Stadt and Amt Büderich

Amt Wallach and Herrlichkeit Borth

Stadt and Amt Orsoy

Büderich, on the left bank of the Rhein upstream from Xanten, was settled in the 12th century. Its castle, where a Richteramt under Landdrostenamt Kleve was seated, was built in the mid-13th century when a temporary division of the County of Cleves placed Büderich in a different country from Wesel, across the Rhein. Although Cleves administered the Amt, its sovereignty was not established until the count granted city rights 1318. (The Archbishop of Cologne had granted city rights earlier, but the documents were destroyed during a war with Cleves.) In 1647, Borth left the Amt to become a Herrlichkeit.

 

Further upstream, Orsoy was also settled in the 12th century and was granted city rights, probably in the 1270s. Neither the city nor the surrounding Amt had any land connection to the rest of the county/duchy, being bounded by either the Rhein to the east and north or by the County of Moers. (The opposite bank of the Rhein was Cleves territory, but it was not connected to Orsoy by a bridge until the 20th century.) Amt Orsoy consisted entirely of lowlands along the Rhein, which were too flood-prone to support an actual village.

 

In 1753, Landdrostenamt Kleve was dissolved. Richteramt Büderich was promoted to a full-fledged Amt and a separate Amt Wallach was spun off. Landdrostenamt Kleve was replaced by a much larger Kreis Kleve, but the Ämter of Büderich and Wallach as well as Herrlichkeit Borth (but not Stadt Büderich) were assigned to Kreis Wesel. Amt Orsoy (but not Stadt Orsoy) was also assigned to Kreis Wesel in 1753, but that assignment is not reflected in the database because there were no named places in the Amt.

 

          Subdivision structure as of 1521                                        Subdivision structure as of 1794