Greater Hesse
Encyclopedia
Greater Hesse was the provisional name given for a section of German territory created by the US military administration in at the end of World War II
. It was formed by the Allied Control Council
on 19 September 1945 and became the modern German state
of Hesse
on 1 December 1946.
The remaining Hessian province of Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen, capital: Mainz
) and the western part of the province of Nassau (containing the Westerwald
, part of the Taunus
range and the Rhine end of the Lahn
river) became part of the French occupation zone and eventually part of the modern state of Rhineland-Palatinate
. The separation of Rhenish Hesse from Greater Hesse caused Mainz to lose its six districts that lay east of the Rhine, even though they are still named today as being part of Mainz - such as Mainz-Kastel
, now a district of Wiesbaden.
A number of smaller territorial changes also took place. The enclave of Bad Wimpfen
, which previously belonged to the Hessian province of Starkenburg, became part of American-administered Württemberg-Baden
. A small part of the Prussian province of Hesse, containing the town of Schmalkalden
, lay in the Soviet zone and became part of the state of Thuringia
.
This new territory was named Hesse because most of the territory that comprised it had previously belonged to successor states of the Landgraviate of Hesse
, which was divided in 1567.
On 12 October 1945, the first organisational directive for Greater Hesse (Organisationsverfügung Nr. 1) was announced. Point number one of this directive stated that the civilian capital for Greater Hesse would be Wiesbaden, effective from noon on that day.
as minister-president
. Geiler replaced SPD
-politician Ludwig Bergsträsser
, who served as acting minister-president for only one month, and would remain in office until a successor could be democratically elected.
On 22 November 1945 the constitution for Greater Hesse (Staatsgrundgesetz des Staates Groß-Hessen) was introduced. This constitution was superseded on 1 December 1946 with the establishment of the modern state of Hesse
. On the day that Hesse was established, the first state legislative elections were held, leading to the appointment of Christian Stock
on 20 December as the first democratically-elected minister-president of Hesse.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was formed by the Allied Control Council
Allied Control Council
The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in the German language as the Alliierter Kontrollrat and also referred to as the Four Powers , was a military occupation governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany after the end of World War II in Europe...
on 19 September 1945 and became the modern German state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
on 1 December 1946.
Formation
Greater Hesse was formed from parts of two German states that were dissolved in the aftermath of World War II:- The part of the People's State of Hesse that lay east of the Rhine: the provinces of Upper HesseUpper HesseThe province of Upper Hesse was one of three provinces in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and later the People's State of Hesse. Its territory covers the area of land north of the River Main in the historic region of Upper Hesse...
(Oberhessen, capital: GießenGießenGießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
) and StarkenburgStarkenburgStarkenburg is a historical region of the state of Hesse in Germany, consisting of the districts of Bergstraße, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Groß-Gerau, and Odenwaldkreis, along with the city of Darmstadt...
(capital: DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
). - The Prussian provinces of Hesse (capital: KasselKasselKassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
) and NassauProvince of NassauThe Province of Nassau was a province of Prussia from 1944-1945.Although all German states had been de facto dissolved since 1933, the Nazi government formally dissolved the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau into two provinces on 1 April 1944, Kurhessen and the province of Nassau.The name comes...
(capital: WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
). These two provinces were formed from the division of the province of Hesse-NassauProvince of Hesse-NassauHesse-Nassau Province was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868-1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944.Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the previously independent Hesse-Kassel , the Duchy of Nassau, the Free...
in 1944.
The remaining Hessian province of Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen, capital: Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
) and the western part of the province of Nassau (containing the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
, part of the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
range and the Rhine end of the Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
river) became part of the French occupation zone and eventually part of the modern state of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
. The separation of Rhenish Hesse from Greater Hesse caused Mainz to lose its six districts that lay east of the Rhine, even though they are still named today as being part of Mainz - such as Mainz-Kastel
Mainz-Kastel
Mainz-Kastel is a district administered by the city of Wiesbaden, Germany. Mainz-Kastel was formerly a district of the city of Mainz, until the public administration by the city of Wiesbaden was decided on August 10, 1945...
, now a district of Wiesbaden.
A number of smaller territorial changes also took place. The enclave of Bad Wimpfen
Bad Wimpfen
Bad Wimpfen is an historic spa town in the district of Heilbronn in the Baden-Württemberg region of southern Germany. It lies north of the city of Heilbronn, on the river Neckar.-Geography:...
, which previously belonged to the Hessian province of Starkenburg, became part of American-administered Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Baden is a former state of Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the U.S. occupation forces, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. Its capital was Stuttgart...
. A small part of the Prussian province of Hesse, containing the town of Schmalkalden
Schmalkalden
- Notable people :*Christoph Cellarius, scholar, born 22 November 1638, died 4 June 1707 in Halle*Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach, colonel, born 16 April 1758, died 21 November 1827 at Białokosz...
, lay in the Soviet zone and became part of the state of Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
.
This new territory was named Hesse because most of the territory that comprised it had previously belonged to successor states of the Landgraviate of Hesse
Landgraviate of Hesse
The Landgraviate of Hesse was a Landgraviate of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a unity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided between the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.-History:...
, which was divided in 1567.
The new Hessian capital
While Proclamation No. 2 of the Allied Control Council declared the territory that would comprise Greater Hesse, no capital was specified. Four cities were considered for the new capital:- FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, the former Imperial city (annexed by Prussia in 1866, see Free City of FrankfurtFree City of FrankfurtFor almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt am Main was a city-state within two major Germanic states:*The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt...
), was by far the largest city in the new region. Given its role as locale for imperial elections during the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and as federal council seat of the German ConfederationGerman ConfederationThe German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
(see Frankfurt ParliamentFrankfurt ParliamentThe Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Session was held from May 18, 1848 to May 31, 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main...
), Frankfurt was considered to be an ideal candidate for a future national capital of West GermanyWest GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
in the absence of a united Berlin. However, Frankfurt declined the position of Hessian state capital since it had never been part of any Hessian territory during its history and it was thought that the city could not identify enough with the new region. Another reason for Frankfurt's unsuitability as state capital was the fact that most of the city had been destroyed by Allied bombing during the war. - DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, the former Hessian capital, was also considered unsuitable due to its war damage. - KasselKasselKassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, the capital of the Prussian province of Hesse was considered unsuitable, not only due to its war damage, but also due to its peripheral location in the north of the new region. - WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, the capital of the Prussian province of Nassau, suffered relatively minor damage from the war. This, combined with its location within the Rhine-Main metropolitan area and the fact that it was already a regional seat of the US military administration, made Wiesbaden the best choice.
On 12 October 1945, the first organisational directive for Greater Hesse (Organisationsverfügung Nr. 1) was announced. Point number one of this directive stated that the civilian capital for Greater Hesse would be Wiesbaden, effective from noon on that day.
Administration
In addition to the establishment of Wiesbaden as the new Hessian capital, 12 October 1945 saw the installment of high-school teacher Karl GeilerKarl Geiler
Karl Hermann Friedrich Geiler was a German lawyer and politician. He was born in Schönau and died in Heidelberg....
as minister-president
Minister-President
A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
. Geiler replaced SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
-politician Ludwig Bergsträsser
Ludwig Bergsträsser
Ludwig Bergsträsser was a German politician, representative of the Social Democratic Party.-References:...
, who served as acting minister-president for only one month, and would remain in office until a successor could be democratically elected.
On 22 November 1945 the constitution for Greater Hesse (Staatsgrundgesetz des Staates Groß-Hessen) was introduced. This constitution was superseded on 1 December 1946 with the establishment of the modern state of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. On the day that Hesse was established, the first state legislative elections were held, leading to the appointment of Christian Stock
Christian Stock
Christian Stock was a German Social Democrat politician and the first Prime Minister—Ministerpräsident—of the provisional state of Greater Hesse , which had been constituted in the aftermath of World War II...
on 20 December as the first democratically-elected minister-president of Hesse.