Group 4
There are many interesting and fascinating historic and
cultural places throughout the Hessen land.
I will primarily focus on these places and their significance to culture
and history as we know it. Rapunzel,
Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Snow white, Rumpelslitskin, and The Golden Goose
are amongst the short tales in the volumes of The Brothers Grimm Fairy
Tales. These “children’s tales” were
initially written and published first in 1812.
These tales have been told and spanned two centuries. They have influenced many of the Disney movies,
and other TV series that we enjoy today. They also have been important to the
German culture throughout their existence, being used by Hitler to influence
children towards “racially pure” marriage partners. The two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, were born
in Hanau and worked in Kassel for 30 years.
Today there stands a monument to these brothers. This was added to UNESCO’s “Memory of the
world” registry in 2005.
Sticking
with the theme of entertainment we move to the film from 1926 “Metropolis”. This silent film by Fritz Lang is considered
to be one of the most famous silent films in the History of German Cinema. A science fiction film based in a futuristic
city of “Metropolis”, whose population lives in a society with strict class
divisions. This sci-fi film became the
first full feature length of its genre. The
images and “futuristic” styling have still carried into Art and film today. In 2001 this was declared a UNSECO World
Document Heritage in 2001.
If we
look further back, much further, we find the Messel Fossil Pit. This primeval forest lake, which had
ultimately dried out into land during the Eocene epoch lends itself to showing
one of the first stages of the evolution of animals. The plants and animals here have survived in
the rich oil shale for nearly 50 million years.
The findings and treasures from this site were so unique that the U.N.
declared it a World Heritage Site. [1]
If you
find history more interesting, look toward the Roman Limes. This 550km long wall which has stood for 1800
years and originally used as a Roman frontier wall and a defense against the
German Tribes is considered to be Europe’s largest archeological monument. 900 watch towers and 120 forts form Germany’s
largest monument.
There
are two natural landscapes that also grace the UNESCO heritage list, the Upper
Middle Rhine Valley and Germany’s Ancient Beech Forest. These two beautiful pieces of landscape have,
water, cliffs, vineyards, castles, palaces, churches, and historic villages
scenes.
The
last two pieces of the UNESCO heritage list for Hessen are two landmarks,
Europes largest park of its kind, and a Benedictine Abbey. Bergpark Wilhelmshohe is very unique with the
displays of water and landscape, to go along with the palace, Hercules statue,
and 250 meter long cascade. The park was
formed at the start of the 18th Century for the electoral princes of
Hessen-Kassel as a summer residence.
Best part, entrance to the park is FREE!!!!
Lorsch
Abbey is considered one of Central Europe’s largest and most significant Abbeys. It was originally founded in 764 and stood
until the Thirty years war. The
significance of this abbey is the origination of scientific medicine (Lorsch
Pharmacopeoia). This book is the oldest
medicinal book of the Western Middle Ages, and compiled in the 8th
century. This book was added to the
UNESCO World Document Heritage register in 2013.
Hesse
is one of the largest and healthiest economies in Germany. The Gross Domestic Product of Hesse is
roughly 316 billion dollars US. That
makes Hesse not only one of the largest in Germany, but Europe, and also 38th
in the world. The main industries
driving this economy are chemical and pharmaceutical. In addition to these industries Opel
Automotive is located in Frankfurt.
Frankfurt is a financial center to Hesse, with European Central Bank, and
the headquarters of Deutsche Bank as well as the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The Frankfurt Airport is the largest employer
in Germany with more than 70,000 employees.
There are many companies with international influence from the optical,
electrical, and precision engineering industries, Leitz, Leica, Minox, Brita,
Zeiss, Volkswagen (spare parts), and Bombardier for locomotives.
As for
famous people from Hesse, as mentioned above Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm the
writers of many of the fairy tales we love today. Henri Nestle the confectioner that started
Nestle Company. Adam Opel the automotive
entrepreneur, and most recently the F1 automotive racer Sebastian Vettel. [3]
Lastly, as a basic size comparison
Hesse is roughly the same area as New Jersey, and has as many people as the
state of Missouri.
1.
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE; https://www.hessen-tourismus.de/culture-indulgence-in-hessen/unesco-world-heritage-sites
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