in the center of this area, the "provincia gera", a town with the same name was established. another document, which is from the year 1237, said for the first time that there was a town called gera. in this town, the abbesses of quedlinburg had some officials which were called the "vögte" of gera. these officials were the ancestors of the counts and princes of reuß, which reigned in gera for many years, until the year 1918.