Counts of Freiburg

The Counts of Freiburg were the descendants of Count Egino of Urach († 1236 or 1237) who was the son of Agnes of Zähringen and therefore a potential heir to the Zähringer estates and fortunes. After assuming the title “Count of Freiburg” he called himself Egino I. His son was Konrad I (born:1236/37- †1272), during whose reign a division of the estate with the princely house of Fürstenberg took place before 1245. As the successors of the Dukes of Zähringen, whose direct line had been extinct since 1218, the Counts of Freiburg ruled over the city of Freiburg, as well as the Breisgau since the 13th century. The area is situated in the Upper Rhine Plain around Freiburg and extends into the adjoining Black Forest.

Until 1368, this family of counts reigned over Freiburg, though their reign was never undisputed. In 1368, the city councillors of Freiburg ransomed themselves. The city of Freiburg, being the Habsburg territorial city in the Austrian Forelands, then acquired territory itself. It acquired the monastery St.Märgen in the Black Forest with the bailiwick, the appertaining village principalities and properties. After 1368, the Counts of Freiburg only reigned over their estates around castle Neuenstein in Badenweiler located south of Freiburg. Johann, the last Count of Freiburg, bequeathed his estate Badenweiler to the sons of his nephew, the margrave Wilhelm of Hachberg-Sausenberg, in 1444. Those sons, Rudolf and Hugo, united the baronies Rötteln, Sausenberg and Badenweiler to form the Markgräflerland.

List of the Counts of Freiburg

• Egino I. (as Count of Urach Egino V.) (until 1236/37)
• Konrad I. (1236/37–1271)
• Egino II. (1271–1316)
• Konrad II. (1316–1350)
• Friedrich (1350–1356)
• Klara (1356–1358)
• Egino III. (1358–1368), † 1385

In 1368, the town Freiburg came under the dominion of the Habsburgers.

Lords of Badenweiler:

• Konrad III. (1385–1424)
• Johann (1424–1444)

In 1272, a son of Egino's II called Heinrich received the southern territories, which included Badenweiler. By 1303, the counts from Heinrich's line had died out without leaving any male descendants. Their territory became the property of the Counts of Straßberg, who had married into their line. In 1385, under the rule of Konrad III, the property was given back to the descendants of the Counts of Freiburg.

See also

• Zähringer

External links

• Freiburg, Konrad von in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
• Freiburg, Johann von in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

References

See German article for external references (in German)