Herrlichkeit Wertherbruch

Wertherbruch grew out of a public works project undertaken by the Archbishop of Cologne in 1296. The resulting village was part of the Lordship of (Herrschaft) Werth, even though Werth portion of the Herrschaft was under the sovereignty of the Bishop of Münster. Ownership and sovereignty over the Herrschaft changed over the years as follows:

 

• 1341—the Netherlandic Lords of Culemborg acquire Herrschaft Werth through marriage.
• 1392—the Archbishop of Cologne pledges Wertherbruch to the County of Cleves and does not redeem the pledge, resulting in a transfer of sovereignty. That was the status in 1521 when the database starts, so I render the simplified country name as Cleves-Culemborg. (For Werth, the simplified country name will be rendered as Münster-Culemborg.)
• 1639—the Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg inherits Herrschaft Werth. The simplified country name for Wertherbruch becomes Cleves-Eisenberg (Münster-Eisenberg in the case of Werth).
• 1692—the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen inherits Herrschaft Werth. The simplified country name for Wertherbruch becomes Cleve-Hildburghausen (Münster-Hildburghausen in the case of Werth).
• 1709—The Bishop of Münster purchases Werth, rendering the hyphenated simplified name unnecessary.
• 1715—Wertherbruch is sold to a Prussian subject. Since Cleves became part of Prussia in 1701, that sale also renders the hyphenated simplified name unnecessary.
• 1753—Herrlichkeit Wertherbruch is assigned to the new Kreis Emmerich.

 

Master list of countries and subdivisions in the Kleve region