Reinhard I, Lord of Hanau

Around 1243, he succeeded his uncle Henry II of Dorfelden as Lord, and reunited the possessions of his family in a single hand.

As a reward, he received the post of Burgmann of Aschaffenburg, which was a completed fief after the death of Cornrad of Dornburg.

In 1265, a Public Peace was concluded by Reinhard I, the House of Hesse and other nobles in the Wetterau area.

In a dispute between the Archbishopric of Mainz and the counts of Rieneck about power in the western Spessart, he stood on the side of the archbishop.

As part of the settlement, Elisabeth, the daughter of Count Louis III of Rienck, married below her station, to Reinhard I's son Ulrich I, bringing a rich dowry, which included the town of Steinau an der Straße.

He rounded off his territory by exchanging the manors in Benstadt, Stierstadt and Ossenheim with the Mariengreden chapter in Mainz for the forests of Hanau and Bulau.