History of the Ruhr History of the Ruhr The actual boundaries of the Ruhr vary slightly depending on the source, but a good working definition is to define the Lippe and Ruhr as its northern and southern boundaries respectively, the Rhine as its western boundary, and the town of Hamm as the eastern limit. In the Middle Ages, local power was vested primarily in the counts ("Grafen") of Berg, Mark and Cleves. The left bank of the Rhine was held by the Archbishop of Cologne. The Hellweg was an important trade route crossing the region from Duisburg to Dortmund and beyond as far as
Rhine-Ruhr the south and the small city Wesel as its northernmost point. The northern border is similar to the border of the Ruhr Area. The table below shows an unofficial summary of regions. In the official definition the metropolitan area is much smaller. Eurostat's "Urban Audit" splits the Rhine-Ruhr region into six Larger Urban Zones (LUZ). These six Urban Zones do not cover the cities of Remscheid and Solingen nor the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss. Historically, most of the Ruhr area was for the most part characterized by heavy industry since the age of industrialisation in the late 19th and early