1.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
2.
Duchy of Saxony
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Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia, Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919. In 1296 the remaining lands were divided between the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg, the obtaining the title of Electors of Saxony by the Golden Bull of 1356. In the late 12th century, Duke Henry the Lion also occupied the adjacent area of Mecklenburg, more probably, Saxon tribes from Land Hadeln under the leadership of legendary Hengist and Horsa in the late days of the Roman Empire had invaded Britannia. In 747 their rebellious brother Grifo allied with Saxon tribes and temporarily conquered the duchy of Bavaria. Pepin, Frankish king from 750, again invaded Saxony and subdued several Westphalian tribes until 758, in 772 Pepins son Charlemagne started the final conquest of the Saxon lands. Widukind finally had to pledge allegiance in 785, having himself baptised, Saxon uprisings continued until 804, when the whole stem duchy had been incorporated into the Carolingian Empire. Afterwards, Saxony was ruled by Carolingian officials, e. g, among the installed dukes were already nobles of Saxon descent, like Walas successor Count Ekbert, husband of Saint Ida of Herzfeld, a close relative of Charlemagne. Subdued only a few decades earlier, the Saxons rose to one of the tribes in East Francia, it is however uncertain. Liudolfs elder son Bruno, progenitor of the Brunswick cadet branch of the Brunonen, was killed in a battle with invading Vikings under Godfrid in 880. He was succeeded by his younger brother Otto the Illustrious, mentioned as dux in the annals of Hersfeld Abbey. His position was enough to wed Hedwiga of Babenberg, daughter of mighty Duke Henry of Franconia. One year later, Ottos son Henry the Fowler succeeded his father as Duke of Saxony, Henrys eastern campaigns to Brandenburg and Meissen, the establishment of Saxon marches as well as the surrender of Duke Wenceslaus of Bohemia marked the beginning of the German eastward expansion. Upon Henrys death in 936 at Memleben, his son Otto I succeeded him, according to Widukind, he was crowned king at Aachen Cathedral, with the other German dukes Gilbert of Lorraine, Eberhard of Franconia, Arnulf of Bavaria and Herman of Swabia paying homage to him. He thereby disregarded the claims of Hermans elder brother Wichmann, who in turn joined the revolt by Ottos half-brother Thankmar. In 953 and again in 961 King Otto elevated Hermann Billung to a viceduke in Saxony,973, Otto I dies in Memleben, Otto II becomes Emperor. Hermann Billung dies in Quedlinburg, Bernhard I Billung becomes duke of Saxony,1002, The death of Otto III marks the end of the Saxon emperors. 1011, Duke Bernhard I Billung dies, his son Bernhard II becomes duke,1042, Ordulf Billung, son of Bernhard II, marries Wulfhild, the half-sister of King Magnus of Denmark and Norway. Danes and Saxons fight against the Wends,1059, Ordulf Billung becomes Duke after the death of his father
3.
Grand Duchy of Berg
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On 15 March 1806 the French Emperor put Berg under the rule of his brother-in-law Joachim Murat, including territories of the former Prussian Duchy of Cleves east of the Rhine river. Murats arms combined the red lion of Berg with the Cleves arms, the anchor and the batons came to the party due to Murats position as Grand Admiral and as Marshal of the Empire. As the husband of Napoleons sister, he also had the right to use the imperial eagle, on 12 July 1806 Murat joined the Confederation of the Rhine and assumed the title of a grand duke. Upon Murats promotion to the King of Naples in 1808, Berg was at first directly ruled by Napoleon in personal union, for nine days in July 1810, Grand Duke Napoleon Louis also ruled over the Kingdom of Holland in personal union. The economic decline due to Napoleons failed Continental System led to a series of revolts, the Grand Duchys short existence came to an end, when the French forces pulled back in the course of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig. The territory was then administrated by Prussia, which incorporated the former Grand Duchy according to the Final Act of the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Berg became part of the Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, the territories of Münster. Otto von Pivka, Michael P. Roffe, Napoleons German Allies, Westfalia and Kleve-Berg, p.3, Google Books Media related to Duchy of Berg at Wikimedia Commons
4.
County
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A county is a geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposes, in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count or a viscount. The modern French is comté, and its equivalents in other languages are contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, Gau, when the Normans conquered England, they brought the term with them. The Saxons had already established the districts became the historic counties of England. The Vikings introduced the term earl to the British Isles, thus, the Anglo-Saxons earl and earldom were taken as equivalent to the continental use of count and county under the conquering Normans, and over time the two blended and became equivalent terms. Further, the term became a synonym for the native English word scir or, in Modern English. Since a shire was a division of the kingdom, the term county evolved to designate an administrative division of states or of a national government in most other modern uses. A county may be subdivided into districts, hundreds, townships or other administrative jurisdictions within the county. A county usually, but not always, contains cities, towns, townships, villages, or other municipal corporations, Provinces in Argentina are divided into departments, except in the Buenos Aires Province, where they are called partidos. The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is divided into communes, in the eastern states of Australia, counties are used in the administration of land titles. They do not generally correspond to a level of government, but are used in the identification of parcels of land, canadas five oldest provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island – are divided into counties. In addition to counties, Ontario is also subdivided into districts, district municipalities, metropolitan municipalities. British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, the word county is used to translate the Chinese term xiàn. In Mainland China, governed by the Peoples Republic of China, counties are the level of local government. There are 1,464 counties in the PRC out of a total of 2,862 county-level divisions, the number of counties has remained more or less constant since the Han dynasty. The county remains one of the oldest levels of government in China, the county government was particularly important in imperial China because this was the lowest layer at which the imperial government functioned. The head of a county during imperial times was the magistrate, in older context, prefecture and district are alternative terms to refer to xiàn before the establishment of the Republic of China. The English nomenclature county was adopted following the establishment of the ROC, contrary to the typical rural location of a county in Western countries, a city in China may enclose several counties
5.
Imperial Estate
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An Imperial State or Imperial Estate was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet. Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise significant rights and privileges and were immediate and they were thus able to rule their territories with a considerable degree of autonomy. The system of imperial states replaces the regular division of Germany into stem duchies in the early medieval period. From 1489, the imperial Estates represented in the Diet were divided into three chambers, the college of prince-electors, the college of imperial princes and the college of imperial cities. Counts and nobles were not directly represented in the Diet in spite of their immediate status, Imperial knights had immediate status but were unrepresented in the Diet. Imperial Estates could be either ecclesiastic or secular, the secular Estates, most notably, the four Prince-Electors of the County Palatine of the Rhine, Saxony, Brandenburg and Bohemia, later also Bavaria and Hanover. Imperial Princes including Grand Dukes, Dukes, Counts Palatine, Margraves and Landgraves, Reichsgrafen the Free, until 1582 the votes of the Free and Imperial Cities were only advisory. None of the rulers below the Holy Roman Emperor ranked as kings, the status of Estate was normally attached to a particular territory within the Empire, but there were some reichsständische Personalisten, or persons with imperial statehood. Originally, the Emperor alone could grant that status, but in 1653, the creation of a new Estate required the assent of the College of Electors and of the College of Princes. The ruler was required to agree to accept imperial taxation and military obligations, furthermore, the Estate was required to obtain admittance into one of the Imperial Circles. Theoretically, personalist Estates were forbidden after 1653, but exceptions were often made, once a territory attained the status of an Estate, it could lose that status under very few circumstances. A territory ceded to a foreign power ceased to be an Estate, from 1648 onwards, inheritance of the Estate was limited to one family, a territory inherited by a different family ceased to be an Estate unless the Emperor explicitly allowed otherwise. Finally, a territory could cease to be an imperial Estate by being subjected to the Imperial ban, in the German mediatization between 1803 and 1806, the vast majority of the Estates of the Holy Roman Empire were mediatised. They lost their imperial immediacy and became part of other Estates, the number of Estates was reduced from about three hundred to about thirty. Mediatisation went along with secularisation, the abolition of most of the ecclesiastical Estates and this dissolution of the constitution of the structure of the empire was soon followed by the dissolution of the empire itself, in 1806. Rulers of Imperial States enjoyed precedence over other subjects in the Empire, Electors were originally styled Durchlaucht, princes Hochgeboren and counts Hoch- und Wohlgeboren. In the eighteenth century, the electors were upgraded to Durchläuchtigste, princes to Durchlaucht, Imperial States enjoyed several rights and privileges. Rulers had autonomy inasmuch as their families were concerned, in particular and they were permitted to make treaties and enter into alliances with other Imperial States as well as with foreign nations
6.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
7.
Ruhr
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The Ruhr, or the Ruhr district, Ruhr region, Ruhr area or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2, 800/km² and a population of eight and a million, it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany. It consists of large, industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land and it is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people, which is among the largest in Europe. The most populous cities are Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg, the Ruhr area has no administrative center, each city in the area has its own administration, although there exists the supracommunal Regionalverband Ruhr institution in Essen. Since the 19th century, these districts have grown together into a complex with a vast industrial landscape. For 2010, the Ruhr region was one of the European Capitals of Culture, the urban landscape of the Ruhr extends from the Lower Rhine Basin east to the Westphalian Plain and south to the hills of the Rhenish Massif. Through the centre of the Ruhr runs a segment of the belt that extends across Germany from west to east. Historically, this belt has underlain some of Germanys richest agricultural regions. Geologically, the region is defined by coal-bearing layers from the upper Carboniferous period, the coal seams reach the surface in a strip along the River Ruhr and dip downward from the river to the north. Beneath the River Lippe, the coal seams lie at a depth of 600 to 800 metres, the thickness of the coal layers ranges from one to three metres. This geological feature played a role in the development of coal mining in the Ruhr. According to the Regionalverband Ruhr,37. 6% of the area is built up. A total of 40. 7% of the land remains in agricultural use. Forests account for 17. 6%, and bodies of water and other types of land use occupy the rest, the inclusion of four mainly rural districts in the otherwise mainly industrial Ruhr helps to explain the large proportion of agricultural and forested land. In addition, the city boroughs of the Ruhr region have outlying districts with a rural character, seen on a map, the Ruhr could be considered a single city, since—at least in the north-south dimension—there are no visible breaks between the individual city boroughs. Thus the Ruhr is described as an urban area, which shares a similar history of urban. Instead, the city boroughs and urban districts of the Ruhr grew independently of one another during the Industrial Revolution
8.
Volme
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The Volme is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, a left tributary of the Ruhr. It is 50.5 km long, of which about 21 km lie within the city limits of Hagen and its largest tributary is the Ennepe. The Volme rises at 480 m above sea level in the part of the Ruhr region. It flows through the municipalities of Meinerzhagen, Kierspe, Halver, Lüdenscheid, Schalksmühle and Hagen, in the city of Hagen, the Volme is predominantly canalised, and since 2004 has been under restoration. The Hagen–Dieringhausen railway runs through the valley
9.
Westphalia
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Westphalia is a region in northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 7,802 sq mi and 7.9 million inhabitants, the region is almost identical with the Province of Westphalia which was a part of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1918 and the Free State of Prussia from 1918 to 1946. In 1946, Westphalia merged with the Northern Rhineland, another part of Prussia. In 1947, the state with its two parts was joined by a third one, Lippe, a former principality and free state. All of the 17 districts and 9 independent cities of Westphalia, the Westphalian language, a variant of the German language, spreads north of Westphalias borders into southwest Lower Saxony. Being a part of the North German Plain, most of Westphalias north is flat, in the south the German Central Uplands emerge. Westphalia is divided into the following landscapes, other important rivers are the Ems and the Lippe. The Langenberg and the Kahler Asten in the Sauerlands part of the Rothaar Mountains are Westphalias, Westphalia is divided into three governmental districts. These are subdivided into districts and independent cities. All districts and independent cities of the districts of Arnsberg. The District of Lippe as successor of the Free State of Lippe in the Governmental District of Detmold is rather considered to be a historic region. The traditional symbol of Westphalia is the Westphalian Steed, a horse on a red field. It is derived from the Saxon Steed in the coat of arms of the medieval Duchy of Saxony which most of todays Westphalia was part of. In official contexts the coat of arms of Westphalia is being used by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association which represents these two historic parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The coat of arms of Lower Saxony uses a different version of the Saxon Steed since the state also covers parts of the Old Saxons duchy. The colors of Westphalia are white and red, the flag of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association uses these colors with the Westphalian coat of arms in its center. The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is a combination of the Northern Rhinelands colors green/white, the flag of the Prussian Province of Westphalia already displayed the colors white and red. The flag of Lower Saxony shows the colors of Germany and the Saxon Steed, composed in Iserlohn in 1886 by Emil Rittershaus, the Westfalenlied is an unofficial anthem of Westphalia
10.
North Rhine-Westphalia
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North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with a population of approximately 18 million, and the fourth largest by area. Its capital is Düsseldorf, the most populous city is Cologne, four of Germanys ten largest cities—Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen—are located within the state, as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent, Rhine-Ruhr. North Rhine-Westphalia was formed in 1946 as a merger of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia, the state has been run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens since 2010. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri. By the 8th century the Frankish dominion was established in western Germany. But at the time, to the north, Westphalia was being taken over by Saxons pushing south. The Merovingian and Carolingian Franks eventually built an empire which controlled first their Ripuarian kin, the Ottonian dynasty had both Saxon and Frankish ancestry. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened, the Rhineland split into small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes. Such struggles as the War of the Limburg Succession therefore continued to create military, Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine bulked largely in German history. Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795 the whole of the bank of the Rhine was resigned to France. In 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium, around 1 AD there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück and some of the Germanic tribes who fought at this came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts and his Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück, Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend. Along with Eastphalia and Engern, Westphalia was originally a district of the Duchy of Saxony, in 1180 Westphalia was elevated to the rank of a duchy by Emperor Barbarossa. The Duchy of Westphalia comprised only an area south of the Lippe River. Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended the Thirty Years War
11.
Lippe (river)
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The Lippe is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a tributary of the Rhine and 220.1 km in length with an elevation difference of 125 metres. The source is located at the edge of the Teutoburg Forest in Bad Lippspringe close to the city of Paderborn and it runs westward through Paderborn, Lippstadt and then along the northern edge of the Ruhr area, parallel to the river Emscher and river Ruhr. The river finally enters the Rhine at Wesel, the river Lippe has been used as an infrastructure in Roman times. For the Romans the river was a gateway to Germania, running from the river Rhine to the region around Paderborn, the watercourse was used for transport of supplies, so along the banks of the Lippe many former Roman camps can be found. In the last 200 years many of these camps have been identified, the distance between the camps is about a one-day walk of the troops, which is almost 30 km. Today’s identified Roman camps are, Olfen, Xanten, Haltern, today, the river appears as a two-tier water course, Upstream, eastward of the city of Hamm, the catchment is more rural. Downstream of Hamm settlements and industrial impacts characterize the situation, though the Lippe was partly navigable from 1820 on it was not sufficient for the transport of industrial goods. Moreover, this supported the coal and steel industry development in the northern Ruhr region. The historical city of Hamm and the towns Lünen, Haltern and Dorsten were small settlements located at the Lippe, since 1914 the Datteln-Hamm Canal and 1930 the Wesel-Datteln Canal are located in parallel to the Lippe which is not navigable for mass transportation. The canals receive Lippe water or feed the Lippe from a facility in Hamm. Until the 1970s water pollution played no important role in the public debate, towns, Wesel, Dorsten, Marl, Lünen and Haltern Cities, Paderborn, Lippstadt and Hamm Lippe – Roman settlements along the Lippe. Life Project Lippeaue – One of the Lippeaue renaturation projects
12.
Agger (river)
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The Agger is a river in Germany, a right tributary of the Sieg in North Rhine-Westphalia. Its source is in the Sauerland hills, near Meinerzhagen and it winds through the towns Engelskirchen, Overath and Lohmar. Near Siegburg the Agger flows into the Sieg
13.
Gelsenkirchen
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Gelsenkirchen is a city in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany. It is located in the part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2015 was c, Gelsenkirchen was first documented in 1150, but it remained a tiny village until the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution led to the growth of the entire area. In 1840, when the mining of coal began,6,000 inhabitants lived in Gelsenkirchen, in the early 20th century, Gelsenkirchen was the most important coal mining town in Europe. It was called the city of a thousand fires for the flames of mine gasses flaring at night, in 1928, Gelsenkirchen was merged with the adjoining cities of Buer and Horst. The city bore the name Gelsenkirchen-Buer, until it was renamed Gelsenkirchen in 1930, during the Nazi era Gelsenkirchen remained a centre of coal production and oil refining, and for this reason it was bombed in Allied air raids during World War II. There are no longer colliers in Gelsenkirchen with the city searching for a new image, today Germanys largest solar power plant is located in the city. In Gelsenkirchen-Scholven there is a power station with the tallest chimneys in Germany. Gelsenkirchen is home of the football club Schalke 04, which is named after the borough Schalke, while the clubs stadium. They did not live in houses as such, but in small yards gathered together near each other, later, the Romans pushed into the area. In about 700, the region was settled by the Saxons, a few other parts of town which today lie in Gelsenkirchens north end were mentioned in documents from the early Middle Ages, some examples being, Raedese, Middelvic, Sutheim and Sculven. Many nearby farming communities were identified as iuxta Bure. It was about 1150 when the name Gelstenkerken or Geilistirinkirkin appeared up for the first time, at about the same time, the first church in town was built in what is now Buer. This ecclesia Buron was listed in a directory of churches by the sexton from Deutz. This settlement belonged to the Mark, however, in ancient times and even in the Middle Ages, only a few dozen people actually lived in the settlements around the Emscher basin. Up until the middle of the 19th century, the area in and around Gelsenkirchen was only thinly settled and almost exclusively agrarian. In 1815, after belonging to the Grand Duchy of Berg, the land now comprising the city of Gelsenkirchen passed to the Kingdom of Prussia. This arrangement came to an end only in 1928, in 1868, Gelsenkirchen became the seat of an Amt within the Bochum district which encompassed the communities of Gelsenkirchen, Braubauerschaft, Schalke, Heßler, Bulmke and Hüllen
14.
Bad Sassendorf
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Bad Sassendorf is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From the 8th century, the area around the Soester plain was under the Merovingian dynasty, the name “Sassendorf” indicates that it was a Saxon settlement. Mention was made of springs in the area appear in the 10th century. From the 19th century, the brine produced in the area was used for bathing and medicinal purposes, commercial salt production faced declining yields, and was largely discontinued in 1934, and completely discontinued by 1952. The village was renamed from “Sassendorf” to Bad Sassendorf officially in 1906 and they slept in freight train waggons on the track between Bad Sassendorf and Soest. After an air raid end-February 1945 the inmates slept in a nearby farm, at the cemetery Bad Sassendorf a memorial plaque is installed on the burying place of the dead. It is situated approximately 4 km northeast of Soest
15.
Ruhr (river)
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The Ruhr is a river in western Germany, a right tributary of the Rhine. The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region and it flows into the lower Rhine at an elevation of only 56 feet in the municipal area of Duisburg. Its total length is 218 km, its discharge is 79 m³/s at Mülheim near its mouth. Thus, its discharge is, for example, comparable to that of the River Ems in Northern Germany or the River Thames in the United Kingdom, the Ruhr first passes the towns of Meschede, Arnsberg, Wickede, Fröndenberg, Holzwickede, Iserlohn and Schwerte. Then the river marks the limit of the Ruhr area, passing Hagen, Dortmund, Herdecke, Wetter, Witten, Bochum, Hattingen, Essen, Mülheim. The Ruhr area was Germanys primary industrial area during the early- to mid-20th century, as a result, the German hyperinflation crisis grew even worse. The story was told in a 1951 book and the popular 1955 film made from it, there are five Ruhr reservoirs on the river, often used for leisure activities. Notes Sources This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Media related to Ruhr at Wikimedia Commons
16.
Sauerland
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The Sauerland is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. For these reasons, it has chosen as the first place in Germany to reintroduce the Wisent. The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular for mountain biking & cycling, water sports, the town and Skiliftkarussell of Winterberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis is a major winter sport resort. The name Sauerland is first mentioned as Suderland in a document from 1266. After 1400 the letter d started to disappear, therefore, Sauerland = southern country is the most convincing meaning, opposed to the theory that Sauer is from the German word sauer meaning sour. Linguistically, suder-“ is similar to the Old Saxon sûðar, the Duchy of Limburg covered a very small area in the lower Lenne river valley. After the Napoleonic Wars the area part of Prussia and was integrated into the new province of Westphalia. After World War II Westphalia was merged with the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Today, the Sauerland belongs to the districts Märkischer Kreis, Olpe, to the west the hills continue into the Bergisches Land, to the south into the Siegerland, and to the north-east into the Teutoburg Forest. The major rivers of the Sauerland are the Ruhr and the Lenne, several artificial lakes were created on the smaller rivers by building dams to store water for the nearby Ruhr area, the biggest reservoirs being the Möhne and Bigge. Both Langenberg and Kahler Asten are peaks in the Rothaargebirge mountains, the Sauerland has six reservoir lakes. The Rheinisches Schiefergebirge was subjected to folding and faulting in the Variscan orogeny in Carboniferous times, the tectonic uplift to the present-day low mountain range began approximately 500,000 years ago and is still going on. Most of the Sauerland rock originates from a Middle and Upper Devonian marginal shallow sea, in some areas limestones from an ancient reef fringe prevail and are karstified. The Sauerland has several caves, especially in the northern part, in some areas of the Sauerland the occurrence of lead-zinc-silver-ores lead to the development of a considerable mining industry, the center of which was the town of Meggen. Mining in this area lasted until the second half of the 20th century. The sandstones, greywackes and quartzites of the Sauerland as well as, to a minor extent, the largest town of the Sauerland is Iserlohn, other larger towns are Lüdenscheid and Arnsberg. Meschede is the home of an abbey, another abbey is placed at Bestwig. Upland Parts of the Sauerland, especially the valleys in the northwest
17.
Duchy of Berg
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Berg was a state – originally a county, later a duchy – in the Rhineland of Germany. It existed as a political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. In 1160, the split into two portions, one of them later becoming the County of the Mark, which returned to the possession of the family line in the 16th century. In 1280 the counts moved their court from Schloss Burg on the Wupper river to the town of Düsseldorf, the most powerful of the early rulers of Berg, Engelbert II of Berg died in an assassination on November 7,1225. Count Adolf VIII of Berg fought on the side in the Battle of Worringen against Guelders in 1288. The power of Berg grew further in the 14th century, the County of Jülich united with the County of Berg in 1348, and in 1380 the Emperor Wenceslaus elevated the counts of Berg to the rank of dukes, thus originating the Duchy of Jülich-Berg. However, the new ducal dynasty also became extinct in 1609, in 1806, in the reorganization of the German lands occasioned by the end of the Holy Roman Empire, Berg became the Grand Duchy of Berg, under the rule of Napoleons brother-in-law, Joachim Murat. Murats arms combined the red lion of Berg with the arms of the duchy of Cleves, the anchor and the batons came to the party due to Murats positions as Grand Admiral and as Marshal of the Empire. As the husband of Napoleons sister Caroline Bonaparte, Murat also had the right to use the imperial eagle, the Grand Duchys short existence came to an end with Napoleons defeat in 1813 and the peace settlements that followed. In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, Berg became part of a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, in 1822 this province united with the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine to form the Rhine Province. This lion originates from the arms of the Duke of Limburg as the Berg title in the 13th century fell to the Limburg line
18.
House of La Marck
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The House of La Marck, original German name von der Mark, was an important family in the history of Europe, which from about 1200 appeared as the Counts of Mark. The family history started with Count Adolf I, scion of a branch of the Rhenish Berg dynasty residing at Altena Castle in Westphalia. In the early 13th century Adolf took his residence at his familys estates around Mark, Adolf had inherited the Mark fortress from his father Count Frederick I of Berg-Altena together with the older county around Altena and began to call himself Count de La Mark. Members of the family became Bishops in the Prince-Bishoprics of Liège, Münster and Osnabrück, and Archbishops in Cologne. Later collateral lines became Dukes of Bouillon, a title which was inherited by the House of La Tour dAuvergne, Princes of Sedan, Dukes of Nevers, Counts of Rethel. Anne of Cleves is one of the most renowned figures in history descending from the line of the House of La Mark. Adolf III de la Marck was a son of Count Adolph II and he was bishop of Münster and later archbishop of Cologne. In 1364 he left his position as bishop of Cologne to his cousin Engelbert III, Engelbert de la Marck was prince-bishop of Liège from 1345 until 1364. He was also archbishop of Cologne from 1364 until 1369, William I de la Marck was the younger brother of Erard III de la Marck. He was nicknamed Le Sanglier des Ardennes, Erard de la Marck, nephew of William I, was prince-bishop from 1506 till 1538. Robert II de la Marck, nephew of William I, was Duke of Bouillon, seigneur of Sedan, Robert III de la Marck, son of Robert II, was Marshal of France in 1526 and historian. Robert IV de la Marck was Duke of Bouillon and Prince of Sedan, William II de la Marck was admiral of the Gueux de mer, the so-called sea beggars who fought in the Eighty Years War. He was the great-grandson of William I de la Marck, in 1591 the heiress of one of the collateral lines of the family, Charlotte de la Marck, was married to Henri de La Tour dAuvergne, Marshal of France. In 1594 Charlotte died without issue, and her claims to Bouillon passed to her husband. euweb. cz, Marek, arenberg, dukes of Bouillon, William the Wild Boar, Erard de la Mark
19.
Altena
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Altena is a town in the district of Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The towns castle is the origin for the later Dukes of Berg, Altena is situated on the Lenne river valley, in the northern stretches of the Sauerland. Altena Castle was built in the early 12th century, as a stronghold of the older Counts of Berg, a short time later a village was founded beneath the hill, with the castle alongside the river Lenne. After the distribution of the Berg family estates in 1161, Altena became the centre of the County of Altena, the first Count of Altena became Eberhard I, Count of Berg-Altena. In 1180, after the death of the first count, the county was divided between the two oldest sons, Arnold of Altena and Friedrich of Altena, the third son, Adolf of Altena, became Archbishop of Cologne. Arnold was provided with on half of the Castle and County of Altena, near the Village and Castle of Hövel, he built the Castle and town of Nienbrügge on the Lippe riverbanks. The heir of Arnold was Friedrich de Novus Ponte who changed his title to Isenberg after his new castle in Hattingen and he was sentenced to death as head of the conspiration to murder Engelbert I. Archbishop of Cologne, Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Westphalia, the Archbishop was ambushed and slain on his way from his City of Soest to City of Cologne by Friedrich and his men near Gevelsberg in a hollow way. Both had a dispute over the bailiwicks of Essen Abbey, the junior branch of the Counts of Altena, was founded by Friedrich de Altena. He was provided with the half of Altena and a vassal to his brother the Archbishop of Cologne. In or around 1170 he bought the Oberhof Mark or was rewarded with it by the Archbishop, today, about a 1,5 kilometers to the east of the centre of the city of Hamm. Before or in 1198 he built the Castle of Mark and his son Adolf I. named himself in 1202 puer comes de marca and became the first Count of Mark. He sometimes used the old title Altena in combination with Mark and his principal residence was the Castle of Mark. After the execution of his cousin Friedrich de Isenberg in Cologne, he destroyed the Castle of Neinbruegge, after 1202, Altena Castle was only one of several Stronghold of the family of Altena-Mark. During a feud in 1323 between the Prince-Bishop of Münster and the Count of Mark, the Bishop was captured and held for ransom in Altena, in 1367 the settlement below the castle received limited town rights through Engelbert III. Since 1392 Altena remained only the seat of the bailiff for bailiwick Altena, the castle was also used as an archive for documents and patents for the county. In 1609 the last count died childless and his realm, the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg were practically divided into a catholic and a prostestant part. The catholic Duchy of Jülich-Berg were inherited by the Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm of Neuburg, during the Napoleonic occupation of the Rhineland and Westphalia, Altena was re-joined with the now elevated Grand Duchy of Berg
20.
Hamm
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Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the part of the Ruhr area. As of December 2003 its population was 180,849, the city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railway station is an important hub for transport and renowned for its distinctive station building. The coat of arms has been in use in its present form for about 750 years and it shows the markish chessboard in red and silver on a golden field. Originally it was the coat of arms, i. e. the Counts of Mark. The chessboard and the colours are displayed in the coats of arms of further towns founded by that family line. Similarly, the colours of the city are red and white, the name Ham means corner in the old Low German dialect spoken at that time. In the old times the name thom Hamme would be used,1350 The Black death killed nearly all of the citizens. 1469 Hamm became a member of the Hanseatic League and it was one of the most powerful towns in the region, while the large cities of the todays Ruhr area still were only tiny villages. Almost all buildings were destroyed, except for the main church St. Georg,1657 Establishment of the Gynasium illustre with three faculties. 1820 The regional appeal court moves from Cleve to Hamm,1944 Coal-mine Maximillian closes after several problems with water drainage of the hole mine. 1945 First meeting of the city council after the war 1946 Establishment of the industrial court,1956 Sport airfield founded in the Lippe meadows. 1976 Coal-mine Sachsen closes 1984 First Landesgartenschau of North Rhine-Westphalia is held in Hamm, the old area of the coal-mine Maximillian was used for this purpose. The world greatest Glasselefant is built as main attraction and until today is one of the landmarks of the city. The Oberbürgermeister is elected directly for a five years term, together with the city council, in 1939,1968 and 1975 Hamm incorporated several towns and municipalities, in 1939 the village Mark and in 1968 the villages of Berge and Westtünnen. The number of more than doubles from 83.000 in 1974 to 173.000 in 1975. The following table shows the situation in 2006, every quarter is named with the prefix Hamm, like Hamm-Bockum-Hövel or Hamm-Mitte
21.
Vest Recklinghausen
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Vest Recklinghausen was an ecclesiastical territory in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the center of todays North Rhine-Westphalia. The rivers Emscher and Lippe formed the border with the County of Mark and Essen Abbey in the south, in the east, a fortification secured the border with Dortmund and in the west it was bordered by the Duchy of Cleves. Today Vest Recklinghausen is part of the district of Recklinghausen, with parts of Gelsenkirchen, Oberhausen, the term ´Vest´, describing a judicial district, is still used locally, for instance in a local radio station and in a local museum. Vest Recklinghausen was first mentioned in 1228 as a fiefdom of the Archbishopric of Cologne, the administrator lived in castle Westerholt, located in Herten. During the Cologne War, Vest Recklinghausen was occupied and sacked several times by troops from both sides of the conflict, in 1584, the territory was sacked again, this time by the competing archbishop, Ernst of Bavaria. The western parishes included Dorsten and the parishes Dorsten, Bottrop, Buer, Gladbeck, Horst, Kirchhellen, Marl, Osterfeld and Polsum. On 4 September 1614 Ferdinand of Bavaria, the successor to his uncle, Ernst of Bavaria, as the Elector of Cologne, forbade non-Catholic from staying in Vest Recklinghausen. During the secularization of the states in 1802–03, also known as the German Mediatisation. In 1811 it was added to the Grand Duchy of Berg, citations Sources Benians, Ernest Alfred, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton Acton, Baron, Adolphus William Ward, Sir, G W Prothero, Stanley Mordaunt Leathes, Sir. 4, New York, Funk and Wagnalls,1909, pp. 439–441, der Kampf um das Erzstift Köln zur Zeit der Kurfürsten. Lin, J. Cologne War The Catholic Encyclopedia, history of the Vest Recklinghausen and a historical card from 1789 Information to the location of the district of Recklinghausen
22.
Dortmund
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Dortmund is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the part of the state and is considered to be the administrative. Its population of 581,612 makes it the 8th largest city in Germany, moreover, Dortmund is the largest city by area and population in the Ruhr Area, an urban area with some 5.1 million inhabitants which is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany. Founded around 882, Dortmund became an Imperial Free City, throughout the 13th to 14th centuries, it was the chief city of the Rhine, Westphalia, the Netherlands Circle of the Hanseatic League. After the Thirty Years War the city was destroyed and decreased in significance until the onset of industrialization, the city then became one of Germanys most important coal, steel and beer centres. Thereby Dortmund was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II, the devastating bombing raids of the 12th March 1945 destroyed 98% of buildings in the inner city center. This bombing raids with more than 1,110 aircraft was a record to a target in World war II. The region has adapted since the collapse of its century long steel and coal industries and shifted to high technology biomedical technology, micro systems technology and also services. In 2009, Dortmund was classified as a Node city in the Innovation Cities Index published by 2thinknow and is the most sustainable city in Germany, the city is known as Westphalias green metropolis. Nearly half the territory consists of waterways, woodland, agriculture. This stands in a stark contrast with nearly a years of extensive coal mining. Dortmund is home to Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V, Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund, a successful club in German football. The first time Dortmund was mentioned in documents was around 882. as Throtmanni. After it was destroyed by a fire, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I had the town rebuilt in 1152 and it became an Imperial Free City. Throughout the 13th to 14th centuries, it was the city of the Rhine, Westphalia. After 1320, the city appeared in writing as Dorpmunde, in the years leading up to 1344, the English King even borrowed money from well-heeled Dortmund merchant families Berswordt and Klepping, offering the regal crown as security. In 1388, Count von Mark joined forces with Archbishop of Cologne, following a major siege lasting 18 months, peace negotiations took place and Dortmund emerged victorious. After Cologne was excluded after the Anglo-Hanseatic War, Dortmund was made capital of the Rhine-Westphalian, the 1661 earthquake made the Reinoldikirche collapse
23.
Werden Abbey
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Werden Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Essen-Werden, situated on the Ruhr. Near Essen Saint Ludger founded a monastery in 799 and became its first abbot, the little church which Saint Ludger built here in honor of Saint Stephen was completed in 804 and dedicated by Saint Ludger himself, who had meanwhile become Bishop of Münster. Under Hildigrim I, also Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne, the new monastery of Helmstedt in the Diocese of Halberstadt was founded from Werden and it was ruled over by a provost, and remained a dependency of Werden till its secularization in 1803. Werden was an abbey with possessions in Westphalia, Frisia, eastern Saxony and around the abbey itself. Henceforth the abbots of Werden were imperial princes and had a seat in the Imperial Diet, the abbey church of Werden, destroyed by fire in 1256, was rebuilt in the late-Romanesque style. Two of the most obscure yet intriguing men to hold seats of authority in Werden Abbey, were Abt Johann I. after a complete reform, instituted in 1477, by Abbot Adam von Eschweiler of the Bursfelde Congregation, Werden continued in existence until its secularization in 1803. Problems arose after the Reformation, when the Vögte of the abbey were the Protestant rulers of Brandenburg, the construction of Baroque abbey buildings, textile production and coal mining formed the economic basis of the territory of Werden in the 18th century. During the secularization in 1803 the abbey and its territory part of Prussia. In 1815 it became Prussian again, as part of the Rhine Province, the buildings are now used by the Folkwang Hochschule. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
24.
Essen Abbey
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Essen Abbey was a monastery of secular canonesses for women of high nobility in Essen, Germany. It was founded about 845 by the Saxon Altfrid, later Bishop of Hildesheim and saint, near an estate called Astnidhi. The first abbess was Altfrids kinswoman, Gerswit, a chapter of male priests were also attached to the abbey, under a dean. Because of its advancement by the Liudolfings the abbey became reichsunmittelbar sometime between 874 and 947 and its best years began in 973 under the Abbess Mathilde, granddaughter of Otto I and thus herself a Liudolfing, who governed the abbey until 1011. In her time the most important of the art treasures of what is now the Essen Cathedral treasury came to Essen, the next two abbesses to succeed her were also from the Liudolfing family and were thus able further to increase the wealth and power of the foundation. In 1228 the abbesses were designated Princesses for the first time, from 1300 they took up residence in Schloss Borbeck, where they spent increasing amounts of time. In the north of the territory was located the monastery of Stoppenberg, founded in 1073. Also among the possessions of the abbey was the area round Huckarde, on the borders of the County of Dortmund, approximately 3,000 farms in the area owed dues to the abbey, in Vest Recklinghausen, on the Hellweg and round Breisig and Godesberg. From 1512 to its dissolution the Imperial abbey belonged to the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle, from 1802 the territory was occupied by Prussian troops. The abbey was dissolved in 1803, the spiritual territory of three square miles passed to Prussia, then between 1806/1807 to 1813 to the Duchy of Berg and afterwards to Prussia again. The last abbess, Maria Kunigunde von Sachsen, died on 8 April 1826 in Dresden. When in 1958 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen was created, the dates of the rule of the abbesses are incompletely preserved. The sequence of the abbesses between Gerswid II and Ida is uncertain, particularly in regard to the Abbess Agana, saint Altfrid Ute Küppers-Braun, Macht in Frauenhand –1000 Jahre Herrschaft adeliger Frauen in Essen. Torsten Fremer, Äbtissin Theophanu und das Stift Essen, familienforschung in den Kirchenbüchern des Stifts Essen
25.
Coat of arms
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A coat of arms is an heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to a person, family, state. The ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals, the first evidence of medieval coats of arms has been attributed to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry in which some of the combatants carry shields painted with crosses. However, that heraldic interpretation remains controversial, coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in battle in the 12th century. By the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the social classes of Europe. Exactly who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, in the German-speaking regions both the aristocracy and burghers used arms, while in most of the rest of Europe they were limited to the aristocracy. The use of spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers. Flags developed from coats of arms, and the arts of vexillology, the coats of arms granted to commercial companies are a major source of the modern logo. Despite no widespread regulation, heraldry has remained consistent across Europe, some nations, like England and Scotland, still maintain the same heraldic authorities which have traditionally granted and regulated arms for centuries and continue to do so in the present day. In England, for example, the granting of arms is and has controlled by the College of Arms. Unlike seals and other emblems, heraldic achievements have a formal description called a blazon. Many societies exist that also aid in the design and registration of personal arms, in the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland, an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son, wives, undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference. One such charge is the label, which in British usage is now always the mark of an apparent or an heir presumptive. Because of their importance in identification, particularly in seals on legal documents and this has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called heraldry. In time, the use of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, the author Helen Stuart argues that some coats of arms were a form of corporate logo
26.
Or (heraldry)
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In heraldry, or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent, belongs to the class of light tinctures called metals, or light colours. In engravings and line drawings, it is hatched using a field of evenly spaced dots and it is very frequently depicted as yellow, though gold leaf was used in many illuminated manuscripts and more extravagant rolls of arms. The use of gold for or was a fashion amongst certain heraldic writers in the mid-20th century who attempted to demystify. Or is sometimes spelled with a letter so as not to confuse it with the conjunction or. However, this incorrect heraldic usage is not met with in standard works such as Bernard Burkes General Armory,1884. Fox-Davies advocated leaving all tinctures uncapitalized, a correctly stated blazon should eliminate any possible confusion between the tincture or and the conjunction or, certainly for the reader with a basic competence in heraldry. Sometimes, the different tinctures are said to be connected with special meanings or virtues, even if this is an idea mostly disregarded by serious heraldists throughout the centuries, it may be of anecdotal interest to see what they are, since the information is so often sought after
27.
Fess
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In heraldry, a fess or fesse is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the surface is to be covered by a fess or other ordinary. The fess or bar, termed fasce in French heraldry, should not be confused with fasces. In English heraldry, two or more such charges appearing together on a shield are termed bars, though there are no definitive rules setting the width of the fess, a shield of horizontal stripes of alternating colour is called barry. Narrower versions of the bar are called barrulets, and when a shield of horizontal stripes alternating colour is composed of ten or more stripes, it is called barruly or burely instead of barry. A cotise, defined as half the width of a barrulet, may be alongside a fess. This is often termed a fess cotised, another diminutive of the fess called a closet is said to be between a bar and barrulet, but this is seldom found. A fess when couped can be called humetty, but this term is rare in the Anglophone heraldries and is most often used of the cross. A shield party per fess is divided in half horizontally, a charge placed horizontally may be termed fesswise or fessways, and two or more charges arranged in a horizontal row are blazoned in fess or in bar. A mural fess, that is an embattled and masoned of the field. The arms of Baroness Fritchie provide an example of three Barrulets fracted and there conjoined to a Chevronel, Heraldry, Ancient and Modern, Including Boutells Heraldry. LCCN 81-670212 Woodcock, Thomas and John Martin Robinson, LCCN 88-23554 Woodward, John and George Burnett. Woodwards a treatise on heraldry, British and foreign, edinburgh, W. & A. K. Johnson
28.
Variation of the field
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In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field. Variations of the field of present a problem concerning consistent spelling of adjectival endings in English blazons. A problem arises as to acceptable spellings of French words used in English blazons, especially in the case of adjectival endings, determined in normal French usage by gender and number. A person may be a good armorist, and a tolerable French scholar, the diminutives of the ordinaries are frequently employed to vary the field. Any of these patterns may be counterchanged by the addition of a line, for example, barry argent and azure, counterchanged per fess or checquy Or and gules. When the field is patterned with an number of horizontal stripes. More rarely, a field can be of two colours or two metals. The arms of Eyfelsberg zum Wehr provide a unique example of barry of four different tinctures that do not repeat. With ten or more pieces, the field is described as barruly, a field having the appearance of a number of narrow piles throughout issuing from the dexter of sinister flanks is barry pily. Composed of pallets, the field is paly, of bendlets, bendy, in a fashion, bendy sinister, of chevronels. Part of the field of the arms of the 544th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group of the United States Air Force is lozengy in perspective. A field masculy is composed entirely of mascles, that is, an extremely rare, possibly unique example of a field rustré - counterchanged rustres - occurs in Canadian heraldry in the arms of R. C. Purdy Chocolates Ltd. A shield that is divided quarterly and per saltire, forming eight triangular pieces, is gyronny and this is technically a field covered with gyrons, a rare charge in the form of a wedge, shown individually in the well-known arms of Mortimer. Possibly the best known example is in the arms of the ancient Scottish family of Campbell, Gyronny of eight or and sable, borne most notably by the Duke of Argyll, the first tincture in the blazon is that of the triangle in dexter chief. While the gyrons of gyronny almost invariably meet in the point the arms of the University of Zululand are an unusual example of gyronny meeting in the nombril point. Gyronny can be modified by the lines of partition, the canting arms of Maugiron show Gyronny of six, clearly deemed mal-gironné. Any of the lines composing the variations of the field above may be blazoned with most of the different line shapes, e. g. paly nebuly of six, Or. A field fretty is composed of bendlets and bendlets-sinister or scarps, although almost invariably the bendlets and scarpes are of the same tincture, there is an example in which they are of two different metals
29.
Gules
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In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called colours. In engraving, it is depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation. In Polish heraldry, gules is the most common tincture of the field, through the sixteenth century, nearly half of all noble coats of arms in Poland had a field gules with one or more argent charges on them. The original coat of arms of the family was plain gules. Sometimes, the different tinctures are said to be connected with special meanings or virtues, even if this is an idea mostly disregarded by serious heraldists throughout the centuries, it may be of anecdotal interest to see what they are, since people often ask for this information. Many sources give different meanings, but the gules tincture is said to represent the following, of jewels. The term gules derives from the Old French word goules, literally meaning throats, for many decades, heraldic authors have believed that the term may have arisen from the Persian word گل, but according to Brault there is no evidence to support this derivation
30.
Argent
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In heraldry, argent /ˈɑːrdʒənt/ is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called metals. It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it, in engravings and line drawings, regions to be tinctured argent are either left blank or indicated with the abbreviation ar. in them. The name derives from Latin argentum, translated as silver or white metal, the word argent had the same meaning in Old French blazon, from which it passed into the English language. In some historical depictions of coats of arms, a kind of leaf was applied to those parts of the device that were argent. Over time, the content of these depictions has tarnished and darkened. As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish regions that were intended as argent from those that were sable. This leaves an impression that the rule of tincture has been violated in cases where. He bases this in part on the labels used to difference the arms of members of the British Royal Family. However, it has argued that these could be regarded as white labels proper. Sometimes, the different tinctures are said to be connected with special meanings or virtues, even if this is an idea mostly disregarded by serious heraldists throughout the centuries, it may be of anecdotal interest to see what they are, since the information is so often sought after. Many sources give different meanings, but argent is often said to represent the following, Of jewels, the pearl Of heavenly bodies, the Moon Of metals, silver
31.
Altena Castle
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Altena Castle is a Medieval hill castle in the town of Altena in North Rhine-Westphalia. Built on a spur of Klusenberg hill, the castle lies near the Lenne in the Märkischer Kreis, the castle was erected by the early Counts of Berg in the early 12th century. Eventually, the House of Berg abandoned Altena and moved their residence to Hamm, supposedly, the castle was built by the brothers Adolf and Everhard von Berg around the year 1108 after Henry V granted them land in Sauerland. On Wulfseck Mountain they built their castle, which they named Wulfeshagen and this is one of the three legends of the establishment of the county of Altena and the building of the castle. After the acquisition of Mark near the city of Hamm in 1198 and they occasionally inhabited Altena Castle and from 1392 onward it was used as a residence for the county bailiff. In 1912, Richard Schirrmann established the worlds first youth hostel within the castle, mönning, Iserlohn 1992, ISBN 3-922885-14-4, S. 164–168
32.
Common land
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A person who has a right in, or over, common land jointly with another or others is called a commoner. This article deals mainly with land in England, Wales. Common land or former common land is referred to as a common, for instance. This manorial system, founded on feudalism, granted rights of use to different classes. These would be appurtenant rights, that is the ownership of rights belonged to tenancies of particular plots of land held within a manor, a commoner would be the person who, for the time being, was the occupier of a particular plot of land. Some rights of common were said to be in gross, that is and this was more usual in regions where commons are more extensive, such as in the high ground of Northern England or on the Fens, but also included many village greens across England and Wales. Most land with appurtenant commons rights is adjacent to the common or even surrounded by it, example rights of common are, Pasture. Right to pasture cattle, horses, sheep or other animals on the common land, right to take sods of turf for fuel. Common in the Soil This is a term used for rights to extract minerals such as sands, gravels, marl, walling stone. Right to turn out pigs for a period in autumn to eat mast, right to take sufficient wood for the commoners house or holding, usually limited to smaller trees, bushes and fallen branches. On most commons, rights of pasture and pannage for each commoner are tightly defined by number and type of animal, on some commons, the rights are not limited by numbers, and instead a marking fee is paid each year for each animal turned out. However, if excessive use was made of the common, for example, in overgrazing, a common would be stinted, that is and these regulations were responsive to demographic and economic pressure. Thus rather than let a common become degraded, access was restricted even further, Pasture commons are those where the primary right is to pasture livestock. These habitats are often of high nature conservation value, because of their very long continuity of management extending in some cases over many hundreds of years. In the past, most pasture commons would have been grazed by mixtures of cattle, sheep, the modern survival of grazing on pasture commons over the past century is uneven. When not in use for those purposes, such commons were grazed, examples include the common arable fields around the village of Laxton in Nottinghamshire, and a common meadow at North Meadow, Cricklade. Lammas rights entitled commoners to pasture following the harvest, between Lammas day,12 August, to 6 April, even if they did not have rights to the land. Such rights sometimes had the effect of preventing enclosure and building development on agricultural land, most of the medieval common land of England was lost due to enclosure
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Electorate of Cologne
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The Electorate of Cologne, sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift — the temporal possessions — of the Archbishop of Cologne, the Electorate should not be confused with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne, which was larger and over which the Elector-Archbishop exercised only spiritual authority. There were only two other ecclesiastical prince-electors in the Empire, the Electorate of Mainz and the Electorate of Trier, the capital of the electorate was Cologne. Conflicts with the citizens of Cologne caused the Elector to move to Bonn, the Free Imperial City of Cologne was recognized after 1475, thus removing it from even the nominal secular authority of the Elector. Cologne and Bonn were occupied by France in 1794, the right bank territories of the Electorate were secularized in 1803 during the German mediatization. The territory of the Electorate of Cologne was smaller than the Archdiocese of Cologne, Cologne was the ancient Roman city of Colonia Agrippina in the province of Germania Inferior, and has been a bishops see since Roman times. In 953, the archbishops of Cologne first gained noteworthy secular power, to weaken the secular nobility, who threatened his power, Otto endowed Bruno and his successors in the bishops see with the prerogatives of secular princes. This was the beginning of the state of Cologne. By the end of the 12th century, the Archbishop of Cologne was one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Emperor, besides being prince-elector, he was Arch-chancellor of Italy as well, technically from 1238 and permanently from 1263 until 1803. In the Battle of Worringen, the archbishop was captured by soldiers of the city, eventually, the archbishop moved to Bonn to escape jurisdiction conflicts with the city government. In 1475, Cologne became a Free Imperial City, independent from the archbishop, the first pogrom against the Jews was in 1349, when they were used as scapegoats for the Black Death, and therefore burnt in an auto-da-fé. Political tensions arose from issues of taxation, public spending, regulation of business, long-distance trade in the Baltic grew, as the major trading towns came together in the Hanseatic League, under the leadership of Lübeck. The chief cities were Cologne on the Rhine River, Hamburg and Bremen on the North Sea, during the 16th century, two Archbishops of Cologne converted to Protestantism. The first, Hermann von Wied, resigned the archbishopric on converting, but Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, the war ruined most of the Electoral economy, and many villages and towns were besieged and destroyed. The Siege of Godesberg in November–December 1583 ended with the destruction of Godesberg Castle, after several more sieges, von Waldburg gave up his claim to the see and retired to Strasbourg with his wife. Ernst became archbishop–the first major success of the Counter-Reformation in Germany, under Ernsts direction, Jesuits supervised the reintroduction of Catholicism in the Electorate. From 1583 to 1761, the archbishopric was effectively a secundogeniture of the Bavarian branch of the House of Wittelsbach, as the archbishop in this period usually also held the Bishopric of Münster, he was one of the most important princes of northwestern Germany. From 1597 until 1794, Bonn was the residence the Elector, after 1795, the electorates territories on the left bank of the Rhine were occupied by France, and were formally annexed in 1801
34.
Adolf I, Count of the Mark
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Adolf I, Count de la Mark, until 1226 also known as Adolf I, Count of Altena-Mark. He was son of Frederick I, Count of Berg-Altena and Alveradis of Krickenbeck, Adolf belonged to a collateral line of the counts of Berg and was founder of the new noble branch of the Counts de la Mark. Moreover, Adolf I was reeve of the monasteries of Cappenberg, Adolfs date of birth is unclear. Commonly accepted is the year 1194, though sometimes an earlier date has been assumed, in his book Die Landstände der Grafschaft Mark bis zum Jahre 1510, Mit Urkundlichen Beilagen, Rudolf Schulze determined Adolfs date of birth to be in 1164. This assertion does not tie with his parents life data, referring to various sources, the year 1199 is proposed by Genealogie Mittelalter. At that time Adolf must have been born already, though, in fact Adolf signed as a witness a charter in 1194, and thus logic requires that he had reached majority by that time. In medieval Germany majority was bound to the ability to serve in battle or bearing arms and this was usually between 12 and 15, so that Adolf had to be born at least 12 years before signing the charter in 1194. Referring to this Adolf was born in the period between 1179 and 1182, another legal fact supporting this theory is that Adolfs father died either in 1198 or 1199 and he became the new Count of Altena-Mark and Krickenbeck. If he was not old enough to rule by that time his mother or a relative would have become regent for him. But there is no sign of this in any charters of the time, instead Adolf is signing further charters, in 1202 he names himself in another charter Adolfus puer comes de Marke. In 1205 he signs again a charter but this time using his legal name. His time as squire was seemingly over, so any assumed date of birth after 1182 becomes more unlikely. Noble boys started their career at age 12, but more normally at 14 years, the apprenticeship lasted usually until the age of 20 or 21, before the squire was finally knighted. This fits perfectly with Adolf being puer comes, in 1202 and com. de Marka in 1205, even by means of the age, if he was born in 1182 he would have been 20 by 1202 and about 23 by 1205. Like his father Adolf I became Count of Berg-Altena and Krickenbeck and reeve of the monasteries of Werden, as with the whole family, Adolf was drawn into the German Crown Heritage Dispute. Sources differ for which side he fought, stirnberg has it that Adolf was on the Staufers side right from the beginning. Possibly Adolf stayed undecided until he decided with the Staufer in 1212. However, in 1225 Adolf seemed to have established himself as loyal kinsman of the Emperor, Adolf died on 28 June 1249, he is buried in Cappenberg Abbey
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Battle of Worringen
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The Battle of Worringen was fought on June 5,1288, near the town of Worringen, which is now the northernmost borough of Cologne. The conflict arose after Duke Waleran IV of Limburg, a scion of the Lotharingian Ardennes-Verdun dynasty, had died without heirs in 1279. His duchy was inherited by his daughter Ermengarde, who had married Count Reginald I of Guelders about 1270 and her husband claimed the Limburg heritage and in 1282 had his ducal title recognized by the German king Rudolf I. As far as the succession in the line was denied. An agreement seemed possible, nevertheless, Count Adolf VIII of Berg preceded his Ardennes relatives when in September 1283 he sold his claims to the mighty Reginar duke John of Brabant. Duke John intended to enlarge his Brabant territory and re-unite the former Duchy of Lower Lorraine in the northwest of the Holy Roman Empire, Limburg was also economically important as it stretched along the major Via Regia trade route to Aachen and Cologne on the Rhine river. Though Brabant held the title of Duke of Lothier since 1190, it had been solely honorific, the Limburg nobles therefore refused to accept Johns overlordship, when his forces invaded the duchy. Between 1283 and 1288, the conflict was delayed by several smaller confrontations between both sides, none of them decisive, meanwhile, most of the other local powers chose sides. Foremost Siegfried II of Westerburg, the Archishop of Cologne, suspiciously eyed Johns increasing power in the Lower Lorraine lands, in May 1288, Henry of Luxembourg had led a significant army into the Cologne region. Numerous vassals and allies joined his forces and Reinald of Guelders finally sold his rights to Limburg to him and this angered Duke John of Brabant, who in turn started a campaign against Reinald. In Brühl, he met with the Mark and Berg troops by the end of the month, together they marched against Worringen, a castle on the Rhine held by the Archbishop of Cologne. John laid siege to the fortress, supported by the Cologne citizens, Siegfried, witnessing the estrangement of his subjects, likewise started marching. He and Henry of Luxembourg gathered their troops at Neuss and moved to Brauweiler Abbey, on the early morning of June 5, they departed for Worringen at the head of their troops. In the earliest phases of the battle, John of Brabant and Henry of Luxembourg met in a fight, in which Henry. Soon after that, Siegfried entered the battle and in an advance was able to beat off the Berg troops. In mid afternoon, the Berg and Mark troops, along with the Cologne citizens, had gathered again, the battle ended in a victory for Brabant when Reinald of Guelders was captured by Daniel van Bouchout and Lord Walram of Valkenburg had to retreat. The archbishop was taken prisoner by Duke John of Brabant and delivered to Adolf of Berg, the number of deaths at the battle of Worringen is estimated at 1100 on the Guelders side and 40 on the Brabant side. The blood toll on the house of Luxembourg was particularly high, Archbishop Siegfried was imprisoned for over a year at Schloss Burg, before he paid a ransom and agreed to Count Adolfs demands
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Eberhard I, Count of the Mark
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Eberhard I was a German nobleman. He was Count of the Mark from 1277 until his death and he was the son of Engelbert I, Count of the Mark en Cunigonde of Blieskastel. In 1277, Count Herman of Lohn abducted Eberhards father Count Engelbert I, Count of the Mark near Tecklenburg and imprisoned him in the Castle of Bredevoort, in 1278 Eberhard took revenge and conquered the castle. He also obtained Brakel, Westhofen and Waltrop
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John I, Duke of Brabant
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John I of Brabant, also called John the Victorious was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg. During the 19th century, John I was venerated as a Belgian folk hero, born at Leuven, he was the son of Henry III, Duke of Brabant and Aleidis of Burgundy, daughter of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy. He was also a brother of Maria of Brabant, Queen consort of Philip III of France. In 1267 his older brother Henry IV, Duke of Brabant and his greatest military victory was the Battle of Worringen 1288, by which John I came to reign over the Duchy of Limburg. He was completely outnumbered in forces but led the invasion into the Rhineland to defeat the confederacy. In 1288 Limburg was formally attached to Brabant, John I was said to be a model of feudal prince, brave, adventurous, excelling in every form of active exercise, fond of display, and generous in temper. He was considered one of the most gifted princes of his time and this made him very popular in Middle Ages poetry and literature. Even today there exists an ode to him, so known that it was a potential candidate to be the North Brabant anthem. John I delighted in tournaments and was eager to take part in jousts. He was also famous for his illegitimate children. On 3 May 1294 at some marriage festivities at Bar-le-Duc, John I was mortally wounded in the arm in an encounter by Pierre de Bausner. He was buried in the church of the Minderbroeders in Brussels, on 5 September 1270, he wed Margaret of France, daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence. She took the title of Duchess of Brabant and he had a son, but both wife and child died shortly after the boys birth. In 1273, He married Margaret of Flanders, daughter of Guy, Count of Flanders and had the following children, Margaret, married 9 June 1292 to Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor. Marie, married to Count Amadeus V of Savoy, John I had several illegitimate children, Gillis van der Balcht Jean Meuwe, Seigneur of Wavre and Dongelberg. Margareta of Tervuren, she was married on 2 March 1292 to Jean de Rode de Lantwyck Jan Pylyser Jan van der Plasch The duke is remembered in the folkish song Harbalorifa that remains popular, the popular Dutch beer Hertog Jan was named after the duke. Dukes of Brabant family tree Hertog Jan
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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne
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The Archdiocese of Cologne is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. The Electorate of Cologne—not to be confused with the larger Archdiocese of Cologne—was one of the major principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. After 1795, the territories on the left bank of the Rhine were occupied by France. The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 secularized the rest of the archbishopric, giving the Duchy of Westphalia to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, in 1821, the archdiocese regained Cologne and the right bank of the Rhine and, in 1824, an archbishop was established there again. It remains an archdiocese to the present day, considered the most important one of Germany.2 million Euro in 2012, in 2015 the archdiocese for the first time published its financial accounts, which show assets worth more than £2bn. Documents posted on the website showed assets of €3. 35bn at the end of 2013. Some €2.4 billion were invested in stocks, funds, a further €646m were held in tangible assets, mostly property. Cash reserves and outstanding loans amounted to about €287m, the following is a list of the archbishops since the Archdiocese of Cologne was re-filled in 1824. List of Bishops and Archbishops of Cologne Archdiocese of Cologne List of Bishops and Archbishops of Cologne Cologne Cathedral
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