 As a place in a border area, Wanfried, which had already been mentioned by 813 under the names "In wanen In Riden" and "Uuanenreodum", was often the object of territorial swaps and pledges by both the Hessian and Thuringian Landgraves, whose spheres of interest came up against each other here.After the Battle of Wettin (1264), the community mentioned at this time as "Wenefridun" was ceded to Thuringia.To expand his new Hessian Landgraviate, Henry I bought the communities of Wanfried and Frieda and a few villages in the Eichsfeld from the Thuringian Landgrave in 1306.