The Derlingau was an early medieval county ('' Gau'') of the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony () was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 CE and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 84 ...

Geography

The Derlingau approximately consisted of the area between the river

Oker The Oker () is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller (Germany), Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meanin ...

in the west and the Lappwald forest in the east. It was bordered by (from the north, clockwise): Bardengau, Gau Osterwald,

Nordthüringgau The Nordthüringgau was a medieval county () in the Eastphalian region of the German stem duchy of Saxony. Geography The county was located on both sides of the upper Aller river in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It was bounded by the Lappwald hill ...

, Harzgau, Salzgau, Hastfalagau, Gau Flutwide, Gau Gretinge. Droysens Allgemeiner Historischer Handatlas, 1886, Plate 22. The most important town was Evessen, and later Brunswick. The Derlingau belonged to the diocese of the Bishop of Halberstadt.

History

Little is known about the history of the county. The Brunones were its most powerful family in the 10th and 11th centuries; when the Brunones became extinct, their properties were inherited by Lothair of Supplinburg, who became duke of Saxony and later Holy Roman Emperor. From Lothair, Duke

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195), also known as Henry III, Duke of Saxony (ruled 1142-1180) and Henry XII, Duke of Bavaria (ruled 1156-1180), was a member of the Welf dynasty. Henry was one of the most powerful German princes of ...

and his descendants, the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, inherited these properties. After the disintegration of the Duchy of Saxony in the early 13th century, the Derlingau thus became a core part of the new Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, together with several adjacent counties. The northern border of the Derlingau later developed into part of the border between the principalities of

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

and

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

. The eastern and southern border of the Derlingau continues to exist to this day as the border between

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

and

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

. The known counts in the Derlingau include: * Brun, son of Liudolf, Count in the Nordthüringgau, 965 ( Brunonen) *

Dietrich of Haldensleben , father = Wichmann the Elder , mother = Frederuna of Ringelheim Dietrich (Theoderich, Theodoric) of Haldensleben (died 25 August 985) was a count in the Schwabengau, later also in the Nordthüringgau and the Derlingau, who was the first Ma ...

, 966-985 * Lothair of Walbeck, since 982 * Brun of Brunswick (died around 1010), probably the son of Count Brun I, since 990 (Brunonen) * Ekbert, around 1013 (

Billung The House of Billung was a dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries. The first known member of the house was Count Wichmann, mentioned as a Billung in 811. Oda, the wife of Count Liudolf, oldest known member of the Liudol ...

) * Liudolf (died 1038), son of Brun II, around 1031 (Brunonen) * Bernhard (died before 1069), 1052 ( Supplinburg) * Siegfried II of Walbeck (died around 1087)

Ecclesiastical organization

As a part of the Diocese of Halberstadt, the Derlingau was subdivided into the following archidiaconates (ordered approximately from north to south): *

Wittingen Wittingen () is a town in the district of Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is about northeast of Gifhorn, and southeast of Uelzen. Division of the town Wittingen consists of 27 districts: History The earliest identified record of Wittin ...

Meine Meine is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a village and member municipality of the Samtgemeinde Papenteich. The Municipality Meine includes the villages of Abbesbüttel, Bechtsbüttel, Grassel, Gravenhor ...

* Ochsendorf * Lucklum * Räbke * Atzum *

Schöppenstedt Schöppenstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Schöppenstidde'') is a small town in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") of Elm-Asse. Geography It is situat ...

Schöningen Schöningen () is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is located on the southeastern rim of the Elm hill range, near the border with the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In its cur ...

Kissenbrück Kissenbrück is a municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north an ...

* Watenstedt * Kalme * Westerode (near Hornburg) *

Osterwieck Osterwieck () is a historic town in the Harz (district), Harz district, in the Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geography The municipal area stretches along the river Ilse (Oker), Ilse, north of Wernigerode and the Harz mountain range. The ...

References

{{coord missing, Lower Saxony Carolingian counties Duchy of Saxony Former states and territories of Lower Saxony