Henry "The Falconer", Duke of Saxon and Thuringia took possession of the German kingdom (919-39) from his arch enemy who ceded the kingdom to him on his deathbed. Henry then succeeded in overthrowing every neighboring reigning authority, except Italy, with his heavily armoured but very mobile cavalry. Werla was first mentioned in 924 when Hungarian invaders surrounded it. Henry's troops, however, were able to capture a Hungarian nobleman who was held hostage until an armistice was negotiated whereby the siege was lifted with Henry agreeing to pay a yearly tribute. During the following nine years Henry erected many of the first German castles, in his domain we know Grone, Meissen, (928), Merseburg, Quedlinburg, and Poehlde. After his castles were built and his army sufficiently prepared Henry discontinued further payment to the Hungarians and they returned in 933. Near his principal residence of Merseburg, Henry defeated them in such a manner that they did not dare repeat their incursions during his lifetime.
Neither an order to build the castles nor records (such as the famous "burghal hidage" of King Alfred of England 871-99) have survived. For this reason the exact number and type of "Henry's Castles" is still disputed. Meissen at the Elbe River is the only castle where the exact date of construction is known. First, the castles of that time differed much from the later medieval ones: There were no drawbridges, no portcullis, no loopholes, no buttresses, no isolated massive stone towers, no spiral staircases and no decorative coats-of-arms. A typical castle of the twelvth century was on average less than one tenth the size of the inner bailey at Werla. To defend against the frequent incursions of pagan Normans, Slavs, Hungarians and Islamic Arabs, dozens of fortifications around old Roman cities and monasteries were built. All early castles do, however, share the following characteristics: