Albert of Riga was a 12th-century German prelate who served as the Bishop of Livonia from 1199 until his death in 1229. Born into the Buxhoeveden family in Bexhövede, he led crusading forces to the eastern Baltic to convert the local pagan populations to Christianity. He is most notably recognized for establishing the city of Riga in 1201 near the Daugava river, which served as a strategic harbor and a center for his ecclesiastical state.