The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

between the German towns of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

and Lorch near

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, reaching from the Western

Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m). The Taunus range span ...

to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

and is part of the

Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is part of the Darmstadt region; its main administrative seat is Bad Schwalbach. Outposted sections of the local administration are located in Idstein and R ...

administrative district Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

. It is famous for

Rheingau wine Rheingau is one of 13 designated German wine regions (''Weinbaugebiete'') producing quality wines (''QbA'' and ''Prädikatswein''). It was named after the traditional region of Rheingau (meaning "Rhine district"), the wine region is situated in ...

s, especially the "Rheingauer

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

," and its many taverns.

History

The Rheingau was as a '' Gau'' or county of the

Frankish Empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, bordered by the

Niddagau Nidda is a town in the district Wetterau, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the Nidda river, approximately northeast of Frankfurt am Main. Division of the town The municipality consists of the districts Unter-Widdersheim, Ober-Widdersheim, B ...

, the Maingau, the Oberrheingau, and the

Lahngau The Lahngau was a medieval territory comprising the middle and lower Lahn River valley in the current German states of Hesse and (partially) Rhineland-Palatinate. The traditional names of the Gau are ''Loganahe Pagus'' or ''Pagus Logenensis''. The ...

; the counts of the Rheingau were known as

Rhinegrave (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

s. The first Rhinegrave on record is Hato VI (937–960).Rheingraf
at ''

Meyers Konversationslexikon ' or ' was a major encyclopedia in the German language that existed in various editions, and by several titles, from 1839 to 1984, when it merged with the '. Joseph Meyer (1796–1856), who had founded the publishing house in 1826, intended ...

'', 1888 In 983,

Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy ...

, gave the Rheingau, together with other territories, to the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

during the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

. When the Archbishopric was dissolved in 1806, the Rheingau was given to the

Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...

. Following the marriage between John III (1383–1428) and Adelheid,

scion Scion may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities *Scion, a playable class in the game ''Path of Exile'' (2013) *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scions, an alien race in the video game ''Ba ...

of the

Wildgrave The noble family of the Waldgraves or Wildgraves (Latin: ''comites silvestres'') descended of a division of the House of the Counts of Nahegau in the year 1113. When the (a countship named after the river Nahe) split into two parts in 1113 ...

s of

Kyrburg Kirn is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. It is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Kirner Land. Kirn is a middle centre serving an area on the Nahe and in the Hunsrück. Geography Location Kirn lies in a la ...

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 * J ...

(1476–95) inherited several territories in the Obersalm Wasgau, to the left of the Rhine (from the

Nahegau The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Worms ...

, on the river Nahe and in the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

) from the Wildgraves and the counts of

Salm Salm may refer to People * Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck * Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Khurasan and Sijistan * House of Salm, a European ...

, and these territories were also linked to their name, with the counts using the title "Wild- and Rhinegraves of Salm".

Gallery

Image:Assmannshausen Hoellenberg.jpg , Rheingau valley with the

Image:Burg-Rheinberg-JR-G6-2607-2008-08-17.jpg , Rheinberg castle

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

ruins, near Lorch Image:RheinPanoNiederwaldD501m.jpg, View from the Niederwald-Monument into the Rheingau Image:2010-05-16 Schloss Vollrads.jpg, Schloss Vollrads near Oestrich-Winkel Image:Drosselgasse1.jpg, The Drosselgasse in Ruedesheim File:Biedermeier-Pärchen und Kurfürstliche Burg Eltville.jpg, Electoral castle in

Eltville Eltville am Rhein (from ''Alta Villa'', Latin for "high estate, high town", corrupted to ''Eldeville'', ''Elfeld'' and later Eltville, ) is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It lies on ...

File:Rheingauer Dom, Geisenheim, Northwest view 20140916 1.jpg, The

Rheingauer Dom is the colloquial name for the Catholic parish church in Geisenheim, Germany. Officially (Holy Cross), the large church in the Rheingau region is called ''Dom'' although it was never a bishop's seat. The present building was begun in the 16th ...

in Geisenheim

Events

*The

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

takes place every year in July and August in many locations throughout the region. *The Rheingau Wine Festival takes place in Wiesbaden every year in August. *Most towns celebrate their own annual wine festival.

References

External links

German wine regions: Rheingau
{{coord missing, Hesse 1866 disestablishments States and territories established in the 930s Former states and territories of Hesse Carolingian counties Upper Rhine