A Rhine settlement under the Schoenburg, given by Otto I to Magdeburg in 966 and acquired with the castle by Barbarossa in 1166.
Not yet a town: walls are built from about 1220 and the burghers buy the advocacy from the Schoenburg lords in 1237.
Who holds it
- Name
- Philip of Swabia, through the burgrave of the Schoenburg
- Title
- The king, with the Magdeburg chapter's old lordship lingering
- Since
- 1166 (Barbarossa's acquisition)
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The king through the royal burgraves of the Schoenburg (Otto of Schoenburg, 'ministerialis regis', appears in 1213); the Magdeburg cathedral chapter's lordship from Otto I's gift of 966 ends only about 1220.
How things stand that morning
Royal under the Schoenburg burgraves.
Charter
None yet.
Walls and castle
The Schoenburg above; town walls only from about 1220.
Trade and crafts
Wine and Rhine trade.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Dated only by 1166 and 1213.
Primary sources for Staufen
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
- 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
23 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.