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The article takes up the question of the meaning and function of borders and their regions from a medieval perspective. In a diachronic overview, the emergence of the borders of the later German Empire and their not always linear development are traced. It turns out that often retrospective research results in the sense of a national historiography were used for geographical legitimations rather than a retrospective view of an intertwined genesis of borders. Even though more recent research on the Middle Ages has turned away from approaches based purely on modern states, the national master narratives remain quite effective.