After the death of Louis the Child, Conrad was elected king of East Francia on 10 November 911 at Forchheim by the rulers of Saxony, Swabia and Bavaria.

[4] The dukes prevented the succession to the throne of Louis' Carolingian relative Charles the Simple, king of West Francia.

Only Conrad's rival, Reginar, duke of Lotharingia, refused to give him his allegiance and joined West Francia.

He was finally arrested for treason in an assembly of nobles at Hohenaltheim in Swabia and on 21 January 917 was executed together with his brother Berthold.

Conrad's realm was also exposed to the continuous raids of the Magyars since the disastrous defeat of the Bavarian forces at the 907 Battle of Pressburg, leading to a considerable decline in his authority.

His attempt to mobilize the East Frankish episcopate led by Archbishop Unni of Bremen to his cause at the 916 synod of Hohenaltheim was not enough to compensate other failures.

It was not until May 919 when Eberhard and the other Frankish nobles accepted Conrad's advice, and Henry was elected king at the Reichstag of Fritzlar.

Eberhard succeeded Conrad as duke of Franconia, but was killed in 939 at the Battle of Andernach during his rebellion against emperor Otto I.