church is inaugurated. 880 – Normans sack Birten. 883 – Regino von Prüm reports that Normans are over-wintering in the oppidum diusburh (Duisburg) having conquered it. The Burg Broich in Mülheim an der Ruhr is erected, probably as a reaction to these repeated Viking raids. It also guards the ford across the Ruhr by the Hellweg. 928 – King Henry I spends Easter in Dortmund. 929 – Reich synod in Duisburg. Between 922 and 1016, 18 residences in Duisburg by the King are mentioned in documents. 938 – King Otto I holds an imperial council (Hoftag) in Steele. 941 – Otto I (the Great) stays for the first time in Dortmund. A few years later. he also celebrates Easter in the Rhineland Palatinate. The common usage as pfalz underlines their importance. The Hellweg is an important connecting road of the Ottonischen kingdom. Along this trade route lie Dortmund and other old towns of the Ruhr, such as Duisburg and Essen. The Königshof in Duisburg is extended to a Königspfalz. 971 – Mathilde, granddaughter of Otto I becomes abbess of Essen Abbey. 978 – At a Reichsversammlung (Reich assembly) in Dortmund, in the presence of Ottos II, the decision was made to campaign against the Franks. 992 – On 7 May, the young Otto III receives ambassadors of the West Frankish king in Duisburg. 993 – Reich Assembly of Otto III in Dortmund. Among other matters, the dispute between Bishop Dodo von Münster and Mettelen Abbey is decided in favour of the monastery. High Middle Ages 1000 – Initial stages of the construction of churches in the romanesque style, like for example the Stiepeler Dorfkirche or the St.-Vinzentius-Kirche. 1002 – Henry II receives homage in Duisburg from bishops of Lorraine and the archbishop of Liege. 1005 – Synod of King Henry II in Dortmund. 1012 – Sophia, daughter of Otto II becomes abbottess of the Essen Stift. 1033 – The Benedictine Abbey in Werden is awarded rights over shipping on the Ruhr by King Conrad II - for the stretch from Werden to its mouth, 1041 – Essen receives rights to a market. 1073 – Under Essen abbess, , the parish chapel is erected on the Stoppenberg. In the 12th century it becomes the abbey church of a convent of Premonstratensians. 1122 – Count Gottfried of Cappenberg founds the first Premonstratensian foundation in the German-speaking lands, the Cappenberg Abbey in Selm.