Ruhrgau

Diuspurggau (wrongly also on the left bank of the Rhine)

The Ruhrgau , also called Duisburggau , was a medieval Franconian district on the Lower Rhine and the lower reaches of the Ruhr . The Ruhrgau is often mistakenly confused with the Rurgau .

The Ruhrgau included the areas of today's cities of Essen , Duisburg and Mülheim an der Ruhr , i.e. the right bank of the Rhine at least from the mouth of the Düssel to the mouth of the Ruhr, where the city of Duisburg was located. It was set up after the Franks had conquered the Saxons , and apparently added to the right bank of the Rhine in Ripuarian . To the south was the Ripuarian Deutzgau, on the left bank of the Rhine the Gilde- / Keldagau belonging to the Hatturarian county around the former fort Gelduba in Krefeld - Gellep . In the north and east of the Ruhrgau bordered on the the Duchy of Saxony belonging Westfalengau .

The name change from Ruhrgau to Duisburggau finds, according to Nonn, an explanation in the increased importance of the imperial city of Duisburg since the 10th century, which after the Norman invasion in 883/884 saw an economic upswing.

In the more recent research, the Ruhrgau is now understood as part of a large, countial district between the Ruhr, Rhine and Wupper, which was given the name Duisburg-Kaiserswerther Grafschaft .

Counts in the Ruhrgau were:

Otto († after 918), 904 count in the Ruhrgau, 912 count on the middle Lahn , brother of King Konrad I ; ( Konradiner )
Erenfried II , attested in 942/966, † before 970, 942 Graf in Zülpichgau , 945 Graf in Bonngau, 950 Graf in Ruhrgau / Keldachgau , 946/959 Graf in the County of Huy ( Ezzonen )
Gerhard Flamens , † 1082, Graf im Ruhrgau 1057, Graf im Hattuariergau 1067
Hermann II of Lorraine , Count Palatine of Lorraine 1061-1085, Count in Ruhrgau and Zülpichgau , Count of Brabant
Bernher , mentioned in 1093 and 1115

literature

Historical Atlas of the Rhineland , 7th delivery, IV.9: The medieval Gaue, 2000, 1 map sheet, 1 booklet, edited by Thomas Bauer, ISBN 3-7927-1818-9

Individual evidence

^ Xanten in the early and high Middle Ages. Legend traditions - Stiftsgeschichte - Middle Ages, page 27: "... in pagis Diuspurch et Keldaggouwe ... The Duisburggau probably means the old Ruhrgau. According to U. Nonn, the name change is likely due to the increased importance of Duisburg since the 10th century . "
↑ Ulrich Nonn: Pagus and Comitatus in Niederlothringen . In: Bonn historical research . Volume 49. Bonn 1983, p. 80-81 .

[1] Xanten in the early and high Middle Ages. Legend traditions - Stiftsgeschichte - Middle Ages, page 27: "... in pagis Diuspurch et Keldaggouwe ... The Duisburggau probably means the old Ruhrgau. According to U. Nonn, the name change is likely due to the increased importance of Duisburg since the 10th century . "

[2] Ulrich Nonn: Pagus and Comitatus in Niederlothringen . In: Bonn historical research . Volume 49. Bonn 1983, p. 80-81 .