Archbishop Wichmann took the Slav place of Jüterbog in 1157 and made it the centre of a Magdeburg block on the Fläming.
Merchants had settled by the Church of Our Lady before 1174, when Wichmann gave the town its rights and called it the beginning and head of the province of Jüterbog: the second-oldest town rights in what is now Brandenburg. A Slav raid destroyed it in 1179; it was rebuilt, coins were struck there by 1192, and about 1200 the town core was being extended eastward.
Who holds it
- Name
- Archbishop Ludolf of Magdeburg
- Title
- Town lord
- Since
- 1157 (conquest by Archbishop Wichmann)
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia (Jüterbog).
Lord in 1200
The archbishop of Magdeburg; the castle under his direct control (a Vogt and a Schultheiss appear in 1217).
How things stand that morning
The archbishop's town; Staufen through him.
Charter
Archbishop Wichmann's town rights of 1174 (the charter names Jüterbog head of its province).
Council
Not pinned for 1200 (a Bürgermeister first appears in 1229).
Communities
Merchants by Our Lady; Flemish and Saxon settlers in the province; the Cistercians of Zinna nearby (their holdings in the town from 1205/1225).
Fairs and markets
Market (dates not pinned).
Walls and castle
The archbishop's castle; town defences in 1200 not pinned.
Trade and crafts
Merchants on the roads from Magdeburg and Wittenberg to Lusatia and the Teltow; the archbishop's mint (attested 1192).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: 1157, 1174, 1179 and 1192 attested.
Primary sources for Magdeburg
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 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.