Bergisches Land

File:Locator map Bergisches Land in Germany.svg

Bergisches Land, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

view on the woods of Burg with a typical Bergisches farmerhouse

Iuliacensis et Montensis Ducatus, 1645, by Blaeu

The Bergisches Land (Country of Berg or Land of Berg) is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes.^[1] Wuppertal is the biggest town and seen as the region's capital, whereas the southern part nowadays has closer economic and socio-cultural ties to Cologne. The cities of Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal are three of the biggest cities in Bergisches Land and together form the Bergisches Städtedreieck.

History

Bergisches Land used to be territory of the County of Berg, which later became the Duchy of Berg, who gave the region its name.^[2] The Duchy was dissolved in 1815 and in 1822 the region became part of the Prussian Rhine Province.

Amongst the population today, a sense of belonging to the region Bergisches Land is notable in the hilly northern part, but not much anymore in the areas near the Cologne Bight, the Ruhr area or the city of Düsseldorf.

Economic upswing

The region became famous during the period of its early industralisation in the 19th century. At that time Wupper Valley was a historical Silicon Valley. Its twin cities Barmen and Elberfeld were the trading- and industrial capitals of Prussia at that time. This economic upswing caused the expansion of the Ruhrgebiet as coal-mining area and gave birth to research on, and the theoretical underlining of social entrepreneurship and socialism: Friedrich Engels was born in Barmen to a textile mill owner.^[3]

After the industrial downturn from the 1960s on, the region lost importance but cooperations by Bergisches Land entrepreneurs, active citizens and politicians are recently^[when?] bringing back some regional awareness and economic power.^[4]

Cities and districts

	City/district	affiliation	Part of the dukedom Berg (1789)	Part of the Bergisches Land in local awareness
20px	Bad Honnef	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	X
	Bergisch Gladbach	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
	Bergneustadt	Oberbergischer Kreis	X	X
	Burscheid	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	X	X
20px	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
20px	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
20px	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