Ludovingians

The male line of Ludovingians was extinguished on the death of Henry Raspe in 1247, leading to the War of the Thuringian Succession.

Around 1040 Louis the Bearded received a fief north of the Thuringian Forest and had the (now ruined) castle of Schauenburg near Friedrichroda.

The latter built the castle of Wartburg (first mentioned in 1080) above Eisenach as his new seat of residence and in 1085 founded Reinhardsbrunn, henceforth the house monastery of the family.

In the stormy period of the Investiture Controversy, Louis the Springer was one of the leading opponents of Emperor Henry V. The distinct anti-imperial stance of the Ludovingians, their prominent political position and other factors led Wolfgang Hartmann vertretene to propose that, amongst the famous benefactors portrayed in Naumburg Cathedral, were the statues of the founder of the Wartburg, Louis and his wife Adelheid.

The link thus established between Thuringia and large parts of Hesse was not severed until the War of the Thuringian Succession.

A second brother, Conrad Raspe, ruled the Hessian estates of the family, but entered the Teutonic Order in 1234, soon becoming its Hochmeister.