Exhibition Vinothek Winningen: "To your health!" -Wine shops in Winningen

The son of Count Heinrich VI of Luxembourg, who fell in the Battle of Worringen in 1288, grew up like his brother Heinrich VII, with the obligation to follow in his father's footsteps and become a hero. After being elected Archbishop of Trier in 1307, he was able to secure his brother's election as Roman King in 1308.

This brother later sought to acquire the imperial crown and set out for Rome with a large entourage. The venture turned into a fiasco, but Archbishop Baldwin had an illustrated manuscript created, which presented the undertaking "in a better light." Baldwin was also an art-loving bishop, who commissioned, among other things, the magnificent decoration of the Church of Our Lady in Oberwesel, and a successful territorial politician.

In his attempt to assert a modern administration in his electorate, he waged several feuds, e.g., against the Counts of Eltz. He had no success in his feud against the Sponheimers. The widow Loretta kidnapped him and kept him imprisoned at Starkenburg until he fulfilled all her demands. A notable achievement was the construction of the Koblenz Moselle Bridge, the only crossing of the Rhine and Moselle that could be newly built in the Middle Ages. It was allegedly intended for pilgrims to Cologne and was financed with indulgence letters. The necessary stones were quarried from the Winningen bridge site. In return, the residents living on Sponheim territory were granted permission to use the Baldwin Bridge without paying a toll.

For more information, visit: www.vinothek-winningen.de