:''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 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:
★
Darmstadt
★
Frankfurt am Main
★
Kassel
★
Offenbach am Main
★
Wiesbaden
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.
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
thumb
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)
#
1945:
Ludwig Bergstraesser
#
1945 -
1946:
Karl Geiler
#
1946 -
1951:
Christian Stock (
SPD)
#
1951 -
1969:
Georg-August Zinn (
SPD)
#
1969 -
1976:
Albert Osswald (
SPD)
#
1976 -
1987:
Holger Börner (
SPD)
#
1987 -
1991:
Walter Wallmann (
CDU)
#
1991 -
1999:
Hans Eichel (
SPD)
# since
1999:
Roland Koch (
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.
| Party | Party List votes | Vote percentage | Total Seats | Seat percentage |
|---|
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 1,333,863 | 48.8% (+5,4) | 56 (+6) | 50.9% |
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 795,576 | 29.1% (-10,3) | 33 (-13) | 30.0% |
| Alliance '90/The Greens | 276,276 | 10.1% (+2,9) | 12 (+4) | 10.9% |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 216,110 | 7.9% (+2,8) | 9 (+3) | 8.2% |
| The Republicans | 34,563 | 1.3% (-1,4) | 0 (=) | 0.0% |
| All Others | 78,604 | 2.9% (+0,6) | 0 (=) | 0.0% |
| 'Totals' | 2,734,992 | 100.0% | 110 | 100.0% |
|---|
Seat results -- SPD in red, CDU in black, Greens in green, FDP in yellow
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).
[1]
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
[3].
See also
★
Landgraviate of Hesse
★
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
★
Hesse-Kassel
References
1. State population
2. Hessen - 60 stolze Jahre - Zeittafel 1945/1946
3. Die verkauften Hessen (German text)
External links
★
Official government portal
★
Sixty years of modern Hesse (also an official site)
★
Portal about the eastern part of Hesse
★
360 degree virtual trip through the Rhön - part of eastern Hesse
★
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