Early life Konrad came from a family with a rich knightly tradition that had its roots in
Franconia. He joined the Teutonic Order ca. 1370. Grand Master
Winrich von Kniprode named him
Komtur of
Schlochau (Człuchów) in 1377, but his real career did not begin until
Conrad Zöllner von Rothenstein became Grand Master in 1382. After the death of
Kuno von Hattenstein, Konrad became
Grand Marshal and Komtur of
Königsberg. He was chiefly tasked with organizing
crusades against the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and became quite adept at it. He became Komtur of
Marienburg (Malbork) and Grosskomtur of the Teutonic Order in 1387. Zöllner died in 1390, and it seemed only a matter of time before Konrad would become the next Grand Master. However, he encountered great opposition from
Walrabe von Scharffenberg, Komtur of
Danzig (Gdańsk). It was not until 12 March 1391
O.S. that Wallenrode became grand master, thanks to the support of two electors,
Siegfried Walpot von Bassenheim and
Rüdiger von Elner, the Komturs of
Elbing (Elbląg) and
Tuchel (Tuchola), respectively. )
As Grand Master Konrad's two-year rule was filled with campaigns against Lithuania. He was against the
Polish-Lithuanian Union, which he tried to dissolve. Konrad began a campaign against Lithuania in 1392 and split his army into three divisions. The first one, under command of
Arnold von Burgeln, Komtur of
Balga, headed for
Masovia. The other two divisions, under the command of Konrad and Grand Marshal
Engelhard Rabe von Wildstein, headed for
Vilnius. They were close to capturing Vilnius, which was defended by Polish knights, but retreated as a result of a scandal caused by the grand master. Von Wildstein was a great commander and a tactician with the respect of his soldiers, but he was relieved of his duties as grand marshal by Konrad. The reason is not completely known, but it is widely believed that the grand master was jealous of von Wildstein's success. Nonetheless, this caused a revolt between most of the knights who stood behind von Wildstein. Despite this, Konrad did not change his decision and the campaign was abandoned. This helped von Wallenrode to clean up dissent in the order, especially in the Lower Prussian Komturships of Balga,
Brandenburg, and
Ragnit that were under supremacy of the grand marshal. In 1392 Duke
Władysław Opolski offered Konrad a partition of Poland with the
Holy Roman Empire, the Teutonic Knights,
Brandenburg,
Hungary, and the
Silesian dukes all taking part of it, but the grand master rejected it. The same year he started another military action against Lithuania with guest crusaders, including Henry of Derby, the future King
Henry IV of England.
Dutch and
French knights under Konrad's command attacked
Gardinas, leading
Vytautas the Great to call a peace conference in
Thorn (Toruń). Ten days into the conference, however, Konrad died on 23 July 1393, probably of
apoplexy. During his reign, he led active economic and colonization actions in
Prussia. He settled vast tracts of land with
German colonists and built two castles,
Gotteswerder and
Mittenburg. In 1393 he created a new komturship in
Rhein (Ryn); its first komtur was his brother
Friedrich von Wallenrode, a later Komtur of
Mewe (Gniew),
Strasburg (Brodnica) and the Grand Marshal of Königsberg who died in the
Battle of Grunwald in 1410. Another relative of Konrad was
Johann von Wallenrode, the
Archbishop of Riga between 1393–1416. ==The poem==