The Lords of Walsee were a German noble family between the 13th and 15th centuries. Taking their name from

Bad Waldsee Bad Waldsee () is a town in Upper Swabia in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the Ravensburg (district), district of Ravensburg. It is situated 20 km south of Biberach an der Riß, and 20 km northeast of Ravensburg. The town h ...

Upper Swabia Upper Swabia ( or ) is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.''Brockhaus Enzyklopädie.'' 19. Auflage. Band 16, 1991, p. 72. The name refers to the area between the Swabian Jura, Lake Con ...

, they were originally ministerials (unfree knights) in the service of the abbey of Weissenburg and the

Staufer The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to List of German monarchs, royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 ...

s. They grew wealthy in the space between the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

and the

Iller The Iller (; ancient name Ilargus) is a river of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube, long. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Breitach, Stillach and Trettach near Oberstdorf in the Al ...

. Under the patronage of a

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

king, either Rudolf I or

Albert I Albert I may refer to: People Born before 1300 * Albert I, Count of Vermandois (917–987) * Albert I, Count of Namur () * Albert I of Moha *Albert I of Brandenburg (), first margrave of Brandenburg * Albert I, Margrave of Meissen (1158–1195) *Al ...

, they came to the Ennstal. In 1331, they sold Bad Waldsee to the Habsburgs.Gerhard Köbler
''Historische Enzyklopädie der Länder der Deutschen''
(2014), p. 803. By the acquisition of various lordships, they established several lines in

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

. The lines of

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

and Drosendorf went extinct in 1400, that of Enns in 1483 and that of

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

in 1363. They frequently held the office of ''

Hauptmann () is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as ''captain''. Background While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literall ...

'' (governor) in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

and

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. During the feudal wars at the end of the 13th century they expanded their possessions in some parts of the Croatian-Hungarian Kingdom. Ulrich I. von WalseeKarl Freiherr von Czoernig
''Ethnographie der Oesterreichischen Monarchie''
(Vienna, 1857)Franz von Krones

(1896)Metka Fujs

(2004), Vol.3, No.6. became lord of Međimurje in northern Croatia. In 1395, they acquired

Duino Castle Duino Castle (, , ) is a fourteenth-century fortification located in the village of Duino, located in the municipality of Duino-Aurisina, near Trieste, modern-day Italy, on the cliffs overlooking the Gulf of Trieste. Building commenced in 1389 a ...

after the extinction of the local lords. They also acquired

Fiume Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and in 2021 had a po ...

and the coast in 1400. In 1465 and 1471, the Emperor Frederick III was confirmed as heir to Fiume.August Dimitz, ''History of Carniola from Ancient Times to the Year 1813 with Special Consideration of Cultural Development, Volume I: From Primeval Times to the Death of Emperor Frederick III (1493)'' (Slovenian Genealogy Society International, 2013 874, pp. 179, 226.Josip Banić, 'The Mystery of Merania: A New Solution to Old Problems (Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Croatia-Dalmatia during the Investiture Controversy)", ''Historical Review, Ljubljana'' 75.162 (2020), pp. 296–327.

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