398. The Bergisches Land

 The Bergisches Land (Country of Berg or Land of Berg) is a low mountain range region within the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes. Wuppertal is the biggest town and seen as the region's capital, whereas the southern part nowaday has closer economic and socio-cultural ties to Cologne. Bergisches Land used to be territory of the County of Berg, which later became the Duchy of Berg, who gave the region its name. The Duchy was dissolved in 1815 and in 1822 the region became part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Amongst the population today, a sense of belonging to the region Bergisches Land is notable in the hilly northern part, but not much anymore in the areas near the Cologne Bight, the Ruhr area or the city of Düsseldorf.

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