Hamm

Hamm was founded in 1226 by Count Adolf of Mark between the Lippe and the Ahse, where he settled people displaced from Nienbrügge. The rivers supplied water and fish to the new town, which became a centre of the County of Mark. Adolf granted market and minting rights, and the market square beside Saint George's Church formed the enduring heart of its public and commercial life.

Hamm joined the Hanseatic League in 1469. Its merchants exported linen and a local beer known as Hammscher Keut. The Treaty of Xanten in 1614 assigned Cleves and the counties of Mark and Ravensberg to the rulers of Brandenburg. Much later, in 1826, the Lippe was made navigable for commercial transport, offering another means of carrying goods through the region.