died Dec. 23, 918
German king (911–918).
The duke of Franconia and a member of the powerful Franconian dynasty known as the Conradines, Conrad was elected king on the death of the last of the East Frankish Carolingian rulers. His reign was a bitter struggle to maintain the traditions of Carolingian kingship against the growing power of Saxon, Bavarian, and Swabian dukes. Conrad failed to gain the support of the church, and his military campaigns were unsuccessful. Unable to establish his family as the royal house of the eastern Franks, he is reported to have proposed his opponent, Henry of Saxony, as his successor.