Henry the Fowler: The Falconer Found in the Mountains Who Became Germany's First Real King

When the German nobles elected Henry to be their king in 919 AD, their messengers had to search for him in the Hartz Mountains for several days. They found him hunting with his falcons, which is how he got his nickname. He received the news, said something genuinely gracious about the man who had recommended him despite being a bitter enemy, and then got to work. Within a few years he had turned a fragmented Germany into a kingdom capable of defeating the Magyars — the most terrifying new threat from the east since the Huns — and laid the groundwork for the Holy Roman Empire his son would inherit.

By BookOfWorldHistory·June 2, 2026·History·4 min read · 633 words

Originally published at: https://www.bookofworldhistory.com/blog/henry-the-fowler-first-german-king-history-magyars

History

Henry the Fowler: The Falconer Found in the Mountains Who Became Germany's First Real King

BookOfWorldHistory June 2, 2026 4 min · 633 words

When the German nobles elected Henry to be their king in 919 AD, their messengers had to search for him in the Hartz Mountains for several days. They found him hunting with his falcons, which is how he got his nickname. He received the news, said something genuinely gracious about the man who had recommended him despite being a bitter enemy, and then got to work. Within a few years he had turned a fragmented Germany into a kingdom capable of defeating the Magyars — the most terrifying new threat from the east since the Huns — and laid the groundwork for the Holy Roman Empire his son would inherit.

When Conrad, the duke of Franconia and king of the Germans, was dying in 919 AD, he had the clarity to name his own enemy as his successor. Conrad had spent his reign fighting the noble families of Germany, quarreling with his dukes, never quite getting the obedience a king needed to actually govern. As he lay dying, he told his brother: Henry, Duke of Saxony, is the ablest ruler in the empire. Elect him king, and Germany will have peace. It was a remarkable deathbed speech. The man was recommending the person who had most consistently resisted him as the best available candidate. German history would have been different if he had chosen otherwise.

Henry the Fowler being offered the crown of Germany while hunting with his falcons in the Hartz Mountains, as depicted in medieval German manuscripts.

Why Germany Was Falling Apart

Charlemagne's empire had been divided among his grandsons after his son Louis the Pious died in 840. Three grandsons took three pieces: Louis got the eastern German-speaking territory, Lothaire got the center with the title of emperor, and Charles got the western French-speaking piece. A century after Charlemagne's death, the eastern (German) portion of the empire had fragmented further. Multiple dukes ran their own territories as effectively independent rulers. The last descendant of Charlemagne in the east died as a child. The German nobles elected Conrad, and Conrad spent his entire reign failing to unite them. The external threat was pressing in from the east. The Magyars — predecessors of the modern Hungarians — were the new version of the Huns: ferocious cavalry warriors who swept out of their steppe homeland, raided Germany, burned what they found, and returned before any organized defense could assemble. They were fast, mobile, and brutal. Germany needed someone who could both unify the nobles and build a military capable of dealing with the Magyar threat. Conrad, dying, had identified the right man.

Nine Years to Prepare

Henry's first act after becoming king was a military stroke of luck: he defeated a small Magyar force and captured the son of the Magyar king in the fighting. The king sent representatives to beg for his son's release. Henry agreed — on condition that the Magyars leave German soil immediately and promise not to attack for nine years. The king paid Henry five thousand pieces of gold annually for the truce. Nine years was exactly what Henry needed. Before his reign, German soldiers had fought primarily on foot. The Magyars were cavalry fighters — fast, mobile, able to strike and withdraw before foot soldiers could respond. Every battle against them was a disadvantage. Henry spent those nine truce years building and training a cavalry force that could match the Magyar speed and shock. He also fortified cities. Every town of any size in his kingdom had its defenses strengthened. He reorganized the infantry and drilled them systematically. When the Magyar chief arrived at the German court demanding the tenth annual payment and announcing the truce was over, Henry replied: Not a piece of gold. Our truce is ended. Within a week, a vast Magyar army entered Germany.

The Defeat That Ended the Magyar Threat

Henry held his cavalry back, waiting until hunger forced the Magyar army to divide into two separate groups looking for food in different parts of the country. Then he struck each group separately. Both were completely destroyed. The power of the Magyars in Germany was broken in a single campaign. He also dealt with Danish raiders from the north, defeating them and driving them back across the border. Henry reigned for eighteen years and died in 936. When he died, Germany was peaceful and functioning in ways it had not been for a generation. His son Otto succeeded him, took the title of emperor — claiming the succession from Charlemagne — and became the first Holy Roman Emperor in the proper historical sense. Henry had been found hunting birds on a mountainside. He left behind a kingdom capable of producing an empire.