County of the Rhine district; The Rhinegraviate Grafschaft der Rheingau; Rheingrafschaft | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 937–1866 | |||||||||
 The Rheingau shown on a 1905 map of Hesse-Nassau | |||||||||
| Status | State of the Frankish Empire State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Rheingrafenstein in Kreuznach; later Eltville | ||||||||
| Government | Principality | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Established | c. 937 | ||||||||
• Donation of Verona: given to Abp Mainz | 983 | ||||||||
| 1806 | |||||||||
| 1866 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
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The Rheingau (German: [ˈʁaɪnɡaʊ] ⓘ; lit. 'Rhine County') is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis administrative district. It is famous for Rheingau wines, especially the "Rheingauer Riesling," and its many taverns.
History
The Rheingau was a Gau or county of the Frankish Empire, bordered by the Niddagau, the Maingau, the Oberrheingau, and the Lahngau; the counts of the Rheingau were known as Rhinegraves. The first Rhinegrave on record is Hato VI (937–960).[1]
In 983, Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor, gave the Rheingau, together with other territories, to the Archbishopric of Mainz during the Diet of Verona. When the Archbishopric was dissolved in 1806, the Rheingau was given to the Duchy of Nassau.
Following the marriage between John III (1383–1428) and Adelheid, scion of the Wildgraves of Kyrburg, John V (1476–95) inherited several territories in the Obersalm Wasgau, to the left of the Rhine (from the Nahegau, on the river Nahe and in the Alsace) from the Wildgraves and the counts of Salm, and these territories were also linked to their name, with the counts using the title "Wild- and Rhinegraves of Salm".[1]
Gallery
Rheingau valley with the Rhine
View from the Niederwald-Monument into the Rheingau
Schloss Vollrads near Oestrich-Winkel
The Drosselgasse in Ruedesheim
Electoral castle in Eltville
The Rheingauer Dom in Geisenheim
Events
- The Rheingau Musik Festival 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
- 1 2 (in German) Rheingraf at Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888
External links
