in Hanau, Eppstein and Isenburg-Büdingen. Modern Times The regional unity of the Wetterau was not primarily a political concept, but rather its result. Since 1422 the late medieval policy initially led to establishment of the estates of the realm, the alliance of knights, and lords and counts of the Wetterau. These supported the development of a regional identity that even survived increasing urban differentiation. Four stabilizing elements characterize the transition from medieval to modern times in the Wetterau: Four imperial cities, of which eventually only Frankfurt had significance; A network of knights and nobility, the Wetterau knighthood, that was concentrated in the imperial castle in Friedberg; Twenty count lineages that distinguished themselves form the lower gentry; A number of joint ownerships of cities (Friedberg, Kronberg, Falkenstein, Gelnhausen, Lindheim, Dorheim, Staden, Florstadt); often these were identical with the two groups mentioned before. Sources Kümmerly+Frey: The New International Atlas. Rand McNally (1980) Geography of Hesse