As a Carolingian royal court, the place was known in the 8th century as "Chunigeshofen in montibus versus Bohemiam" (“King’s court in the mountains towards Bohemia”) and had its first documentary mention in 741 in a donation document to the Bishopric of Würzburg. The Carolingians had built a royal court at the source of the river Aufseß whose fortifications served to safeguard the road network in a border region with the Frankish Empire. Emperor Charlemagne wanted to control the weapons trade in 805 with the Slavic regions lying to the east, and to that end he put commissaries to work in both Hallstadt and Scheßlitz.