Albert I of Käfernburg

Albert I of Käfernburg (German: Albrecht I. von Käfernburg; c. 1170 – 15 October 1232) was Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1205 until his death.

He was the son of Count Gunther II of Käfernburg (d. about 1197), a member of the Thuringian nobility and relative of the comital House of Schwarzburg, who held large estates in the area around Arnstadt. His mother was Gunther's first wife Agnes, a daughter of Count Simon I of Saarbrücken. Albert began his studies at the cathedral school in Hildesheim, completing them later at Paris and Bologna. At an early age he was made a prebendary of Magdeburg Cathedral, and in 1200 was appointed Provost of the collegiate church of St Mary in Mainz by Pope Innocent III.

Albert played a prominent part in the great struggle for the Imperial crown, which marked the close of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries. Even before his consecration, he had inclined to the side of the Hohenstaufen candidate Philip of Swabia, who sought the crown in spite of his minor nephew Frederick II, the son and heir of late Emperor Henry VI. In turn, through the influence of the Bishop of Halberstadt, he was nominated successor of the Magdeburg Archbishop Ludolph of Kroppenstedt who had died on 17 August 1205. After receiving the papal approbation, which was at first withheld by Innocent III, partly on account of those who had taken part in his election and partly on his account of his attitude towards King Philip, Albert proceeded to Rome, where he was consecrated bishop by the Pope on 24 December 1206 and received the pallium.

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