He was a son of Leopold I of Babenberg. Under his ruling the name Ostarrîchi, where the modern form Österreich, in the meaning of Austrian German, comes from, was for the first time mentioned in an official document (996). Henry had his stable residence at Melk, where Saint Coloman had been buried. His fief was widened by the emperor Henry II, who awarded him quite a number of territories between the rivers Kamp and Morava and in the Wienerwald.