Gemen

Gemen was an immediate, sovereign lordship of the Holy Roman Empire, in the Lower Rhine region. Since Gemen had a vote in the Imperial Diet it was also an Imperial Estate. It was centered on Gemen, a small town and castle in the present municipality of Borken, western North Rhine-Westphalia.

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