Guelders - Geography

Geography

The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (Gelder) in present-day Germany. Though the present province of Gelderland (English also Guelders) in the Netherlands occupies most of the area, the former duchy also comprised parts of the present Dutch province of Limburg as well as those territories in the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia that were acquired by Prussia in 1713.

Four parts of the duchy deserve some special attention, because they had their own centres, as they were separated by rivers:

• the quarter of Roermond, also called the Overkwartier (Upper Quarter) or Upper Guelders - upstream on both sides of the Maas, comprising the town of Geldern as well as Erkelenz, Goch, Nieuwstadt, Venlo and Straelen;

spatially separated from the Lower Quarters (Gelderland):

• the quarter of Zutphen, also called the Achterhoek - east of the IJssel and north to the Rhine, including Doesburg, Doetinchem, Groenlo and Lochem;
• the quarter of Arnhem, also called the Veluwe - west of the IJssel and north to the Rhine, with Elburg, Harderwijk, Hattem and Wageningen;
• the quarter of Nijmegen, also called the Betuwe - south of the Rhine and north to the Maas (in between the rivers), including Gendt, Maasbommel, Tiel and Zaltbommel.