In this region, I relied heavily on a single source from which I drew my list of places to include in the database as well as the countries and subdivisions in which they were located. The source, Erläuterungen zum Geschichtlicher Atlas der Rheinprovinz, is meant to accompany a map showing, as of 1789, the internal and external boundaries of the territory that became that Prussian province after the Napoleonic Wars. The text includes descriptions of boundary changes beginning in 1600 (of which there were remarkably few, making the need for many additional sources unnecessary). The map itself also has an insert covering the period between 1803 and 1806. The text and map can be found at the following links:
- Erläuterungen zum Geschichtlicher Atlas der Rheinprovinz – Google Books (text)
- Fabricius-Übersichtskarte_der_Rheinprovinz_von_1789.jpg (3618×5599) (wikimedia.org) (map)
Outside of that source, articles on the bergisch Ämter in the German Wikipedia proved to be the most helpful. They contradicted the Atlas only on the question of when Amt Bornefeld merged with Amt Hückeswagen—Wikipedia dating it to 1555 and the Atlas dating it to 1772. In addition, I consulted the following sources to resolve a few other obscure questions:
- Stadtplan Niederkassel (unser-stadtplan.de) provides a 1553 date for the merger of Amt Lülsdorf with Amt Löwenburg. (The Wikipedia article on Burg Lülsdorf gives a date of 1530.)
- Die Reichsabtei Werden an der Ruhr (uni-goettingen.de) describes the progress of the Reformation in the Abbacy of Werden.
- Archivsuche | Archive in Nordrhein Westfalen | (nrw.de) provides evidence of a Gericht Wermelskirchen in Amt Bornefeld—something not mentioned in the primary source (but nevertheless implied because it does not definitively put Wermelskirchen—or any other place in Amt Bornefeld except Stadt Lennep—into a Gericht).
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