Bergisches Land

Bergisches Land in Germany

The Bergisches Land is a region in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It contains beside the tri-city area of Remscheid-Solingen-Wuppertal the district Mettmann, Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district, the Oberbergisch district and parts of the Rhein-Sieg district. It emerged from the Duchy of Berg. The name of the region is not derived from its mountainous terrain (German: Berg, mountain), but from the dukes of Berg. The dukes of Berg lived first in the Castle Berge in Altenberg, later then in the Castle "Schloss Burg" at the Wupper. Düsseldorf was the capital.

Geography

Historic-geographic borderline

Iuliacensis et Montensis Ducatus, 1645, by Blaeu

The state of Berg contained mainly the tri-city area Remscheid-Solingen-Wuppertal, the district Mettmann, Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district, large parts of the Oberbergisch district and the parts of the Rhein-Sieg district on the right side of the Rhine. Also, Mülheim, parts of Cologne, Duisburg and Oberhausen belonged to the state of Berg.

Borderline in the local awareness today

Today, even in the awareness of the population, a sense of belonging to the Bergisches Land is sometimes no longer existent. Most notably in the region of the Cologne Bight and the Ruhr this happens. There, the people see themselves more associated with the Rhineland (Cologne/Bonn Region) or the Ruhr area. The relationship of Düsseldorf and the Bergisches Land is complex: historic Düsseldorf was the capital of the Bergisches Land, as you can see at Düsseldorf's coat of arms (it consists of the lion of Berg), but today the inhabitants of Düsseldorf see themselve more belonging to the Rhineland

Cities and districts

	City/district	affiliation	Part of the dukedom Berg (1789)	Part of the Bergisches Land in local awareness
	Bad Honnef	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X
	Bergisch Gladbach	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Bergneustadt	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Burscheid	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Düsseldorf	no affiliation	X
	Eitorf	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X	X
	Engelskirchen	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Erkrath	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Gummersbach	Oberbergischer Kreis		X
	Haan	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Heiligenhaus	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Hennef	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X	X
	Hilden	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Hückeswagen	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Kürten	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Langenfeld	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Leichlingen	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Leverkusen	no affiliation	X	X
	Lindlar	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Lohmar	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X	X
	Marienheide	Oberbergischer Kreis		X
	Mettmann	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Monheim	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Morsbach	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Much	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X	X
	Mülheim an der Ruhr	no affiliation	X
	Neunkirchen-Seelscheid	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X	X
	Niederkassel	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X
	Nümbrecht	Oberbergischer Kreis		X
	Odenthal	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Overath	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Ratingen	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Radevormwald	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Reichshof	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Remscheid	no affiliation	X	X
	Rösrath	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Ruppichteroth	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X	X
	Sankt Augustin	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X
	Siegburg	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X
	Solingen	no affiliation	X	X
	Troisdorf	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X
	Velbert	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Waldbröl	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Wermelskirchen	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Wiehl	Oberbergischer Kreis		X
	Windeck	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X	X
	Wipperfürth	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Wülfrath	Kreis Mettmann	X	X
	Wuppertal	no affiliation	X	X

See also

• Berg (state)
• Oberbergischer Kreis
• Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis