Count Wolrad I of Waldeck was a son of Count Henry VII of Waldeck and his wife Margaret of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein. He was named after his maternal grandfather, and was the first Wolrad in the House of Waldeck. He succeeded his father as the reigning Count of Waldeck-Waldeck in 1442 – whether this was before or after his father's death is still unclear. The House Waldeck had been split since 1397 into the senior Waldeck-Landau line and the junior Waldeck-Waldeck line.