Lechrain, populated by the Alemanni, was under the rule of the Swabian Welfs until the 12 century. After the death of Welf VI in 1191, the Welf territories in Swabia changed in to the hands to the Hohenstaufen. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa gave it to the Hohenstaufen. When the last Staufer ruler Conradin had moved to Italy in 1267 to defend his power against Charles of Anjou, his ally Duke Ludwig II of Bavaria unexpectedly denied his help and demanded the payment of debts, which is why Konradin had to give away a large part of his possessions as the Duke of Swabia (called the Konradinian donation). In this way, the Bavarian dukes of Wittelsbach, who were ambitious to extend their influence into the Alamannian settlements up to Lech and came to rule the Lechrain in 1268.