The Balsamgau (or Belcsem, Balsami) was an early medieval

Gau Gau or GAU may refer to: People * Gaugericus (–626), Bishop of Cambrai * Gau Ming-Ho (born 1949), Chinese mountaineer * Franz Christian Gau (1790–1854), German architect and archaeologist * James Gau (born 1957), Papua New Guinean politi ...

(shire) in the

Eastphalia Eastphalia (german: Ostfalen; Eastphalian: ''Oostfalen'') is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern '' Gaue'' (shires) of the historic stem duchy of Saxony, roughly confined by the River Leine in the west and the El ...

region of the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settlement geography, settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and in ...

. It was centered on Stendal and located on the West bank of the River

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...

. Other towns in the Balsamgau include

Arneburg Arneburg () is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, approx. northeast of Stendal. It is part of the '' Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") of Arneburg-Goldbeck. ...

, Döbbelin, Elversdorf, Windberge. It was bordered by the following shires: Osterwalde, Liezizi, Morazani, Nordthüringgau. By the 12th century, the Balsamgau had become a part of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

. Together with Osterwalde, it formed the westernmost part of Brandenburg, which later came to be known as the

Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. ...

References

* {{coord missing, Germany Carolingian counties Duchy of Saxony Former states and territories of Saxony-Anhalt