Hesse ' onMouseout='HidePop("46722")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Hessian_dialect">Hessisch
Hessian is a West Central German dialect group of the German language. The dialect most similar to Hessian is Palatinate German of the Rhine Franconian sub-family...
:
Hesse) is a
stateGermany is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen states, known in German as . Since is also the German word for "country", the term is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law.The citizens of the states form the nation...
of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
with an area of and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is
WiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main.
Hesse contributes the largest share to the
Rhine Main AreaThe Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area is the second largest metropolitan region in Germany, with a total population exceeding 5.8 million...
.
Geography
Situated in west-central Germany, Hesse borders on the German states (starting from the northwest and proceeding clockwise) of
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost and—in terms of population and economic output—the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km²...
,
Lower SaxonyLower Saxony lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen Bundesländer of Germany...
,
ThuringiaThe Free State of Thuringia is located in central Germany. It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen
Bundesländer...
,
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
,
Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine—but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River...
and
Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 federal states of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz....
.
The principal cities of Hesse include Frankfurt am Main,
WiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
,
DarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century...
,
OffenbachOffenbach am Main is a city in Hesse, Germany, located on southside of the river Main. In 2006 it had a population of 116,923. The city is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan area....
,
HanauHanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main.-Districts :-History:Hanau was first mentioned in 1143 and became a city in 1303....
,
GießenGießen is a town in the German federal state of Hessen, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
,
WetzlarWetzlar is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of the Lahn-Dill district. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, there are approximately 54,000 inhabitants...
and
LimburgLimburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
in the greater
Rhine Main AreaThe Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area is the second largest metropolitan region in Germany, with a total population exceeding 5.8 million...
,
FuldaFulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
in the east, and
KasselKassel Kassel Kassel and of the district (Kreis) of the same name...
and Marburg an der Lahn in the north.
The most important rivers in Hesse are the
FuldaThe Fulda is a river in Hesse, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser . The Fulda River is 218 km in length....
and
EderThe Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....
rivers in the north, the
LahnThe Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
in the central part of Hesse, and the
MainThe Main is a river in Germany, 524 km long , and it is one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine. The Main flows through the German states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse...
and
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
in the south. The countryside is hilly and there are numerous mountain ranges, like the
RhönRhon refers to the fictional group of psions from the Ruby Dynasty who can create/manage the Kyle Web, in Catherine Asaro's novels regarding the Saga of the Skolian Empire....
, the
WesterwaldThe Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
, the
TaunusThe Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
, the
VogelsbergThe Vogelsberg Mountains are a group duct of ancient volcanic activity and are separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda River and its valley....
, the
KnüllKnüllgebirge or Knüll is a small mountain range in Hesse, Germany. It is located in the Northern part of Hesse approximately 45 km South of Kassel, its highest peak is the Eisenberg having an altitude of 636 m. Its area has a rather low population density and is heavily forested...
or the
SpessartThe Spessart is a low mountain range in northwestern Bavaria and southern Hesse, Germany. It is bordered on three sides by the Main River. The two most important towns located at the foot of the Spessart are Aschaffenburg and Würzburg....
.
Most of the population of Hesse is in the southern part of Hesse in the
Rhine Main AreaThe Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area is the second largest metropolitan region in Germany, with a total population exceeding 5.8 million...
. The Rhine borders Hesse on the southwest without running through the state, only one old arm – the so-called Alt-Rhein – runs through Hesse. The mountain range between the Main and the Neckar river is called the
OdenwaldThe Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Rhine rift with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Rhine-Main Plain of the Rhine rift near Darmstadt in...
. The plain in between the rivers Main, Rhine and Neckar, and the Odenwald mountains is called the Ried.
See also
List of places in Hesse,
List of mountains in Hesse.
Hesse is divided into 21 districts and 5 independent cities (with their abbreviations, as used on vehicle registration plates):
- Bergstraße
Bergstraße is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Groß-Gerau, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Odenwaldkreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, the urban district Mannheim, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and the urban district of Worms...
(HeppenheimHeppenheim is the seat of Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany, lying on the Bergstraße on the edge of the Odenwald.- Location :...
) (HP)
- Darmstadt-Dieburg (Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century...
, Ortsteil Kranichstein) (DA)
- Groß-Gerau
Groß-Gerau is a Kreis in the south of Hesse , Germany. Neighboring districts are Main-Taunus, district-free Frankfurt, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Bergstraße, Alzey-Worms, Mainz-Bingen, and the district-free cities Mainz and Wiesbaden....
(Groß-GerauGroß-Gerau is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area.- Location :...
) (GG)
- Hochtaunuskreis
The Hochtaunuskreis is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Lahn-Dill, Wetteraukreis, district-free Frankfurt, Main-Taunus, Rheingau-Taunus, Limburg-Weilburg....
(Bad Homburg----Bad Homburg vor der Höhe is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus, bordering among others Frankfurt am Main and Oberursel...
) (HG)
- Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Main-Kinzig is a Kreis in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Wetteraukreis, Vogelsbergkreis, Fulda, Bad Kissingen, Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg, Offenbach and the district-free cities of Offenbach and Frankfurt.- History :...
(GelnhausenGelnhausen is a town and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig...
) (MKK)
- Main-Taunus-Kreis
Main-Taunus is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Hochtaunuskreis, district-free Frankfurt, Groß-Gerau, district-free Wiesbaden, Rheingau-Taunus.- History :...
(Hofheim am Taunus) (MTK)
- Odenwaldkreis
The Odenwaldkreis is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Darmstadt-Dieburg, Miltenberg,Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis and Kreis Bergstraße. Odenwaldkreis belongs to the Rhine Neckar Area.-History:...
(Erbach) (ERB)
- Offenbach
Offenbach is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighbourhood districts are Main-Kinzig, Aschaffenburg, Darmstadt-Dieburg and the cities of Darmstadt, Groß-Gerau, Frankfurt and Offenbach.- History :...
(DietzenbachDietzenbach is the seat of Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany and lies roughly 12 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main on the river Bieber. Before the Second World War, the current town was a farming village with not quite 4,000 inhabitants...
) (OF)
- Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Limburg-Weilburg, Hochtaunuskreis, Main-Taunus, district-free Wiesbaden, Mainz-Bingen, Rhein-Lahn.- Geography :...
(Bad SchwalbachBad Schwalbach is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany.- Geographic Location :Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465 m above sea level in the Taunus, along the small river Aar...
) (RÜD)
- Wetteraukreis
The Wetteraukreis is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Landkreis Gießen, Vogelsbergkreis, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, district-free Stadt Frankfurt, Hochtaunuskreis, Lahn-Dill-Kreis.- History :...
(Friedberg) (FB)
- Gießen
Gießen is a Kreis in the middle of Hessen, Germany. Neighboring districts are Marburg-Biedenkopf, Vogelsbergkreis, Wetteraukreis, Lahn-Dill.- History :...
(GießenGießen is a town in the German federal state of Hessen, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
) (GI)
|
- Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.- History :...
(WetzlarWetzlar is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of the Lahn-Dill district. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, there are approximately 54,000 inhabitants...
) (LDK)
- Limburg-Weilburg
Limburg-Weilburg is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Lahn-Dill, Hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Rhein-Lahn, Westerwaldkreis.- History :...
(LimburgLimburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
) (LM)
- Marburg-Biedenkopf
Marburg-Biedenkopf is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Waldeck-Frankenberg, Schwalm-Eder, Vogelsbergkreis, Gießen, Lahn-Dill, Siegen-Wittgenstein.- History :...
(MarburgMarburg is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Its population is 78,701, and its geographical position is .- Founding and early history :...
) (MR)
- Vogelsbergkreis
The Vogelsbergkreis is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Schwalm-Eder, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Fulda, Main-Kinzig, Wetteraukreis, Gießen and Marburg-Biedenkopf.- History :...
(Lauterbach) (VB)
- Fulda
Fulda is a Kreis in the north-east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Wartburgkreis, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Rhön-Grabfeld, Bad Kissingen, Main-Kinzig, Vogelsbergkreis.- History :...
(FuldaFulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
) (FD)
- Hersfeld-Rotenburg (Bad Hersfeld
The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld is the district seat of Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southeast of Kassel....
) (HEF)
- Kassel (Kassel
Kassel Kassel Kassel and of the district (Kreis) of the same name...
) (KS)
- Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Schwalm-Eder is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kassel, Werra-Meißner, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Vogelsbergkreis, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Waldeck-Frankenberg.- History :...
(Homberg (Efze)Homberg is a small town in northern state of Hesse in central Germany with about 15,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Schwalm-Eder district.- Geography :...
) (HR)
- Werra-Meißner-Kreis
Werra-Meißner is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Göttingen, Eichsfeld, Unstrut-Hainich, Wartburgkreis, district-free Eisenach, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Schwalm-Eder, Kassel.- History :...
(EschwegeEschwege , the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany.- Location :The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Werra at the foot of the Leuchtberg northwest of the Schlierbachswald and east of the Hoher Meißner...
) (ESW)
- Waldeck-Frankenberg
Waldeck-Frankenberg is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Höxter, Kassel, Schwalm-Eder, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Hochsauerland.- History :...
(KorbachKorbach is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and a former Hanseatic town. It is located on the German Framework Road.- Geography and geology :...
) (KB)
|
Independent cities:
- Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century...
(DA)
- Frankfurt am Main (F)
- Kassel
Kassel Kassel Kassel and of the district (Kreis) of the same name...
(KS)
- Offenbach am Main (OF)
- Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
(WI)
History
An early
CeltCelts is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language...
ic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid 5th century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at
GlaubergThe Glauberg is a Celtic oppidum in Hesse, Germany consisting of a fortified settlement and several burial mounds, "a princely seat of the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods."Archaeological discoveries in the 1990s place the site among the most important early Celtic centres in Europe...
. The region was later settled by the
GermanicThe Germanic peoples are a historical ethno-linguistic group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age...
ChattiThe Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
tribe in ca. the 1st century BC, and the name
Hesse is a continuation of that tribal name. In the early Middle Ages, a Frankish
gau comprising an area around
FritzlarFritzlar is a small German town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, 160 km north of Frankfurt, with a storied history...
and
KasselKassel Kassel Kassel and of the district (Kreis) of the same name...
and a Saxon one further north were known as Hessengau. In the 9th century the Saxon Hessengau also came under the rule of the Franconians. In the 12th century it was passed to
ThuringiaThe Free State of Thuringia is located in central Germany. It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen
Bundesländer...
.
In the
War of the Thuringian SuccessionThe War of the Thuringen Succession was a military battle over a successor to the last Landgrave of Thuringia in present-day Germany.- Source of the conflict :...
(1247-64), Hesse gained its independence and became a
LandgraviateLandgrave was a title only used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...
within the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
. It shortly rose to primary importance under Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous, who was one of the leaders of German
ProtestantismProtestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
. After Philip's death in 1567, the territory was divided up among his four sons from his first marriage (Philip was a
bigamistThe term polygamy is used in related ways in social anthropology, sociobiology, sociology, as well as in popular speech. Polygamy can be defined as any "form of marriage in which a person [has] more than one spouse."In social anthropology, polygamy is the practice of marriage to more than one...
) into four lines:
Hesse-KasselThe Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a reichsfreie principality of the Holy Roman Empire that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...
(or Hesse-Cassel),
Hesse-DarmstadtThe Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Philip I, the last Landgrave of Hesse....
, Hesse-Rheinfels and the also previously existing
Hesse-MarburgThe Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg was a German landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1485 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650....
. As the latter two lines died out quite soon (1583 and 1605, respectively), Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Darmstadt were the two core states within the Hessian lands. Several collateral lines split off during the centuries, such as in 1622, when
Hesse-HomburgHesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668....
split off from Hesse-Darmstadt. In the late 16th century, Kassel adopted
CalvinismCalvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, while Darmstadt remained Lutheran and subsequently the two lines often found themselves on different sides of a conflict, most notably in the disputes over
Hesse-MarburgThe Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg was a German landgraviate, and independent principality, within the Holy Roman Empire, that existed between 1485 and 1500, and between 1567 and 1604/1650....
and in the
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
, when Darmstadt fought on the side of the Emperor, while Kassel sided with
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
and
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
During the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of...
,
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
hired mercenaries from Hesse, commonly known as Hessians, to fight the rebels in
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Hesse-Kassel was elevated to the rank of an Electorate in 1803, but this remained without effect as the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
was disbanded in 1806. The territory was annexed by the Kingdom of
WestphaliaWestphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Bochum, Detmold, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Minden and Münster and included in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia....
in 1806, but restored to the Elector in 1813. While other Electors had gained other titles, becoming either Kings or Grand-dukes, the Elector of Hesse-Kassel alone retained the anachronistic dignity. The name survived in the term
Kurhessen, denoting the region around Kassel. In 1866 it was annexed by
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
, together with the
Free City of FrankfurtFor almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt am Main was a city-state within two major Germanic states:*The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt...
, Hesse-Homburg and the duchy of Nassau, which established the province of Hesse-Nassau.
Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to the rank of a Grand Duchy in 1806. In the War of 1866, it fought on the side of
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
against
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
, but retained its autonomy in defeat, because a greater part of the country was situated south of the Main river and Prussia did not dare to expand beyond the Main line as this might have provoked France. But the parts of Hesse-Darmstadt north of the Main river (the region around the town of
GießenGießen is a town in the German federal state of Hessen, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
, commonly called
Oberhessen) were incorporated in the Norddeutscher Bund, a tight federation of German states, established by Prussia in 1867. In 1871 the rest of the Grand Duchy joined the
German EmpireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
. Around the turn of the century, Darmstadt was one of the centres of the Jugendstil.
Until 1907, the Grand Duchy of Hesse used only the Hessian red and white lion as its coat-of-arms
The revolution of 1918 transformed Hesse-Darmstadt from a monarchy to a republic, which officially renamed itself to "
Volksstaat HessenThe People's State of Hesse was the name of the German state of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1918 until 1945.After the end of World War I the Grand Duchy of Hesse became a republic and changed its name to People's State . Its capital was Darmstadt...
" (People's State of Hesse). The parts of Hesse-Darmstadt on the western banks of the Rhine (province Rheinhessen) were occupied by French troops until 1930 under the terms of the Versailles peace treaty that officially ended WWI in 1919.
After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Hessian territory left of the Rhine was again occupied by France, whereas the rest of the country was part of the US occupation zone. The French separated their part of Hesse from the rest of the country and incorporated it into the newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz). The United States, on the other side, proclaimed the state of
Greater HesseGreater Hesse was the provisional name given for a section of German territory created by the US military administration in at the end of World War II...
(
Groß-Hessen) on 19 September 1945, out of Hesse-Darmstadt and most of the former Prussian province of
Hesse-NassauThe Province of Hesse-Nassau was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868-1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944....
. On December 4, 1946 Groß-Hessen was officially renamed Hessen.
Name
The state is called
Hessen in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
and
Hesse in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
; the English name for the state was taken from
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
. An inhabitant of the state is a
Hesse (masculine) or
Hessin (feminine) in German and a
Hessian in English (see Hessian (soldiers)). Occasionally the German term
Hessen is also used in English.
Hessia is another variant, although rarely used.
Hesse refers to the Germanic tribe of the
ChattiThe Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
, who settled in the region in the first centuries B.C.
Politics
The Politics of Hesse takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Hesse. The state has a multi-party system where the two main parties were long the center-right
Christian Democratic UnionThe Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany....
(CDU) and the leftist
Social Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is Germany's oldest political party. The party governed at the federal level in a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union until conceding defeat in the federal election of September 2009...
(SPD). However, this changed in 2009, when support for the SPD collapsed after a political crisis in 2008. There are now five parties in the Hesse Landtag.
Although the outgoing Prime Minister,
Roland KochRoland Koch is a German politician and Minister-President of Hesse. He took office on April 7 1999, immediately becoming President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel.In 1979 Koch became the youngest person to hold the office of...
(CDU), lost his majority in the state diet (
Landtag of HesseThe Landtag of Hesse is the state Parliament of the German State of Hesse. It convenes in Wiesbaden and currently consists of 110 members of five Parties. Currently there is coalition between the CDU and the FDP....
in the
2008 Landtag electionThe state election to elect members of the Landtag of Hesse was held in the German state of Hesse on 27 January 2008.-Background and issues:...
, his rivals were unable to form a government.
See Hesse state election, 2008The state election to elect members of the Landtag of Hesse was held in the German state of Hesse on 27 January 2008.-Background and issues:...
. A
new election was held in 2009Early state elections for the Landtag of Hesse were held in Hesse on 18 January 2009. The reason for the early elections was the inability of the parties to form a government after the inconclusive 2008 Hessian election.-Issues and background:...
, after which the CDU was again able to form a government.
The party strengths in the 2009 election were as follows:
State anthem
The official state song of Hesse is called "Hessenlied" (Song of Hesse), but is not widely known. It was written by Carl Preser.
TV and radio stations
Hessischer RundfunkHessischer Rundfunk is the public broadcaster for the German state of Hesse. The main offices of HR are in Frankfurt am Main. HR is a member of the ARD.- Studios :...
(HR) is the main
ARDARD , is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
broadcaster in Hesse, providing a third TV programme as well as its local radio stations (HR 1, HR 2, HR 3, HR 4, you fm and HR info). Other than HR,
ZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television channel based in Mainz. It is run as an independent non-profit agency established by joint contract between the German federal states...
and other privately run TV stations flourish. Among the commercial radio stations that are active in Hesse are Hit Radio FFH, Planet Radio, Harmony FM, SKY Radio and Main FM.
Traffic and public transportation
Hesse has one of the best transportation infrastructures in Europe. Many trans-European and German motorways cross Hesse as well as high-speed train lines and many important trans-European waterways.
Frankfurt International AirportFrankfurt am Main Airport , known in German as Flughafen Frankfurt am Main or Rhein-Main-Flughafen is an international airport located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, southwest of the city centre. Run by Fraport, it is by far the busiest airport by passenger traffic in Germany, the third busiest...
is Germany's biggest airport and the third largest in Europe (after London and Paris). Near the airport is the
Frankfurter KreuzThe Frankfurter Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange in the city of Frankfurt in Hessen, Germany where the autobahns A3 and A5 meet. The interchange was originally to be built from 1931 to 1933, but due to World War II construction was not finished until 1957....
, Germany's busiest motorway intersection, where the motorways A3 (Arnhem-Cologne-Frankfurt-Nuremberg-Passau) and A5 (Hattenbach-Frankfurt-Karlsruhe-Basel) meet.
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhofis the central station for Frankfurt am Main. In terms of railway traffic, it is the busiest railway station in Germany.- Proto-history :In the late 19th century, three stations connected Frankfurt to the west, north and south, the...
is Germany's busiest railway station by passengers.
Motorways
Hesse has a dense highway network with a total of 24 motorways. The internationally important motorway routes through Hesse are the A3, A5 and A7. The A5 becomes as large as 5 lanes in each direction near the city of Frankfurt am Main.
Death penalty
The death penalty is still mentioned in the
constitution of HesseThe Hesse constitution signed on the December 1, 1946 is the constitution for the Hesse state.- Origins :A committee was formed for the preparation of the draft constitution and made up of 12 participants from each party...
, as the Hessian constitution was ratified in 1946, when the death penalty was still part of the German penal code (and carried out as well). Because the
1949 federal constitutionThe Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the Allies, came into effect on 23 May 1949, as the constitution of West Germany....
provides for the abolition of the death penalty (Art. 102) and because of the supremacy of the federal constitution (Art. 31, incidentally the two shortest articles in the whole constitution), the Hessian constitutional articles still mentioning the death penalty are
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
obsolete. Nonetheless, no politician has yet proposed to formally abolish the death penalty in Hesse because that would require a plebiscite.
Trivia
- Locals from the area speak the Rhine Franconian
Rhine Franconian , or Rhenish Franconian, is a dialect family of West Central German. It comprises the German dialects spoken across the western regions of the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Hesse in Germany...
dialect known as Hessisch.
- The chemical element of Hassium
Hassium is a synthetic element with the symbol Hs and atomic number 108 and is the heaviest member of the group 8 elements. The element was first observed in 1984.
...
is named for Hesse alongside with DarmstadtiumDarmstadtium , formerly known as ununnilium, is a chemical element with the symbol Ds and atomic number 110. It is placed as the heaviest member of group 10 but a sufficiently stable isotope is not known which would allow chemical experiments to confirm its place. This synthetic element is one of...
for the Hessian City of DarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century...
.
- Hesse is a sister state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
, one of the statesA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of the United States of America.
- During the 17th and 18th centuries thousands of Hessians fought in the American Revolution and other conflicts as soldiers of fortune (though usually conscripted, the pay going to their Lord) on both sides.
- It is the birthplace of William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born into the House...
, leader of the Dutch RevoltThe Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands , was the partially successful revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Low Countries against the Spanish Empire. It led to the formation of the independent Dutch state of the Netherlands and marked the beginning of the Eighty Years' War...
against Spain in the 16th century.
See also
- Landgraviate of Hesse
The Landgraviate of Hesse was a Landgraviate of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a unity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided between the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.-History:...
- Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Philip I, the last Landgrave of Hesse....
- Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a reichsfreie principality of the Holy Roman Empire that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...
- Hessische Bergstrasse
- List of mountains in Hesse
External links