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Würzburg

Würzburg

:For the German World War II radar system of the same name see Wuerzburg radar. Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located on the Main river, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Unterfranken. The regional dialect spoken by people in Würzburg is Franconian. Würzburg is approximately 80 minutes train journey from Frankfurt, and almost an hour from Nuremberg. Distances to the nearest cities by motorway: Frankfurt 115 km, Nuremberg 115 km, Stuttgart 150 km, Kassel 215 km. The city of Würzburg is not included in Würzburg (district), but is its administrative seat. Its population is about 129,000 as of 2004.

History

By 1000 BC a Celtic fortification stood on the site of the Fortress Marienberg. It was christianized in 686 by the Irish missionary Kilian, and the city is first mentioned as Vurteburch in 704. The first diocese was founded by St. Bonifatius in 742. He appointed the first bishop of Würzburg, St. Burkhard. The bishops eventually created a duchy with center in the city and extending in the 12th century to Eastern Franconia. The city was the seat of several Imperial diets, including the one of 1180, in which Henry the Lion was banned from the Empire and his duchy was handed over to Otto of Wittelsbach. The first church at the site of the cathedral was built as early as 788, and consecrated that same year by Charlemagne; the current building was constructed 1040-1225 in Romanesque style. The University of Würzburg was founded in 1402 and re-founded 1582. 1582 The citizens of the city revolted several times against the bishop-prince, until definitively sumbitted in 1400. Later, Würzburg was a center of the German Peasants' War; the castle was besieged unsuccessfully. Notable duke bishops include Julius Echter (1573-1617) and members of the Schönborn family, who commissioned a great number of the monuments of today's city. In 1631, Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus invaded the town and destroyed the castle. In 1720, foundations of the Würzburg Residence were laid. In 1814, the town became part of the Bavarian state and a new bishopric was created seven years later, as the former one had been secolarized in 1802. The city had passed to Bavaria in 1803, but two years later, in the course of the Napoleonic Wars, it became seat of a short-lived Duchy of Würzburg. Würzburg was restored to Bavaria in 1814. During World War II, on March 16, 1945, 90% of the city was laid to ruins by a British terror bombing campaign. Most of the main artistic highlights survived, while the baroque city center was irrecoverably damaged. During the next 20 years, the buildings of historical importance would be painstakingly re-constructed to the way they used to be before the bombing. Today, many of the historical relics are, in fact, high-quality replicas; visitors to the city don't realise this. The famous Würzburg Residence which was badly bombed, has to this day a piece of the original architecture from 1945. You can still see the blackened bomb damage on it. Since the end of the war, Würzburg has been host to the US Military's 3rd Infantry Division,1st Infantry Division and various other US military units who have maintained a presence in Germany. The local Würzburg economy benefits greatly from the US military presence. However, these units are due to withdraw from Würzburg after 2007 which may bring an end to over 60 years of US military stationing in Würzburg.

Commerce, Business and Transportation

Würzburg is mainly known as an administrative center. The biggest employers are the University of Würzburg and the municipality. Biggest private employer is Koenig & Bauer AG, a maker of printing machines. The town is located on the intersection of the Autobahns A 3 and A 7. It is also a major hub for the Deutsche Bahn with connections to Munich, Frankfurt, Kassel/Hannover, many of which are high-speed tracks for the ICE. The Main river flows into the Rhine and is connected to the Danube via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. This makes it part of a trans-European waterway connecting the North Sea to the Black Sea.

Arts and Architecture

Black Sea Notable artists that lived in Würzburg include poet Walther von der Vogelweide (12th and 13th cent.), philosopher Albertus Magnus and painter Mathias Grunewald. Two artists who made a lasting impression were sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531), who was also mayor and participated in the Peasants' War, and Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753), baroque architect and builder of the Würzburg Residence that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its interior was decorated by Giovanni Tiepolo and his son, Domenico. Many of the cities "100 churches" survived intact with styles ranging from romanesque, gothic, baroque to modern. Parts of the cathedral St. Kilian were built in the romanesque periods. The "Käppele" on the other side of the Main river was planned by Balthasar Neumann. Würzburg hosts the Mainfranken Museum, with artefacts from prehistory until modern times, a Museum of the cathedral, galleries for ancient and modern art, and the "Kulturspeicher" from 2002. Notable festivals include the Afrika Fest in May and the Mozart Fest, in June/July.

Other Famous Citizens

Mozart Fest Philipp Franz von Siebold was among the first Westerners to visit and work in Japan (1823). Werner Heisenberg was born in Würzburg in 1901. Wilhelm Röntgen's original laboratory, where he discovered x-rays in 1895 is at the University of Würzburg. The University granted Alexander Graham Bell an honorary Ph.D. for his pioneering scientific work. Alexander Graham Bell Würzburg is also the hometown of NBA star Dirk Nowitzki.

Historic Buildings in Würzburg

The Fortress Marienberg is the castle on a hill across the Old Main Bridge, overlooking the whole town area as well as the surrounding hills. Among Würzburg's many notable churches are the Käppele, a small Baroque/Rococo chapel by Balthasar Neumann, the Schönborn Chapel, a side-chapel of the Dome has interior decoration made of human bones and skulls. Look for statues of Adam and Eve by Riemenschneider in the Market Church. The Julius Spital is a baroque hospital with a courtyard and a church built by the prince bishop Julius Echter. Its medieval wine cellar, together with those of the Würzburg Residence and the Bürgerspital are one place where to taste the Frankenwein. With 168 ha area under cultivation, the Julius Spital is the second largest winery in Germany. Frankenwein

Würzburg's Old Bridge - Alte Mainbrücke

Würzburg's old bridge was built 1473–1543 to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge. It was adorned with the well-known statues of saints about 1730.

Historic population figures for Würzburg

Twin Cities

Würzburg maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with Dundee, Scotland; Caen, France; Rochester,USA; Otsu, Japan; Salamanca, Spain; Bray, Ireland; Mwanza, Tanzania and Umeå in Sweden

External links

- [http://www.wuerzburg.de/ City of Würzburg]
- [http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php?lang=en University of Würzburg]
- [http://www.fh-wuerzburg.de/fh/auslandsamt/Homepages/international/ Fachhochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt] Category:Cities in Germany Category:Towns in Bavaria ja:ヴュルツブルク

Wuerzburg radar

The Wuerzburg radar was deployed by Germany during World War II. It took its name from the city of Würzburg for no other reason than the project leader liked geographical names. Development started as a private venture by Telefunken before the war. Under the direction of Dr. Wilhelm Runge, the company's lab director, development was advanced enough that by July 1939, it led to a demonstration of a practical gun-laying radar to the Wehrmacht. The military were impressed and had it put into production. The Wuerzburg went into service in 1940 and over 3,000 of all variants were built. The initial "Würzburg A" model used a steerable paraboloid dish antenna to focus on targets. It operated in the range of 54 to 53 cm (553 to 566 MHz) - an extremely short wavelength for the time - with a pulse length of 2 microseconds, a peak power of 7 to 11 kW, and a PRF of 3,750 Hz. Range was about 29 kilometers (18 miles). The next production model, the "Würzburg C", added lobe switching for greater accuracy; while the definitive "Würzburg D" (introduced in 1941) featured conical scanning, using an offset receiver feed called a "Quirl" that spun at 25 Hz. "Würzburg B" was an experimental version fitted with an infra-red detector. A larger, more accurate adaptation of the Wuerzburg design was produced under the designation "Würzburg-Riese" ("Giant Wuerzburg"). This had a more powerful transmitter with a range of up to 70 kilometers (44 miles), and was adapted for operation from a railway carriage as the "Würzburg-Riese-E". The "Würzburg-Riese Gigant" was a very large version with a 160 kW transmitter, which never entered production. A Wuerzburg system at Bruneval on the coast of France was attacked by British Paratroopers in Operation Biting. The electronics of the system were brought back to Britain for examination so that counter measures could be devised. The British technicians who examined it were impressed by the modularization for the system, which aided fault location. As a consequence the German maintenance technicians did not require the same level of electronics knowledge which the British technicians had to have to maintain British equipment.

Reference

[http://www.vectorsite.net/ttwiz7.html#m4 ORIGINS OF GERMAN RADAR: SEETAKT, FREYA, WUERZBURG]. There is a open source verification for this text on the home page [http://www.vectorsite.net/index.html Greg Goebel / In The Public Domain]. Category: World War II German electronics

Bavaria

Culture

Bavaria has a culture very distinct from the rest of Germany. Noteworthy differences (especially in rural areas, less significant in the major cities) can be found with respect to: Religion: Bavarians are typically very conservative Catholics, contrasting markedly with the more casual attitude to religion in much of the rest of Germany. The current pope, Benedict XVI, is from Bavaria Appearance: Bavarians give great attention to their personal appearance, while much of the rest of Germany dresses very casually. Also in business context, wearing traditional-style clothing is not unusual at least in the south of the Free State. Bavarian cities and towns, whether rich or poor, are among the best looked after locations in Germany. Food and Drink: As in the case of dress, Bavarians resemble the latin countries more closely than the rest of Germany with respect to the high priority they give to good food and drink. Bavarians also consume many items of food and drink which are unusual elsewhere in Germany. Politics: The Christian Social Union, which has ruled in Bavaria uninteruptedly since 1957, doesn't seek election in any other state of Germany. The CSU, arguably the most inward looking of the major German political parties, combines socially conservative positions with advocacy for extensive involvement of the state in the economy.

Geography

Bavaria shares international borders with Austria and the Czech Republic. Neighbouring states within Germany are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony. Two major rivers flow through the state, the Danube (Donau) and the Main. The major cities in Bavaria are Munich (München), Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Augsburg, Regensburg, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, Fürth and Erlangen. See also: List of places in Bavaria.

Politics

Bavaria has a unicameral Landtag, or state parliament, elected by universal suffrage. Until December 1999, there was also a Senat, or Senate, whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished. The head of government is the Minister-president. Bavaria has long been a bastion of conservative politics in Germany, with the Christian Social Union having almost a stranglehold on power since its inception in 1946. Every Minister-president since 1957 has been a member of this party. In the 2003 elections the CSU won more than two thirds of the seats in Landtag. No party in post-war German history had achieved this before (not counting the rigged wins of the SED in East Germany).

Administrative Divisions

Regierungsbezirke (administrative regions)

Bavaria is divided into 7 administrative regions called Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk). Image:Bavarian_Admin_Districts.jpg # Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) # Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) # Unterfranken (Lower Franconia) # Schwaben (Swabia) # Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) # Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) # Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria) These administrative regions consist of 71 administrative districts (called Landkreise, singular Landkreis) and 25 independent cities (kreisfreie Städte, singular kreisfreie Stadt).

Landkreise/kreisfreie Städte (administrative districs/independent cities)

Map of Bavaria Administrative districts: Independent cities:

Gemeinden (municipalities)

The 71 administrative districts are on the lowest level divided into 2031 municipalities (called Gemeinden, singular Gemeinde). Together with the 25 independent cities (which are in effect municipalities independent of Landkreis administrations), there are a total of 2056 municipalities in Bavaria. In 44 of the 71 administrative districts, there are a total of 215 unincorporated areas (as of January 1, 2005, called gemeindefreie Gebiete, singular gemeindefreies Gebiet), not belonging to any municipality, all uninhabited, mostly forested areas, but also four lakes (Chiemsee -without islands, Starnberger See -without island Roseninsel, Ammersee, which are the three largest lakes of Bavaria, and Waginger See).

Dialects

Waginger See]] Several German dialects are spoken in Bavaria. In the administrative regions to the north the Franconian dialect is prevalent, in Swabia the local dialect is Swabian, a thread of the Alemannic dialect family. In the Upper Palatinate people speak the Northern Bavarian dialect that can vary regionally. In Upper and Lower Bavaria (Middle) Austro-Bavarian is the predominant dialect.

History

Main article: History of Bavaria The first known mention of the Bavarian name was made by the Franks ca. 520. Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria resisted the Protestant Reformation, and remains strongly Roman Catholic. From about 550 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the duchy of Bavaria, ending with Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne. For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy, rarely for more than three generations. The last, and one of the most important, of these dukes was Henry the Lion of the house of Welf, founder of Munich. When Henry the Lion was deposed as duke of Saxony and Bavaria by his cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1180, Bavaria was awarded as fief to the Wittelsbach family, which ruled from 1180 to 1918. The first of several divisions of the duchy occurred in 1255 but in 1506 Bavaria was reunited and Munich became the sole capital. In 1623 the dukes acquired the electoral dignity. Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806, and in 1815 the Rhenish Palatinate was annexed to it. It managed to preserve its independence by playing off the rivalries of Prussia and Austria, but defeat in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War led to its incorporation into the German Empire. In the early 20th century Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Henrik Ibsen, and other notable artists were drawn to Bavaria, notably to the Schwabing district of Munich, but the region was devastated by World War I. World War I] Socialist premier Kurt Eisner, who deposed King Ludwig III, was assassinated in 1919 leading to a violently suppressed communist revolt. Extremist activity on the right also increased, notably the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, and Munich and Nuremberg became Nazi strongholds under the Third Reich. As a manufacturing center, Munich was heavily bombed during World War II and occupied by U.S. troops. Since World War II, Bavaria has been rehabilitated into a prosperous industrial hub. A massive reconstruction effort restored much of Munich's historic core, and the city played host to the 1972 Summer Olympics. More recently, state minister-president Edmund Stoiber was the CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor in the 2002 federal election, and native son Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

Miscellaneous

The many famous Bavarians include:
- Pope Benedict XVI -- as of April 2005 he is the current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. His baptismal name is Joseph Ratzinger.
- Painters such as Hans Holbein the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach and Franz Marc
- Musicians such as Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss and Theobald Boehm, the inventor of the modern flute.
- Modern musicians like Klaus Doldinger and Barbara Dennerlein
- Widely-read Bavarian writers like Bertolt Brecht, Lion Feuchtwanger
- Well-known scientists such as the Nobel prize winner Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and Werner Heisenberg,also Rudolf Moessbauer and Robert Huber
- Well-known inventors such as Levi Strauss and Rudolf Diesel.
- Neurologist Alois Alzheimer, who first described Alzheimer's Disease The motorcycle and automobile makers BMW (Bayerische Motoren-Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works) and Audi, Grundig (consumer electronics) and Siemens (electricity, telephones, informatics, medical instruments) have (or had) a Bavarian industrial base. A famous annual festival is called Oktoberfest or October Festival. It was first celebrated in 1810 as a public feast when the Bavarian crown prince Ludwig married Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The celebration originally was designed as a feast for all members of the Bavarian Nation, who should celebrate the country and the crown. It only turned to a pure matter of boozing in the 20th century and is nowadays attended rather by tourists than by Bavarians. Munich locals often despise it. It is celebrated during the two weeks leading up to the first Sunday in October. Bavaria has also given its name to a major Dutch brewery, Bavaria Brewery.

The meaning of the coat of arms

Modern coat of arms was designed by Eduard Ege, following heraldic traditions in 1946.
- The Golden Lion: The rampant lion Palatinate in its golden-and-red amour stands for the administrative region of Upper Palatinate.
- The "Franconian Rake": It represents the administrative regions of the Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia.
- The Blue Panther: At the bottom left of the third field there is a blue panther rampant, with gold talons, on a white (silver) ground. It rep-resents the regions of the Lower and Upper Bavaria.
- The Three Lions: In the fourth field three black lions with red talons stand on a golden ground one above the other, with heads askance. On the Bavarian coat of arms they symbolize Swabia.
- The White-And-Blue Heart-Shaped Shield: The heart-shaped shield of white and blue fusils askance was originally the coat of arms of the Counts of Bogen to be adopted in 1247 by the Wittelsbachs House. The white-and-blue fusils are indisputably the emblem of Bavaria and the heart-shaped shield today symbolizes Bavaria as a whole. Along with the People's Crown, it is officially used as the Minor Coat of Arms.
- The People's Crown: The four coat fields with the heart-shaped shield in the centre are crowned with a golden band with precious stones decorated with five ornamental leaves. This crown appeared for the first time in the coat of arms in 1923 to symbolize sovereignty of the people after the dropping out of the royal crown.

Bavarian "citizenship"

The fact that, different to the constitutions of all other German Länder, the Bavarian constitution provides for a Bavarian citizenship, is often mentioned as an indicator for Bavarian distinctiveness. Some Bavarians are keen to emphasize that - in accordance with the generous indication of the constitution - they regard everyone
- born in Bavaria,
- born to a Bavarian parent,
- adopted by a Bavarian as a child,
- married to a Bavarian, or
- naturalized in Bavaria, as a fellow-Bavarian; some of those falling under this untechnical definition express pride to being "Bavarian". However, state legislation regulating citizenship procedures has never been enacted, the consitution itself provides that all Germans enjoy the same rights as Bavarian citizens, and no office issues certificates concerning a "Bavarian" citizenship. Thus, the notion of citizenship rather bears a folkloristic, not really a political meaning.

Population and area

Admin. Region population(2003) area (km²) municipalities Lower Bavaria .... 1,162,972 9.6% 10,330 14.6% 258 12.5% Lower Franconia .. 1,329,399 11.0% 8,531 12.1% 308 15.0% Upper Franconia .. 1,113,790 9.2% 7,231 10.2% 214 10.4% Middle Franconia . 1,678,535 13.9% 7,246 10.3% 210 10.2% Upper Palatinate . 1,069,121 8.8% 9,690 13.7% 226 11.0% Swabia ........... 1,773,688 14.4% 9,992 14.2% 340 16.5% Upper Bavaria .... 3,996,043 33.1% 17,530 24.8% 500 24.3% ------------------ ---------- ------ ------ ------ ---- ------ BAVARIA .......... 12,086,548 100.0% 70,549 100.0% 2056 100.0%

External links

- [http://www.bayern.de/ Offical site] of the state of Bavaria
- [http://www.munich-to-vienna-via-salzburg.com/munich/bavaria.html Bavaria], Overview on Bavaria, its history and culture.
- [http://www.bayernviewer.de/ Bayern Viewer] aerial views and maps of Bavaria
- [http://www.bis.bayern.de/ Detailed map]
- [http://www.haus-bayern.com/ The Royal House of Bavaria]
- [http://www.vdiest.nl/Europa/Germany/bavaria.htm Bavaria information] Category:States of Germany Category:Bavaria als:Bayern ko:바이에른 주 ja:バイエルン州 simple:Bavaria

Main

:For other uses, see Main (disambiguation). Main (disambiguation) The Main (pronounced in German like the English word mine) is a river in Germany, 524 km long (including White Main 574 km), and one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine river. It flows through the German states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hessen. Its catchment basin competes with the Danube for water; as a result, much of its boundaries are identical with those of the European Watershed. The Main is formed near Kulmbach by the joining of its two headstreams, the Red Main and the White Main. The former rises from the Frankish Alb, 50 km in length, and runs through Creussen and Bayreuth. The latter's source is located in the mountains of the Fichtelgebirge; it is 41 km long. Major tributaries of the Main are the Regnitz, the Fränkische Saale, the Tauber, and the Nidda River. The largest city along the Main is Frankfurt am Main (ford of the Franks). After the junction of its headstreams, the Main passes the following towns and cities: Burgkunstadt, Lichtenfels, Staffelstein, Schweinfurt, Volkach, Kitzingen, Marktbreit, Ochsenfurt, Würzburg, Karlstadt, Gemünden, Lohr, Marktheidenfeld, Wertheim, Miltenberg, Obernburg, Aschaffenburg, Seligenstadt, Hanau, Offenbach, Frankfurt, Hattersheim, Flörsheim, Rüsselsheim. By the time it flows into the Rhine opposite Mainz, it is a formidable river.

Navigation

Mainz Extensive works have made the Main navigable for river shipping from its mouth at the Rhine, via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and the highly regulated Altmühl river, all the way to the Danube. The river has been canalized with 34 large locks (300 m x 12 m) to allow vessels of so-called CEMT class V (110 m x 11.45 m) to navigate the total length of the river. The 16 locks in the adjacent Rhine-Main-Danube Canal are of the same dimensions, as are the locks on the Danube. The river's mouth is 384 kilometers away from the junction with the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. The winding course is the main reason for this considerable length; if the river were straight, it would be probably less than half its current length. Because the river is rather narrow for much of the upstream stretches, navigation with the larger vessels and push convoys that navigate it, requires great skills. The river has gained enormous importance as a vital part of European "Corridor VII", the inland waterway link from the North Sea to the Black Sea [http://www.noordersoft.com/indexen.html].

References

- [http://www.noordersoft.com/indexen.html NoorderSoft Waterways Database] Category:Hesse Category:Bavaria Category:Frankfurt Category:Rivers of Germany ja:マイン川

Unterfranken

Coat of Arms
Image:Coats of Arms Unterfranken.png
Statistics
State:	Bavaria
Capital:	Würzburg
Area:	8,531.59 km²
Inhabitants:	1,344,300 (2002)
pop. density:	157,57 inh./km²
Map
Image:Bavaria unterfranken.png

Unterfranken (Lower Franconia) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria (seven regions), Germany (32 regions). The district was formed in 1817 unter the name of Untermainkreis (Lower Main District) and renamed in 1837 as Unterfranken and Aschaffenburg (Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg). In 1933 the regional Nazi Gauleiter Otto Hellmuth insisted on renaming the district Mainfranken, but after 1945 the name Unterfranken was resurrected. Unterfranken is the north-west part of Franconia and consists of three district-free cities ("Kreisfreie Städte") and nine country districts ("Landkreise").

Area and population

Historical country districts

Until the municipal reform ( "Kreisreform" ) in June 1972 Lower Franconia had 22 country districts, 16 of them were attached to the other six existing country districts Aschaffenburg, Bad Kissingen, Kitzingen, Miltenberg, Schweinfurt, Würzburg or united to one of the three new country districts Haßberge, Main-Spessart, Rhön-Grabfeld. Old country district Now part of the country district(s) Alzenau .............. Aschaffenburg Bad Brückenau ........ Bad Kissingen Bad Neustadt/Saale.... Rhön-Grabfeld Ebern ................ Haßberge Gemünden ............. Main-Spessart Gerolzhofen .......... Schweinfurt, Kitzingen, Hassberge, Würzburg Hammelburg ........... Bad Kissingen Haßfurt .............. Haßberge Hofheim/Unterfranken . Haßberge Karlstadt ............ Main-Spessart Königshofen .......... Rhön-Grabfeld Lohr ................. Main-Spessart Marktheidenfeld ...... Main-Spessart, Miltenberg, Würzburg Mellrichstadt ........ Rhön-Grabfeld Obernburg ............ Miltenberg Ochsenfurt ........... Würzburg

Well known people

- Florian Geyer
- Tilman Riemenschneider
- Balthasar Neumann
- Friedrich Rückert
- Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

Education and startUps

University/Fachhochschulen:
- Julius Maximilians Universität Würzburg
- Fachhochschule Aschaffenburg
- Fachhochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt startUp centers:
- Zentec, Großwallstadt
- RSG Rhön-Saale Gründerzentrum, Bad Kissingen
- GRIBS Gründer- und Innovationszentrum, Schweinfurt
- Chancencenter Maintal, Schweinfurt
- TGZ Technologie- und Gründerzentrum, Würzburg
- ZmK Zentrum für moderne Kommunikationstechnologien, Würzburg

Links

See also:
- Middle Franconia
- Upper Franconia External Links:
- http://www.unterfranken.de -- Official website
- http://www.regierung.unterfranken.bayern.de/english -- Official website
- http://flagspot.net/flags/de-by-uf.html
- [http://www.gemeindeverzeichnis.de/gem1900//gem1900.htm?unterfranken/unterfranken1900.htm Unterfranken 1910] Category:Regierungsbezirk Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe

Frankfurt

:For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation) is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. Situated on the Main river, it is the seat of the European Central Bank and the largest financial center in Germany. The city's metropolitan area, the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, has a population of 4 to 5 million and is Germany's second largest. Among English speakers it is commonly known simply as "Frankfurt", though Germans sometimes call it by its full name to distinguish it from the other Frankfurt in the German state of Brandenburg, known as Frankfurt an der Oder. It was once called Frankfort-on-the-Main in English, a direct translation of Frankfurt am Main.

Overview

Frankfort Frankfort Frankfort Frankfurt has played a central role in the political history of Germany and the German states for centuries. From 855 to 1792 Frankfurt was the electoral city for the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In the 1848-49 revolutions it became a sort of revolutionary capital and was the seat of the first democratically elected German parliament, the Frankfurt Parliament, which met in the Frankfurter Paulskirche, or the St. Paul's Church. The three pillars of Frankfurt's economy are finance, transport, and trade fairs. Frankfurt has been Germany's financial capital for centuries, and it is the home of a number of major banks and brokerages. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is Germany's largest, and one of the world's most important. Frankfurt houses the European Central Bank, which sets monetary policy for the Eurozone economy, and the German Bundesbank. It also houses a number of major commercial banks, including Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, and Commerzbank. Frankfurt's financial industry gives it the highest GDP per capita of major cities in Europe and makes it fifteenth in total GDP production as a city.[http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/snapshot/sf020527.htm] The GaWC identifies Frankfurt as an Alpha World City. Frankfurt has an excellent transportation infrastructure and a major international airport and European transportation hub, the Frankfurt International Airport. Depending whether total passengers or flights are used to measure, it ranks as the second or third busiest in Europe alongside London Heathrow Airport and Paris' Charles de Gaulle. And many large trade fairs take place in Frankfurt each year, notably the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (Frankfurt Motor Show) and the Frankfurt Book Fair which have far over 100,000 visitors each, but also important special interest fairs like the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo or Musikmesse Frankfurt. Frankfurt is often nicknamed "Bankfurt" or "Mainhattan" (derived from the local Main River). It is one of only four European cities that have a significant number of high-rise skyscrapers. With eleven skyscrapers taller than 150 m (492 ft) in 2004, Frankfurt is second behind Paris (La Défense and Montparnasse, with twelve skyscrapers taller than 150 m, not counting the Eiffel Tower), but ahead of London (Canary Wharf and the City, with eight skyscrapers taller than 150 m) and Moscow (seven skyscrapers taller than 150 m). The city of Frankfurt contains the tallest skyscraper in the European Union, the Commerzbank Tower, which is also the second tallest on the continent (after the Triumph-Palace building in Moscow). Yet Frankfurt has a different feel from New York City, and many residents prefer its nickname of "the smallest metropolis of the world." Despite the central concentration of tall buildings, the city has many open natural spaces and a spread-out city plan, which make some of the large buildings look a bit lonely in comparison to other global financial centers such as those in New York, Singapore, or Shanghai. Frankfurt is also home to many cultural and educational institutions, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, many museums, most of them lined up along the Main river on the Museumsufer (museum embankment), and a large botanical garden, the Palmengarten. Frankfurt's second major university, Business School of Finance and Management, focuses on finance. The best known museums are das Städelsche Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, called Städel, and the Senckenberg Natural History Museum. Others include the Museum for Modern Art, the Schirn Art Gallery, museums for architecture, movies, communications and the Jewish Museum / Museum Judengasse. During World War II Frankfurt was bombed heavily, and its medieval city center was completely destroyed. The city recovered relatively quickly after the war, as it was the headquarters of the American occupying power.

History

In the area of the Römer, Roman settlements were established, probably in the first century; some artifacts from that era are found to this day. The city district Bonames has a name probably dating back to Roman times - it is thought to be derived from bona me(n)sa. Nida (Heddernheim) was also a Roman civitas capital. The name of Frankfurt on the Main is derived from the Franconofurt of the Germanic tribe of the Franks; Furt (cf. English ford) denotes a low point passage across a stream or river. Alemanni and Franks lived there and by 794 Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and church synod, at which Franconofurd (-furt -vurd) is first mentioned. However, since frank is also an old German word for frei ("free"), Frankfurt was a "free ford," an opportunity to cross the river Main without paying a toll. In the Holy Roman Empire, Frankfurt was one of the most important cities. From 855 the German kings and emperors were elected in Frankfurt and crowned in Aachen. From 1562 the kings/emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt, Maximilian II being the first one. This tradition ended in 1792, when Franz II was elected. He was crowned, on purpose, on Bastille Day, 14 July, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The elections and coronations took place in St. Bartholomäus cathedral, known as the Kaiserdom (en: Emperor's Cathedral), or in its predecessors. The Frankfurter Messe (en: Frankfurt trade fair) was first mentioned in 1150. In 1240, Emperor Friedrich II granted an Imperial privilege to its visitors, meaning they would be protected by the Empire. Since 1478 book trade fairs have been held in Frankfurt, the Frankfurter Buchmesse being still the most important in Germany and, some might say, the world. In 1372 Frankfurt became a Reichsstadt (en:Imperial city), i.e. directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to a king or a local nobleman. Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the Thirty Years' War, but it suffered from the boubonic plague that was brought to the city by refugees. After the end of the war, Frankfurt regained its wealth. In the Napoleonic Wars Frankfurt was occupied or cannonaded several times by French troops. The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, a vassal state of France, remained a short episode lasting from 1810 to 1813. The Congress of Vienna dissolved this entity, and Frankfurt entered the newly founded German Confederation as a free city. It became the seat of the Bundestag, which was the parliament of the German Confederation. After the ill-fated revolution of 1848, Frankfurt was home to the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung), which resided in St. Paul's Church (Paulskirche) (see German Confederation for details) and was opened on 18 May 1848. The institution failed in 1849 when the Prussian king declared that he would not accept "a crown from the gutter". In the year of its existence, the assembly developed a common constitution for a unified Germany, with the Prussian king as its monarch. Frankfurt lost its independence in 1866. The Austro-Prussian War was over, and Prussia annexed several smaller states, among them the city of Frankfurt. The Prussian administration incorporated Frankfurt into its province of Hesse-Nassau. The formerly independent towns of Bornheim and Bockenheim were incorporated in 1890. In 1914 the citizens of Frankfurt founded the University of Frankfurt, later called Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. This is the only civic foundation of a university in Germany; today it is one of Germany's largest universities. In 1924 Ludwig Landmann became the first Jewish Mayor of the city, and led a significant expansion during the following years. However, during the Nazi era, the synagogues of Frankfurt were destroyed. The city of Frankfurt was severely bombed in World War II. About 5 500 residents were killed during the raids, and the once famous medieval city center, by that time the largest in Germany, was completely destroyed. The reconstruction after the war took place in an (often simple) modern style, thus irrevocably changing the architectural face of Frankfurt. Only very few landmark buildings have been reconstructed historically, albeit in a simplified manner. After the end of the war Frankfurt became a part of the newly founded state of Hesse, consisting of the old Hesse-(Darmstadt) and the Prussian Hesse provinces. Frankfurt was the original choice for the provisional capital of West Germany - they even went as far as constructing a new parliament building that has never been used for its intended purpose, and is now a TV studio. In the end, Konrad Adenauer (the first post-war Chancellor) preferred the tiny city of Bonn, for the most part because it was close to his hometown, but also for another reason; many other prominent politicians opposed the choice of Frankfurt out of concern that Frankfurt, one of the largest German cities, and a former center of the old German-dominated Holy Roman Empire, would be accepted as a "permanent" capital of Germany, thereby weakening the West German population's support for reunification and the eventual return of the capital city to Berlin.

Demographics

Population

Frankfurt is a multicultural city. Most immigrants are from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, or Italy. About 175 different nationalities reside in Frankfurt.

Religion

For a long time Frankfurt was a Protestant-dominated city. However, during the 19th century an increasing number of Catholics moved to the city. Today some 45 % of the inhabitants are Protestant, 37 % Catholic. Other religious groups (18 %) includes Muslims and Jews. Frankfurt has the second largest Jewish community (after Berlin) in Germany.

Geography

Geographic location

The city is located on both sides of the Main River. The southern part of the city contains the Frankfurt City Forest (Frankfurter Stadtwald) Germany's largest urban forest.

Neighboring communities and areas

To the West, Frankfurt borders the Main-Taunus district (Cities and Municipalities Hattersheim am Main, Kriftel, Hofheim am Taunus, Kelkheim (Taunus), Liederbach am Taunus, Sulzbach (Taunus), Schwalbach am Taunus and Eschborn); to the Northwest the Hochtaunuskreis (Cities Steinbach (Taunus), Oberursel (Taunus) and Bad Homburg v.d. Höhe); to the North the Wetteraukreis (Cities Karben and Bad Vilbel); to the Northeast the Main-Kinzig district (Municipality Niederdorfelden and the city Maintal); to the Southeast the city Offenbach am Main; to the South the Offenbach district (City Neu-Isenburg); and to the Southwest the Groß-Gerau district (Cities Mörfelden-Walldorf, Rüsselsheim und Kelsterbach).

City divisions and districts

The city is divided into 46 Stadtteile or Ortsteile which are again divided into 118 Stadtbezirke or city districts. The largest Ortsteil in area is Sachsenhausen-Süd. Most Stadtteile are incorporated suburbs, or Vororte, or previously separate cities. Some like Nordend arose during the rapid growth of the city in the Gründerzeit after the unification of Germany. Others were formed from settlements which previously belonged to other city divisions, like Dornbusch (Frankfurt am Main). The 46 city divisions are combined into 16 area districts or Ortsbezirke, which each have a district committee and chairperson.

History of incorporation

Until the middle of the 19th century, the city territory of Frankfurt consisted of the present-day Stadtteile of Altstadt, Innenstadt, Bahnhofsviertel, Gutleutviertel, Gallusviertel, Westend, Nordend, Ostend and Sachsenhausen. After 1877, a number of previously independent areas were incorporated into the city, see list of current districts of the city.

Sights

list of current districts of the city

Cathedral

Saint Bartholomeus' Cathedral (Dom Sankt Bartholomäus) is a Gothic building which was constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries on the foundation of an earlier church from the Merovingian time. It is the main church of Frankfurt. From 1356 onwards, kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected in this church, and from 1562 to 1792 emperors were crowned here. Since the 18th century Saint Bartholomeus' has been called "the cathedral" by the people, although it has never been a bishop's seat. In 1867 the cathedral was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in its present style. The height of the cathedral is 95 m.

Römer

Holy Roman Empire For the full article, see Römer (Frankfurt am Main). The name of the town hall means "Roman". It is in fact nine houses that were acquired by the city council in 1405 from a wealthy merchant family. The middle house became the town hall and was later connected with the neighbouring buildings. In the upper floor there is the Kaisersaal ("Emperor's Hall") where the newly crowned emperors held their banquets. The Römer was partially destroyed in World War II, and later rebuilt. 1405

Saint Paul's Church

For the full article, see Frankfurter Paulskirche. St. Paul's Church (Paulskirche) is a national historic monument in Germany with great political symbolism, because it was the seat of the first democratically elected Parliament in 1848. It was established in 1789 as a Protestant church but was not finished until 1833. Its importance has its root in the Frankfurt Parliament, which met in the church during the revolutionary years of 1848/49 in order to write a constitution for a united Germany. The attempt failed because the monarchs of Prussia and Austria did not want lose power, and in 1849 Prussian troops ended the democratic experiment by force of arms and the parliament was dissolved. Afterwards, the building was used for church services again. St. Paul's was partially destroyed in World War II, particularly the interior of the building, which now has a modern appearance. It was quickly and symbolically rebuilt after the war; today it is not used for religious services, but mainly for exhibitions and events.

Old Opera

World War II For the full article, see Alte Oper. Alte Oper, Frankfurt's famous opera house, was built in 1880 by the architect Richard Lucae. It was one of the major opera houses of Germany, until its was destroyed in World War II. It was not until 1981 that the old opera was fully rebuilt and reopened. Today it functions as a concert hall and operas are performed in the Oper Frankfurt. The inscription on the frieze of the Old Opera says: "Dem Wahren, Schönen, Guten" ("To the true, the beautiful, the good").

Skyscrapers

Frankfurt is unique for its skyscrapers, and it is the only European city to allow skyscrapers within the old central part of town. Along with Paris and London, it also is one of the few European cities to have a significant numbers of skyscapers. The major skyscrapers are:
- Commerzbank Tower - Europe's tallest building until 2005.
- Silver Tower
- Eurotower
- MesseTurm - Europe's tallest building (1990 – 1997)
- Kronenhochhaus with its interesting crown.
- the Maintower
- Trianon (Frankfurt am Main).
- DZ Bank Tower with its interesting form and corona

Other structures

DZ Bank Tower ;Henninger Turm :a grain silo owned by Henninger Brewery with observation deck and restaurant, open to the public and offering a breath-taking view over downtown Frankfurt from its southshore. ;Europaturm :a telecommunications tower known as the "Frankfurt TV Tower". Until 1999, it was open to the public, with an entertainment establishment in the revolving top.

Culture

Festivals

Frankfurt hosts several festivals, fairs and carnivals throughout the year. The most famous is the Rheingau-Music-Festival with many (mostly classical) concerts at castles and under the open sky surrounded by vineyards. It takes place each May. Another major festival which takes place in Frankfurt, is the "Museumsuferfest"; "Museum-Riverbank-Festival". It is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Germany, which offers the opportunity to see, buy, smell, taste and hear new things from all around the world. The festival takes place yearly at the end of summer and attracts an average of 3 million visitors. The festival goes over a period of 3 days and ends with a spectacular show of fireworks.

Museums

- Städel
- Senckenberg Natural History Museum
- The Museum for Modern Art (Frankfurt am Main)
- Schirn Art Gallery
- Deutsches Filmmuseum
- Deutsches Architektur Museum
Culinary specialties

- Frankfurter Sausage
- Frankfurter Rindswurst
- Apfelwein
- Grüne Soße
- Bethmännchen
- Frankfurter Kranz
- Handkäs mit Musik
- Rippchen mit Kraut
Sports

- Eintracht Frankfurt
- FSV Frankfurt
Sister cities
Frankfurt's sister cities are:
- Toronto, Canada
- Birmingham, England, since 1966
- Budapest, Hungary, since 1990
- Kraków, Poland, since 1991
- Granada, Nicaragua, since 1991
- Guangzhou, China, since 1988
- Lyon, France, since 1960
- Milan, Italy, since 1971
- Prague, Czech Republic, since 1990
People born in Frankfurt

- Theodor Adorno
- Bettina von Arnim
- Cha Du-Ri
- Charles the Bald
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Otto Hahn
- Erich Fromm
- Anne Frank
- Martin Lawrence
- Birgit Prinz
- Mayer Amschel Rothschild
- Friedrich Karl von Savigny
- Adolf Schreyer
- Ruth Westheimer
- Tre Cool
- Maria Sibylla Merian
See also

- Frankfurt Transit
- Frankfurt School
External links

- [http://www.frankfurt.de/sis/English.html City's own website]
- [http://www.inyourpocket.com/germany/frankfurt/en/ In Your Pocket] - the English language city guide to Frankfurt
- [http://www.yeckes.com Travel information for Jews] - Yeckes.com - Your Jewish Gateway to Frankfurt
- [http://www.hot-maps.de/europe/germany/hessen/frankfurt_main/homeen.html Map of Frankfurt/Main]
- [http://www.panorama-cities.net/frankfurt/frankfurt.html Frankfurt City Panoramas] - Panoramic Views and virtual Tours
- [http://www.oopper.de/tn/panorama-frankfurt.htm more Frankfurt Panoramas]
-
- [http://www.frankfurt360.de/ 360°-Panoramas of Frankfurt] - Indoor and outdoor day- and night-time panoramas, in full screen and with sound
- [http://www.altfrankfurt.com Altfrankfurt] - Gives an impression of the splendour of pre-war Frankfurt and its destruction in World War II Frankfurt School Category:Cities in Germany ! Category:Former countries in Europe Category:Towns in Hesse als:Frankfurt am Main ko:프랑크푸르트 ja:フランクフルト・アム・マイン

Stuttgart

Stuttgart, a city located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 as of September 2005 in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area.

Overview

Stuttgart, Germany, the capital of Baden-Württemberg state (pop. 11 million, 36,000 square kilometers) and the Administrative Region of Stuttgart (pop. 4 million, 11,000 km²), is located in the center of the very densely populated southwestern Stuttgart Region (population 2.7 million, 3,700 km²) of Germany, close to both the Black Forest and the Swabian Jura. The city center (situated in a lush valley, ringed with vineyards and forests, close to the River Neckar) itself has an approximate population of 590,000 and covers an area of 207 km². Stuttgart with its metropolitan area (the political entity "Stuttgart Region" enlarged by the nearby cities of Tübingen, Reutlingen, Heilbronn and their surroundings) is one of the most prominent and well-known German towns, especially due to its cultural, administrative and huge economic importance. Stuttgart is the sixth largest city in Germany and Stuttgart Region is the nation's fourth largest conurbation (behind Ruhr Area, Rhein/Main Area and Berlin). Neighbouring large cities are Frankfurt (210 km north of Stuttgart) and Munich (220 km southeast of Stuttgart). The City of Stuttgart is subdivided into 23 city districts, among the most well-known are:
- Bad Cannstatt (Western Europe's largest mineral spas / Wilhelma)
- Möhringen (DaimlerChrysler HQ / Musical Theaters)
- Stammheim (High-security court & jail, see RAF terrorists)
- Untertürkheim (Original Mercedes-Benz plant)
- Vaihingen (Stuttgart's university and college district)
- Zuffenhausen (Home of the Porsche Sports Cars Company)
- Feuerbach (Home of original Bosch plant) Stuttgart is also the seat of a protestant bishop (Protestant State Church of Württemberg) and one of the two co-seats of the bishop of the catholic diocese Rottenburg-Stuttgart. bishop bishop bishop bishop

History

The coat of arms shows a black, rampant horse on a yellow or golden field. It is a canting seal due to the fact that the name "Stuttgart" is an over the centuries modified version of "Stutengarten", in English roughly "mare garden" or "stud farm". About 950, Stuttgart was originally founded by Duke Liudolf of Swabia, one of the sons of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I the Great, and used for horse breeding (especially for his father's cavalry, see Battle of Lechfeld). Later on (about 1300), Stuttgart became the residence of the counts of Württemberg. In 1496, the counts of Württemberg were promoted to dukes by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. After Napoleon's breakup of the Holy Roman Empire, the dukes of Württemberg earned the title of kings and Stuttgart became a royal residence. The name of the royal family of Württemberg and of the state originates from a steep Stuttgart hill, formerly known as Wirtemberg, nowadays called Württemberg. On top of that hill, the mausoleum from 1824 of Queen Katharina (daughter of Czar Paul I of Russia) and King Wilhelm I of Württemberg is located. During the revolution of 1848/1849, a democratic pan-German national parliament (Frankfurt Parliament) was formed in Frankfurt to overcome the division of Germany. After long discussions, the parliament decided to offer the title of German Emperor to the Prussian king. Since the democratic movement became weaker, the German princes regained control of their independent states. Finally the Prussian king declined the revolutionaries' offer. The members of parliament were driven out of Frankfurt, and the most radical members (those who wanted to establish a republic) fled to Stuttgart. A short while later, this rump parliament was dissolved by the Württemberg military. In 1871, as an autonomous kingdom, Württemberg joined the German Empire or Kaiserreich, created by the Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck through several successful wars and diplomacy. After World War I, the monarchy broke down and the Free State of Württemberg was established, as a part of the Weimar Republic. In 1920, Stuttgart was the seat of the German National Government (since the administration had to flee from Berlin, see Kapp Putsch). During World War II, the city center of Stuttgart was nearly completely destroyed due to air raids. In 1945 the Allied Forces took control of Germany. They merged parts of the former German States of Baden and Württemberg and later in 1952 on the new, democratic state Baden-Württemberg (3rd largest German state) with Stuttgart as its capital was created by a referendum. After World War II, an early concept of the Marshall Plan to support the reconstruction and economic/political recovery of Europe was presented during a speech given by US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes at the Stuttgart Opera House (September 6, 1946). This speech led directly to the unification of the British and American occupation zones, resulting in the so called bi-zone. Two years later, the French also joined the bi-zone, creating the tri-zone and thereby paving the way for the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany. Stuttgart, like Frankfurt, was a serious contender to become the federal capital, but finally Bonn succeeded. In the late seventies, the city district of Stammheim was center stage of one of the most controversial periods of German post-war history: The Red Army Faction trial at the Stammheim high-security court and the subsequent suicides of Ulrike Meinhof, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe (all imprisoned in the Stammheim jail). The trial and the period thereafter were accompanied by several new terroristic assaults to liberate the inmates (German Autumn 1977: i.a. the abduction and murder of the German industrialist and President of the German Employers' Association Hanns-Martin Schleyer resp. the hijacking of Lufthansa flight LH181, redirecting the jet to Mogadishu). During the Cold War, the joint command center of all American military forces in Europe, Africa and the Atlantic was moved to Stuttgart (US European Command, EUCOM). EUCOM is headquartered there till today.

Economy

EUCOM EUCOM EUCOM Approximately 150,000 companies are located in the Stuttgart region. The area is known for its high-tech industry; some of its most prominent companies include Daimler-Chrysler, Porsche, Bosch, Celesio, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, all of whom located their world or German headquarters here. In fact, the Porsche badge, as seen on the front of Porsche cars has this town's name in the centre of the badge, something that is unique amongst the world's vehicle makers. A theory even suggests that also the Ferrari logo "Cavallino Rampante" had its origin in the Stuttgart coat-of-arms. Stuttgart is the place where the motorbike and the four-wheeled automobile were invented (invented by G. Daimler and K. Benz, industrialised 1887 by G. Daimler and W.Maybach in their 1887 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft), it's hence the starting point of the worldwide automotive industry. Such famous and prestigious brands as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Maybach are produced there. Also the very first prototypes of the eventual VW Beetle were fabricated in Stuttgart, based on a design by Ferdinand Porsche.
The region currently has Germany's highest density of scientific, academic and research organisations, and tops the national league for patent applications. More than 11% of all R&D-expenses in the Federal Republic of Germany are generated in the Stuttgart Region (approximately 4.3 billion Euro per year). In addition to several universities and colleges, the area has six institutes of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, four institutes for collaborative industrial research at local universities, two Max-Planck institutes, as well as one large-scale research centre—the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). Stuttgart holds top place of all European Union regions according to the share of employment in high-tech and medium-high tech manufacturing with a figure of 21.0% (2001 data from Eurostat). The Stuttgart Stock Exchange is the second largest in Germany (only behind Frankfurt) and important financial companies are headquartered in Stuttgart (e.g. Allianz Life Insurance, LBBW Bank or Wüstenrot), as well. In addition to these global players, the Stuttgart economy consists of many highly versatile and dynamic medium-sized enterprises (the so-called "Mittelstand"). Furthermore, Stuttgart is still one of Germany's largest wine-growing towns with a century-long tradition and is situated at the geographic center of the "Württemberg Wine Growing Area" (110.30 km², one of 13 official German growing areas, according to the German Wine Law).

Public Transportation

Stuttgart, like other cities in Germany, is served by a regional rapid transit system called the S-Bahn. The S-Bahn trains operate on the rails of the Deutsche Bahn AG and are powered with normal traction current (single phase AC, 15 kV/16.67 hertz) taken from overhead wires. Stuttgart also has a light rail system (Stadtbahn in German) which has incrementally replaced the city's tram lines. It runs with DC with a voltage of 750 volts and uses normal gauge. In the city centre as well as in other densely built-up districts of the city, the Stadtbahn runs underground; hence the "U"-symbol for U-Bahn is used to signify it. Because the old tram lines used metre gauge, much of the light rail system's trackage still has three rails. A peculiarity of Stuttgart is the rack railway operating from Marienplatz in the heart of the city to the Degerloch district; it is the only urban rack railway in Germany and is powered by electricity. Furthermore, there is a cable car that operates in the city's Heslach district to the forest cemetery (Waldfriedhof), employing cars built of wood. On the Killesberg, a prominent hill in the city, there is a park railway run by diesel (and on weekends with steam), which makes roundtrips through the Killesberg Park. At the forest hostel of the city's public transport provider, there is a small electric tram for children called "Rumpelstilzchen", which is closed to tourists.

People, Culture & Architecture

park railway park railway park railway park railway Stuttgart is known for its cultural life, in particular the Staatstheater and Staatsgalerie. The Staatstheater contains an opera house and three smaller theaters, where opera, ballet, theatre and concerts are produced. The world-renowned Stuttgart Opera won the prestigious "Opera of the year" (Germany/Austria/Switzerland) award for five years running (1998-2002). The famous Stuttgart Ballet is connected to names like John Cranko and Marcia Haydée. The city also offers two broadway-style Musical theaters, the Apollo and the Palladium Theater (each approx. 1800 seats). Stuttgart's city center was heavily destroyed during World War II. During the reconstruction of the city in the style of the 1950ies and 1960ies many surviving historic buildings were demolished, e.g. the Kronprinzenpalais at Schlossplatz. The city today is thus poor in historic buildings. Nevertheless, some historic buildings have been reconstucted (often in a simplified manner), and the city boasts of some fine pieces of modern post-war architecture.
- 1200 - 1600 Collegiate Church (Stiftskirche; Exterior: Romanesque/Gothic); Interior: Romanesque/Gothic/Modern); reconstructed with simplified interior
- 1300 - 1500 Old Palace (Altes Schloß; Renaissance Style); reconstructed
- 1700 - 1800 New Palace (Neues Schloß; Baroque / Classicism); reconstructed with modern interior
- 1700 - 1800 Castle Solitude (Baroque / Rococo);
- 1850 King's Building (Königsbau; Classicism); reconstructed
- 1910 Market Hall (Art Nouveau);
- 1920 Main Railway Station (Pre-Modern);
- 1920 Weissenhof Estate (Bauhaus / International Style);
- 1950 TV Tower (World's First TV Tower);
- 1980 New State Gallery (Neue Staatsgalerie; Postmodern);
- 2000 Stuttgart Airport Terminal Building (Modern) - located just outside the city in neighboring Leinfelden-Echterdingen
- 2005 Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (Modern). In 1992, the VfB Stuttgart (a leading Bundesliga football team) claimed the first German Championship title after the reunification of the football federations of West and East Germany. The city also has a reputation for organizing other major sports events. It hosted the 1993 World Championships in Athletics and many other world and European championships of all kind of sports. The town will be one of the twelve hosts of the Football World Cup 2006. I.a. the 3rd and 4th place playoff of the World Cup will be held at the City's Daimler Stadium. Stuttgart's Swabian cuisine, beer and wine (produced in the area since the 1600s) are also well known. Yearly one may attend the "Cannstatter Wasen" or the much smaller Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest, a famous beer festival which is second only in size to the Oktoberfest in Munich. The Christmas Market of Stuttgart is the largest and one of the oldest and most beautiful in Europe. The famous "Wilhelma" is Germany's only combined zoological and botanical garden. The whole compound has been built around 1850 as a summer palace in moorish style for King Wilhelm I of Württemberg. Close to the Wilhelma, there are the Stuttgart city districts of Bad Cannstatt and Berg situated, exhibiting the second largest mineral spas in Europe (only excelled by Budapest). Important towns which are also located in the Stuttgart Region are Ludwigsburg with its enormous baroque palace, Sindelfingen and Esslingen.

Famous People from Stuttgart

- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel - philosopher
- Friedrich von Schiller - poet
- Gottlieb Daimler - inventor
- Wilhelm Maybach - inventor
- Robert Bosch - inventor
- Count Stauffenberg - member of the German Resistance who tried to kill Hitler
- Ferdinand Porsche - creator of the VW Beetle and founder of the Porsche car company
- Theodor Heuss - First German Post-War President
- Richard von Weizsäcker - German President, Lord Mayor of Berlin
- Günther Behnisch - architect
- Frei Otto - architect
- Jürgen Klinsmann - football player, coach of the German football squad
- Roland Emmerich - director
- Hermann Lang, Grand Prix race car driver

Sister Cities

- St Helens, Merseyside, United Kingdom, since 1948
- Cardiff, United Kingdom, since 1955
- St. Louis, USA, since 1960
- Strasbourg, France, since 1962
- Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), India, since 1968
- Menzel-Bourguiba, Tunisia, since 1971
- Cairo, Egypt, since 1979
- Lodz, Poland, since 1988
- Brno, Czech Republic, since 1989
- Samara, Russia, since 1992

External links

- [http://www.stuttgart.de Official homepage of Stuttgart]
- [http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de Official Stuttgart Tourist Board]
- [http://www.stuttgart360.de Fullscreen 360°panoramic views]
- [http://www.panorama-cities.net/stuttgart/stuttgart.html Stuttgart City Panoramas] - Panoramic Views and Virtual Tours
- [http://www.stuttgart-airport.de Stuttgart International Airport]
- [http://www.vvs.de/en/index.php Stuttgart Public Transportation System]
- [http://www.staatstheater.stuttgart.de Stuttgarter Staatstheater official site]
- [http://www.uni-hohenheim.de University of Hohenheim official site]
- [http://www.uni-stuttgart.de University of Stuttgart official site]
- [http://www.weissenhofsiedlung.de Weissenhof Estate (Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe)]
- [http://www.daimler-stadion.de/stadion_en.htm Daimler Stadium Stuttgart official site]
- [http://www.kinoservice.de/kino_s2.htm Movie Schedule for Stuttgart] Category:Towns in Baden-Württemberg Category:Cities in Germany Category:German state capitals Category:Spa towns als:Stuttgart ko:슈투트가르트 ja:シュトゥットガルト simple:Stuttgart

Würzburg (district)

Würzburg is a Kreis (district) in the northwestern part of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north, clockwise) Main-Spessart, Schweinfurt, Kitzingen, Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim, and the district Main-Tauber in Baden-Württemberg. The city Würzburg is no part of the district, although it is completely enclosed by it.

History

In 1852, districts were created in the region, including the precursor two districts of Würzburg and Ochsenfurt. In 1972 the previous district Würzburg was merged with the former district Ochsenfurt, and several municipalities from the districts Marktheidenfeld, Karlstadt, Kitzingen and Gerolzhofen were added to form the district with today's borders.

Partnerships

The district has partnerships with the Regional Council Mate Yehuda (Israel), and the Czech Olomouc Region.

Coat of arms

Towns and municipalities

External link

- [http://www.landkreis-wuerzburg.de Official website] Category:Districts of Bavaria

As of 2004

2004

1000 BC

Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC - 1000s BC - 990s BC 980s BC 970s BC 960s BC 950s BC ----

Events and trends

- 1006 BC - David becomes king of the ancient Israelites (traditional date)
- 1002 BC - Death of Zhou zhao wang, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
- 1001 BC - Zhou mo wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
- Earliest evidence of farming in the Kenya highlands.
- Latins come to Italy in or around 1000 BC from the Danube region.
- Archaelogical evidence obtained from inscriptions excavated in 2005 dates the Tamil language, a classical language spoken in India, to around 1000 BC

Significant people

- Category:1000s BC

Celts

:This article is about the European people. For the tool, see celt (tool). celt (tool) The term Celts (pronounced "kelts") refers to any of a number of ancient peoples in Europe using the Celtic languages, which form a branch of Indo-European languages, as well as others whose language is unknown but where associated cultural traits such as Celtic art are found in archaeological evidence. Historical theories were developed that these factors were indicative of a common origin, but later theories of culture spreading to differing indigenous peoples have recently been supported by genetic studies. Though the spread of the Roman empire led to continental Celts adopting Roman culture, the development of Celtic Christianity in Ireland and Britain brought an early medieval renaissance of Celtic art between 400 and 1200. Antiquarian interest from the 17th century led to the term Celt being developed, and rising nationalism brought Celtic revivals from the 19th century in areas where the use of Celtic languages had continued. Today, "Celtic" is often used to describe the languages and respective cultures of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and the French region of Brittany, but correctly corresponds to the Celtic language family in which are still spoken Scottish, Irish and Manx (Gaelic languages) and Welsh, Breton and Cornish (Brythonic languages).

Development of the term "Celt"

The first literary reference to the Celtic people, as keltoi or hidden people, is by the Greek historian Hecataeus in 517 BC. According to Greek mythology, Celtus was the son of Heracles and Celtine, the daughter of Bretannus. Celtus became the primogenitor of Celts (Ref.: Parth. 30.1-2). In Latin Celta, in turn from Herodotus' word for the Gauls, Keltoi. The Romans used Celtae to refer to continental Gauls, but apparently not to insular Celts, which were divided into Goidhels and Britons, and possibly other peoples. This is likely due to the possibility that, at those times, the term "Celta/Keltos" was tied to those cultures or people descendant from the Central Europe Celts, while no ties were known to the insular people (especially the Gaels whose language was extremely different from that of Brythonic Celts). The English word is modern, attested from 1707. In the late 17th century the work of scholars such as Edward Lhuyd brought academic attention, then in the 18th century the interest in "primitivism" which led to the idea of the "noble savage" brought a wave of enthusiasm for all things Celtic and Druidic. The "Irish revival" came after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 as a conscious attempt to demonstrate an Irish national identity, and with its counterpart in other countries subsequently became the "Celtic revival". Nowadays "Celt" is usually pronounced as and "Celtic" as (in IPA) when referring to the ethnic group and its languages, while the pronunciation remains in use mainly for certain sports teams (eg. the NBA team, Boston Celtics, and the SPL side, Celtic F.C., in Glasgow). (The pronunciation with /s/ reflects historical palatalization of the letter 'C' when it occurs before 'I' or 'E' in words of Latin origin; in the Classical era Latin 'C' was always pronounced as /k/. The modern pronunciation with /k/ is a reversion to the original, whereas the pronunciation with /s/ has not been reverted.) The word spelt as "Celtic" is (arguably) English, as the Latin was "Celticus" or "Celticum", the Welsh is "Celtaidd", and the Irish Gaelic is "Ceilteach". By this argument, a pronunciation with /s/ should therefore be acceptable. The term "Celt" or "Celtic" can be used in several senses: it can denote a group of peoples who speak or descend from speakers of Celtic languages; or the people of prehistoric and early historic Europe who share common cultural traits which are thought to have originated in the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures. In contemporary terms, there are typically six nations defined as 'Celtic Nations'. To be defined as a Celtic nation, that nation must have ownership of a Celtic language. The first six are usually defined as Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. The additional nations of Galicia and Asturias in Spain are sometimes considered to be modern Celtic nations based on the survival of Celtic traditions similar to the traditions of other Celtic nations, however, the Celtic language has not survived in either. England retains many Celtic influences but is not Celtic, but the languages of Pre-Anglo Celtic peoples influences dialects of some of its more rural regions, particularly those bordering Scotland and Wales, the best known of which are Cumbric which was spoken from Strathclyde to Derbyshire as recently as the 11th century, and the language centred on Devon — both languages are under-going a modern revival. Other areas of Europe are associated with being Celtic as well, including France, which traces its roots to the Gauls. In Scotland, the Gaelic language traces at least some of its roots to migration and settlement by the Irish Dalriada/Scotti. Due to the settlement of English speaking Angles in the lowlands, which — among other things — drove out the Gaelic language, Scots Gaelic survives only in the country's northern and western fringes in the areas where Scotti tribes settled and dominated over the indigenous Brythonic culture. The use of the word 'Celtic' as a valid umbrella term for the pre-Roman peoples of Britain has been challenged by a number of writers — including Simon James of the British Museum. His book The Atlantic Celts - Ancient People Or Modern Invention? makes the point that the Romans never used the term 'Celtic' in reference to the peoples of the Atlantic archipelago, i.e. the British Isles, and points out that the modern term "Celt" was coined as a useful umbrella term in the early 18th century to distinguish the non-English inhabitants of the archipelago when England united with Scotland in 1707 to create the United Kingdom. Nationalists in Scotland, Ireland and Wales looked for a way to differentiate themselves from England and assert their right to independence. James then argues that, despite the obvious linguistic connections, archaeology does not suggest a united Celtic culture and that the term is misleading, no more (or less) meaningful than 'Western European' would be today. This is somewhat misleading, however, since the Romans and Greeks did describe the Atlantic and continental Celts as being related to each other, having military alliances (and rivalries) with one another, sharing similar languages and traditions, as well as having a common religion and priest class. Additionally, archeological evidence shows quite clearly that the Atlantic and continental Celts were engaged in commerce with each other via regular trade routes. No one on either side of the debate argues that Celtic people have ever been a single