Duchy of Berg

Coordinates: 51°12′26″N 6°48′45″E / 51.20722°N 6.81250°E / 51.20722; 6.81250
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
County (Duchy) of Berg
Grafschaft (Herzogtum) Berg (German)
Graafschap (Hertogdom) Berg (Dutch)
1101–1815
Coat of arms of Berg
Coat of arms of Berg
Left: Arms of Bergins (from around 1225), who ruled the Duchy of Berg last
Right: Coat of arms of the
Duke of Berg
 
• 1360–1380
Wilhelm II (first duke)
• 1809-1813
Napoléon Louis Bonaparte (Grand Duke)
Historical era
Electorate of the Palatinate
1609 and 1690
• Awarded to Prussia
9 June 1815
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Lotharingia
Kingdom of Prussia

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.

The name of the county lives on in the modern geographic term Bergisches Land, often misunderstood as bergiges Land (hilly country).

History

Ascent

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

Guelders
in 1288.

The power of Berg grew further in the 14th century. The

Duchy of Jülich-Berg
.

Problems of succession

Map of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg around 1540

In 1509,

Bishop of Münster
.

However, the new ducal dynasty also became extinct in 1609, when the last duke died insane. This led to a lengthy dispute over succession to the various territories before the partition of 1614: the

Electorate and generally made Düsseldorf its capital until the Elector Palatine also inherited the Electorate of Bavaria
in 1777.

French revolution, Grand Duchy of Berg

The ducal palace at Düsseldorf, 1798 copper engraving by Laurenz Janscha. The palace burnt down in 1872.

The French occupation (1794–1801) and annexation (1801) of Jülich (French: Juliers) during the

Wittelsbachs. In 1806, in the reorganization of the German lands occasioned by the end of the Holy Roman Empire, Berg became the Grand Duchy of Berg, under the rule of Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat.[4] Murat's arms combined the red lion of Berg with the arms of the duchy of Cleves. The anchor and the batons came to the party due to Murat's positions as Grand Admiral and as Marshal of the Empire. As the husband of Napoleon's sister Caroline Bonaparte
, Murat also had the right to use the imperial eagle.

In 1809, one year after Murat's promotion from Grand Duke of Berg to

Napoleon Louis Bonaparte (1804–1831, elder son of Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte
, King of Holland) became the Grand Duke of Berg; French bureaucrats administered the territory in the name of the child. The Grand Duchy's short existence came to an end with Napoleon's defeat in 1813 and the peace settlements that followed.

Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg

In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, Berg became part of a province of the Kingdom of Prussia: the Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. In 1822 this province united with the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine to form the Rhine Province.

Rulers of Berg

Map of the Duchy of Berg by French cartographer Nicolas Sanson in 1696.
The Grand Duchy of Berg in 1812.

House of Ezzonen

House of Berge

House of Limburg

House of Jülich(-Heimbach), Counts

– in union with Ravensberg –

  • 1348–1360 Gerhard
  • 1360–1380
    Wilhelm II
    ; became duke in 1380

House of Jülich(-Heimbach), Dukes

– in union with Ravensberg (except 1404–1437) and after 1423 in union with the duchy of Jülich –

House of La Marck, Dukes

– from 1521 a part of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg–

House of Wittelsbach, Dukes

– in union with

Electorate of the Palatinate, from 1777 also with Bavaria
–

French Grand Dukes

See also: Grand Duchy of Berg
Coat of arms of Joachim Murat as Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves

Coat 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.

  • Heraldic shield of arms
    Heraldic shield of arms

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-9004102620
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0814623879
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1277123517
    .
  4. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: or, A dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature, enlarged and improved, Volume 3. Google e-books. 1823. p. 570.
  5. ^ Napoleon's decree in his quality of Grand Duke of Berg in Intelligenz-Nachrichten, June 24, 1809 (Stück XXV), pp. 341–342. Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum.

External links

51°12′26″N 6°48′45″E / 51.20722°N 6.81250°E / 51.20722; 6.81250

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