Lordship of Gemen
962–1806
Coat of arms
Status	State of theHoly Roman Empire
Capital	Gemen
Government	Feudal Lordship
Historical era	Middle Ages toNapoleonic Era
• First mentioned	962
• Mediatised toSalm	1806
Succeeded by Principality of Salm
Today part of	Borken District

Gemen was animmediate,sovereign lordship of theHoly Roman Empire, in theLower Rhine region. Since Gemen had a vote in theImperial Diet it was also anImperial Estate. It was centered on Gemen, a small town and castle in the present municipality ofBorken, westernNorth Rhine-Westphalia.

Gemen is first mentioned in 962. In 1282, Gemen became a fief of theCounts of Cleves. The line of the Lords of Gemen became extinct in 1492, and Gemen passed to theCounts of Schaumburg andHolstein-Pinneberg through the heiress Cordula of Gemen, to form the County of Schaumburg and Gemen.

In 1640, the immediate lordship of Gemen passed for two centuries to the Counts ofLimburg Stirum. In a partition in 1644, Gemen passed to the line ofLimburg Stirum Gemen, then in 1782, with extinction of Gemen branch of the House of Limburg Stirum, Gemen was inherited by the line ofLimburg Stirum Iller-Aichheim.

WhenFerdinand IV of Limburg Stirum died at the age of 15 in 1800, the lineLimburg-Styrum-Styrum failed to inherit Gemen, which then passed to the barons of Boyneburg-Bömelberg for 6 years, until themediatisation of 1806.

• 1640-1644 -Herman Otto I, count of Limburg and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen;
• 1644-1657 -Adolf Ernst, count of Limburg Stirum, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, second son of the above;
• 1657-1675 -(Maria) Isabella countess von Vehlen und Meggen zu Raesfeld, wife ofAdolf Ernst of Limburg Stirum above, is Regent of Gemen;
• 1675-1704 -Hermann Otto II, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, son of the two above. On 15 September 1700 a decision by the Courts confirmed its succession right.
• 1704-1743 -Otto Leopold, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen and Raesfeld, son of the above;
• 1743-1771 -Friedrich Karl, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, son of the above;
• 1771-1776 -August Philip, Prince-Bishop ofSpeyer, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, brother of the above.
• 1776-1798 -Karl Josef, count of Limburg Stirum, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, cousin of the above;
• 1798-1800 -Ferdinand IV, count ofLimburg Stirum zu Illereichen, grandson of the above, was the last Sovereign Lord zu Gemen before it passed to the Barons of Boyneburg-Bömelberg in 1800.

In 1806, Gemen was mediatised to the Princes ofSalm-Kyrburg. It passed toFrance in 1810, then toPrussia in 1814.

• Dr. A.J. Bonke:De takken Gemen en Styrum van het geslacht van Limburg Stirum, Stichting van Limburg Stirum, The Hague, 2007
• A. Giraud, M. Huberty, F. and B. Magdelaine:L'Allemagne Dynastique, volume VII

• Lordships of the Holy Roman Empire
• House of Limburg-Stirum
• Former states and territories of North Rhine-Westphalia

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