Gero II was a prominent German noble from Saxony, who held high offices in southeastern Saxon and neighboring Slavic regions, first as count, and then as margrave. He was the eldest son of Thietmar, Margrave of Meissen, and Schwanehilde (Suanhild), daughter of Herman, Duke of Saxony. He was therefore probably a grandson of Hidda and Christian of Thuringia and named for his great-uncle Gero the Great. In 992, he was created Count of Hassegau in southeastern Eastphalia, and already in 993 succeeded his probable uncle Odo I, as margrave over a frontier region (march) on the middle Elbe, known in historiography as the Saxon Eastern March, that stretched into Lusatia.