Counts of Freiburg
The Counts of Freiburg were the descendants of Count Egino of Urach, they ruled over the city of Freiburg, as well as the Breisgau region (in what is present-day Germany) between approximately 1245 and 1368 AD.
The Counts of Freiburg were the descendants of Count Egino of Urach (1168-1237) who was the son of Agnes of Zähringen and 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 (1236-1272), it was during his reign that a division of the estate with the princely house of Fürstenberg took place, sometime before 1245. As the successors to the Dukes of Zähringen, whose direct line had been extinct since 1218, the Counts of Freiburg had ruled over the city of Freiburg, as well as the Breisgau region since the 13th century. The area is situated in the Upper Rhine Plain around Freiburg and extends into the adjoining Black Forest.
In 1272 a son of Egino II's, 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. In 1368, the town Freiburg came under the dominion of the House of Habsburg.
Until 1368, this family of counts reigned over Freiburg, though their reign was never undisputed. In 1368, the city councillors of Freiburg ransomed themselves.[further explanation needed] 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 its bailiwick, as well as 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. His sons, Rudolf and Hugo, united the baronies, Rötteln, Sausenberg, and Badenweiler to form the Markgräflerland.
List of the Counts of Freiburg
List shows reign, not lifespan.
- Egino I. (as Count of Urach Egino V.) (until 1237)
- Konrad I. (1237–1271)
- Egino II. (1271–1316)
- Konrad II. (1316–1350)
- Friedrich (1350–1356)
- Klara (1356–1358)
- Egino III. (1358–1368)
Lords of Badenweiler:
- Konrad III. (1385–1424)
- Johann (1424–1444)
- 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.
See German article for external references (in German)