Everything about Hesse totally explained
» This article refers to a state in Germany. For other uses of the term, see Hesse (disambiguation).
Hesse is a
state of Germany with an area of 21,110
km² and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is
Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby
Frankfurt am Main.
Hesse contributes the largest share to the
Rhine Main Area.
Geography
Situated in western-central Germany, Hesse borders on the German states (starting from the north-west and proceeding clockwise) of
North Rhine-Westphalia,
Lower Saxony,
Thuringia,
Bavaria,
Baden-Württemberg and
Rhineland-Palatinate.
The principal cities of Hesse include
Frankfurt am Main,
Wiesbaden,
Darmstadt,
Offenbach,
Hanau,
Gießen,
Wetzlar and
Limburg in the greater
Rhine Main Area,
Fulda in the east, and
Kassel and
Marburg an der
Lahn in the north.
The most important rivers in Hesse are the
Fulda and
Eder rivers in the north, the
Lahn in the central part of Hesse, and the
Main and
Rhine in the south. It is a hilly countryside with numerous mountain ranges, like the
Rhön, the
Westerwald, the
Taunus, the
Vogelsberg, the
Knüll or the
Spessart.
Most of the population of Hesse is 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 so-called Alt-Rhein -- runs through Hesse. 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:
History
An early
Celtic 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
War of the Thuringian Succession (1247-64), Hesse gained its independence and became a
Landgraviate within the
Holy Roman Empire. It shortly rose to primary importance under Landgrave
Philip the Magnanimous, who was one of the leaders of German
Protestantism. After Philip's death in 1567, the territory was divided up among his four sons from his first marriage (Philip was a
bigamist) into four lines:
Hesse-Kassel,
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.
During the
American Revolution,
Great Britain hired mercenaries from Hesse, commonly known as
Hessians, to fight the rebels in
America.
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 didn't 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.
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
Chatti, who settled in the region in the first centuries B.C.
Politics
In the
Hesse state election of 2008, the outgoing Prime Minister,
Roland Koch, lost his majority.
State Anthem
The official state song of Hesse is called "Hessenlied" (Song of Hesse), but is widely unknown. It was written by Carl Preser (1828-1910, text) and Albrecht Brede (1834-1920, melody).
(External Link
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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
Locals from the area speak the Rhine Franconian dialect known as Hessisch.
The chemical element of Hassium is named for Hesse alongside with Darmstadtium for the Hessian City of Darmstadt.
Hesse is a sister state of Wisconsin, one of the states 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.Further Information
Get more info on 'Hesse'.
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