Information AboutHesse |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT HESSE | |
| hesse | |
| states of germany | |
| nuts 1 statistical regions of the european unionhesse | |
| states of germany | |
| nuts 1 statistical regions of the european union | |
| states of germany | |
Hesse () is a State Of Germany with an area of 21,110 Km&2 and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden . Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt Am Main . Hesse contibutes the largest share to the Rhine Main Area . GEOGRAPHY Situated in western-central Germany, Hesse borders on (from the north-west and clockwise) the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Lower Saxony , Thuringia , Bavaria , Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate . Its principal cities include Frankfurt Am Main , Wiesbaden , Darmstadt , Offenbach , Hanau , Gießen , Wetzlar and Limburg in the greater Rhine Main Area , Fulda in the east, as well as Kassel and Marburg an der Lahn in the north. The most important rivers in Hesse are Fulda and Eder river in the north, the Lahn in the central part of Hesse, Main and Rhine in the south. It is a hilly countryside with numerous mountain ranges, like the Rhön , the Westerwald , the Taunus , the Vogelsberg or the Spessart . Most inhabitants live in the southern part of Hesse in the Rhine Main Area . The Rhine borders Hesse on the southwest without running through the state, only one old arm -- the socalled Alt-Rhein -- does. The mountain range between the Main and the Neckar river is called the Odenwald . 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 . Hessen is divided into 21 counties and 5 independent cities: Independent cities: HISTORY An early Celt ic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid 5th century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at Glauberg . The region was later settled by the Germanic Chatti 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 Fritzlar and Kassel 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 Thuringia . In the , Hesse-Darmstadt , Hesse-Rheinfels and the also previously existing Hesse-Marburg . 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-Homburg split off from Hesse-Darmstadt. In the late 16th century, Kassel adopted Calvinism , 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-Marburg and in the Thirty Years' War , when Darmstadt fought on the side of the Emperor, while Kassel sided with Sweden and France . Hesse-Kassel was elevated to the rank of an Electorate in 1803 , but this remained without effect as the Holy Roman Empire was disbanded in 1806 . The territory was annexed by the Kingdom of 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 Prussia , together with the Free 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 Austria against Prussia , 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 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 Empire . 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 Hessen " (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 II 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 Hesse (''Groß-Hessen'') on 19 September 1945, out of Hesse-Darmstadt and most of the former Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau . On December 4 , 1946 Groß-Hessen was officially renamed Hessen.2 See also Rulers Of Hesse . NAME The state is called Hessen in German and '''Hesse''' in English ; the English name for the state was taken from French . An inhabitant of the state is a ''Hesse'' (masculine) or ''Hessin'' (feminine) in German and a ''Hessian'' in English (see Hessian troops). 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 Chatts, who settled in the region in the first centuries B.C. LIST OF HESSE'S PRIME MINISTERS (The title is ''Ministerpräsident'' in German) # # # ( SPD ) # ( SPD ) # ( SPD ) # ( SPD ) # ( CDU ) # ( SPD ) # since ( CDU ) FEBRUARY 2, 2003 STATE ELECTION ''See also: Hessen State Election, 2003 '' Roland Koch remained Prime Minister of a CDU government. His former partner in coalition, the FDP, was not needed any more and went into opposition. STATE SONG The state song of Hesse is called "Hessenlied" (Song of Hesse). It was written by Carl Preser (1828-1910, text) and Albrecht Brede (1834-1920, melody). {Link without Title} TV & RADIO STATIONS Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) is the main ARD 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, ZDF 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 interstate freeways cross Hesse as well as high-speed train lines and many important trans-European waterways. Frankfurt International Airport is Germany's biggest airport and number three in Europe (after London and Paris). DEATH PENALTY The Death Penalty is still mentioned in the Constitution Of Hesse , 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 Constitution 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 facto obsolete. Nonetheless, no politician has yet proposed to formally abolish the death penalty in Hesse because that would require a plebiscite. TRIVIA
SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|