Founder of the House of Hohenlohe

The first ancestor was mentioned in 1153 as Conrad, Lord of Weikersheim, where the family had the Geleitrecht (right of escorting travellers and goods and charging customs) along the Tauber river on the trading route between Frankfurt and Augsburg until the 14th century. It is likely that Conrad was a son of Conrad von Pfitzingen, who was already mentioned in documents in 1136/1141 and owned a castle of that name near Weikersheim. Allegedly, according to some, however unconfirmed sources, the wife of Conrad von Pfitzingen named Sophie was an illegitimate daughter of Conrad III Hohenstaufen, King of Germany, with a noble lady named Gerberga. The Hohenlohe family therefore later boasted of a kinship with the Imperial House of Hohenstaufen.

Heinrich von Weikersheim is mentioned in documents from 1156 to 1182 and Adelbert von Weikersheim around 1172 to 1182.