The name of Friedrich Barbarossa still sounds ominous for most of our compatriots, since it is strongly associated with the notorious “Barbarossa” plan of Adolf Hitler and the Teutonic “Onslaught to the East,” which brought so much misfortune to the Slavs both in the Middle Ages and in modern times. But the historical, and not the legendary, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1155–1190), it turns out, has nothing to do with this: he fought a lot in Italy, participated in two crusades to the Holy Land, but almost never encountered the Slavs. He entered the history of Europe as an outstanding politician who managed to temporarily unite almost half of Europe under his rule and restore the former significance of the Holy Roman Empire. One can hope that the reader, who has received at his disposal the first domestic biography of the most famous of the German rulers of the Middle Ages, will be able to appreciate the scale of the personality and the true historical significance of this extraordinary politician and person.