1.
Schloss
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Schloss, formerly written Schloß, is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house, or what in the British Isles would be known as a stately home or country house. Similarly, in the Scandinavian languages, related Germanic languages, the cognate word slot/slott is normally used for what in English could be either a palace or a castle, in Dutch the word slot is considered to be more archaic. Nowadays one commonly uses paleis or kasteel, like a castle, a Schloss is often surrounded by a moat and is then called a Wasserschloss. Other types include the Stadtschloss, the Jagdschloss and the Lustschloss, sometimes, the medieval Carolingian Kaiserpfalzen are considered as Schlösser already, such as the Palace of Aachen and the Imperial Palace of Goslar. Burg Festung Residenz Media related to Schloss at Wikimedia Commons
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.
Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine
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Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach. He was Elector Palatine, Count of Palatinate-Neuburg, and Duke of Jülich, until 1728 Charles III Philip was also Count of Megen. Born in Neuburg an der Donau, Charles Philip was the seventh of 17 children of Philip William, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Though Charles Philip became a cleric in Cologne at the age of fourteen, suchlike in 1677 in Salzburg and again in 1679 in Mainz and he then joined the Habsburg war against the Turks 1691-1694 and was promoted imperial field marshal. In 1712 he was appointed Governor of Further Austria in Innsbruck, Charles Philip succeeded his brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine on his death in 1716, and he promptly expelled his brothers mistress, Dorothea von Velen, from the electoral palace. In the imperial election a few days later Charles III Philip voted for his Bavarian cousin Prince-Elector Charles Albert, another granddaughter of Charles Philip, Countess Palatine Maria Franziska of Sulzbach, was later married to Count Palatine Frederick Michael of Zweibrücken. Their son Maximilian I Joseph of Palatinate-Zweibrücken became the heir of the Palatinate-Sulzbach line, while in Mannheim, Charles III Philip, and later his successor Charles IV Theodore, put together what was commonly regarded as the finest orchestra in all of Europe. Under the leadership of such as Johann Stamitz and Carlo Grua. Charles Philip married three times, In Berlin on 10 August 1688 he married firstly Princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, dowager margravine of Brandenburg and they had four children, Leopoldine Eleonore Josephine. Elisabeth Auguste Sophie, married on 1717 to her kinsman, the Count Palatine Johann Karl of Sulzbach, in Kraków on 15 December 1701 he married secondly Princess Teresa Lubomirska, heiress of Ostroh. They had two daughters, Theophila Elisabeth Franziska Felicitas, in 1728 he married thirdly Countess Violente Theresia, daughter of Count Philipp-Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis, and his wife, Countess Marie-Adelheid von Aham zu Wildenau. This childless union was morganatic, as the Augsburg branch of the wealthy Thurn and Taxis family had only been elevated to rank in 1657. But Violente received the title of Princess from Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1733. Media related to Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine at Wikimedia Commons
5.
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
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Charles Theodore reigned as prince-elector and count palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as prince-elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777 to his death. He was a member of the House of Palatinate-Sulzbach, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach, Charles Theodore was of the Wittelsbach house Palatinate-Sulzbach. His father was Johann Christian, who later became Count Palatine of Sulzbach and his mother was Marie-Anne-Henriette-Leopoldine de La Tour dAuvergne, margravine of Bergen op Zoom, a grandniece of Henri de la Tour dAuvergne, Vicomte de Turenne. Charles Theodore was born in Drogenbos near Brussels and educated in Mannheim, Charles Theodore was margrave of Bergen op Zoom from 1728 onwards. As reigning Prince Elector Palatine, Charles Theodore won the hearts of his subjects by founding an academy of science, stocking up the museums collections, when Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria died in 1777, Charles Theodore became also Elector and Duke of Bavaria and moved to Munich. Charles Theodore did not immediately take up his new title and he had several mistresses and many illegitimate children. However, these people could inherit neither the Electorate of Bavaria nor that of the Palatine, Charles Theodore also dreamed of resurrecting the Burgundian Empire of the Middle Ages. On 3 January 1778, shortly after the death of Max Joseph and they were supported by Frederick II of Prussia, and most of the German minor states. The ensuing diplomatic crisis led to the War of the Bavarian Succession, Charles Theodore accepted the Bavarian succession, but agreed that his illegitimate descendants could not inherit Bavaria. Austria acquired the Innviertel, a part of Bavaria in the basin of the Inn river, Charles Theodore had only one son with his wife, Countess Elizabeth Augusta of Sulzbach, who died a day after birth. In 1795, he married Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este, Josephs niece, a second proposal to exchange Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands in 1784 also failed as Frederick II of Prussia initiated the Fürstenbund. When Charles Theodore died, Bavaria and the Electorate passed to his cousin, Max Joseph, Duke of Zweibrücken, the brother of Charles August. Thomas is the scholar to produce such an analysis. It is more widely understood that Charles Theodore continued the despotic, Charles Theodore never became popular as a ruler in Bavaria according to his critic Lorenz von Westenrieder. He attempted, without success to exchange the ducal lands of Bavaria, for the Austrian Netherlands and a royal crown, after a dispute with Munichs city council, he even moved the electoral residence in 1788 to Mannheim but returned only one year later. In 1785, he appointed the American Loyalist exile Benjamin Thompson as his aide-de-camp, over the next 11 years, Thompson reformed the army and many aspects of the state, rising to high ministerial rank with Charles Theodores backing, and becoming Count von Rumford. Charles Theodore is also known for disbanding Adam Weishaupts order of the Illuminati in 1785, in 1794, the armies of revolutionary France occupied the Duchy of Jülich, in 1795 they invaded the Palatinate, and in 1796 marched towards Bavaria. Charles Theodore begged Francis II for help that would have made Bavaria a puppet state of Austria, when he died of a stroke in Munich in 1799, the population in Munich celebrated for several days
6.
House of Wittelsbach
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The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. The family also provided two Holy Roman Emperors, one King of the Romans, two Anti-Kings of Bohemia, one King of Hungary, one King of Denmark and Norway, the familys head, since 1996, is Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Berthold, Margrave in Bavaria, was the ancestor of Otto I, Count of Scheyern, whose third son Otto II, the Counts of Scheyern left Scheyern Castle in 1119 for Wittelsbach Castle and the former was given to monks to establish Scheyern Abbey. Duke Ottos son Louis I, Duke of Bavaria acquired also the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1214. On Duke Otto IIs death in 1253, his sons divided the Wittelsbach possessions between them, Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria, and Louis II Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine. When Henrys branch died out in 1340 the Emperor Louis IV, the Bavarian branch kept the duchy of Bavaria until its extinction in 1777. His six sons succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland, the Wittelsbachs lost the Tyrol with the death of duke Meinhard and the following Peace of Schärding - the Tyrol was finally renounced to the Habsburgs in 1369. In 1373 Otto, the last Wittelsbach regent of Brandenburg, released the country to the House of Luxembourg, on Duke Alberts death in 1404, he was succeeded in the Netherlands by his eldest son, William. A younger son, John III, became Bishop of Liège, however, on Williams death in 1417, a war of succession broke out between John and Williams daughter Jacqueline of Hainaut. This last episode of the Hook and Cod wars finally left the counties in Burgundian hands in 1432, with the Landshut War of Succession Bavaria was reunited in 1505 against the claim of the Palatinate branch under the Bavarian branch Bavaria-Munich. From 1549 to 1567 the Wittelsbach owned the County of Kladsko in Bohemia, strictly Catholic by upbringing, the Bavarian dukes became leaders of the German Counter-Reformation. From 1583 to 1761, the Bavarian branch of the dynasty provided the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne and many other Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire, namely Liège. Wittelsbach princes served for example as Bishops of Regensburg, Freising, Liège, Münster, Hildesheim, Paderborn and Osnabrück, in 1623 under Maximilian I the Bavarian dukes were invested with the electoral dignity and the duchy became the Electorate of Bavaria. His grandson Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria served also as Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and his son Emperor Charles VII was also king of Bohemia. With the death of Charles son Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria the Bavarian branch died out in 1777, the Palatinate branch kept the Palatinate until 1918 and succeeded also in Bavaria in 1777. With the Golden Bull of 1356 the Counts Palatine were invested with the electoral dignity, princes of the Palatinate branch served as Bishops of the Empire and also as Elector-Archbishops of Mainz and Elector-Archbishops of Trier. Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Count Palatine Wolfgang William of Neuburg, in 1619, the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine became King of Bohemia but was defeated by the Catholic Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, a member of the Bavarian branch. As a result, the Upper Palatinate had to be ceded to the Bavarian branch in 1623, when the Thirty Years War concluded with the Treaty of Münster in 1648, a new additional electorate was created for the Count Palatine of the Rhine
7.
Schwetzingen
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Schwetzingen is a German town situated in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, around 10 km southwest of Heidelberg and 15 km southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the 5 biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district, Schwetzingen is located in the Rhine-Neckar-triangle in the plain of the Rhine river, lying west of the Odenwald and in the east of the Rhine. A small stream, the Leimbach, runs through the city before joining the Rhine, the following municipalities, listed clockwise beginning in the north, border on the city limits of Schwetzingen, Mannheim, Plankstadt, Oftersheim, Hockenheim, Ketsch and Brühl. The municipal area of Schwetzingen is completely consolidated with Oftersheim, the limits of Plankstadt are only separated by one street from the limits of Schwetzingen. Schwetzingen was mentioned as Suezzingen for the first time in 766, recorded in the late twelfth-century Codex Aureus of Lorsch, originally it consisted of two settlements, Ober- and Unterschwetzingen, that grew together in the course of the 17th and 18th century. Originally the town belonged to the diocese of Worms, but later passed to the Counts of the Palatinate in the 12th century, the moated castle of Schwetzingen is mentioned for the first time in 1350. It was destroyed in the Thirty Years War and in the following War of the Palatinate Succession, it was rebuilt by count Johann Wilhelm, from 1720 it served temporarily as the residence of the Elector Karl III Philip after he moved away from Heidelberg. Later on it served as a residence of the Elector of the Palatinate. In 1759 Schwetzingen received permission to host markets and was developed into a city through the 18th century. In 1833 Schwetzingen was elevated to city status by Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden, the beginning of industrialization in Schwetzingen in the year 1850 made the city an important seat of cigar factories and canneries. Also, the cultivation of asparagus gained importance and has remained one of Schwetzingens claim to fame, for more information visit, www. schwetzingen. de These figures are estimates only, official census results or statistics of the residents registration office. ¹ official census results The local council of Schwetzingen has 26 members since the last elections in June 2009, Arthur Trautmann 1933 –1945, Arthur Stober 1945, Ernst Karl 1945 –1948, Dr. The city flag is white and blue, the lion symbolizes the Palatine Electorate, of which Schwetzingen was a member until 1803. The ring was originally a wheel originating from the seal of an inhabitant who had contacts to the castle of Schwetzingen, Schwetzingen station was opened in 1870 on the Rhine Railway, connecting Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Between 1910 and 1938 there was a tramline connecting Schwetzingen and Ketsch, in Schwetzingen the daily newspaper is the Schwetzinger Zeitung, which is a local newspaper published by the Mannheimer Morgen. In Schwetzingen there is a court, a notarys office, an internal revenue service, a customs office. The city maintains the Hebel-Gymnasium, the Karl-Friedrich-Schimper-Realschule, the Hilda Hauptschule, four schools as well as a special school. Furthermore there are two schools and the Comenius-School for mentally handicapped
8.
Heidelberg
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Heidelberg is a college town situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. At the 2015 census, its population was 156,257, located about 78 km south of Frankfurt, Heidelberg is the fifth-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Heidelberg is part of the densely populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, founded in 1386, Heidelberg University is Germanys oldest and one of Europes most reputable universities. A scientific hub in Germany, the city of Heidelberg is home to internationally renowned research facilities adjacent to its university. Heidelberg is in the Rhine Rift Valley, on the bank of the lower part of the Neckar in a steep valley in the Odenwald. It is bordered by the Königsstuhl and the Gaisberg mountains, the Neckar here flows in an east-west direction. On the right bank of the river, the Heiligenberg mountain rises to a height of 445 meters, the Neckar flows into the Rhine approximately 22 kilometres north-west in Mannheim. Villages incorporated during the 20th century stretch from the Neckar Valley along the Bergstraße, Heidelberg is on European walking route E1. Alongside the Philosophenweg on the side of the Old Town. There is a population of African rose-ringed parakeets, and a wild population of Siberian swan geese. Heidelberg is an authority within the Regierungsbezirk Karlsruhe. The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis rural district surrounds it and has its seat in the town, Heidelberg is a part of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, often referred to as the Rhein-Neckar Triangle. The Rhein-Neckar Triangle became a European metropolitan area in 2005, Heidelberg consists of 15 districts distributed in six sectors of the town. The new district will have approximately 5, 000–6,000 residents, Heidelberg has an oceanic climate, defined by the protected valley between the Pfälzerwald and the Odenwald. Year-round, the temperatures are determined by maritime air masses coming from the west. In contrast to the nearby Upper Rhine Plain, Heidelbergs position in the leads to more frequent easterly winds than average. The hillsides of the Odenwald favour clouding and precipitation, the warmest month is July, the coldest is January. Temperatures often rise beyond 30 °C in midsummer, according to the German Meteorological Service, Heidelberg was the warmest place in Germany in 2009
Media related to Schloss Schwetzingen at Wikimedia Commons
