dated steps from de.wikipedia.
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.