The story of Brunnenweible's fame is likely to be found in the tough war between Konrad III. of Swabia and Heinrich the proud in the dispute over imperial dignity. On December 4, 1137 Kaiser Lothar von Lupplinburg died on the return from Italy to Breitenwang in Tirol. Dying, he handed over the imperial insignia to his son-in-law. Heinrich von Bayern, however, didn't obtain approval by the German princes in the election of the Emperor. Instead, the princes elected Duke Konrad von Schwaben as emperor. In the ensuing armed conflicts, a civil war in southern German territory broke out, with the battles being carried all the way to the foothills of the Neckar.
Threatened by his enemies, the emperor (whether Heinrich or Konrad is unknown) of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation fled to the city of Waibstadt, which at that time was still called Cornelia. No sooner had he passed the city gate and reached the market place than his pursuers approached. He was hiding behind the washing device of a woman who was washing her clothes on the market square. When the persecutors asked whether she had seen the emperor, she pointed in one direction and saved the emperor's life. As a thank you for this courageous deed, the emperor had his savior erect a monument, the “Brunnenweible”.
