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.
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
8.
Christian Democratic Union (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
9.
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
10.
List of postal codes in Germany
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Postal codes in Germany, Postleitzahl, since 1 July 1993 consist of five digits. The first two digits indicate the area, the last three digits the postal district. Before reunification, both the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic used four-digit codes. Under a transitional arrangement following reunification, between 1989 and 1993 postal codes in the west were prefixed with W, e. g. W-100030 and those in the east with O, e. g. O-1xxx Berlin. City administrations and postal customers with high volumes, or Großkunden have their own postal codes. Postal regions do not necessarily follow state boundaries, so sorting by state is not practical, the postal regions and some postal codes are, The 5-digit postal codes were established on July 1,1993. All mail from, to and within this region is handled by the distribution center in Elmshorn
11.
List of dialling codes in Germany
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Country Code, +49International Call Prefix, 00Trunk Prefix,0 Area codes in Germany have two to five digits, not counting the leading trunk access code 0. The leading 0 must be dialed when calling from within Germany, when calling via fixed networks within the same area, the area code is not required. In general, shorter area codes are assigned to larger cities, private telephone numbers are usually inversely long, those in larger cities have seven or eight digits, while those in smaller towns may have as few as three or four digits. 1 are special numbers such as phones, shared cost service. The former codes 0130 for free phone numbers and 0190 for premium-rate numbers are now moved to 0800 and 0900 to meet international standards,0700 is used for personal national phone numbers. Prefix 01 is used for numbers, and is not tied to a geographic area. After reunification, East Germany was merged into the existing German numbering plan, neugersdorf 03587035872 Neusalza-Spremberg 035873 Herrnhut 035874 Bernstadt a. d.037296 Stollberg/Erzgeb. 037297 Thum 037298 Oelsnitz 03731 Freiberg 03732037320 Mulda/Sa,037433 Gutenfürst 037434 Bobenneukirchen 037435 Reuth 037436 Weischlitz 037437 Bad Elster 037438 Bad Brambach 037439 Jocketa 03744 Auerbach/Vogtl. 03745 Falkenstein 03746037462 Rothenkirchen 037463 Bergen, Vogtlandkreis 037464 Schöneck/Vogtl,037465 Tannenbergsthal 037467 Klingenthal 037468 Treuen 0375 Zwickau 037603760037600 Neumark 037601 Mülsen St.04443 Dinklage 04444 Goldenstedt 04445 Visbek Kr. Vechta 04446 Bakum Kr. 08553 Spiegelau 08554 Schönberg 08555 Perlesreut 08556 Haidmühle 08557 Mauth 08558 Hohenau 085608561 Pfarrkirchen Niederbay,08562 Triftern 08563 Bad Birnbach Rottal 08564 Johanniskirchen 08565 Dietersburg-Baumgarten 085708571 Simbach am Inn 08572 Tann Niederbay. 08573 Ering 08574 Wittibreut 085808581 Waldkirchen Niederbay,08582 Röhrnbach 08583 Neureichenau 08584 Breitenberg 08585 Grainet 08586 Hauzenberg 085908591 Obernzell 08592 Wegscheid Niederbay. 09549 Lisberg 095509551 Burgwindheim 09552 Burghaslach 09553 Ebrach Oberfr,09704 Euerdorf 09708 Bad Bocklet 0971 Bad Kissingen 097209720 Üchtelhausen 09721 Schweinfurt 09722 Werneck 09723 Röthlein 09724 Stadtlauringen 09725 Poppenhausen Unterfr. 09726 Euerbach 09727 Schonungen-Marktsteinach 09728 Wülfershausen Unterfr,097609761 Bad Königshofen 09762 Saal a. d. Saale 09763 Sulzdorf a. d. d. Heide 09823 Leutershausen 09824 Dietenhofen 09825 Herrieden 09826 Weidenbach Mittelfr,09828 Rügland 09829 Flachslanden 098309831 Gunzenhausen 09832 Wassertrüdingen 09833 Heidenheim Mittelfr. 098609861 Rothenburg ob der Tauber 09865 Adelshofen 09867 Geslau 09868 Schillingsfürst 09869 Wettringen Mittelfr,098709871 Windsbach 09872 Heilsbronn 09873 Abenberg-Wassermungenau 09874 Neuendettelsau 09875 Wolframs-Eschenbach 09876 Rohr Mittelfr
12.
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
13.
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
14.
Werra
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The Werra, a river in central Germany, forms the right-source of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia, after 293 kilometres the Werra joins the river Fulda in the town of Hann. The Werra Valley forms a border between the Rhön Mountains and the Thuringian Forest. Local attractions include Eiben Forest near Dermbach, the sandstone cave at Walldorf, the deepest lake in Germany formed by land subsidence, and the Krayenburg. Werra Viaduct, Hedemünden Media related to Werra at Wikimedia Commons
15.
Kassel
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Kassel is a city located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the Kreis of the same name and has 200,507 inhabitants in December 2015. The former capital of the state of Hesse-Kassel has many palaces and parks, including the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel is also known for the documenta exhibitions of contemporary art. The citys name is derived from the ancient Castellum Cattorum, a castle of the Chatti, Kassel was first mentioned in 913 AD, as the place where two deeds were signed by King Conrad I. The place was called Chasella and was a fortification at a crossing the Fulda river. A deed from 1189 certifies that Cassel had city rights, in 1567, the Landgraviate of Hesse, until then centered in Marburg, was divided among four sons, with Hesse-Kassel becoming one of its successor states. Kassel was its capital and became a centre of Calvinist Protestantism in Germany, strong fortifications were built to protect the Protestant stronghold against Catholic enemies. Secret societies, such as Rosicrucianism flourished, with Christian Rosenkreutz’s work Fama Fraternitis first published in 1617, in 1685, Kassel became a refuge for 1,700 Huguenots who found shelter in the newly established borough of Oberneustadt. Landgrave Charles, who was responsible for this act, also ordered the construction of the Oktagon. In the early 19th century, the Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel and they collected and wrote most of their fairy tales there. At that time, around 1803, the Landgraviate was elevated to a Principality, shortly after, it was annexed by Napoleon and in 1807 it became the capital of the short-lived Kingdom of Westphalia under Napoleons brother Jérôme. The Electorate was restored in 1813, having sided with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War to gain supremacy in Germany, the principality was annexed by Prussia in 1866. The Prussian administration united Nassau, Frankfurt and Hesse-Kassel into the new Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, Kassel ceased to be a princely residence, but soon developed into a major industrial centre, as well as a major railway junction. Henschel & Son, the largest railway locomotive manufacturer in Germany at the end of the century, was based in Kassel. In 1870, after the Battle of Sedan, Napoleon III was sent as a prisoner to the castle of Wilhelmshohe above the city, during World War I the German military headquarters were located in the castle of Wilhelmshohe. In the late 1930s Nazis destroyed Heinrich Hübschs Kassel Synagogue, the most severe bombing of Kassel in World War II destroyed 90% of the downtown area, some 10,000 people were killed, and 150,000 were made homeless. Most of the casualties were civilians or wounded soldiers recuperating in local hospitals, Karl Gerland replaced the regional Gauleiter, Karl Weinrich, soon after the raid. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Kassel at the beginning of April 1945, post-war, most of the ancient buildings were not restored, and large parts of the city area were completely rebuilt in the style of the 1950s
16.
Lower Saxony
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Lower Saxony is a German state situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area, with 47,624 square kilometres, and fourth in population among the sixteen Länder of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, and Saterland Frisian, a variety of Frisian, are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining. Lower Saxony borders on the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other, its city of Bremerhaven. In fact, Lower Saxony borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland, the states principal cities include the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Hildesheim, Wolfenbüttel, Wolfsburg and Göttingen. The northwestern area of Lower Saxony, which lies on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia, in the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a traditionally poor and sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plains, is almost invariably flat except for the hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the German Central Uplands, the Weser Uplands, between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges. Thus, Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas, Lower Saxonys major cities and economic centres are mainly situated in its central and southern parts, namely Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Salzgitter, Hildesheim and Göttingen. Oldenburg, near the coastline, is another economic centre. To the north, the Elbe river separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the banks just south of the Elbe are known as Altes Land. Due to its local climate and fertile soil, it is the states largest area of fruit farming. Most of the territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover. It was created by the merger of the State of Hanover with several states in 1946. Lower Saxony has a boundary in the north in the North Sea. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a body for the enclave area. To the southeast the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands, in northeast Lower Saxony is Lüneburg Heath
17.
Bad Sooden-Allendorf
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Bad Sooden-Allendorf is a town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The spa town of Bad Sooden-Allendorf lies in the Werra valley near the Hoher Meißner, right on the boundary with Thuringia, the main town itself is divided into Sooden and Allendorf, the former of which is west of the railway tracks. The place has existed since at least the late 8th century and this is confirmed by one of the Frankish king Charlemagne’s donation documents, which historians have dated to some time between 776 and 779. With this document, Charlemagne transferred the saltsprings, the saltpans, the saltworkers, the market, the tribute, the settlement’s name refers to its location on the western border with Thuringia, which still runs through here today. In April 1637, during the Thirty Years War, the Geleen and Count Isolani Croatian regiments attacked the town, even the two churches and the town hall were destroyed. The council estate – built wholly out of stone – withstood the great town fire, for more than a thousand years, until the late 19th century, salt was extracted from brine at the saltworks by boiling. The brine was brought up from a deposit under the town, the breaking of the salt monopoly in the wake of annexation by Prussia in 1866 led to a fall in price, which in turn led to the industry’s end. The last salt was produced in 1906, along with the downfall of the saltworks, however, came the discovery of the brine’s healing properties, and thus began the spa industry, with a bathhouse opening on 1 June 1881. In a salt museum, the salt is sold, presented there. At the turn of the millennium, the tower was dismantled. In late 2005, a new bathhouse with a big sauna area was finished, in April 2007, a new event hall for conventions and concerts was opened. Even the street layout was changed, since that time there has been no more direct link between Sooden-Nord and Sooden-Süd. Traffic must turn off and take the road through the industrial area. Furthermore, the station is currently reduced to two tracks and is being modernized with the goal of establishing a direct link to Sooden. Through these measures the town hopes to work against the downturn in the spa operations by making the bathhouse and spa area easier to reach, the municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results, The town’s mayor is Frank Hix. He won the mayoral contest on 2 November 2008 between him and Thomas Giese, karl Eulert Charles Leimbach Adolf Müller Georg Ludwig Oeste Leutnand A. D. It houses, besides old border installations and a range of old vehicles and helicopters. “Well Before the Gate” This became the subject of a well known German folksong Am Brunnen vor dem Tore, the well with the linden tree – also mentioned in the song – is still preserved, and the gate was rebuilt in 1997
18.
Wanfried
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Wanfried is a town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeasternmost Hesse, Germany. It is classified as a Landstadt, a given in Germany to a municipality that is officially a town. The town lies right on the boundary with Thuringia and it is found in the Werra valley northeast of the Schlierbachswald. Northeast of Wanfried, beyond the Thuringian boundary, is the neighbouring Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park, the Hessian middle centre of Eschwege lies only some 11 km upstream to the west. Other nearby towns of its kind are Mühlhausen and Eisenach, both of which lie in Thuringia, Wanfried’s Stadtteile are Wanfried, Altenburschla, Aue, Heldra and Völkershausen. When Saint Boniface came to area, it was already here. There were even already Christians here, even on the Hülfensberg he built a church and a monastery. While gazing from the Hülfensberg, Saint Boniface supposedly said, according to legend, folk etymology holds that this yielded the local placenames Wanfried, Frieda, Schwebda and Aue. After the Battle of Wettin, the community mentioned at this time as Wenefridun was ceded to Thuringia, to expand his new Hessian Landgraviate, Henry I bought the communities of Wanfried and Frieda and a few villages in the Eichsfeld from the Thuringian Landgrave in 1306. A few years later, with and assault by Hermann II of Treffurt, Hermann managed to take the place in a surprise attack, however, he could not keep it in the long run. In 1336, Hermann’s castle, Normannstein was taken by a coalition of Hessian, Electoral Mainz, after the booty had been shared out among the victors, the Hessian Landgrave Otto I sought to link the new, isolated properties to his territory by a territorial corridor. To this end, he acquired in 1365 from the Lords at Völkershausen their court rights over the villages of Altenburschla, Döringsdorf, Heldra, Helderbach, Rambach and Weißenborn. Before Wanfried passed for good to the Hessian Landgraves, there were once again conflicts with neighbouring Thuringia in the course of the Sternerkrieg, Wanfried was raised to town on 30 August 1608 through Hessian Landgrave Moritz’s privilege, and was granted market rights, too. In 1616, the town of Wanfried was named in the Verzeichnis der fürnembsten Städte Europas as an important trading centre. As a starting point for shipping on the Werra, whose river system had been secured by locks at Eschwege and Allendorf, after the goods had cleared the Auf der Schlagd customs office, they were consigned to the town’s warehouses, shortly thereafter to be shipped out again overland. The shippers brought mostly goods from the coastal cities bound especially for Thuringia and Bavaria, important destinations there being the centres of Leipzig. In the Thirty Years War, the town was sacked by Tilly’s troops on 25 June 1626, in 1627, Wanfried belonged to the domain of the Rotenburger Quart and as of 1667 was residence of the Catholic sideline of Hesse-Wanfried. In 1667, Landgrave Karl moved into the palace here as founder of the line, karl’s sons, Wilhelm and Christian, ruled here until their line died out in 1755
19.
Treffurt
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Treffurt is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the federal state of Thuringia. The town lies near the Werra and is surrounded by the beautiful valley. Treffurt is located next to the border and was a former part of the Sperrzone. Today is Treffurt a popular tourist destination, especially due to its town centre with many restored half-timbered houses. Egon Bahr, German SPD politician Christian Mengis, composer and horn player Town Website Tourist Info
20.
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
21.
Wartburgkreis
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Wartburgkreis is a Kreis in the west of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Unstrut-Hainich, Gotha, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, the district-free city Eisenach is nearly completely surrounded by the district. The district was created in 1994 by merging the previous districts Eisenach and Bad Salzungen, the city Eisenach left the district in 1998 and became a district-free city. The district is located in the Thuringian Forest, including the Hainich national park, the main river in the district is the Werra
22.
Germanic languages
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It is the third most spoken Indo-European subdivision, behind Italic and Indo-Iranian, and ahead of Balto-Slavic languages. Limburgish varieties have roughly 1.3 million speakers along the Dutch–Belgian–German border, the main North Germanic languages are Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese, which have a combined total of about 20 million speakers. The East Germanic branch included Gothic, Burgundian, and Vandalic, the last to die off was Crimean Gothic, spoken in the late 18th century in some isolated areas of Crimea. The total number of Germanic languages throughout history is unknown, as some of them—especially East Germanic languages—disappeared during or after the Migration Period. Proto-Germanic, along all of its descendants, is characterized by a number of unique linguistic features. Early varieties of Germanic enter history with the Germanic tribes moving south from Scandinavia in the 2nd century BC, to settle in the area of todays northern Germany, furthermore, it is the de facto language of the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. It is also a language in Nicaragua and Malaysia. German is a language of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland and has regional status in Italy, Poland, Namibia. German also continues to be spoken as a minority language by immigrant communities in North America, South America, Central America, Mexico, a German dialect, Pennsylvania Dutch, is still present amongst Anabaptist populations in Pennsylvania in the United States. Dutch is a language of Aruba, Belgium, Curaçao. The Netherlands also colonised Indonesia, but Dutch was scrapped as a language after Indonesian independence. Dutch was until 1925 an official language in South Africa, but evolved in and was replaced by Afrikaans, Afrikaans is one of the 11 official languages in South Africa and is a lingua franca of Namibia. It is used in other Southern African nations as well, low German is a collection of sometimes very diverse dialects spoken in the northeast of the Netherlands and northern Germany. Scots is spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster, frisian is spoken among half a million people who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. Luxembourgish is mainly spoken in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, though it extends into small parts of Belgium, France. Limburgish varieties are spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, along the Dutch–Belgian–German border, Swedish is also one of the two official languages in Finland, along with Finnish, and the only official language in the Åland Islands. Danish is also spoken natively by the Danish minority in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, Norwegian is the official language of Norway. Icelandic is the language of Iceland, and is spoken by a significant minority in the Faroe Islands
23.
Ash tree
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Fraxinus /ˈfræksᵻnəs/, English name ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The genus is widespread across much of Europe, Asia and North America, the trees common English name, ash, traces back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name originated in Latin. Both words also mean spear in their respective languages, the leaves are opposite, and mostly pinnately compound, simple in a few species. The seeds, popularly known as keys or helicopter seeds, are a type of known as a samara. Rowans or mountain ashes have leaves and buds superficially similar to those of true ashes, species are organized according to phylogenetic analysis. – California ash or two-petal ash Fraxinus anomala Torr, ex S. Watson – singleleaf ash Fraxinus quadrangulata Michx. – blue ash Fraxinus lowellii – Lowell ash Fraxinus trifoliata Section Melioides sensu lato Fraxinus chiisanensis Fraxinus cuspidata Torr. – fragrant ash Fraxinus platypoda Fraxinus spaethiana Lingelsh, – Späths ash Section Melioides sensu stricto Fraxinus uhdei Lingelsh. – Shamel ash or tropical ash Fraxinus latifolia Benth, – Oregon ash Fraxinus papillosa Lingelsh. – Chihuahua ash Fraxinus americana L. – white ash or American ash Fraxinus profunda Bush – pumpkin ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall – green ash Fraxinus velutina Torr, – velvet ash or Arizona ash Fraxinus berlandieriana DC. – Mexican ash Fraxinus caroliniana Mill, – Carolina ash Fraxinus texensis Sarg. – Texas ash Section Pauciflorae Fraxinus greggii A. ex DC, – Afghan ash Fraxinus dimorpha Section Fraxinus Fraxinus nigra Marshall – black ash Fraxinus mandschurica Rupr. – Manchurian ash Fraxinus holotricha Koehne Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl – narrow-leafed ash Fraxinus angustifolia subsp, oxycarpa – Caucasian ash Claret ash or raywood ash Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. – European ash Fraxinus pallisiae Wilmott – Pallis ash Fraxinus sogdiana Bge Section Ornus Fraxinus griffithii C. B. Clarke – Griffiths ash Fraxinus micrantha Lingelsh, – Chinese ash or Korean ash Fraxinus japonica – Japanese ash Fraxinus longicuspis Fraxinus floribunda Wall. – Himalayan manna ash Fraxinus ornus L. – manna ash or flowering ash Fraxinus bungeana DC, – Bunges ash Fraxinus paxiana Lingelsh. The emerald ash borer is a wood-boring beetle accidentally introduced to North America from eastern Asia via solid wood packing material in the late 1980s to early 1990s and it has killed tens of millions of trees in 15 states in the United States and adjacent Ontario in Canada. It threatens some seven billion ash trees in North America, the public is being cautioned not to transport unfinished wood products, such as firewood, to slow the spread of this insect pest. The disease has infected about 90% of Denmarks ash trees, in 2016, the ash tree was reported as in danger of extinction in Europe
24.
Franks
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Some Franks raided Roman territory, while other Frankish tribes joined the Roman troops of Gaul. In later times, Franks became the rulers of the northern part of Roman Gaul. The Salian Franks lived on Roman-held soil between the Rhine, Scheldt, Meuse, and Somme rivers in what is now Northern France, Belgium, the kingdom was acknowledged by the Romans after 357 CE. Following the collapse of Rome in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians, who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century, which greatly increased their power. The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies that would absorb large parts of the Western Roman Empire, the Frankish state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, the term Frank was used in the east as a synonym for western European, as the Franks were then rulers of most of Western Europe. The Franks in the east kept their Germanic language and became part of the Germans, Dutch, Flemings, the Franconian languages, which are called Frankisch in Dutch or Fränkisch in German, originated at least partly in the Old Frankish language of the Franks. Nowadays, the German and Dutch names for France are Frankreich and Frankrijk, respectively, the name Franci was originally socio-political. To the Romans, Celts, and Suebi, the Franks must have seemed alike, they looked the same and spoke the same language, so that Franci became the name by which the people were known. Within a few centuries it had eclipsed the names of the tribes, though the older names have survived in some place-names, such as Hesse. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English and it has been suggested that the meaning of free was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation. It is traditionally assumed that Frank comes from the Germanic word for javelin, there is also another theory that suggests that Frank comes from the Latin word francisca meaning. Words in other Germanic languages meaning fierce, bold or insolent, eumenius addressed the Franks in the matter of the execution of Frankish prisoners in the circus at Trier by Constantine I in 306 and certain other measures, Ubi nunc est illa ferocia. Feroces was used often to describe the Franks, contemporary definitions of Frankish ethnicity vary both by period and point of view. According to their law and their custom, writing in 2009, Professor Christopher Wickham pointed out that the word Frankish quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of the River Loire everyone seems to have considered a Frank by the mid-7th century at the latest. Two early sources describe the origin of the Franks are a 7th-century work known as the Chronicle of Fredegar. Neither of these works are accepted by historians as trustworthy, compared with Gregory of Tourss Historia Francorum, the chronicle describes Priam as a Frankish king whose people migrated to Macedonia after the fall of Troy
25.
Merovingian
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The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that ruled the Franks for nearly 300 years in a region known as Francia in Latin, beginning in the middle of the 5th century. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior and the southern part of Germania. The Merovingian dynasty was founded by Childeric I, the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, after the death of Clovis there were frequent clashes between different branches of the family, but when threatened by its neighbours the Merovingians presented a strong united front. During the final century of Merovingian rule, the kings were increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role, the Merovingian rule ended in March 752 when Pope Zachary formally deposed Childeric III. Zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, confirmed and anointed Pepin the Short in 754, the Merovingian ruling family were sometimes referred to as the long-haired kings by contemporaries, as their long hair distinguished them among the Franks, who commonly cut their hair short. The Merovingian dynasty owes its name to the semi-legendary Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, the victories of his son Childeric I against the Visigoths, Saxons, and Alemanni established the basis of Merovingian land. Childerics son Clovis I went on to unite most of Gaul north of the Loire under his control around 486, when he defeated Syagrius, the Roman ruler in those parts. He won the Battle of Tolbiac against the Alemanni in 496, at time, according to Gregory of Tours. He subsequently went on to defeat the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507. After Cloviss death, his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons, leadership among the early Merovingians was probably based on mythical descent and alleged divine patronage, expressed in terms of continued military success. In 1906 the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie suggested that the Marvingi recorded by Ptolemy as living near the Rhine were the ancestors of the Merovingian dynasty, upon Cloviss death in 511, the Merovingian kingdom included all of Gaul except Burgundy and all of Germania magna except Saxony. To the outside, the kingdom, even when divided under different kings, maintained unity, after the fall of the Ostrogoths, the Franks also conquered Provence. After this their borders with Italy and Visigothic Septimania remained fairly stable, internally, the kingdom was divided among Cloviss sons and later among his grandsons and frequently saw war between the different kings, who quickly allied among themselves and against one another. The death of one king created conflict between the brothers and the deceaseds sons, with differing outcomes. Later, conflicts were intensified by the personal feud around Brunhilda, however, yearly warfare often did not constitute general devastation but took on an almost ritual character, with established rules and norms. Eventually, Clotaire II in 613 reunited the entire Frankish realm under one ruler, later divisions produced the stable units of Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy and Aquitania. The frequent wars had weakened royal power, while the aristocracy had made great gains and these concessions saw the very considerable power of the king parcelled out and retained by leading comites and duces. Very little is in fact known about the course of the 7th century due to a scarcity of sources, clotaires son Dagobert I, who sent troops to Spain and pagan Slavic territories in the east, is commonly seen as the last powerful Merovingian King
26.
Ford (crossing)
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A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading, or inside a vehicle getting its wheels wet. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, a ford is a much cheaper form of river crossing than a bridge, but it may become impassable after heavy rain or during flood conditions. A ford is therefore only suitable for very minor roads. Most modern fords are usually enough to be crossed by cars. In New Zealand, however, fords are a part of major roads, including, until 2010. As most inter-city domestic passengers travel by air and as much cargo goes by sea, long distance road traffic is low, in dry weather, drivers become aware of a ford by crunching across outwash detritus on the roadway. A Bailey bridge may be built off the line of the road to carry emergency traffic during high water. At places where the water is enough, but the material on the riverbed will not support heavy vehicles. In such cases a curb is often placed on the side to prevent vehicles slipping off. Fords may be equipped with a post indicating the water depth. Some have an adjacent footbridge so that pedestrians may cross without getting their feet wet, a road running below the water level of a stream or river is often known as a watersplash. It is a name for a ford or stretch of wet road in some areas. They have become a feature in rallying courses. There are enthusiasts who seek out and drive through these water features, there are many old fords known as watersplashes in the United Kingdom. Examples are at Brockenhurst in Hampshire, Wookey in Somerset, some of these are being replaced by bridges as these are a more reliable form of crossing in adverse weather conditions. The Dean Ford in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, is mentioned in the deeds of this property, the ford has had to be maintained as a property boundary feature, despite several cars a year being washed away. Not just a British phenomenon, some very spectacular versions of the feature can be found in diverse locations. Australia has the Gulf Savannah, and others may be found in Canada, Italy, South Africa and they are also found on some Tennessee backroads, where they are referred to as underwater bridges
27.
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Otto II, called the Red, was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great, Otto II was made joint-ruler of Germany in 961, at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu, when his father died after a 37-year reign, the eighteen-year-old Otto II became absolute ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in a peaceful succession. Otto II spent his reign continuing his fathers policy of strengthening Imperial rule in Germany, Otto II also continued the work of Otto I in subordinating the Catholic Church to Imperial control. Early in his reign, Otto II defeated a revolt against his rule from other members of the Ottonian dynasty who claimed the throne for themselves. His victory allowed him to exclude the Bavarian line of Ottonians from the line of Imperial succession and this strengthened his authority as Emperor and secured the succession of his own son to the Imperial throne. With domestic affairs settled, Otto II would focus his attention from 980 onward to annexing the whole of Italy into the Empire and his conquests brought him into conflict with the Byzantine Empire and with the Muslims of the Fatimid Caliphate, who both held territories in southern Italy. While he was preparing to counterattack Muslim forces, an uprising by the Slavs broke out in 983. Otto II died suddenly in 983 at the age of 28 after a ten-year reign and he was succeeded as Emperor by his three-year-old son Otto III, plunging the Empire into a political crisis. Otto II was born in 955, the son of the King of Germany Otto I. By 957, Otto IIs older brothers Henry and Bruno had died, as well as Otto Is son from his first wife Eadgyth, with his older brothers dead, the two-year-old Otto IIs became the Kingdoms crown prince and Otto Is heir apparent. Otto I entrusted his son, Archbishop William of Mainz, with Otto IIs literary. Margrave Odo, commander of the Eastern March, taught the young prince the art of war. Needing to put his affairs in order prior to his descent into Italy, Otto I summoned a Diet at Worms and had Otto II elected, at the age of six, co-regent in May 961. Otto II was later crowned by his uncle Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne, while Otto I had secured succession of the throne, he had violated the Kingdoms unwritten law that succession rights could only be granted to a child who has reached the age of majority. He was likely motivated by the associated with his expedition into Italy to claim the Imperial title from the Pope. Otto I crossed the Alps into Italy, while Otto II remained in Germany, after three and a half year absence in Italy, Otto I returned to Germany early in 965 as Holy Roman Emperor. In order to give the hope of dynastic continuity after his death, Otto I again confirmed Otto II as his heir on February 2,965, though Otto I was crowned Emperor in 962 and returned to Germany in 965, the political situation in Italy remained unstable
28.
Theophanu
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Theophanu, also spelled Theophania, Theophana or Theophano, was the niece of the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes. By her marriage with Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, she was Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire and her name is derived from Medieval Greek Theophaneia, appearance of God. According to the certificate issued on 14 April 972—a masterpiece of the Ottonian Renaissance—Theophanu is identified as the neptis of Emperor John I Tzimiskes who was of Armenian descent. Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great had requested a Byzantine princess for his son, Otto II, with the ascension of John I Tzimiskes, who had not been personally referred to other than as Roman Emperor, the treaty negotiations were able to resume. However, not until a delegation led by Archbishop Gero of Cologne arrived in Constantinople, were they successfully completed. Nevertheless, when Archbishop Gero conducted her to Rome, Emperor Otto knew that he could not refuse the offer, the young princess duly arrived in grand style in 972, with a magnificent escort including Byzantine artists, architects and artisans, and bearing great treasure. Theophanu and Otto were married by Pope John XIII on April 14,972 at Saint Peters and their children were, Adelaide I, Abbess of Quedlinburg and Gandersheim, born 973/974, died 1045. Sophia I, Abbess of Gandersheim and Essen, born October 975, mathilde, born summer 978, died 1025, who married Ezzo, count palatine of Lotharingia. Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, born end June/early July 980, a daughter, a twin to Otto, who died before October 8,980. Otto II succeeded his father on 8 May 973 and it is known that she was frequently at odds with her mother-in-law, Adelaide of Italy, which caused an estrangement between Otto II and Adelaide. According to Abbot Odilo of Cluny, Adelaide was very happy when that Greek woman died, the Benedictine chronicler Alpert of Metz describes Theophanu as being an unpleasant and talkative woman. Theophanu was also criticized for her decadence, which manifested in her once a day and introducing luxurious garments. The theologian Peter Damian even asserts that Theophanu had an affair with John Philagathos. Otto II died suddenly on 7 December 983 at the age of 28 and his three-year-old son, Otto III, had already been appointed King of the Romans during a diet held on Pentecost of that year at Verona. At Christmas, Theophanu had him crowned by the Mainz archbishop Willigis at Aachen Cathedral, upon the death of Emperor Otto II, Bishop Folcmar of Utrecht released his cousin, the Bavarian duke Henry the Quarrelsome from custody. Duke Henry allied with Archbishop Warin of Cologne and seized his nephew Otto III in spring 984, nevertheless he was forced to surrender the child to his mother, who was backed by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz and Bishop Hildebald of Worms. Theophanu officially took over regency in May 985 and reigned the Holy Roman Empire until her death in 991, including the lands of Italy and Lotharingia. By her prudent policies, she also was able to conclude peace with Duke Henrys former supporter Duke Mieszko I of Poland, however, her ability to rule was hindered by a serious and life-threatening illness in the summer of 988
29.
Convent
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A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers or religious sisters, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion. The term derives via Old French from Latin conventus, perfect participle of the verb convenio, meaning to convene, the original reference was to the gathering of mendicants who spent much of their time travelling. Technically, a monastery or nunnery is a community of monastics, whereas a friary or convent is a community of mendicants, and a canonry a community of canons regular. The terms abbey and priory can be applied to both monasteries and canonries, an abbey is headed by an Abbot, and a priory is a dependent house headed by a Prior. In English usage since about the 19th century the term convent almost invariably refers to a community of women, in historical usage they are often interchangeable, with convent especially likely to be used for a friary. When applied to houses in Eastern Orthodoxy and Buddhism, English refers to all houses of male religious as monasteries. Christian monasticism Enclosed religious orders Herbermann, Charles, ed. Convent, carmelite Monastery of the Sacred Hearts —- an example of a modern-day convent Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Convent
30.
Cyriacus
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Cyriacus, sometimes Anglicized as Cyriac, according to Christian tradition, is a Christian martyr who was killed in the persecution of Diocletian. He is one of twenty-seven saints, most of them martyrs, however, legend has it that Cyriacus was a Roman nobleman who converted to Christianity as an adult and, renouncing his material wealth, gave it away to the poor. He spent the rest of his life ministering to the slaves who worked in the Baths of Diocletian. Under the reign of Western Roman Emperor Maximian, co-emperor with Diocletian, Cyriacus was tortured and put to death, beheaded in 303 on the Via Salaria, Saint Cyriacus is credited with exorcizing demons from two girls. The first was Artemisia, the daughter of Emperor Diocletian, which resulted in both Artemisia and her mother Saint Serena converting to Christianity, the second was Jobias, the daughter of Shapur II of Persia, which led to the conversion of the Kings entire household. The Tridentine Calendar included the feast day of Cyriacus, Largus and Smaragdus on 8 August as a Semidouble, in 1955 this rank was lowered to that of Simple. Saint Cyriacus is venerated as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and it is claimed his relics were moved to Santa Maria in Via Lata in Rome, and the abbey of St Cyriaque in Altorf in Alsace. The Church of Saint Cyriacus in the Baths of Diocletian, was dedicated to this martyr, the tituli were commonly named after their patron, often a lay patron in the early centuries, Cyriac in Greek signifies simply patron. The titulus was suppressed in 1477 by Pope Sixtus IV in favor of Saints Ciro, in 1493, Pope Alexander VI restored the name of S. Ciriaco. The title was suppressed in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. St Cyriacus is the saint of the Italian city of Cirié. There were monasteries dedicated to St Cyriacus in the now destroyed Arab village of Majdal Yaba in Israel, the residents of both these villages venerated him during the Byzantine era. On St Cyriacus feast day,8 August 1899, a category four hurricane made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico and was named after him and it was known as the Hurricane San Ciriaco
31.
Protestant Reformation
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The period is usually considered to have begun with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Luther in 1517 to the Thirty Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura, the initial movement within Germany diversified, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The spread of Gutenbergs printing press provided the means for the dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The largest groups were the Lutherans and Calvinists, Lutheran churches were founded mostly in Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia, while the Reformed ones were founded in Switzerland, Hungary, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The new movement influenced the Church of England decisively after 1547 under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, there were also reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation, which gave rise to the Anabaptist, Moravian and other Pietistic movements. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent, much work in battling Protestantism was done by the well-organised new order of the Jesuits. In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of a fierce conflict, culminating in the Thirty Years War, which left it devastated. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, the later Protestant Churches generally date their doctrinal separation from the Roman Catholic Church to the 16th century. The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice. They especially objected to the teaching and the sale of indulgences, and the abuses thereof, and to simony, the reformers saw these practices as evidence of the systemic corruption of the Churchs hierarchy, which included the pope. Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church, New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University and from Jan Hus at the Charles University in Prague. Hus rejected indulgences and adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, the Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance by condemning Hus, who was executed by burning despite a promise of safe-conduct. Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as a heretic and his corpse exhumed and burned in 1428, the Council of Constance confirmed and strengthened the traditional medieval conception of church and empire. The council did not address the national tensions or the theological tensions stirred up during the century and could not prevent schism. Pope Sixtus IV established the practice of selling indulgences to be applied to the dead, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes. He was the father of seven children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, in response to papal corruption, particularly the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote The Ninety-Five Theses. The Reformation was born of Luthers dual declaration – first, the discovering of Jesus and salvation by faith alone, the Protestant reformers were unanimous in agreement and this understanding of prophecy furnished importance to their deeds. It was the point and the battle cry that made the Reformation nearly unassailable
32.
Cloth
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A textile or cloth is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, hemp, Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or felting. The words fabric and cloth are used in textile assembly trades as synonyms for textile, however, there are subtle differences in these terms in specialized usage. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres, a fabric is a material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting, or bonding that may be used in production of further goods. Cloth may be used synonymously with fabric but is often a piece of fabric used for a specific purpose. The word textile is from Latin, from the adjective textilis, meaning woven, from textus, the word cloth derives from the Old English clað, meaning a cloth, woven or felted material to wrap around one, from Proto-Germanic kalithaz. The discovery of dyed flax fibres in a cave in the Republic of Georgia dated to 34,000 BCE suggests textile-like materials were made even in prehistoric times. The production of textiles is a craft whose speed and scale of production has been altered almost beyond recognition by industrialization, however, for the main types of textiles, plain weave, twill, or satin weave, there is little difference between the ancient and modern methods. Textiles have an assortment of uses, the most common of which are for clothing and for such as bags. In the household they are used in carpeting, upholstered furnishings, window shades, towels, coverings for tables, beds, and other flat surfaces, in the workplace they are used in industrial and scientific processes such as filtering. Textiles are used in traditional crafts such as sewing, quilting. Textiles for industrial purposes, and chosen for other than their appearance, are commonly referred to as technical textiles. Technical textiles include textile structures for applications, medical textiles, geotextiles, agrotextiles. In all these applications stringent performance requirements must be met, woven of threads coated with zinc oxide nanowires, laboratory fabric has been shown capable of self-powering nanosystems using vibrations created by everyday actions like wind or body movements. Fashion designers commonly rely on textile designs to set their fashion collections apart from others, armani, the late Gianni Versace, and Emilio Pucci can be easily recognized by their signature print driven designs. Textiles can be made from many materials and these materials come from four main sources, animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic. In the past, all textiles were made from natural fibres, including plant, animal, in the 20th century, these were supplemented by artificial fibres made from petroleum. Textiles are made in various strengths and degrees of durability, from the finest gossamer to the sturdiest canvas, microfibre refers to fibres made of strands thinner than one denier
33.
Leather
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Leather is a durable and flexible material created by tanning animal rawhide and skin, often cattle hide. It can be produced at manufacturing scales ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry, people use leather to make various goods—including clothing, bookbinding, leather wallpaper, and as a furniture covering. It is produced in a variety of types and styles. Several tanning processes transform hides and skins into leather, Chrome-tanned leather, invented in 1858, is tanned using chromium sulfate and it is more supple and pliable than vegetable-tanned leather and does not discolor or lose shape as drastically in water as vegetable-tanned. It is also known as wet-blue for its color derived from the chromium, more exotic colors are possible when using chrome tanning. The chrome tanning method usually only takes a day to finish, and it is reported that chrome-tanned leather adds up to 80% of the global leather supply. Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned using tannins and other found in different vegetable matter, such as tree bark prepared in bark mills, wood, leaves, fruits. It is supple and brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of chemicals and it is the only form of leather suitable for use in leather carving or stamping. Vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water, it tends to discolor, so if left to soak and then dried it shrinks, in hot water, it shrinks drastically and partly congeals—becoming rigid, and eventually brittle. Boiled leather is an example of this, where the leather has been hardened by being immersed in hot water, historically, it was occasionally used as armour after hardening, and it has also been used for book binding. Aldehyde-tanned leather is tanned using glutaraldehyde or oxazolidine compounds and this is the leather that most tanners refer to as wet-white leather due to its pale cream or white color. It is the type of chrome-free leather, often seen in shoes for infants. Formaldehyde tanning is another aldehyde tanning method, brain-tanned leathers fall into this category, and are exceptionally water absorbent. Brain tanned leathers are made by a process that uses emulsified oils, often those of animal brains such as deer, cattle. They are known for their softness and washability. Chamois leather also falls into the category of aldehyde tanning, and like brain tanning, produces a porous, chamois leather is made using marine oils that oxidize easily to produce the aldehydes that tan the leather to color it. Rose-tanned leather is a variation of oil tanning and brain tanning. Rose-tanned leather tanned leaves a powerful rose fragrance even years from when it is manufactured and it has been called the most valuable leather on earth, but this is mostly due to the high cost of rose otto and its labor-intensive tanning process
34.
Adolf of Germany
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Adolf was Count of Nassau from about 1276 and elected King of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the Pope, which would have secured him the title of Holy Roman Emperor and he was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication. Adolf died shortly afterwards in the Battle of Göllheim fighting against his successor Albert of Habsburg and he was the second in the succession of so-called count-kings of several rivalling comital houses striving after the Roman-German royal dignity. Adolf was the count of a small German state. He was born about 1255 and was the son of Walram II, Count of Nassau, Adolf’s brother was Dieter of Nassau, who was appointed Archbishop of Trier in 1300. Adolf was married in 1270 to Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg and they had eight children, Agnes of Isenburg-Limburg, the sister of Imagina, was married to Henry of Westerburg, the brother of Siegfried II of Westerburg, the Archbishop of Cologne. In 1276 or 1277, Adolf followed his father as Count of Nassau, from his father, he inherited the family’s lands south of the Lahn River in the Taunus Mountains. These included Wiesbaden and Idstein, as fiefdoms, and the Vogtship in Weilburg under the Bishopric of Worms and he also shared ownership of the family homelands around the castles of Nassau and Laurenburg. Around 1280, Adolf became involved in the Nassau-Eppstein Feud with the Lords of Eppstein, in which the city of Wiesbaden was devastated, the feud was settled in 1283, after which the city and the castle were rebuilt. Sonnenberg, along with Idstein, became Adolf’s residence and he granted Idstein town privileges in 1287 and built its fortifications. Through his uncle, Eberhard I of Katzenelnbogen, Adolf came to the court of King Rudolf I of Habsburg, King Rudolf awarded him with the Burghauptmannamt of Kalsmunt Castle in Wetzlar and a year later that of Gutenfels Castle near Kaub. Before his election, Adolf’s political activities had been limited to his role as Bundesgenosse of the Archbishop of Cologne, Adolf had no particular office, but likely became known through his involvement with the Archbishops of Cologne and Mainz in the politics of the Middle Rhine and Mainz areas. He spoke German, French, and Latin, which was rare at that time for nobles, after his election, King Adolf of Nassau would only rarely be in his home country, having transferred the government there to his burgmen. On 17 January 1294, he purchased Weilburg for 400 pounds from the Bishopric of Worms and he granted Weilburg town privileges on 29 December 1295. He also established the Clarisse abbey of Klarenthal near Wiesbaden in 1296, Rudolf I of Habsburg died on 15 July 1291. For many years before his death, Rudolf had tried to secure the election of his eldest son Albert as his successor and he was thwarted, however, by the opposition of the Archbishop of Cologne, Siegfried II of Westerburg, and the King of Bohemia, Wenceslaus II. Only the Count Palatine Louis II of Upper Bavaria the Rigorous promised to choose Albert, Wenceslaus, despite Rudolfs recognition of his electoral vote, refused to support Albert because he would not cede Carinthia to him. He took the side of the nobles in the core Habsburg areas of Swabia and in their newly acquired territories in Austria, Wenceslaus was supported by Duke Otto III of Lower Bavaria, whose family were traditional enemies of the Habsburgs
35.
Fief
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The fees were often lands or revenue-producing real property held in feudal land tenure, these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including office, rights of exploitation such as hunting or fishing, monopolies in trade. In ancient Rome a benefice was a gift of land for life as a reward for services rendered, originally, in medieval Latin European documents, a land grant in exchange for service continued to be called a beneficium. Later, the term feudum, or feodum, began to replace beneficium in the documents, the first attested instance of this is from 984, although more primitive forms were seen up to one hundred years earlier. The origin of the feudum and why it replaced beneficium has not been well established, but there are multiple theories, described below. The most widely held theory is put forth by Marc Bloch that it is related to the Frankish term *fehu-ôd, in which means cattle and -ôd means goods. When land replaced currency as the store of value, the Germanic word *fehu-ôd replaced the Latin word beneficium. This Germanic origin theory was also shared by William Stubbs in the nineteenth century, a theory put forward by Archibald R. Lewis that the origin of fief is not feudum, but rather foderum, the earliest attested use being in Astronomuss Vita Hludovici. In that text is a passage about Louis the Pious which says annona militaris quas vulgo foderum vocant, a theory by Alauddin Samarrai suggests an Arabic origin, from fuyū. Samarrais theory is that early forms of fief include feo, feu, feuz, feuum and others, Samarrai, however, also advises medieval and early modern Muslim scribes often used etymologically fanciful roots in order to claim the most outlandish things to be of Arabian or Muslim origin. It lacked a precise meaning until the middle of the 12th century, in English usage, the word fee is first attested around 1250–1300, the word fief from around 1605–15. In French, the fief is found from the middle of the 13th century. In French, one also finds seigneurie, which rise to the expression seigneurial system to describe feudalism. Originally, vassalage did not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings, by the middle of the 10th century, fee had largely become hereditary. The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord, historically, the fees of the 11th and the 12th century derived from two separate sources. The first was land carved out of the estates of the upper nobility, the second source was allodial land transformed into dependent tenures. The process occurred later in Germany, and was going on in the 13th century. In England, Henry II transformed them into important sources of royal income, the discontent of barons with royal claims to arbitrarily assessed reliefs and other feudal payments under Henrys son King John resulted in Magna Carta of 1215
36.
Castle
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A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Usage of the term has varied over time and has applied to structures as diverse as hill forts. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with different features, although some, such as curtain walls. A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures served as centres of administration. Many castles were built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire, many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape, while castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic architecture. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning fortified place. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, the word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a fortified residence. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for service and the expectation of loyalty. Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, as well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory
37.
Landgraviate of Hesse
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The Landgraviate of Hesse was a Principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as an entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided between the sons of the late Landgrave Philip I. In the early Middle Ages the Hessengau territory formed the parts of the German stem duchy of Franconia along with the adjacent Lahngau. Upon the extinction of the ducal Conradines, these Rhenish Franconian counties were gradually acquired by Landgrave Louis I of Thuringia, the remaining Thuringian landgraviate fell to the Wettin margrave Henry III of Meissen. Henry I of Hesse was raised to princely status by King Adolf of Germany in 1292, from 1308 to 1311 and again from 1458 the landgraviate was divided in Upper Hesse and Lower Hesse until its re-unification under Landgrave William II in 1500. Rulers of Hesse Map of the Landgraviate of Hesse under Philip I the Magnanimous
38.
Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
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Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, nicknamed der Großmütige was a leading champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany. Philip was the son of Landgrave William II of Hesse and his second wife Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His father died when Philip was five years old, and in 1514 his mother, after a series of struggles with the Estates of Hesse, the struggles over authority continued, however. To put an end to them, Philip was declared of age in 1518, the power of the Estates had been broken by his mother, but he owed her little else. His education had been imperfect, and his moral and religious training had been neglected. Despite all this, he developed rapidly as a statesman, the first meeting of Philip of Hesse with Martin Luther took place in 1521, at the age of 17, at the Diet of Worms. There he was attracted by Luthers personality, though he had at first little interest in the elements of the gathering. Philip embraced Protestantism in 1524 after a meeting with the theologian Philipp Melanchthon. He then helped suppress the German Peasants War by defeating Thomas Müntzer at the Battle of Frankenhausen, Philip refused to be drawn into the anti-Lutheran league of George, Duke of Saxony, in 1525. At the same time, he united political motives with his religious policy, as early as the spring of 1526, he sought to prevent the election of the Catholic Archduke Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor. Although there was no strong popular movement for Protestantism in Hesse, the University of Marburg was founded in the summer of 1527 to be, like the University of Wittenberg, a school for Protestant theologians. Their activities, along with other circumstances, including rumors of war and his suspicions were confirmed to his own satisfaction by a forgery given him by an adventurer who had been employed in important missions by George of Saxony, one Otto von Pack. Both Luther and the chancellor, Gregor Brück, though convinced of the existence of the conspiracy. Nevertheless, he took a part in uniting the Protestant representatives. Before leaving the city he succeeded in forming, on 22 April 1529, Philip was especially anxious to prevent division over the subject of the Eucharist. Through him Huldrych Zwingli was invited to Germany, and Philip thus prepared the way for of the celebrated Marburg Colloquy, the result was that Philip was suspected of a tendency toward Zwinglianism. Philip eagerly embraced Zwinglis plan of a great Protestant alliance to extend from the Adriatic to Denmark to keep the Holy Roman Emperor from crossing into Germany, the arrival of the emperor put an end to these disputes for the time being. Moreover, Bucer fully agreed with the landgrave on the importance of compromise measures in treating the controversy surrounding the Eucharist and this effort resulted in the foundation of, the League of Gotha, then the League of Torgau, and finally the Schmalkaldic League
39.
William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
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William IV of Hesse-Kassel, also called William the Wise, was the first Landgrave of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. He was the founder of the oldest line, which survives to this day, William was born at Kassel, the eldest son of Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous and Christine of Saxony. William took a part in safeguarding the Lutheran Reformation, and was indefatigable in his endeavours to unite the different sections of Protestantism against Catholicism. However, he was reluctant to use force in this conflict. As an administrator he displayed rare energy, issuing numerous ordinances, appointing expert officials, by a law of primogeniture he secured his Landgraviates land against such testamentary divisions as had diminished his fathers estate. William is most notable for his patronage of the arts and sciences, as a youth he had cultivated close connections with scholars and as a ruler he kept up this connection. His interest in astronomy may have inspired by Petrus Apianuss Astronomicum Caesareum. William was a pioneer in research, and perhaps owes his most lasting fame to his discoveries in this branch of study. Most of the mechanical contrivances which made instruments of Tycho Brahe so superior to those of his contemporaries were adopted in Kassel about 1584, from then on the observations made in Hesse-Kassel seem to have been about as accurate as those of Tycho. However the resulting longitudes were 6 too great in consequence of the solar parallax of 3. The principal product of the observations was the Hessian star catalogue. It should be noticed that clocks, on which Tycho depended very little, were used at Kassel for finding the difference of right ascension between Venus and the sun before sunset. Tycho preferred observing the angular distance between the sun and Venus when the latter was visible in the daytime, R. Wolf, in his Astronomische Mittheilungen, No. 45, has given a resume of the still preserved at Kassel. William was married to Sabine of Württemberg, daughter of Christoph, most significant and favored among these was Philipp von Cornberg, Williams son by Elisabeth Wallenstein. Philipp was ennobled by his father and became the ancestor of the current Barons von Cornberg and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. William IV. of Hesse. Biographical data and references at The Galileo Project
40.
Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
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Maurice of Hesse-Kassel, also called Maurice the Learned, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in the Holy Roman Empire from 1592 to 1627. Maurice was born in Kassel as the son of William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, although Maurice had been raised in the Lutheran faith, he converted to Calvinism in 1605. On the principle Cuius regio eius religio, Maurices subjects were required to convert to Calvinism. Maurices conversion was controversial since the Peace of Augsburg had only settled religious matters betweens Roman Catholics, Maurice tried to introduce Calvinism to the lands which he had inherited from the extinct Hesse-Marburg branch of his family. Such a change of faith was contrary to the inheritance rules and it also brought him into conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor, Matthias. English strolling players were frequent visitors to, and performers in, towns and cities in Germany and other European countries, including Kassel, landgraf Moritz was a great supporter of the performing arts and even built the first permanent theatre in Germany, named the Ottoneum, in 1605. This building still exists today but as a Natural History Museum, in 1627 he abdicated in favour of his son William V. Five years later he died in Eschwege and he was not only a serious musician but an expert composer. The leading musical figures whom he supported included Heinrich Schütz and John Dowland, on 23 September 1593, Maurice married Agnes of Solms-Laubach. They had six children, Otto, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Kassel, elisabeth, married John Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg. On 22 May 1603, Maurice married Countess Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg, Agnes, married John Casimir, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. Magdalene, married Erich Adolf, Count of Salm-Reifferscheid, sophie, married Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe. Christian, Swedish colonel, died after an altercation with General Johan Banér and some other officers and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Anonymous. Free scores by Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in the Choral Public Domain Library Free scores by Moritz von Hessen-Kassel at the International Music Score Library Project
41.
Abdication
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Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. The word abdication derives from the Latin abdicatio meaning to disown or renounce, in its broadest sense abdication is the act of renouncing and resigning from any formal office, but it is applied especially to the supreme office of state. In Roman law the term was applied to the disowning of a family member. Today the term applies to monarchs, or to those who have been formally crowned. An elected or appointed official is said to resign rather than to abdicate, a notable exception is the voluntary relinquishing of the office of Bishop of Rome by the Pope, called Papal resignation or Papal renunciation. Among the most notable abdications of antiquity are those of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Dictator, in 79 BC, Emperor Diocletian in AD305, perhaps the most notable abdication in recent history is that of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the Dominions. In 1936 Edward abdicated to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the British establishment, the governments of the Commonwealth, the Royal Family and it was the first time in history that the British or English crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. Richard II of England, for example, was forced to abdicate after power was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, the Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. In Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, to give legal effect to the abdication of King Edward VIII, His Majestys Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed. In Medieval Japan abdication was used often, and in fact occurred more often than death on the throne. A tradition developed that an emperor should accede to the relatively young. Thus, many Japanese emperors have acceded as children, some only 6 or 8 years old, several emperors abdicated while still in their teens. These traditions show in Japanese folklore, theater, literature and other forms of culture, over half of Japanese empresses abdicated once a suitable male descendant was considered to be old enough to rule. Since the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent reorganization of imperial succession, no emperor has abdicated, there is also no provision for abdication in the Imperial Household Law, the Meiji Constitution, or the current 1947 Constitution of Japan. On February 27,1946, the emperors youngest brother, Prince Mikasa, even stood up in the council and indirectly urged the emperor to step down. General Douglas MacArthur insisted that Emperor Hirohito retain the throne, MacArthur saw the emperor as a symbol of the continuity and cohesion of the Japanese people. However, senior officials within the Imperial Household Agency have denied there is any official plan for the monarch to abdicate. A potential abdication by the Emperor would require an amendment to the Imperial Household Act, on 8 August 2016 the Emperor gave a rare televised address, where he emphasized his advanced age and declining health, this address is interpreted as an implication of his intention to abdicate
Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France since 1989
Mühlhausen, Thuringia since 1989
