Frederick I Barbarossa: myth and person

04/14/2026

A celebrity of the Middle Ages who still divides opinion today. On Wednesday, 22 April 2026, the Schelling Forum will be all about Friedrich Barbarossa.

At the next Schelling Forum, Professor Knut Görich and Dr. Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus will discuss Frederick Barbarossa. (Image: Schelling-Forum)

No other emperor of the Middle Ages was so distorted by the hopes and desires of the 19th century as Frederick I Barbarossa. The Italian Risorgimento and German nationalism instrumentalised him politically: some saw him as a foreign ruler who fought against the freedom of the Italian cities, while others believed that he had already contributed to the unification of the German people in the Middle Ages. The challenge for a modern interpretation of the emperor is to place his life and his politics in the context of his time. Only then does the strangeness of the distant 12th century come to light.

In his lecture, Professor Knut Görich addresses the modern reception of the Hohenstaufen emperor, but also his aristocratic mentality, for which the preservation of rank and honour was an essential characteristic. It formed the common thread in the battles Barbarossa waged in Germany with the princes, in Italy with the Lombard League of Cities and with the papacy, and in the crusade with the Byzantine emperor. Following his lecture, Professor Knut Görich will be in conversation with journalist and podcast producer Dr Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus - and the audience is welcome to join in!

Time and place

When? Wednesday, 22 April 2026, 18:00 hrs

Where? Schelling-Forum, Klinikstraße 3, 97070 Würzburg

Lecturer

Professor Knut Görich held the Chair of Early and High Medieval History at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich from 2001 to 2024. His research interests centre on the Ottonian and Hohenstaufen eras, early and high medieval historiography and the forms of communication and interaction in the Middle Ages. He has published several books on the Hohenstaufen dynasty and on Frederick I Barbarossa in particular. Knut Görich has been a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities since 2014.

Moderation

Dr Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus began his journalistic career as a reporter for radio and television alongside his law studies. He later worked as head of the "Talk and Entertainment" programme department at Norddeutscher Rundfunk, where he became programme director of NDR television from 2007. From 2017 to 2023, he was Programme Director at Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. Since 2025, he has been independently producing his podcast "Who we are and why that didn't work out... In 99 episodes through German history", in which he explores German history in conversations with numerous academics.