Amt Solingen

The castle at Burg an der Wupper was built in the early 12th century, but was not accompanied by much settlement. Solingen itself became a recognized settlement only in the 12th century, and received city rights in 1374. By that time, it had become the seat of one of the original eight bergisch Ämter. It originally consisted of three Gerichte and covered the territory of the modern city of Solingen, southern portions of Kreis Mettmann, and the westernmost part of Wuppertal. Some sources place Freiheit Burg an der Wupper outside of the Amt, but although no sources places Burg definitively inside of the Amt, it seems to have been included at least for statistical purposes. I treat it as a subdivision of the Amt.

 

In 1769, the hereditary Herrschaft Schöller was carved out of the other subdivisions of the Amt (and one village from Amt Mettmann). Its owners were Berg subjects, so I do not create a separate country name for it.