Hesse
Hesse is also the name of the German writer
Hermann Hesse, as well as the German mathematician
Otto Hesse.\n----\n
With an area of 21,110
km² and just over six million inhabitants,
Hesse (German
Hessen) is one of
Germany's sixteen federal states (
Bundesländer). \nThe capital is
Wiesbaden.
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, Kassel, Gießen, Offenbach and Fulda.
The main rivers in the northern part of Hesse are Fulda and Lahn. It is a hilly countryside, the main mountain chains being the Rhön, the Westerwald, the Taunus and the Spessart.
Most inhabitants live in the southernmost part of Hesse between the rivers Main and Rhine. The latter one borders Hesse on the southwest without running through the state. The mountain chain between Main and Rhine is called the Odenwald.
See also List of places in Hesse.
Hesse is divided into 21 districts:
These districts are grouped in three administrative regions (
Regierungsbezirke):
Kassel,
Gießen and
Darmstadt.
There are in addition five independent towns, which belong to no district:
History
In the early Middle Ages Hesse was a part of Thuringia, but in the War of the Thuringian Succession (
1247-
64) Hesse gained its independency and became an earldom within the
Holy Roman Empire. The state existed until
1567, when
Philipp I of Hesse died, as against his earlier intentions, he split it up between his four sons from his first marriage (Philipp was a bigamist) into much smaller states:
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 ("Northern Hesse") and Hesse-Darmstadt ("Southern Hesse") were the two core states within the Hessian lands. Several collateral lines split off during the centuries, such as in
1622 Hesse-Homburg from Hesse-Darmstadt.
Hesse-Kassel was called the Electorate of Hesse from
1803 on, although since
Napoleon, there was nobody to elect anymore. In
1866 it was together with Hesse-Homburg and the duchy of
Nassau annexed by
Prussia, which established the province of
Hesse-Nassau.
Hesse-Darmstadt was called the Grand Duchy of Hesse from
1806 on. It managed to defend its autonomy, because in the
War of 1866, it had sided with the winning Prussia and remained one of its allies.
During the
Weimar Republic, Hesse-Nassau and Hesse were two administrative regions of Germany. After
World War II in
1945, the state of Hesse was established within the
United States occupation zone. It by and large combined the former states of Hesse(-Darmstadt) and Hesse-Nassau. Essentially (except for the parts of Hesse on the western banks of the Rhine, which became a part of
Rhineland-Palatinate), this was a restoration of the pre-1567 Hesse.
See also
Rulers of Hesse.
Spelling:
\nThe state is called Hessen in German and Hesse in English.\nAn inhabitant of the state is a Hesse in German and a Hessian in English. Occasionally the German term Hessen is also used in English. Hessia is another, rarely used, variant.
List of Minister-Presidents of Hesse
- 1945: Ludwig Bergsträsser\n# 1945 - 1946: Karl Geiler\n# 1946 - 1950: Christian Stock (SPD)\n# 1950 - 1969: Georg-August Zinn (SPD)\n# 1969 - 1976: Albert Osswald (SPD)\n# 1976 - 1987: Holger Börner (SPD)\n# 1987 - 1991: Walter Wallmann (CDU)\n# 1991 - 1999: Hans Eichel (SPD)\n# since 1999: Roland Koch (CDU)
External links
\n* Official government portal
\n\n\n\n\n\n\nnds:Hessen\n\n\n
Category:States of Germany
