Herman I, Count of Winzenburg

Who is Herman I, Count of Winzenburg?

Herman I, Count of Winzenburg was count of Formbach and Radelberg. From 1109 to 1130, he was also Count of Winzenburg and from 1122 to 1138, he was Count of Reinhausen. He was also Landgrave of Thuringia from 1111 to 1130 and Margrave of Meissen from 1124 to 1130. And finally, he was high bailiff of Corvey Abbey.

He was a son of Count Meginhard IV of Formbach, and his wife Matilda, a daughter of Count Elli II of Reinhausen.

At a young age, he moved in with his maternal uncle, Bishop Udo of Hildesheim. In Hildesheim, he attended the cathedral school. At the age of sixteen, he travelled with his uncle to Mainz, to be presented to the emperor on 9 November 1099.

He was the first member of the family to call himself of Winzenburg, after Winzenburg Castle, southeast of Alfeld, which he received as a fief from his uncle Udo.

He was an advisor of Emperor Henry V and became very powerful during Henry's reign. In 1109, Henry V sent him to Rome, as a member of a diplomatic mission. In 1111 or 1112, he became the first Landgrave of Thuringia, after it was split off from the Duchy of Saxony.

He fulfilled his obligations as bailiff of Corvey Abbey from a distance.