Frederick I, nicknamed Barbarossa, was one of the most notable Holy Roman Emperors, who left a considerable political and cultural legacy, especially in Germany and Italy. Thus, he has been the subjects of many studies as well as works of art. Due to his popularity and notoriety, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, he was instrumentalized as a political symbol by many movements and regimes: the Risorgimento, the Wilhelmine government in Germany (especially under Emperor Wilhelm I), and the National Socialist movement. Today, when a tradition-establishing form of commemoration for the emperor is no longer necessary, scholars like Kurt Görich call for neutrality and warn against the instrumentalization of the historical person in the other way. Modern historians generally reject nationalis