He is recorded to have had extensive comital rights and estates in the Germarmark march on the middle Werra (the area of Frieda and Eschwege), at Hainich (Bad Langensalza, Schlotheim, Mühlhausen and Oberdorla) and in the Obereichsfeld from 967 to 981 AD.
Starting in about 1130 AD, the Wiggers' descendants named themselves after their family seat, Bilstein Castle, which is located in the Höllental valley west of Albungen, today a village in the borough of Eschwege.
[2] The descriptive family name, the Bilsteiners, was later appended to the early members of the house.
In the 12th century, the ruling dynasty of the Ludovingians needed to place all responsibility for the management of the castle of Wartburg, particularly its security and the improvement of the fortifications, into the hands of an authorised representative.
With the appointment of the counts of Wartburg, who appear at the same time in the 13th century as the burgraves of Brandenburg at the neighbouring Brandenburg Castle, a sideline of the counts of Bilstein were elevated to high status, although they were not related by blood to the Ludowingian family.