1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
3.
States of Germany
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Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states. Since todays Germany was formed from a collection of several states, it has a federal constitution. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states created in the aftermath of World War II. West Berlin, while not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, in 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. Federalism is one of the constitutional principles of Germany. After 1945, new states were constituted in all four zones of occupation, in 1949, the states in the three western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to the development in Austria, where the Bund was constituted first. The use of the term Länder dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten. Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland. However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law of 1949, three Länder call themselves Freistaaten, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. He summarizes the arguments for boundary reform in Germany. The German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation, too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated. But several proposals have failed so far, territorial reform remains a topic in German politics. Federalism has a tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796, the number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Congress of Vienna,39 states formed the German Confederation, the new German Empire included 25 states and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory, after the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation
4.
Hesse
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Hesse or Hessia is a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden, the largest city is Frankfurt am Main, the English name Hesse originates in the Hessian dialects. The variant Hessia comes from the medieval Latin Hassia, the German term Hessen is used by the European Commission because their policy is to leave regional names untranslated. The term Hesse ultimately derives from a Germanic tribe called the Chatti, an inhabitant of Hesse is called a Hessian. The synthetic element hassium, number 108 on the table, is named after the state of Hesse. As early as the Paleolithic period, the Central Hessian region was inhabited, due to the favorable climate of the location, people lived there about 50,000 years ago during the last glacial period, as burial sites show from this era. Finds of paleolitical tools in southern Hesse in Rüsselsheim suggest Pleistocene hunters about 13,000 years ago, the Züschen tomb is a prehistoric burial monument, located between Lohne and Züschen, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany. Classified as a grave or a Hessian-Westphalian stone cist, it is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Central Europe. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, it belongs to the Late Neolithic Wartberg culture. An early Celtic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid-fifth-century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at Glauberg, the region was later settled by the Germanic Chatti tribe around the first century BC, and the name Hesse is a continuation of that tribal name. The ancient Romans had a camp in Dorlar, and in Waldgirmes directly on the eastern outskirts of Wetzlar was a civil settlement under construction. Presumably, the government for the occupied territories of the right bank of Germania was planned at this location. The governor of Germania, at least temporarily, likely had resided here, the settlement appears to have been abandoned by the Romans after the devastating Battle of the Teutoburg Forest failed in the year 9 AD. The Chatti were also involved in the Revolt of the Batavi in 69 AD, Hessia occupies the northwestern part of the modern German state of Hesse, its borders were not clearly delineated. Its geographic center is Fritzlar, it extends in the southeast to Hersfeld on the Fulda river, in the north to past Kassel and up to the rivers Diemel, to the west, it occupies the valleys of the rivers Eder and Lahn. It measured roughly 90 kilometers north-south, and 80 north-west, the area around Fritzlar shows evidence of significant pagan belief from the first century on. Excavations have produced a horse burial and bronze artifacts, a possible religious cult may have centered on a natural spring in Geismar, called Heilgenbron, the name Geismar itself may be derived from that spring. By 650, the Franks were establishing themselves as overlords, which is suggested by evidence of burials
5.
Regierungsbezirk
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Regierungsbezirk is an administrative region at federal state level in Germany. The regional authority is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung and is headed by a Regierungspräsident, the Regierungsbezirke do not pass any legislation. Within the federal authority, they act as a mid-level agency. Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as district, administrative district or province. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire, the Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft or Kreis or province in Hesse, in Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk. Currently, only four large-area states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke, on 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke, Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a Landesverwaltungsamt with three offices at the seats of the Bezirksregierungen. On 1 January 2005, Lower Saxony disbanded its remaining four Regierungsbezirke, Brunswick, Hanover, Lüneburg, on 1 August 2008, Saxony restructured its districts and changed the name of its Regierungsbezirke to Direktionsbezirke. This was necessary because one of the new districts did not fit with the borders of the old Regierungsbezirke, the Direktionsbezirke are still named Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig. As of 1 March 2012, the Direktionsbezirke were merged into one Landesdirektion, four of the new federal states re-established in 1990, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia, decided not to implement Regierungsbezirke. In Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland they never existed, stettin, dissolved in 1945, Province of Pomerania Media related to Regierungsbezirk at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Districts of Germany
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A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
7.
Vogelsbergkreis
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The Vogelsbergkreis is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Schwalm-Eder, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Fulda, Main-Kinzig, Wetteraukreis, Gießen, the district was created in 1972 by merging the former districts Alsfeld and Lauterbach. The main feature of the district is the Vogelsberg, an extinct volcano, official website Website of the district administration Touristic website
8.
Burgomaster
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The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester. In some cases, Burgomaster was the title of the head of state and head of government of a sovereign city-state, contemporary titles are commonly translated into English as mayor. Bürgermeister, in German, in Germany, Austria, and formerly in Switzerland, in Switzerland, the title was abolished mid-19th century, various current titles for roughly equivalent offices include Gemeindepräsident, Stadtpräsident, Gemeindeamtmann, and Stadtamtmann. Oberbürgermeister is the most common version for a mayor in a big city in Germany, the Ober- prefix is used in many ranking systems for the next level up including military designations. The mayors of cities, which comprise one of Germanys 112 urban districts usually bear this title. Urban districts are comparable to independent cities in the English-speaking world, however, also the mayors of some cities, which do not comprise an urban district, but often used to comprise one until the territorial reforms in the 1970s, bear the title Oberbürgermeister. In the Netherlands nominated by the council but appointed by the crown. In theory above the parties, in practice a high-profile party-political post, bourgmestre in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bürgermeister Burmistras, derived from German. Burmistrz, a title, derived from German. The German form Oberbürgermeister is often translated as Nadburmistrz, the German-derived terminology reflects the involvement of German settlers in the early history of many Polish towns. Borgmästare, kommunalborgmästare, the title is not used in Sweden in present times, boargemaster Pormestari In history in many free imperial cities the function of burgomaster was usually held simultaneously by three persons, serving as an executive college. One of the three being burgomaster in chief for a year, the second being the prior burgomaster in chief, präsidierender Bürgermeister is now an obsolete formulation sometimes found in historic texts
9.
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
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The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. The CDU forms the CDU/CSU grouping, also known as the Union, the leader of the CDU, Angela Merkel, is the current Chancellor of Germany. The CDU is a member of the Centrist Democrat International, International Democrat Union, immediately following the collapse of the Nazi dictatorship at the end of World War II, the need for a new political order in Germany was paramount. Simultaneous yet unrelated meetings began occurring throughout Germany, each with the intention of planning a Christian-democratic party, the Christlich-Demokratische Union was established in Berlin on 26 June 1945, and in Rheinland and Westfalen in September of the same year. The founding members of the CDU consisted primarily of members of the Centre Party, German Democratic Party, German National Peoples Party. In the Cold War years, after World War II up to the 1960s, a prominent anti-Nazi member was theologian Eugen Gerstenmaier who became Acting Chairman of the Foreign Board. One of the lessons learned from the failure of the Weimar Republic was that disunity among the parties ultimately allowed for the rise of the Nazi Party. It was therefore crucial to create a party of Christian Democrats – a Christian Democratic Union. The result of meetings was the establishment of an inter-confessional party influenced heavily by the political tradition of liberal conservatism. The latter was more nationalist and sought German reunification, even at the expense of concessions to the Soviet Union, the Western powers appreciated the CDUs moderation, its economic flexibility and its value as an oppositional force to the Communists, which appealed to European voters at the time. Also, Adenauer was trusted by the British, the party was split over issues of rearmament within the Western alliance and German unification as a neutral state. Adenauer staunchly defended his position and outmanoeuvred some of his opponents. He also refused to consider the SPD as a party of the coalition until he felt sure that they shared his anti-Communist position, the CDU was the dominant party for the first two decades following the establishment of West Germany in 1949. Konrad Adenauer remained the leader until 1963, at which point the former minister of economics Ludwig Erhard replaced him. As the Free Democratic Party withdrew from the coalition in 1966 due to disagreements over fiscal and economic policy. Consequently, a coalition with the SPD took over government under CDU Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. The CDU continued its role as opposition until 1982, when the FDP’s withdrawal from the coalition with the SPD allowed the CDU to regain power, CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl became the new Chancellor of West Germany and his CDU-FDP coalition was confirmed in the 1983 federal election
10.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
11.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
12.
Bad Hersfeld
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The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southeast of Kassel. Bad Hersfeld is known countrywide above all for the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele and these themselves are said to be Europe’s biggest Romanesque church ruin. In 1967, the hosted the seventh Hessentag state festival. The town lies in the Hersfeld Basin formed here by the forks of the Fulda, the inner town lies on the Fulda’s left bank. Furthermore, the Geisbach and the Solz empty into the Fulda in the municipal area, in the southwest lie the Vogelsberg Mountains, in the northwest the Knüllgebirge and in the northeast the Seulingswald. The town can be said to both to Northern Hesse and Eastern Hesse. The nearest cities are Kassel,52 km to the north, Gießen,79 km to the southwest, Fulda,36 km to the south, through Bad Hersfeld runs the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße, a holiday road that showcases many of Germany’s timber-frame houses and buildings. The Old Town stands on an alluvial or fluvial fan made of gravel and pebbles, also in the Fulda valley are found gravel and pebbles from the Holocene that are mostly of alluvial origin. There are layers of flood-deposited loess and loam of Pleistocene origin running through them, the gravel and pebbles are to a great extent made up of Middle Bunter, the most widespread stone here. In the west and east, this layer reaches from the Germanic Triassic on the Stellerskuppe, in the east, on the Wippershainer Höhe, the layer reaches up to 440 m above sea level. The Middle Bunter’s lower limit is found at about 110 m above sea level, newer mineral layers from the Triassic are found only in sporadic deposits and discontinuous layers within town limits. This is the Röt formation, which crops up in the headwaters of the many small brooks around the town, the Lower or Middle Muschelkalk that overlies it can only be found in a narrow, west-to-east running rift stretching between Heenes and Oberrode, north of the inner town. The newest mineral layer from the Triassic – the Lower Keuper – is only preserved in the region under a lava flow, owing to uplift in the Jurassic and Cretaceous, there are no mineral layers from these geological time periods. Volcanic rock from the Miocene can be found on the Haukuppe, from this layer come the two mineral springs in Bad Hersfeld. This layer is used in underground mining from the 400-metre level on down on the Werra and on the Fulda. Today’s main town spreads over the slopes of the Tageberg, the Frauenberg, the Wehneberg and the Wendeberg, further reaching into the valleys of the Meisebach, from southwest to northeast it stretches some 4.5 km, and from northeast to southwest some 3.5 km. The Old Town in the Fulda valley has an oval shape, from west to east it stretches some 960 m and from south to north some 570 m. This can still clearly be seen today, as where the town moat once led around the town there is today a ringroad that leads traffic around it, further subdivisions in the main town are not officially Stadtteile
13.
Fulda
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Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany, it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district. In 1990, the hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. In 744 Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface, founded the Benedictine monastery of Fulda as one of Bonifaces outposts in the reorganization of the church in Germany. It later served as a base from which missionaries could accompany Charlemagnes armies in their political and military campaign to fully conquer, the initial grant for the abbey was signed by Carloman, the son of Charles Martel. The support of the Mayors of the Palace and later, the early Pippinid, Fulda also received support from many of the leading families of the Carolingian world. Sturm, whose tenure as abbot lasted from 747 until 779, was most likely related to the Agilolfing dukes of Bavaria. Fulda also received large and constant donations from the Etichonids, a family in Alsace. Under Sturm, the donations Fulda received from these and other important families helped in the establishment of daughter-houses -Johannesberg and Petersberg - near Fulda, after his martyrdom by the Frisians, the relics of Saint Boniface were brought back to Fulda. Because of the stature this afforded the monastery, the donations increased, meanwhile, Saint Lullus, successor of Boniface as archbishop of Mainz, tried to absorb the abbey into his archbishopric, but failed. This was one reason that he founded Hersfeld Abbey - to limit the attempts of the enlargement of Fulda, between 790 and 819 the community rebuilt the main monastery church to more fittingly house the relics. The crypt of the abbey church still holds those relics. A small, 9th-century chapel remains standing within walking distance of the church, rabanus Maurus served as abbot at Fulda from 822 to 842. Prince-abbot Balthasar von Dernbach adopted a policy of counterreformation, in 1571 he called in the Jesuits to found a school and college. He insisted that the members of the chapter should return to a form of life. The foundation of the abbey Fulda and its territory originated with an Imperial grant, Fulda became a bishopric in 1752 and the prince-abbots were given the additional title of prince-bishop. The prince-abbots ruled Fulda and the region until the bishopric was forcibly dissolved by Napoleon in 1802. The city went through a building campaign in the 18th century. This included a remodeling of Fulda Cathedral and of the Stadtschloss by Johann Dientzenhofer, the city parish church, St. Blasius, was built between 1771–85
14.
Giessen
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Giessen, spelled Gießen in German, is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 78,000, with roughly 24,000 university students, the name comes from Giezzen, as it was first referred to in 1197, which refers to the position of the town between several rivers, lakes and streams. The largest river in Giessen is the Lahn, which divides the town in two parts, roughly 50 kilometres north of Frankfurt am Main, in 1969, the town hosted the ninth Hessentag state festival. Giessen came into being as a castle in 1152 built by Count Wilhelm von Gleiberg, although the history of the community in the northeast. The town became part of Hesse-Marburg in 1567, passing to Hesse-Darmstadt in 1604, the University of Giessen was founded in 1607. Giessen was included within the Grand Duchy of Hesse created in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars, after World War I, it was part of the Peoples State of Hesse. During World War II, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp was located in the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Licher Straße, heavy bombing destroyed about 75% of Gießen in 1944, including most of the towns historic buildings. It became part of the state of Hesse after the war. In 1977, Giessen was merged with the neighbouring city Wetzlar to form the new city of Lahn, however, this attempt to reorganize the administration was reversed in 1979. It was bounded to Darmstadt between 1945 and 1981 until Giessen was founded on 1 January 1981, an American military base was located in Giessen after World War II. The U. S. Army Garrison of Gießen had a population of 500 Americans, the base is a converted German Army Air Field which is reflected in some of the buildings including the housing area. A theatre, known as the Keller Theatre, is a converted German army Officers Club, as of September 28,2007, the Giessen Depot and all other communities in the greater Giessen area were turned back over to the local German authorities. After the war, the city was twinned with Winchester, UK, Giessen is twinned with, Akademischer Forstgarten Gießen, botanical gardens Botanischer Garten Gießen, established in 1609, is the oldest botanical garden in Germany still at its original location. Old Cemetery, is the place of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. Liebig-Museum was established in 1920 to honor the chemist Justus von Liebig, mathematikum was established in 2002, offering a huge variety of mathematical hands-on exhibits. University of Giessen Rubber Island is an area near the Lahn River. Giessen is home to the basketball club Giessen 46ers, five time champion of the Basketball Bundesliga and its home games take place at the Sporthalle Gießen-Ost. Also, Giessen has a football team called Giessen Golden Dragons
15.
Marburg
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Marburg is a university town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district. The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximately 72,000, having been awarded town privileges in 1222, Marburg served as capital of the landgraviate of Hessen-Marburg during periods of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. The University of Marburg was founded in 1527 and dominates the life in the town to this day. The settlement was protected and customs were raised by a castle built during the ninth or tenth century by the Giso. Marburg has been a town since 1140, as proven by coins, from the Gisos, it fell around that time to the Landgraves of Thuringia, residing on the Wartburg above Eisenach. In 1228, the widowed princess-landgravine of Thuringia, Elizabeth of Hungary, chose Marburg as her seat, as she did not get along well with her brother-in-law. The countess dedicated her life to the sick and would become after her death in 1231, aged 24. In 1264, St Elizabeths daughter Sophie of Brabant, succeeded in winning the Landgraviate of Hessen, hitherto connected to Thuringia, Marburg was one of the capitals of Hessen from that time until about 1540. Following the first division of the landgraviate, it was the capital of Hessen-Marburg from 1485 to 1500, Hessen was one of the more powerful second-tier principalities in Germany. Its old enemy was the Archbishopric of Mainz, one of the prince-electors, after 1605, Marburg became just another provincial town, known mostly for the University of Marburg. It became a backwater for two centuries after the Thirty Years War, when it was fought over by Hessen-Darmstadt and Hesse-Kassel. The Hessian territory around Marburg lost more than two-thirds of its population, Marburg is the seat of the oldest Protestant-founded university in the world, the University of Marburg, founded in 1527. It is one of the university towns in Germany, Greifswald, Erlangen, Jena, and Tübingen, as well as the city of Gießen. In 1529, Philipp I of Hesse arranged the Marburg Colloquy, to propitiate Martin Luther, when Romanticism became the dominant cultural and artistic paradigm in Germany, Marburg became interesting once again, and many of the leaders of the movement lived, taught, or studied in Marburg. They formed a circle of friends that was of importance, especially in literature, philology, folklore. Most famous internationally, however, were the Brothers Grimm, who collected many of their fairy tales here, the original building inspiring his drawing Rapunzels Tower stands in Amönau near Marburg. Across the Lahn hills, in the area called Schwalm, the costumes of little girls included a red hood, in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the Prince-elector of Hessen had backed Austria. Prussia won and took the opportunity to invade and annex the Electorate of Hessen north of the Main River, however, the pro-Austrian Hesse-Darmstadt remained independent
16.
Schwalm (Eder)
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The Schwalm is a river in Hesse, Germany, right tributary of the Eder. It rises on the side of the Vogelsberg Mountains. It flows north through Alsfeld, Schwalmstadt and Borken, the Schwalm flows into the Eder near Wabern, east of Fritzlar, after a total length of 97 km. The main tributaries are the Efze, the Gilsa, the Grenff and the Antrift
17.
Vogelsberg
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The Vogelsberg Mountains or Vogelsberg are a large volcanic massif in eastern Upper Hesse separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda River and its valley. The main peaks of the Vogelsberg are Taufstein,773 meters, in recent years the Eurasian lynx has returned. There are rumors about wolves being sighted in the region, sightings have been confirmed in an area north of the Vogelsberg. Wildcats are also said to exist in the region, although they, as in most of Hessen, wild boar are present in large numbers. In German, return of the Eurasian Lynx
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Hessentag
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The Hessentag is an annual event, both fair and festival, organized by the German state of Hesse to represent the different regions of Hesse. The events are shown for a week to the visitors, with an emphasis on cultural displays and it is the oldest and largest state festival in Germany. The Hessentag was launched in 1961 by the minister of Hesse. The event was intended to bring together residents and migrants and to provide a sense of their new home to the many refugees. Hesse itself had to catch up in terms of togetherness, the state was created in 1945 by a decision of the victorious powers of World War II, from areas with different history. Georg August Zinn knew how to integrate the various new Hessians, following his motto, Hesse ist, the first Hessentag in Alsfeld in 1961 was held on three days, presenting a fair and a parade of the different traditional costumes in Hesse. Because of this success, an event was held. The Hessentag is hosted by a different town each year, the event comes with publicity, improved infrastructure and restoration of historic buildings, but is expensive for the host town. Originally it was held on one weekend, but grew to a week and it connects Hessian culture, tradition and modern lifestyle. The first focus of the event was presentation of traditions, especially the variety of costumes in Hesse. Concerts by international pop groups have become a part of the program. The Landesausstellung is shown in mobile halls, presenting the state government, regions of Hesse are presented mostly from a tourists point of view. Since 1971, for each Hessentag a couple is elected to represent it, since 1993, a motto for the event was chosen by the hosting town, also a logo. The event is traditionally closed by a parade, each year the event has attracted more than half a million visitors, not only from Hesse. More than one million visitors were counted first in Baunatal in 1999, other towns attracting more than one million visitors were Dietzenbach, Butzbach, Langenselbold and Stadtallendorf. The Hessentag 2012 was held in Wetzlar, the Hessentag 2013 was in Kassel. Ministerpräsident Volker Bouffier, „Tradition des Hessentags mit Herzlichkeit und Offenheit gelebt“, press release of Hessische Staatskanzlei,10 June 2012250
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Willingshausen
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Willingshausen is a community in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse, Germany. The community of Willingshausen lies in the Schwalm area, Willingshausen consists of the ten centres of Gungelshausen, Leimbach, Loshausen, Merzhausen, Ransbach, Steina, Steinatal, Wasenberg, Willingshausen and Zella. Willingshausens municipal council is made up of 31 councillors, as of the last municipal elections held on 26 March 2006, the council seats are apportioned thus, The Willingshausen Painters Colony is Germanys oldest artists association. He came to convalesce with his brothers inlaws at the Schwertzellsche Haus in Willingshausen and he settled down in Willingshausen and began to draw and paint. He procured an honorary stipend from the Russian Imperial Family, which afforded him financial independence, in 1825 the Kassel painter Ludwig Emil Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimms brother, came to Willingshausen to study landscapes. This is said to be the time when the colony was founded, many painters worked – and still work today – at Willingshausen. The Museum Malerstübchen at the Gerhardt-von-Reutern-Haus documents the artists work, two music festivals take place each year in the constituent community of Loshausen, the World Music Festival der Klangfreunde on the first weekend of August, and Rock im Park in July. Federal Highway B254 is about 6 km east of town, the Alsfeld-West interchange on Autobahn A5 (Kassel – Frankfurt is about 15 km away. The community belongs to the North Hesse Transport Network
20.
Schrecksbach
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Schrecksbach is a community in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse, Germany. Schrecksbach lies in the part of Schwalm-Eder on the River Schwalm. The following centres belong to the community, Schrecksbach is a very old place that was mentioned in one of Charlemagnes documents as Screggesbaha am Sualmanahafluß as early as 782. The community itself was first mentioned in 1223, on 31 October 1806, Napoleons army overran the country. Elector William I fled and was unseated, at this time, Schrecksbach was occupied by enemy troops, suffering heavily as a result. Municipal council is made up of 23 members, CDU4 seats SPD11 seats UWG5 seats FWG3 seats The community is connected to the buslines through the railway stations at Schwalmstadt-Treysa and Alsfeld
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Ottrau
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Ottrau is a community in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Ottrau lies about 10 km northeast of Alsfeld and it was later also named Wiesenbrunn and the name that it has today comes from that. Ottraus municipal council is made up of 15 councillors, CDU6 seats SPD4 seats FWG3 seats UWG2 seats Drávafok, Hungary Dr. Wilhelm Schäfer, poet and writer, became an honorary citizen on the occasion of his 70th birthday in 1938. Ottraus primary school is named after him
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Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
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Schwalm-Eder-Kreis is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Kassel, Werra-Meißner, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Vogelsberg, Marburg-Biedenkopf, in 1821 districts were created in Hesse. They included the districts of Fritzlar, Homberg, Melsungen, in 1932 the districts of Fritzlar and Homberg were merged, in 1974 the three districts of Fritzlar-Homberg, Melsungen, and Ziegenhain were merged into the Schwalm-Eder district. The district is twinned with the Finnish city of Kajaani, the British district of Sedgemoor, the Schwalm and Eder rivers give the district its name. After they merge close to Felsberg, the Eder enters the Fulda to the north at Edermunde, the southeast of the district includes a portion of the Knüllgebirge range of low mountains, the highest elevation is 634 metres. In the north are the hills of the Homberger Hochland, in the east, the geology of the Knüllgebirge is dominated by the clastic Triassic strata of the Middle Buntsandstein, as is the western region around the Gilserberg. Soils of weathered Buntsandstein are generally acidic to basic and nutrient-poor. For the most part the land is forested, in the district of Fritzlar there are outcrops of younger Upper Buntsandstein, known as the Röt Formation, because of its red colour. These strata consist of beds and various kinds of calcareous beds. Schwalm Media related to Schwalm-Eder-Kreis at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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Breitenbach am Herzberg
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Breitenbach am Herzberg is a community in southwesternmost Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany. The community lies at the foot of the Hirschberg and the Rimberg in the southern Knüllgebirge, the constituent communities are scattered through the Jossa valley and its side valleys. The municipal area’s lowest point is to be found on the Jossa in the constituent community of Oberjossa and its highest point lies 529 m above sea level on the slopes of the Rimberg. The community lies between Alsfeld and Bad Hersfeld, breitenbach’s Ortsteile are Breitenbach, Hatterode, Oberjossa, Gehau and Machtlos. In 1290, Breydenbach apud stratam bi dem Herzisberg had its first documentary mention, the document itself deals, however, with other, older documents, leading to the supposition that the villages arose as early as some time between 400 and 800. From 1290 to 1298, Herzberg Castle was built on the trade road Kurze Hessen by Heinrich von Romrod, Heinrich acquired the area around the village as a fief from the Landgraves of Hesse. Over several hundred years thereafter, the castle and later state fort of Herzberg was held by the Barons of Dörnberg, with effect from 31 December 1971, the communities of Breitenbach, Hatterode and Oberjossa willingly merged, founding the new greater community of Breitenbach am Herzberg. The centres of Gehau and Machtlos joined them in the course of reform on 1 July 1972. The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results, The community’s executive is made up of five members, volker Jaritz was elected mayor in a runoff election on 10 February 2008 with 65. 5% of the vote. He succeeded Siegfried Steube, who had been elected on 27 January 2002 with 71. 7% of the vote, before him came Paul Orth, who was elected on 3 March 1996 with 70. 8% of the vote. The community’s arms might be described thus, Bendy wavy sinister argent and azure a crenellated tower party per bend gules and Or royally crowned, the tower stands for Herzberg Castle. The mullet of six recalls the knighly order of the Sternerbund, the tinctures gold and red come from the arms borne by the Barons of Dörnberg, who held the castle beginning in 1477
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Hersfeld-Rotenburg
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Hersfeld-Rotenburg is a Kreis in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Werra-Meißner, Wartburgkreis, Fulda, Vogelsbergkreis, Schwalm-Eder, in 1972 both districts were merged into one. The district contains the hilly landscape of Waldhessen, the mountains are of the Knüllgebirge, Stölzinger Gebirge, Richelsdorfer Gebirge, działdowo, Poland Hyvinkää, Finland Official website Touristic website
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Romrod
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Romrod is a small town in the Vogelsbergkreis in central Hesse, Germany. Through the town flows the river Antrift, Romrod consists of the communities of Nieder-Breidenbach, Ober-Breidenbach, Romrod, Strebendorf and Zell. The village of Rumerode came into being at the crossroads of the Diotweg, the first castle was built in the 11th century in the Antrift valley. It is thus assumed that there was already a settlement there, in the first half of the 12th century, the old castle with the moat was built. The builders of this castle were presumably the local von Romrod noble familys forebears and these nobles were first mentioned in writing in 1197, when Ludwig von Romrods name cropped up when he witnessed a document from the Fulda Abbey. In the centuries that followed, the von Romrods held important offices, Heinrich von Romrod was a Hessian marshal and Hermann von Romrod held command over the Order of St. John in Grebenau. Also worthy of noting are the Abbots Heinrich VI von Romrod in Hersfeld, through the course of the 14th century, the von Romrods fell on hard times and had to sell their stately home to the Landgraves Otto and Heinrich von Hessen. By 1408 at the latest, Romrod had passed to Hesse, Romrod town council is made up of 23 members. As of municipal elections held on 26 March 2006 the seats are apportioned thus, The town executive consists of 5 councillors, the mayor, Dr. Birgit Richtberg was elected on 14 March 2004 with a 54. 3% share of the vote. Heraldically, Romrods civic coat of arms might be described thus, In Or a stone wall with a crenellated tower sable, below the tower and before the wall an inescutcheon, the golden shield with the wall and tower has its roots in Romrods old knightly family. The Lion of Hesse, of course, refers to Hesse, la Coquille, Dordogne, France since 1990 Schloss Romrod Romrod Synagogue Romrod lies on Autobahn A5, at interchange 3, Pfefferhöhe. Furthermore, Federal Highway B49 runs through Romrod, at the Schloss is a memorial academy educational centre of the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, an initiative whose goal is to protect cultural monuments. August von Bibra, Manager of the Mainzer Adelsverein in Texas Karl Follen, German-American academic and writer
26.
Antrifttal
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Antrifttal is a community in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Antrifttal lies, as its name suggests, in the valley of a brook called the Antrift, the municipal area of 26.59 km² is 54% agricultural. Antrifttal borders in the north on the community of Willingshausen, in the east and south on the town of Alsfeld, in the west on the town of Kirtorf, Ohmes had its first documentary mention in 1240 under the name Omeza. It got its name from a body of water called the Omena that welled up just below the village, in 1240, a third of the village came into the ownership of the Hersfeld Monastery. There was a family, the Lords of Ohmes. The other two thirds of the village belonged to the district of Katzenberg under the Counts of Ziegenhain. In the early 19th century, the village passed from the Archbishopric of Mainz to the Bishopric of Fulda and it was consecrated Zur Heiligen Familie von Nazareth, with Williges as its secondary patron. Vockenrod was presumably founded along with the estate of Erbleihehof Hermannshain in the 12th century. In 1283, it was part of the district of Katzenberg under the Counts of Ziegenhain. Vockenrod had the procession of mediaeval rulers as Ohmes. The same wars also wrought destruction on Vockenrod, reducing the village from 20 households in 1580 to only 12 in 1630. Vockenrod likewise also passed to the Bishopric of Fulda in the early 19th century, remaining with it until 1889, the church that stands today was built only in 1908 under the leadership of Greifzu, an architect from Mainz. It was consecrated Allerheiligsten Jungfrau Maria, with Saint Boniface as its secondary patron, within are to be seen elements of Art Nouveau as well as a noteworthy altar bearing, among other things, scenes from Saint Bonifaces life. The community came into being only on 1 January 1972 through the amalgamation of four communities in the Katzenberg and Bernsburg, bilddokumentation Antrifttal-Ruhlkirchen gestern und heute Antrifttal at DMOZ
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Carolingian dynasty
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The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name Carolingian derives from the Latinised name of Charles Martel, the Carolingian dynasty reached its peak in 800 with the crowning of Charlemagne as the first Emperor of Romans in over three centuries. His death in 814 began a period of fragmentation of the Carolingian empire and decline that would eventually lead to the evolution of the Kingdom of France. This picture, however, is not commonly accepted today, the greatest Carolingian monarch was Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III at Rome in 800. His empire, ostensibly a continuation of the Western Roman Empire, is referred to historiographically as the Carolingian Empire, the Carolingian rulers did not give up the traditional Frankish practice of dividing inheritances among heirs, though the concept of the indivisibility of the Empire was also accepted. The Carolingians had the practice of making their sons kings in the various regions of the Empire. The Carolingians were displaced in most of the regna of the Empire by 888 and they ruled in East Francia until 911 and held the throne of West Francia intermittently until 987. One chronicler of Sens dates the end of Carolingian rule with the coronation of Robert II of France as junior co-ruler with his father, Hugh Capet, the dynasty became extinct in the male line with the death of Eudes, Count of Vermandois. His sister Adelaide, the last Carolingian, died in 1122, the Carolingian dynasty has five distinct branches, The Lombard branch, or Vermandois branch, or Herbertians, descended from Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne. Though he did not outlive his father, his son Bernard was allowed to retain Italy, Bernard rebelled against his uncle Louis the Pious, and lost both his kingdom and his life. Deprived of the title, the members of this branch settled in France. The counts of Vermandois perpetuated the Carolingian line until the 12th century, the Counts of Chiny and the lords of Mellier, Neufchâteau and Falkenstein are branches of the Herbertians. With the descendants of the counts of Chiny, there would have been Herbertian Carolingians to the early 14th century, the Lotharingian branch, descended from Emperor Lothair, eldest son of Louis the Pious. At his death Middle Francia was divided equally between his three surviving sons, into Italy, Lotharingia and Lower Burgundy, the sons of Emperor Lothair did not have sons of their own, so Middle Francia was divided between the western and eastern branches of the family in 875. The Aquitainian branch, descended from Pepin of Aquitaine, son of Louis the Pious, since he did not outlive his father, his sons were deprived of Aquitaine in favor of his younger brother Charles the Bald. The German branch, descended from Louis the German, King of East Francia, since he had three sons, his lands were divided into Duchy of Bavaria, Duchy of Saxony and Duchy of Swabia. His youngest son Charles the Fat briefly reunited both East and West Francia — the entirety of the Carolingian empire — but it again after his death. With the failure of the lines of the German branch, Arnulf of Carinthia
28.
Thuringia
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The Free State of Thuringia is a federal state in central Germany. It has an area of 16,171 square kilometres and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area, most of Thuringia is within the watershed of the Saale, a left tributary of the Elbe. Thuringia has been known as the heart of Germany from the late 19th century. It is home to the Rennsteig, Germanys most well-known hiking trail, half of Germanys 136 Winter Olympic gold medals have been won by Thuringian athletes. Johann Sebastian Bach spent the first part of his life and important further stages of his career in Thuringia, goethe and Schiller lived in Weimar and both worked at the University of Jena, which today hosts Thuringias most important science centre. Other Universities in this state are the Ilmenau University of Technology, the University of Erfurt. The name Thuringia or Thüringen derives from the Germanic tribe Thuringii, an older theory claims that they were successors of the Hermunduri, but later research rejected the idea. Other historians argue that the Thuringians were allies of the Huns, came to central Europe together with them, publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus first mentioned the Thuringii around 400, during that period, the Thuringii were famous for their excellent horses. The Thuringian Realm existed until after 531, the Landgraviate of Thuringia was the largest state in the region, after the Treaty of Leipzig, Thuringia had its own dynasty again, the Ernestine Wettins. Their various lands formed the Free State of Thuringia, founded in 1920, the Prussian territories around Erfurt, Mühlhausen and Nordhausen joined Thuringia in 1945. The coat of arms of Thuringia shows the lion of the Ludowingian Landgraves of 12th-century origin, the eight stars around it represent the eight former states which formed Thuringia. The flag of Thuringia is a bicolor, derived from the white. The coat of arms and flag of Hesse are quite similar to the Thuringian ones, symbols of Thuringia in popular culture are the Bratwurst and the Forest, because a large amount of the territory is forested. Named after the Thuringii tribe who occupied it around AD300, Thuringia became a landgraviate in 1130 AD. Most of the remaining Thuringia came under the rule of the Wettin dynasty of the nearby Margraviate of Meissen, in Mühlhausen and elsewhere, the Anabaptists found many adherents. Thomas Müntzer, a leader of some groups of this sect, was active in this city. Some reordering of the Thuringian states occurred during the German Mediatisation from 1795 to 1814, in 1920, after World War I, these small states merged into one state, called Thuringia, only Saxe-Coburg voted to join Bavaria instead. Weimar became the new capital of Thuringia, the coat of arms of this new state was simpler than those of its predecessors
29.
Hesse-Marburg
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The Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg was a German landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1458 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650. It consisted of the city of Marburg and the towns of Gießen, Nidda and Eppstein. The area had been a semi-independent county under the counts Giso or Gisonen since the 11th century, when the daughter of St. However, Hesse-Marburg, by its name, refers only to the subdivision around Marburg. This became an independent principality due to inheritance, i. e. by a landgrave splitting his possessions among two or more sons and this was first the case in 1485, but as the landgrave died without issue, and the landgraviate reverted to the greater Hesse. This was again the case in 1567, Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse or Philip the Magnanimous split his large landgraviate into four parts, Hesse-Kassel was Calvinist at that time. As the two argued over the details of the division, Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel annexed the whole territory. After a long dispute and armed conflict, Maurice — who had enemies at home as well — resigned in 1627 and left his part of the territory to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. However, in the Hessian War of 1645–48, which was a sub-conflict of the Thirty Years War and this war led to the loss of life of up to two-thirds of the civilian population, one of the highest death toll in any German region in history. In the end, the territory was divided as stipulated in Louis IVs will, Hesse-Kassel taking the northern and Hesse-Darmstadt the southern part. All areas of Hesse-Marburg are today located within the German state of Hesse
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Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
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The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Landgrave Philip I, the residence of the landgraves was in Darmstadt, hence the name. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the landgraviate was elevated to the Grand Duchy of Hesse following the Empires dissolution in 1806. His eldest brother William IV received the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, while the second son Louis IV obtained Hesse-Marburg, the Hesse-Rheinfels line became extinct on Philips death in 1583. Because the University of Marburg had become Calvinist under the rule of Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel, the inheritance conflict was continued in the broader contest of the Thirty Years War, in which Hesse-Kassel sided with the Protestant estates and Hesse-Darmstadt sided with the Habsburg emperor. The Hesse-Homburg and Hesse-Rotenburg estates seceded from the opponents in 1622 and 1627, the conflict was finally settled on the eve of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, more than eighty years after the division of the estates. Large parts of the disputed Upper Hesse territory including Marburg fell to the elder Kassel line, while Hesse-Darmstadt retained Giessen, in 1736, the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt inherited the estates of the extinct Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg, again contested by their Kassel cousins. Hesse-Darmstadt gained a deal of territory by the secularizations and mediatizations authorized by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803. List of rulers of Hesse Piotr Napierała, Hesja-Darmstadt w XVIII stuleciu, wielcy władcy małego państwa, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, Poznań2009. ISBN 978-83-232-2007-7 Map of Hesse in 1789 - Northern Part Map of Hesse in 1789 - Southern Part
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Schotten
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Schotten is a town in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Larger towns nearby include Alsfeld in the north, Fulda in the east, Friedberg in the south, the officially recognised climatic spa lies between 168 m and 773 m above sea level on the western slope of the Vogelsberg Mountains. Nearby are Hoherodskopf and Taufstein, the two highest peaks in the High Vogelsberg Nature Park, Schotten is a tourist town thanks to reliably high snowfall in the winter and hiking opportunities in the summer in the extensive forests. Watersports are also possible on the Nidda Reservoir, in the outermost northwestern municipal area is the source of the river Nidda, a favourite destination for hikers. Archaeological finds from the Schotten area reach back to the New Stone Age, several barrows bear witness to prehistoric times as do the Alteburg and Wildhauskopf ringwalls, whose building date is unknown. Schotten had its first documentary mention in 778, the Horstburg, a local castle near the constituent community of Rudingshain, may have stood in connection with the towns founding. There were digs at the ruins in the 1970s, and they were interpreted as having been a Carolingian royal court, Schotten is said to have been founded by Irish-Scottish monks. The great Gothic Liebfrauenkirche was built in the 14th century, in the Middle Ages, Schotten belonged to the Eppstein and Trimberg noble families. The Rhenish League of Towns, in a feud with these families, captured the town and destroyed the walls, from 1403, Schotten belonged to the Hessian Landgraves. The current stately home, the Schottener Schloss, dates from this time, under the municipal reforms in the early 1970s,15 communities were amalgamated into a greater community of Schotten. Schottens civic coat of arms might heraldically be described thus, In azure a falcon argent armed gules wings outstretched standing upon a hill, or, the golden hill stands for the Vogelsberg Mountains. The falcon comes from a legend about the towns founding, the nearest Autobahnen are the A5 and the A45. There have been problems with street racing, which in 2005 left 12 people dead, a particular problem on the highway is the Applauskurve, a 180° bend in the road between Schotten and Laubach, known to motorcyclists all over Germany. Schotten is also home to the Niddastausee, a man-made lake, here, sailors, surfers and other watersport lovers find a place, as do recreation seekers. In winter, on the hand, the Hoherodskopf is probably the favourite outing destination in the area. In the Old Town, the Gothic Liebfrauenkirche can be seen with its famous Marienaltar, the winged altar was made about 1385 by an unknown painter. In motorsport, the town is known for the Schottenring races, wilhelm Gontrum, German politician, Member of the Bundestag Schotten High Vogelsberg Nature Park Schottenring
32.
Social Democratic Party of Germany
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The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany. The party, led by Chairman Martin Schulz since 2017, has one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the Christian Democratic Union. The SPD has governed at the level in Germany as part of a grand coalition with the CDU. The SPD participates in 14 state governments, nine of them governed by SPD Minister-Presidents, the SPD is a member of the Party of European Socialists and of the Socialist International, and became a founding member of the Progressive Alliance on 22 May 2013. Established in 1863, the SPD is the oldest extant political party represented in the German Parliament and was one of the first Marxist-influenced parties in the world. The General German Workers Association, founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers Party, founded in 1869, merged in 1875, under the name Socialist Workers Party of Germany. From 1878 to 1890, any grouping or meeting that aimed at spreading socialist principles was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, in 1890, when the ban was lifted and it could again present electoral lists, the party adopted its current name. In the years leading up to World War I, the party remained ideologically radical in official principle, by 1912, the party claimed the most votes of any German party. Despite the agreement of the Second International to oppose the First World War, after 1918 the SPD played an important role in the political system of the Weimar Republic, although it took part in coalition governments only in few years. Adolf Hitler prohibited the party in 1933 under the Enabling Act – party officials were imprisoned, killed or went into exile, in exile, the party used the name Sopade. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, the Soviets forced the Social Democrats to form a party with the Communists. In the Western zones, the Communist Party was later banned by West Germanys Federal Constitutional Court, since 1949, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD has been one of the two major parties, with the other being the Christian Democratic Union. From 1969 to 1982 and 1998 to 2005 the Chancellors of Germany were Social Democrats whereas the other years the Chancellors were Christian Democrats, the SPD was established as a Marxist party in 1875. After World War II, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD re-established itself as a socialist party, representing the interests of the working class and the trade unions. With the Godesberg Program of 1959, however, the party evolved from a socialist working-class party to a modern social-democratic party working within capitalism. The current party platform of the SPD espouses the goal of social democracy, according to the party platform, freedom, justice, and social solidarity, form the basis of social democracy. The coordinated social market economy should be strengthened, and its output should be distributed fairly, the party sees that economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire population. The SPD also tries to protect the poor with a welfare state
33.
Patrician (post-Roman Europe)
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In the rise of European towns in the 10th and 11th centuries, the patriciate, a limited group of families with a special constitutional position, in Henri Pirennes view, was the motive force. In 19th century central Europe, the term had become synonymous with the upper Bourgeoisie, except for the republics of Italy. As in Ancient Rome, patrician status could only be inherited. However, membership in the patriciate could be passed on through the female line, accession to a patriciate through this mechanism was referred to as erweibern. In any case, only patricians could hold, or participate in elections for. Often, as in Venice, non-patricians had almost no political rights, lists were maintained of who had the status, of which the most famous is the Libro dOro of the Venetian Republic. For instance in Scandinavia, the term synonymous with the rich mercantile class. The allegiance of the Principality of Salerno was bought in 887 by investing Prince Guaimar I, in 909 the Prince of Benevento, Landulf I, personally sought and received the title in Constantinople for both himself and his brother, Atenulf II. Amalfi was ruled by a series of Patricians, the last of whom was elected Duke, in the late Middle Ages and early modern period patricians also acquired noble titles, sometimes simply by acquiring domains in the surrounding contado that carried a heritable fief. The Republic of Genoa had a class, much smaller, of nobility. Some cities, such as Naples and Rome, which had never been republics in post-Classical times, also had patrician classes, though most holders also had noble titles. The Republic of Ragusa was ruled by a strict patriciate that was established in 1332. Subsequently, patrician became a term used for aristocrats and elite bourgeoisie in many countries. Florence, in 1244, came late in the peak period of these transformations. However Florence was to have other upheavals, reducing the power of the class, in the movement leading to the Ordinances of Justice in 1293. Of the major republics, only Venice managed to retain an exclusively patrician government, venetians with a disputed claim to the patriciate were required to present to the avogadori di commun established to adjudicate such claims a genealogy called a prova di nobiltà, a test of nobility. Beginning in the 11th century, a class which much later came to be called Patrizier formed in the German-speaking free imperial cities. Besides wealthy merchant Grand Burghers, they were recruited from the ranks of knights, administrators and ministeriales
34.
Timber framing
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Timber framing and post-and-beam construction are methods of building with heavy timbers rather than dimensional lumber such as 2x4s. Traditional timber framing is the method of creating structures using heavy squared-off and it is commonplace in wooden buildings from the 19th century and earlier. The method comes from making out of logs and tree trunks without modern high tech saws to cut lumber from the starting material stock. Since this building method has been used for thousands of years in parts of the world. These styles are categorized by the type of foundation, walls, how and where the beams intersect, the use of curved timbers. Three basic types of frames in English-speaking countries are the box frame, cruck frame. The distinction presented here is the load is carried by the exterior walls. Purlins are also in a timber frame. A cruck is a pair of crooked or curved timbers which form a bent or crossframe, more than 4,000 cruck frame buildings have been recorded in the UK. Several types of frames are used, more information follows in English style below. True cruck or full cruck, blades, straight or curved, base cruck, tops of the blades are truncated by the first transverse member such as by a tie beam. Raised cruck, blades land on masonry wall, and extend to the ridge, middle cruck, blades land on masonry wall, and are truncated by a collar. Upper cruck, blades land on a tie beam, very similar to knee rafters, jointed cruck, blades are made from pieces joined near eaves in a number of ways. See also, hammerbeam roof End cruck is not a style, aisled frames have one or more rows of interior posts. These interior posts typically carry more load than the posts in the exterior walls. This is the concept of the aisle in church buildings, sometimes called a hall church. However, a nave is often called an aisle, and three-aisled barns are common in the U. S. the Netherlands, aisled buildings are wider than the simpler box-framed or cruck-framed buildings, and typically have purlins supporting the rafters. In northern Germany, this construction is known as variations of a Ständerhaus, the frame is often left exposed on the exterior of the building
35.
Altstadt
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Altstadt is the German language word for old town, meaning historical city centre within the city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. Neustadt, the logical opposite of Altstadt, mostly stands for a part of the Altstadt in modern sense, sometimes only a few younger than the oldest part. Most German towns have an Altstadt, even though the ravages of war have destroyed many of them, especially during the Thirty Years War. In the War of the Palatinian Succession of 1688, the order to Brûlez le Palatinat. was executed by Mélac, devastating many cities and large parts of South Western Germany, like the Heidelberg castle. Allied Strategic bombing during World War II destroyed nearly all large cities, many smaller towns remained intact, for example Tübingen, Dinkelsbühl, Quedlinburg and Wismar. Some Altstadt parts in Freiburg, Berlin, Münster, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and famously Weimar, but most destroyed bigger German old towns were not reconstructed. Important old towns like those of Hildesheim, Braunschweig, Frankfurt, Kassel, recent efforts of Altstadt reconstructions can be found in Dresden, Potsdam and Frankfurt
36.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
37.
Defensive wall
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A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements, beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions – representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced. Existing ancient walls are almost always masonry structures, although brick, depending on the topography of the area surrounding the city or the settlement the wall is intended to protect, elements of the terrain may be incorporated in order to make the wall more effective. Walls may only be crossed by entering the city gate and are often supplemented with towers. Simpler defensive walls of earth or stone, thrown up around hillforts, ringworks, early castles, from very early history to modern times, walls have been a near necessity for every city. Uruk in ancient Sumer is one of the worlds oldest known walled cities, before that, the city of Jericho in what is now the West Bank had a wall surrounding it as early as the 8th millennium BC. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples, some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were also fortified. By about 3500 B. C. hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain, many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. Mundigak in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks, babylon was one of the most famous cities of the ancient world, especially as a result of the building program of Nebuchadnezzar, who expanded the walls and built the Ishtar Gate. Exceptions were few — notably, ancient Sparta and ancient Rome did not have walls for a long time, initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar. In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements which the Romans called oppida, the fortifications were continuously expanded and improved. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, in classical era Greece, the city of Athens built a long set of parallel stone walls called the Long Walls that reached their guarded seaport at Piraeus. Large tempered earth walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty, although stone walls were built in China during the Warring States, mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until the Tang Dynasty. The large walls of Pingyao serve as one example, likewise, the famous walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor. The Romans fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls, the most famous of these are the largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the Porta Nigra in Trier or Newport Arch in Lincoln, apart from these, the early Middle Ages also saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and ditches. From the 12th century AD hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe and these cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces
38.
Pranger
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The pranger is a Central European physical punishment device related to the stocks and the pillory. The Middle Low German word means something that pinches badly, the pranger chained the victims neck to a pair of leg restraints fastened around the ankles. Often the chain was short so that the offender was placed in an uncomfortable half-kneeling position, in another type of pranger, the condemned person was tied to a column that stood in the town center for public view. The pranger was used for public humiliation as punishment, not for painful interrogation or coercion. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
39.
Charles Crodel
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Charles Crodel was a German painter and stained glass artist who also taught at Penn State University and the University of Louisville. Crodel was born in Marseille, he studied arts at the University of Jena and he was member of the executive board of the Jena art-union and became a close friend of Gerhard Marcks. In 1923, the German National Gallery of Art at Berlin and later the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris bought first his woodcuts, a mural in the University of Jena, another in the Weimar Schlossmuseum and a third in Erfurt remain of that time. In these years, Crodels murals in Halle and the dedicated to Goethe in 1932 at Bad Lauchstädt were destroyed in summer 1933. The following years Crodel found new fields of work and he designed glass decoration in Industry, and he explored pottery decoration together with Hedwig Bollhagen, while Elisabeth Crodel completed embroidery. Bollhagen had acquired a business from a Jewish artist who had been forced to sell. Bollhagen worked closely with Crodel who had ejected from the gleichgeschaltet group for creating Degenerate art. Crodels friendship was said to be important to Bollhagen, Crodel also began to paint stained-glass and to design mosaics. In 1945, Crodel again taught at Halle, but also at Berlin and Dresden, from 1958 on Crodel also several times was invited to the Penn State and Louisville Universities. Crodels stained-glass windows are found in Germany and in Sweden, coming from a session of the Berlin Academy of Arts, Crodel died in 1973 in Munich, at the age of 79. University of Louisville, Allen R. Hite Art Institute, Paintings and Graphic Work by Charles Crodel, introduction by Justus Bier and Senta Bier. Wilhelm Worringer and Herbert Koch, woodcut,1922, die Töpferin Marguerite Friedlaender, painting, Berliner Sezession,64
40.
Gothic architecture
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Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture and its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the cathedrals, abbeys. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, for this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, the term Gothic architecture originated as a pejorative description. Hence, François Rabelais, also of the 16th century, imagines an inscription over the door of his utopian Abbey of Thélème, Here enter no hypocrites, slipping in a slighting reference to Gotz and Ostrogotz. Authorities such as Christopher Wren lent their aid in deprecating the old medieval style, the Company disapproved of several of these new manners, which are defective and which belong for the most part to the Gothic. Gothic architecture is the architecture of the medieval period, characterised by use of the pointed arch. As an architectural style, Gothic developed primarily in ecclesiastical architecture, the greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the cathedrals of Northern France. At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states, norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with other, or united for mutual weal. Civic building was of importance to these towns as a sign of wealth. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings, dukes and bishops, the Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the lords and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France, a part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture, learning and commerce
41.
Autobahn
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The Autobahn is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is Bundesautobahn, which translates as federal motorway, the literal meaning of the word Bundesautobahn is Federal Auto Track. German autobahns have no federally mandated speed limit for some classes of vehicles, however limits are posted in areas that are urbanized, substandard, accident-prone, or under construction. On speed-unrestricted stretches, a speed limit of 130 kilometres per hour applies. A2008 estimate reported that 52% of the network had only the advisory speed limit, 15% had temporary speed limits due to weather or traffic conditions. Measurements from the German State of Brandenburg in 2006 showed average speeds of 142 km/h on a 6-lane section of autobahn in free-flowing conditions. Germanys autobahn network has a length of about 12,993 kilometres in 2016. Longer similar systems can be found in the United States and India, only federally built controlled-access highways with certain construction standards including at least two lanes per direction are called Bundesautobahn. They have their own, white-on-blue signs and numbering system, in the 1930s, when construction began on the system, the official name was Reichsautobahn. Various other controlled-access highways exist on the federal, state, district and these highways are considered autobahnähnlich and are sometimes colloquially called Gelbe Autobahn because most of them are Bundesstraßen with yellow signs. Some controlled-access highways are classified as Bundesautobahn in spite of not meeting the construction standard. Nearly all exits are to the right, in the postwar years, a thicker asphaltic concrete cross-section with full paved hard shoulders came into general use. The top design speed was approximately 160 km/h in flat country, a flat-country autobahn that was constructed to meet standards during the Nazi period, could support the speed of up to 150 km/h on curves. The current autobahn numbering system in use in Germany was introduced in 1974, all autobahns are named by using the capital letter A, which simply stands for Autobahn followed by a blank and a number. The main autobahns going all across Germany have a single digit number, shorter autobahns that are of regional importance have a double digit number. The first digit used is similar to the system above, depending on the region, east-west routes are always even-numbered, north-south routes are always odd-numbered. The north-south autobahns are generally numbered using odd numbers from west to east, that is to say, similarly, the east-west routes are numbered using even numbers from north to south. One project was the private initiative HaFraBa which planned a car only road crossing Germany from Hamburg in the North via central Frankfurt am Main to Basel in Switzerland
42.
Bundesautobahn 5
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Bundesautobahn 5 is a 445 km long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection (with the A7, the southern end is at the Swiss border near Basel. It runs through the German states of Hessen and Baden-Württemberg and connects on its ending to the Swiss A2. Construction for the first section, between Frankfurt and Darmstadt was started on 23 September 1933 by Adolf Hitler, propaganda falsely celebrated the project as the Führers Autobahn and Germanys first Autobahn, but the AVUS race track in Berlin was opened in September 1921. The first public Autobahn was the Cologne-Bonn highway which was inaugurated August 1932 and it was downgraded to a state highway in order to let the Nazi propaganda proclaim that the Reichsautobahn Frankfurt-Darmstadt was the first ever built in Germany. In 1926, a private association proposed a highway from Hamburg via Frankfurt to Basel - these plans were stopped in the Reichstag by a coalition of Communists, Hitler still used these plans after he came to power in 1933. Work progressed slowly, however, because Hitler favored east-west routes, the HaFraBa was renamed Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung der Reichsautobahnen, which translates Company for the preparation of the Reich highways. After the war, plans to continue the A5 to the north were abandoned for ecological reasons, instead, an already completed section of the proposed A48 near Gießen was used to connect the A5 to the A7 from Hamburg. Near Frankfurt, the highway is one of the busiest in Germany with an average of 150,000 vehicles per day, the part between Frankfurt and Darmstadt with a length of about 25 km was the first and still is Germanys longest Autobahn section with 8 lanes. The A5 runs parallel and just west of the Bundesstraße 3 for many kilometers, in the city of Karlsruhe, the A5 meets the A8
listen)) is a town in the center of Hesse, in Germany. Large towns nearby are Bad Hersfeld about 33 kilometres (21 miles) to the east, Fulda 36 kilometres (22 miles) to the southeast, Gießen 47 kilometres (29 miles) to the west and Marburg an der Lahn about 36 kilometres (22 miles) to the northwest. Alsfeld is located on the upper part of the Schwalm in the northern Vogelsberg and just to the south of the Knüll mountains at the western edge of the Alsfeld basin. In 1961, the town hosted the first Hessentag state festival, in 1985 the 25th.
Alsfeld is situated right off the Alsfeld East and Alsfeld West exits on the Autobahn A 5 The Rimberg rest area near Alsfeld is the second highest rest area (in altitude) along the A 5 and also a popular meeting place for travelers coming from the B 49.
Visitors can reach Alsfeld station also by train via the Vogelsberg Railway (Gießen–Alsfeld–Fulda). In addition, from April 1, 1916 until 1974 the Gründchen Railway connected Alsfeld with Niederaula. Passenger traffic on the Gründchen line was discontinued on May 25 and the last freight train left Alsfeld on May 28, 1974. Since then the right-of-way between Alsfeld and Breitenbach has been returned to nature to varying degrees.
