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Die Geschichte Hessens
German
317 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
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February 12, 2025
In American education, many readers encounter the German state of Hesse only as the home of mercenaries who were surprised by General George Washington when he crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Night in 1776. But Hesse is a central German state with a long and fascinating history, and many Hessians played important roles in German culture.
I am not aware of any comprehensive history of Hesse in the English language, but this book is one of the more approachable works in German. It collects articles from 20 distinguished historians and organizes them in chronological order. It adds 144 illustrations and 11 maps, all of which enrich the work and render it more appealing to a general reader.
For example, the first chapter concentrates on pre-history, while the second chapter discusses the Roman occupation period. The first photograph depicts a megalithic stone-chamber tomb that I visited several months ago near Fritzlar, and the later chapters discuss and illustrate many other surviving architectural monuments.
The authors also highlight a number of inspirational individuals who are little known outside Germany. One appealing character is Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (1504-1567), who was nicknamed "the Magnanimous". He was a leader in the early decades of the German Reformation movement and founded the first Protestant university at Marburg, where his royal castle may still be seen. Even more admirable is Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a young noble widow who devoted her fortune and energies to aiding the poor, including a hospital she founded at Marburg. The authors don't dwell at length on the National Socialist period, but they also don't flinch from describing its excesses.
For centuries the capital city of Hesse was Kassel, but in recent years Frankfurt am Main has been the principal city. This book offers a fascinating outline of an important state at the center of Germany.
I am not aware of any comprehensive history of Hesse in the English language, but this book is one of the more approachable works in German. It collects articles from 20 distinguished historians and organizes them in chronological order. It adds 144 illustrations and 11 maps, all of which enrich the work and render it more appealing to a general reader.
For example, the first chapter concentrates on pre-history, while the second chapter discusses the Roman occupation period. The first photograph depicts a megalithic stone-chamber tomb that I visited several months ago near Fritzlar, and the later chapters discuss and illustrate many other surviving architectural monuments.
The authors also highlight a number of inspirational individuals who are little known outside Germany. One appealing character is Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (1504-1567), who was nicknamed "the Magnanimous". He was a leader in the early decades of the German Reformation movement and founded the first Protestant university at Marburg, where his royal castle may still be seen. Even more admirable is Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a young noble widow who devoted her fortune and energies to aiding the poor, including a hospital she founded at Marburg. The authors don't dwell at length on the National Socialist period, but they also don't flinch from describing its excesses.
For centuries the capital city of Hesse was Kassel, but in recent years Frankfurt am Main has been the principal city. This book offers a fascinating outline of an important state at the center of Germany.
Displaying 1 of 1 review