Duchy of Berg
Berg was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.
County (Duchy) of Berg
Duchy
- Schloss Burg (1101–1280)
- Düsseldorf (1280–1815)
Wilhelm II (first duke)
Napoléon Louis Bonaparte (Grand Duke)
1101
1160
1348
1609 and 1690
9 June 1815
The name of the county lives on in the modern geographic term Bergisches Land, often misunderstood as bergiges Land (hilly country).
History[edit]
Ascent[edit]
The Counts of Berg emerged in 1101 as a junior line of the dynasty of the Ezzonen, which traced its roots back to the 9th-century Kingdom of Lotharingia, and in the 11th century became the most powerful dynasty in the region of the lower Rhine.
In 1160, the territory split into two portions, one of them later becoming the County of the Mark, which returned to the possession of the family line in the 16th century. The most powerful of the early rulers of Berg, Engelbert II of Berg died in an assassination on November 7, 1225.[1][2] In 1280 the counts moved their court from Schloss Burg on the Wupper river to the town of Düsseldorf. Count Adolf VIII of Berg fought on the winning side in the Battle of Worringen against Guelders in 1288.
The power of Berg grew further in the 14th century. The County of Jülich united with the County of Berg in 1348,[3] and in 1380 the Emperor Wenceslaus elevated the counts of Berg to the rank of dukes, thus originating the Duchy of Jülich-Berg.
Heraldic shield of arms
The historic coat of arms of Berg shows a red lion with a double tail and blue crown, tongue, and claws – blazoned as: Argent a lion rampant gules, queue fourchée crossed in saltire, armed, langued, and crowned azure. This lion originates from the arms of the Duke of Limburg as the Berg title in the 13th century fell to the Limburg line.
