Wigger I (died 981) was the father of a line of counts ruling from his new castle of Bilstein, west of Albungen (today part of

Eschwege Eschwege (), the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. In 1971, the town hosted the eleventh ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Wer ...

) to the

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the t ...

. The counts of Bilstein played a prominent role in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

from 967 to 1301 and were third after the Ekkehardinger and Weimar-Orlamünde in terms of power and influence. Wigger was probably the second son of

Siegfried, Count of Merseburg Siegfried (died 3 December 937) was the Count and Margrave of Merseburg from an unknown date before 934 until his death. He does not appear with the title of margrave in contemporary royal charters and diplomas, so the title was informal and never o ...

, and thus a nephew of Gero the Great. On his uncle's death in 965, he was granted the

March of Zeitz The March of Zeitz (german: Mark Zeitz) was a march of the Holy Roman Empire. It was created by Emperor Otto I in the division of the ''marca Geronis'' in 965, following the death of Gero the Great. Its capital was Zeitz. Its first and only margra ...

. For a time he was also the

Margrave of Merseburg The ''Marca Geronis'' (march of Gero) was a vast super-march in the middle of the tenth century. It was created probably for Thietmar (in the 920s) and passed to his two sons consecutively: Siegfried and Gero. On Gero's death in 965 it was divi ...

and possible also of the

March of Meissen The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' (Saxon ...

. He had extensive estates —

Langensalza Bad Langensalza (; until 1956: Langensalza) is a spa town of 17,500 inhabitants in the Unstrut-Hainich district, Thuringia, central Germany. Geography Location Bad Langensalza is located in the Thuringian Basin, the fertile lowlands along t ...

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

, Schlotheim, Frieda, Dornburg an der Saale, and Eschwege — and comital authority in the Eichsfeld and the middle Werra. He was count of the Germarmark (east of Mühlhausen), Weitagau, and Ducharingau (area of

Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded u ...

and

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

). He was also the advocate (''

vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'') of the

Diocese of Zeitz The Prince-Bishopric of Naumburg-Zeitz (german: Bistum Naumburg-Zeitz; la, Citizensis, then ' or ') was a medieval diocese in the central German area between Leipzig in the east and Erfurt in the west. The seat of the bishop was Zeitz Cathedral in ...

. He was a faithful follower of the

Ottonians The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

. He participated in their wars on the

Slavic peoples Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic language, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout ...

to the east and was created count in the Plisnagau and the Puonzowagau. He and his brother Dedi founded the convent of

Drübeck Drübeck is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Ilsenburg. Abbey It is the site of a former monastery of nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict, first ...

near

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

. In 981, Wigger gave his propriety interests in the convent to

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. ...

. Wigger died in 981 and was succeeded in the Germarmark and the Watergau by his son

Wigger II ''Wigger'', or ''wigga'', is a term for a white people, white person of Ethnic groups in Europe, European ethnic origin, who emulates the perceived mannerisms, African American Vernacular English, language, and Hip hop fashion, fashions associat ...

. His march was bestowed on

Ricdag Rikdag, also called Ricdag, Riddag, or Rihdag (died 985), was Margrave of Meissen from 979 until his death. In 982, he also acquired the marches of Merseburg and Zeitz. After the Great Slav Rising in 983, he temporarily reunited all of the souther ...

and the remainder of his possessions went to

Eckard I of Meissen Eckard I (''Ekkehard'';Rarely ''Ekkard'' or ''Eckhard''. Contemporary Latin variants to his name include ''Ekkihardus'', ''Eggihardus'', ''Eggihartus'', ''Heckihardus'', ''Egihhartus'', and ''Ekgihardus''. – 30 April 1002) was Margrave of Meiss ...

Sources

*Bernhardt, John W. ''Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c.936–1075''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 981 deaths Year of birth unknown {{Germany-noble-stub