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
International Authority for the Ruhr would have on the German economy, France's response was to suggest the Germans would just have to "make the necessary adjustments" to deal with the inevitable foreign exchange deficit. In 1947 France removed the Saar from Germany and turned it into a protectorate under French economic control. The area returned to German administration on 1 January 1957 but France retained the right to mine from its coal mines until 1981. French plans for the complete detachment of the Ruhr from Germany met with greater resistance. In September 1946 James F. Byrnes, the United States Secretary of State stated in a