On the morning of 1 January 1200 the Atlas records 15 realms and principalities in Eastern Germany, Bohemia and Austria, with 110 lords and officers, 194 towns, ports and sites, 16 church lands and religious houses and 0 provinces, peoples and free lands.
The realms
- Mecklenburg and SchwerinHenry Borwin ISlav lordships
East of Holstein and the county of Ratzeburg lie the lands of the Obodrite princes and the German county of Schwerin.
- Archbishopric of MagdeburgLudolfArchbishopric
The archbishopric is the strongest principality on the middle Elbe.
- Duchy of PomeraniaBogislaw II and Casimir II, brothers ruling jointlyDuchy
The Griffin dukes rule the Slav lands on both sides of the Oder mouth: the Peene lands round Demmin, Wolgast and Usedom; the Tollense lands and Circipania to the west; the Uckermark round Prenzlau and Pasewalk; Stettin; and east of the Oder the castle district
- Principality of RügenJaromar IPrincipality
The Rani of the island of Rügen were the last pagan Slavs of the coast until the Danes destroyed the temple of Svantevit at Arkona in 1168.
- Margraviate of BrandenburgOtto IIMargraviate
Otto II, the third Ascanian margrave, holds the march his grandfather Albert the Bear built after 1150-57.
- Margraviate of MeissenDietrichMargraviate
Dietrich, second son of Otto the Rich, is margrave of Meissen after a decade of family war and exclusion from his inheritance.
- March of LusatiaConrad IIMarch
Conrad II is the margrave of the Saxon Eastern March, which by 1200 means Lower Lusatia: the Slav land of the Lusizi between the Black Elster, the Spreewald and the Neisse, a country of forest, marsh and Sorb villages under castle districts at Lübben, Luckau,
- Kingdom of BohemiaOttokar IKingdom
Bohemia on 1 January 1200 is a young kingdom ruled by an old dynasty.
- Margraviate of MoraviaVladislaus HenryMargraviate
Moravia, the eastern of the two Přemyslid lands, is held on 1 January 1200 by Vladislaus Henry, younger brother of King Ottokar I.
- Duchy of BavariaLouis I of WittelsbachDuchy
Bavaria in 1200 is a duchy of rights more than of land.
- Archbishopric of SalzburgAdalbert IIIArchbishopric
The archbishop of Salzburg rules the richest church of the eastern Alps, but on 1 January 1200 it is still a scatter of estates, castles, tolls, salt pans, mints and churches inside other men's counties, not a closed land.
- Bishopric of PassauWolfger of ErlaPrince-bishopric
Wolfger of Erla, about 60, a former married man and crusader, is the cleverest diplomat among the Staufen bishops and a trusted papal judge: Philip's man who still has Innocent III's ear.
- Duchy of AustriaLeopold VI of BabenbergDuchy
The Babenberg duchy on the Danube between the Enns and the Hungarian frontier on the Leitha and the March, with the Waldviertel and the Weinviertel north of the river up to the Bohemian and Moravian frontier.
- Duchy of StyriaLeopold VI of BabenbergDuchy
Styria is the Babenberg duke's second duchy and on 1 January 1200 the older of his two titles.
- Duchy of CarinthiaUlrich II of SpanheimDuchy
Carinthia is an old duchy with a weak duke.
Self-governing peoples and other lands
Records of this region that belong to no single realm page.
Primary sources for Eastern Germany, Bohemia and Austria
- Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague.
- Annals of Pegau; Annals of Magdeburg (12th and 13th centuries; Pegau continued to 1227). The annals of the Wettin lands and of Magdeburg.
- Annals of Schäftlarn and the Bavarian annals (12th and 13th centuries). Brief Bavarian annals.
- Bavarian monuments: the charters of the Bavarian monasteries and bishoprics (charters from the 8th century onward, published 1763 to 1916). The great charter series of Bavaria, arranged by monastery and bishopric.
- Charters and letters of the kingdom of Bohemia, volume 2, 1198 to 1230 (documents of 1198 to 1230, edited 1912). The critical edition of every Bohemian and Moravian charter and letter from Ottokar I's accession to 1230.
- 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.
- 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.
- Pomeranian charter book, volume 1, 786 to 1253 (documents of 786 to 1253, edited 1868). All known charters for Pomerania and Rügen to 1253.
- The Austrian and Salzburg annals (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries, with continuations to the late 13th century). A family of monastic annals from Austria, Styria and Salzburg, printed together.
- Charter book of the bishops of Trent (compiled 1207 to 1218; documents from the 11th century onward; edited 1852). The cartulary of the prince-bishops of Trent.
- Deeds of the Danes, Saxo Grammaticus (about 1185 to 1208). Saxo was writing at Lund in 1200 under Absalon, who died in March 1201, and his last books are an insider's history of Valdemar I and Knud VI to 1185: the Wendish wars, the taking of Rügen, the submission of Pomerania in 1185, the Danish fleet, Absalon's power and the Danish quarrel with the Empire.
- The Danish annals of Lund, Ryd and other houses (12th and 13th centuries; Lund continued to 1307, Ryd to 1288). Short dated entries from Lund, the archbishop's seat, and from Ryd in Schleswig.
- The saga of the descendants of Knut (the kings of Denmark) (about 1250 to 1260). An Icelandic kings' saga of Denmark that draws on Saxo and Danish tradition and ends in 1187 with Knud VI and Absalon's Wendish wars.
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas.
- 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.
- 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.
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Helmold of Bosau, Helmold of Bosau (about 1167 to 1172). Background only.
- Constitutions and public acts of the emperors and kings, volume 2, 1198 to 1272 (documents of 1198 to 1272, edited 1896). The public documents of the throne war in full text: the election notices of 1198, the princes' declaration of Speyer of 28 May 1199 to Innocent III, the pope's replies, Philip's and Otto's letters and promises, and the imperial acts of 1200 and 1201 including Otto's promises at Neuss in June 1201.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
How these entries are made
Every entry describes one morning, 1 January 1200, and keeps later events in a dated "what the year holds" list with the conditions each depended on. Each entry names its sources, rates its confidence and says where the sources disagree. Published 4 November 2026. Corrections are welcome.