Devotion of the Women of Weinsberg

During the wars between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, a battle was fought (1140) between the Emperor Konrad III. and Welf, brother of Heinrich the Proud, at the foot of Weinsberg, a hill crowned with a castle on the banks of the Neckar; and in this battle, "Welf" (Guelph) and "Waibling" (Ghibelline) were first used.

The victory fell to Konrad, and he besieged the castle until those within offered to surrender.

All the men were to be made prisoners; but the women were to go away in peace, with as much of their treasure as each could carry.

All Konrad's army was drawn up to leave free passage for the ladies, the emperor at their head, when, behold, a wonderful procession came down the hill ! Each woman carried on her back her greatest treasure,--husband, son, father, or brother.

Some were angry at this, as a trick; but Konrad was touched, granted safety to all, and not only gave freedom to the men, but sent the women back to get the wealth they had left behind.

The hill was called Weibertreu, or Woman's Truth; and in 1820 Charlotte, Queen of Wurtemberg, daughter of George III., with other ladies of Germany, built an asylum there for poor women who have been noted for self-sacrificing acts of love.