Schwabengau

The Schwabengau (modernized name; originally: Suavia, Suevon, Nordosquavi) was an early medieval shire (Gau) in the Eastphalia region of the medieval Duchy of Saxony. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it became the nucleus of the later Principality of Anhalt, today part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The Schwabengau comprised the northeastern Harz region, bordered by the River Bode in the north and west and by the River Saale in the east. The southern border is somewhat south of the River Wipper. Adjacent Saxon shires were: Nordthüringgau in the north, Harzgau with Quedlinburg in the west, as well as Friesenfeld and Hassegau in the south. In the southwest it bordered on Helmegau in Thuringia; in the east on Serimunt beyond the Saale, in the Saxon Eastern March. Important settlements in Schwabengau included Aderstedt (Bernburg), Aschersleben, Ballenstedt, Hadmersleben, and Gröningen. Ecclesiastically, the territory belonged to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Halberstadt.

The origin of the name of the Schwabengau is somewhat mysterious as the region is located far northwards from the territory of the medieval Duchy of Swabia. There are two explanations:

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