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Eberhard I of Berg-Altena

(1125-1180)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ75487 ↗
Source-derived summary

Eberhard IV of Berg, count of Altena (also called Eberhard I von Altena) (1140 – 23 January 1180, buried in Altenberg), was a son of Adolf IV, Count of Berg and Altena.

He married Adelheid von Arnsberg (van Cuyck) (died 1200), a daughter of Heinrich I count von Arnsberg (born 1123, died 1185) and Ermengarde (Irmgard) von Freusburg (died 1203).

He inherited the eastern territorium of the County of Berg and became the 1st count of Altena from 1161, and Vogt of Werden and Cappenberg (1166–1180). His territories were later divided between his sons Arnold of Altena (the Isenberg, then Limburg (Lenne) line) and Friedrich I of Altena (the Altena, then Marck line). Before the split between Arnold Altena-Isenberg the eldest and his brother Friedrich Altena-Mark the younger son of Everhard, the ‘Grafschaft Mark’ did not yet exist.

Children

Eberhard IV had at least 4 children:

Oda (born 1165, died by 1224), married to Simon count von Tecklenburg (k.a. 1202). They had children:

Otto II count von Teklenburg and

Oda von Tecklenburg;

Arnold of Altena (born 1166, died 1209), 1st count of Isenberg, followed by the counts of Limburg Hohenlimburg and Broich;

Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne from 1193 until 1205, and between 1212 and 1214 (born 1168, died in Neuss on 15 April 1220);

Friedrich I of Altena (died 1198).

Further reading

Kraus, T.R., Die Entstehung der Landesherrschaft der Grafen von Berg bis zum Jahre 1225, Neustadt an der Aisch 1981

Andernach, N., Entwicklung der Grafschaft Berg, in: Land im Mittelpunkt der Mächte. Die Herzogtümer Jülich-Kleve-Berg, Kleve 1984, S.63-73.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Eberhard I of Berg-Altena” as (1125-1180). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Eberhard, Berg-Altena and 1125-1180.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1140, 1180, 1200, 1123—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1140-01-01, 1130-01-01—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Eberhard, Berg-Altena and 1125-1180 providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Eberhard I of Berg-Altena”, the useful work is to connect “(1125-1180)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q75487. VIAF identifies the subject as 25828779. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1140, 1180, 1200 and 1123.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Eberhard I of Berg-Altena” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.