A landgrave's castle and planned town on a steep plateau facing Mainz's Amöneburg, founded by Louis III to protect his southern Hessian lands against the archbishops; the castle is first named in 1186, was destroyed by Mainz troops in 1195 and rebuilt at once with a larger town planned round it.
An Antonite house with a hospital was founded about 1193. It is first called a town in 1222 and has a mint by 1230.
Who holds it
- Name
- Landgrave Hermann I
- Title
- Lord
- Since
- 1190 (founded by Louis III)
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
Landgrave Hermann I.
How things stand that morning
The landgrave's frontier town against Mainz.
Charter
None yet (town named 1222).
Communities
Antonites (about 1193).
Walls and castle
Castle rebuilt after 1195; watchtower probably 12th century.
Trade and crafts
The road from Frankfurt to Alsfeld and Hersfeld.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: de.wikipedia.
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.