Rudolf I of Germany

Rudolf I
Seal of Rudolf I inscribed: RUDOLFUS DEI GRACIA ROMANORUM REX SEMPER AUGUSTUS ("Rudolf by the grace of God King of the Romans, ever majestic")
King of Germany (formally King of the Romans)
Reign	1 October 1273 – 15 July 1291
Coronation	24 October 1273 Aachen Cathedral
Predecessor	(Richard of Cornwall) Interregnum
Successor	Adolf of Nassau
Born	1 May 1218 Limburgh Castle near Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl
Died	15 July 1291(1291-07-15) (aged 73) Speyer
Burial	Speyer Cathedral
Spouses	Gertrude of Hohenberg Isabella of Burgundy
Issue more...	Matilda, Duchess of Bavaria Albert I, King of Germany Catherine, Duchess of Bavaria Agnes, Duchess of Saxony Hedwig, Margravine of Brandenburg Clementia, Queen of Hungary Rudolf II, Duke of Austria Judith, Queen of Bohemia
House	Habsburg
Father	Albert IV, Count of Habsburg
Mother	Hedwig of Kyburg

Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death in 1291.

Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which had begun after the death of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II in 1250. Originally a Swabian count, he was the first Habsburg to acquire the duchies of Austria and Styria in opposition to his mighty rival, the Přemyslid king Ottokar II of Bohemia, whom he defeated in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld. The territories remained under Habsburg rule for more than 600 years, forming the core of the Habsburg monarchy and the present-day country of Austria. Rudolf played a vital role in raising the comital House of Habsburg to the rank of Imperial princes.