Battle of Worringen Prelude . The conflict arose after the last Waleran IV , Duke of Limburg , had died without male heirs in 1279 , and his duchy was inherited by his daughter Ermengarde , who had married Reginald I , Count of Guelders . When she died childless one year later , her husband claimed the Duchy of Limburg and in 1282 had his demand recognized by the German king Rudolph of Habsburg . However , Waleran ' s nephew Adolf VIII , Count of Berg , son of his elder brother Adolf VII , also claimed the duchy after Ermengarde ' s death . Unable to assert his claims , he sold them in 1283 to the mighty John I , Duke of Brabant . Duke John intended to enlarge his territory and reunite the former Duchy of Lower Lorraine , while Limburg was also economically important as it stretched along the major trade route to the Rhine . Though Brabant held the title of a Duke of Lothier since 1190 , it had been solely honorific and did not imply any inheritance claims . The Limburg nobles therefore refused to accept John ' s overlordship . Between 1283 and 1288 , the conflict was delayed by several smaller confrontations between both sides , none of them decisive . Meanwhile , most of the other local powers chose sides . Foremost Siegfried II of Westerburg , the Archishop of Cologne , suspiciously eyed John ' s gain in power . In view of their common interests he and Reginald I forged an alliance , joined by Henry VI , Count of Luxembourg , and his brother Waleran I , Lord of Ligny , as well as by Adolf , Count of Nassau . On the other side the Counts of Mark took the chance to affirm their independence from the Archbishop of Cologne and together with the Counts of Loon , Tecklenburg and Waldeck allied with Brabant and Berg . The battle . In May 1288 , Henry of Luxembourg had led a significant army into the Cologne region and Reinoud of Guelders finally sold his rights to Limburg to him , just before peace talks were scheduled . This angered John of Brabant , who started a campaign against Reinoud . By the end of the month , both sides met at Worringen , a castle on the Rhine held by the Archbishop of Cologne . John laid siege to the fortress , supported by the Cologne citizens , who were eager to emancipate themselves from the Archbishop ' s rule . On the morning of June 5 , Archbishop Siegfried marched toward Worringen at the head of his troops . In the earliest phases of the battle , John of Brabant and Henry VI , Count of Luxembourg , met in a fierce fight , in which Henry and two of his brothers was killed . Soon after that , Siegfried entered the battle and was able to beat off the Berg troops and the Cologne militia , however with too little support from his back army . He was taken prisoner by John of Brabant and delivered to Adolf of Berg . The battle ended in a victory for Brabant when Reinoud of Guelders was captured by Daniel van Bouchout and Lord Walram of Valkenburg had to retreat . Aftermath . The number of deaths at the battle of Worringen is estimated at 1100 on the Guelders side and 40 on the Brabant side . The blood toll on the house of Luxembourg was particularly high : most of the male relatives of the later German emperor Henry VII perished there . Archbishop Siegfried was imprisoned for over a year at Schloss Burg , before he paid a ransom and agreed to Count Adolf ' s demands . Worringen Castle and several other fortresses of the bishop were demolished . On 14 August 1288 , Adolf granted Düsseldorf city rights , whereafter it became the capital of Berg . Reinoud of Guelders was released after he had renounced all claims to the Duchy of Limburg . The Battle of Worringen meant a rise in the power of Brabant , Berg and Mark , while the City of Cologne gained its independence from the Archbishopric and finally the status of an Imperial city in 1475 . The Duchy of Limburg was added to the Duchy of Brabant in 1289 , an arrangement approved by King Rudolph and again by his former opponent Adolf of Nassau , after he was elected King of the Romans in 1292 . In Luxembourg , Henry VI was followed by his nine - year - old son Henry VII , who in 1292 settled the conflict with Brabant by marrying John ' s daughter Margaret . The Archbishopric of Cologne never recovered from the loss of the city of Cologne . Jan van Heelu wrote a chronicle of the battle .