The one Welf-held place in Swabia: the Staufen palatine count Conrad's town passed in 1195 with his daughter Agnes to Henry of Brunswick, who backs his brother Otto.
It becomes Baden's residence only after 1220.
Who holds it
- Name
- Henry of Brunswick, count palatine (husband of Agnes of Staufen)
- Title
- Count palatine of the Rhine, in right of his wife
- Since
- 1195 (Pforzheim came to the Welfs by marriage)
- Family
- Welf: Otto IV's elder brother; Agnes is the daughter of Conrad of Staufen, the former count palatine (died 1195), and Philip's first cousin. The palatinate record is the mrw researcher's.
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia (Pforzheim; Hermann V. (Baden)).
Lord in 1200
Henry of Brunswick, count palatine, through his officers (not named).
Overlord
The king.
How things stand that morning
Held by Henry of Brunswick, count palatine, on 1 January 1200 (medium confidence: the source gives the transfer to the Welfs in 1195 without naming him). Surrounded by Philip's lands and the Calw and Baden counts; no fighting is recorded here.
Charter
Market by about 1080 (the Alte Stadt, then Hirsau's); a second settlement, the Neustadt, grows on the river below a hill in the 12th century; Staufen from 1125; to the Welfs by marriage in 1195; to Baden by the marriage of Irmengard (Henry's daughter) to Hermann V, 1220-1227. Town formation runs from the Staufen period into the 14th century.
Council
Not recorded for 1200.
Militia
Not recorded.
Walls and castle
Not described for 1200.
Trade and crafts
The meeting of the Enz, Nagold and Würm rivers on the edge of the Black Forest; rafting of timber (documented later).
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment lists Pforzheim among Baden's lands to check: it is not Baden's on 1 January 1200 (Baden only from about 1219-1227).
Evidence: Transfer dates from de.wikipedia; the count palatine's administration of the town is not documented in the sources used.
Primary sources for Palatinate
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.
- 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
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.