Battle of Lechfeld The Battle of Lechfeld ( 10 August 955 ) , often seen as the defining event for holding off the incursions of the Hungarians into Western Europe , was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great , King of the Germans , over the Hungarian leaders , the " harka " ( military leader ) Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél ( Lehel ) and Súr . Located south of Augsburg , the Lechfeld is the flood plain that lies along the Lech River . The battle appears as the Battle of Augsburg in Hungarian historiography . It was followed up by the Battle of Recknitz in October . It was the first national German battle against a foreign enemy . Sources . The most important source is Gerhard ' s monograph " Vita Sancti Uodalrici " , which describes the series of actions from the German point of view . Another source is the chronicler Widukind of Corvey , who provides some important details . The chronicle " Gesta Hungarorum " provides insight from the Hungarian side ; however , this chronicle was only written in the 12th century . Background . After having put down a rebellion by his son , Liudolf , Duke of Swabia and son - in - law , Conrad , Duke of Lorraine , Otto I the Great , King of the Germans , set out to Saxony , his duchy . Upon arriving in Magdeburg he received reports of the Hungarian invasion . The Hungarians had already invaded once before during the course of the rebellion . This occurred immediately after he had put down a revolt in Franconia . Because of unrest among the Polabian Slavs on the lower Elbe , Otto had to leave most of his Saxons at home . In addition , Saxony was distant from Augsburg and its environs , and considerable time would have elapsed waiting for their arrival . The battle took place six weeks after the first report of an invasion , and historian Hans Delbrück asserts that they could not have possibly made the march in time . The king ordered his troops to concentrate on the Danube , in the vicinity of Neuburg and Ingolstadt . He did this in order to march on the Hungarian line of communications and catch them in their rear while they were raiding northeast of Augsburg . It was also a central point of concentration for all the contingents that were assembling . Strategically , therefore , this was the best location for Otto to concentrate his forces before making the final descent upon the Hungarians . There were other troops that had an influence on the course of the battle . On previous occasions , in 932 and 954 for example , there had been Hungarian incursions that had invaded the Germanic lands to the South of the Danube , and then retreated back to their native country via Lotharingia , to the West Frankish Kingdom and finally , through Italy . That is to say , a wide sweeping U - turn that initially started westward , then progressed to the south , and then finally to the east back to their homeland ; and thus escaping retribution in Germany . The king was aware of the escape of these Hungarians on the above mentioned occasions , and was determined to trap them . He therefore ordered his brother , Archbishop Bruno , to keep the Lotharingian forces in Lorraine . He did this with the fear that the Hungarians would follow their plan of retreat on the previous occasions . However , with a powerful enough force of knights pressing them in the front from the west , and a powerful force of knights chasing them from the East , the Hungarians would be unable to escape . The Bishop Ulrich defended Augsburg , a border city of Swabia , with a contingent of soldiers . Motivating them with the 23rd Psalm ( " Yea , though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death " ) . While this defense was going on , the king was raising an army to march south . There is no reliable source on the size of the armies and the numbers are still disputed . The most accepted view is that Otto called up about 8 , 000 men . The eight 1 , 000 - strong " legiones " ( divisions ) included three from Bavaria , two from Swabia , one from Franconia and one from Bohemia , under Prince Boleslav I . The eighth division , commanded by Otto and slightly larger than the others , included Saxons , Thuringians , and the king ' s personal guard . The king ' s contingent probably included seasoned knights of Frankish origin . According to chronicles , the Hungarian army amounted to 25 – 50 , 000 men , but a more realistic figure is 10 – 25 , 000 men . Gerhard writes that the Hungarian forces advanced to the Iller river and placed Augsburg under siege . At this time , Augsburg was not quite touching the left bank of the river , upon which it was basically situated . The fort was defended by Bishop Ulrich . Most probably the fiercest battle took place on August 8 at the eastern gate , when the Hungarians tried to storm the fort in large numbers . The bishop ' s men defended bravely and killed the leader of the attack , forcing the Hungarians to withdraw . The next day the Hungarians launched a wider general attack . During the battle , Berchtold of Risinesburg arrived , which heralded the approach of the German army . At the end of the day , the siege was suspended , and the Hungarians prepared for the next day ' s battle . Count Dietpald led soldiers to Otto ' s camp during the night . Battle at Lechfeld . The order of march of the German army was as follows : the three Bavarian contingents , the Frankish contingent under Duke Konrad , the royal unit ( the center ) , the two contingents of Swabians and the Bohemian contingent . The Bavarians were placed at the head of column , according to Delbrück , because they were marching through Bavarian territory and they therefore knew the territory best . All of these were mounted . According to the chronicler Widukind of Corvey , Otto " pitched his camp in the territory of the city of Augsburg and joined there the forces of Henry I , Duke of Bavaria , who was himself lying mortally ill nearby , and by Duke Conrad with a large following of Franconian knights . Conrad ' s unexpected arrival encouraged the warriors so much that they wished to attack the enemy immediately . " The arrival of Conrad , the exiled duke of Lotharingia ( Lorraine ) and Otto ' s son - in - law , was particularly heartening because he had recently thrown in his lot with the Magyars , but now returned to fight under Otto ; in the ensuing battle he lost his life . A legion of Swabians was commanded by Burchard III , Duke of Swabia , who had married Hedwig , the daughter of Henry , the brother of Otto . Also among those fighting under Otto was Boleslav of Bohemia . About 3 , 000 Saxons were commanded by Otto himself . The Hungarians crossed the river and immediately attacked the Bohemians , then later the Schwabian legions , but retreated after a short fight . As Otto received word of the attack , he ordered Conrad to recover the baggage train , which Conrad succeeded in doing before returning to the main forces . For Otto , it became evident that this was the time to attack the Hungarians , and he did not hesitate . Despite a volley of arrows from the Hungarians , Otto ' s army smashed into the Hungarian line , and began to sweep over it . The Germans were able to fight hand - to - hand with the Hungarians , giving the traditionally nomadic warriors no room to use their favorite shoot - and - run tactics . Bulcsú feigned a retreat with part of his force , in an attempt to lure Otto ' s men into breaking their line in pursuit , but to no avail . The German line maintained formation and routed the Magyars from the field . The German forces maintained discipline and methodically pursued the Magyars for the next couple of days , rather than dispersing jubilantly , as German forces had been known to do in the past . " Some of the enemy sought refuge in nearby villages , their horses being worn out ; these were surrounded and burnt to death within the walls . " The captured Magyars were either executed , or sent back to their ruling prince , Taksony , missing their ears and noses . On their return , the Hungarian dukes Lél , Bulcsú and Sur , who were not Árpáds , were executed . Duke Conrad was also killed , after he opened his vest in the summer heat and one arrow struck his throat . " Never was so bloody a victory gained over so savage a people , " was Widukind ' s conclusion . Tactical details . Otto deployed his divisions in a single line , without reserves . From right to left the line was held by Duke Conrad ' s Franconians , the three Bavarian divisions , Otto ' s division and the two Swabian divisions . The Bohemian division defended the camp . The Hungarians mounted a rapid frontal attack in a typical horse archer swarm , raining arrows among the German knights , but this was only a feint . The main attack circled behind Otto ' s host and struck the camp , routing Boleslav ' s knights . The Hungarian flanking force then attacked the two Swabian divisions from the rear , while their compatriots attacked in front . The Swabians were disordered by the double attack , but they did not panic . Instead , they fell back fighting toward the king ' s division . Otto ordered Conrad to pull his division out from the extreme right and bring it behind the German line to help the Swabians on the enveloped left flank . Conrad brilliantly executed the difficult maneuver and his knights charged the Hungarian flanking force . Pinned between Conrad and the Swabians , these horsemen were cut to pieces . Meanwhile , Otto and the Bavarians had successfully held off the enemy frontal attack . Once Conrad disposed of the flanking force , Otto led a general advance . Conrad was killed by an arrow . Seeing the day going against them , the Hungarians bolted for their camp . Fleeing across the river , many were caught in the shallow river bed ( made up of banks of pebbles ) and killed as they urged their tired horses up the steep and slippery west bank of the Lech . After the Germans stormed and plundered the Hungarian camp , the raiders set out for Hungary . They had to swing a long detour south and east , during which a number of the smaller war parties were overtaken and slaughtered by the enraged local people . Aftermath . On the field of battle , the German lords raised Otto on their shields in the Germanic manner and proclaimed him Emperor . A few years later , on the strength of this , Otto went to Rome and had himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII . The king spent the night after the battle in Augsburg . The king specifically issued the order that all river crossings were to be held . This was done so that as many of the Hungarians as possible , and specifically their leaders , could be captured and killed . This strategy was successful , as Duke Henry of Bavaria captured a number of their leaders and killed them . It is disputed how this had affected Hungarian statehood . What is certain is that it was not a crushing defeat , as Otto was not able to chase the army and extend the battle to Hungarian lands . After the defeat , the Hungarians reached the end of the almost 100 - year era in which they were seen as the dominating military force in Europe . After 955 , the Hungarians completely ceased all campaigns westwards . In addition , Otto did not launch any further military campaigns against the Hungarians . The Hungarian leader Fajsz was dethroned following the defeat , and was succeeded as Grand Prince of the Hungarians by Taksony . Importance . The battle has been viewed as a symbolic victory for the knight ly cavalry , who would define European warfare in the High Middle Ages , over the nomadic , light cavalry that characterized warfare during the Early Middle Ages in Central and Eastern Europe . Paul K . Davis writes , the " Magyar defeat ended more than 90 years of their pillaging western Europe and convinced survivors to settle down , creating the basis for the state of Hungary . "