Mainz
() (French: Mayence
) is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz (see: Archbishopric of 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. Up until the twentieth century, Mainz was usually referred to in English as Mayence.
Mainz is a city with over two thousand years of history. It is located on the river Rhine across from Wiesbaden, in the western part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Region; in the modern age, Frankfurt shares much of its regional importance.
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FSV MAINZ 05 TICKETS
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Geography
Mainz is located on the west bank of the river Rhine, opposite the confluence of the
Main with the Rhine. The 2008 population was 196,784
, an additional 18,619 people maintain a primary residence elsewhere but have a
second home in Mainz and it is also a part of the Rhein Metro area consisting of 5.8 million people. Mainz is easily reached from
Frankfurt International Airport in 25 minutes by commuter railway (
Rhine-Main S-Bahn
).
The city consists of 15 districts: Altstadt, Neustadt, Mombach, Gonsenheim,
Hartenberg-Münchfeld, Oberstadt, Bretzenheim, Finthen, Drais, Lerchenberg, Marienborn, Hechtsheim, Ebersheim, Weisenau, and Laubenheim. Until 1945, the districts of
Bischofsheim (now an independent town),
Ginsheim-Gustavsburg (which together are an independent town) belonged to Mainz. The former suburbs Amöneburg, Kastel, and Kostheim—in short
AKK
—now are administrated by the city of
Wiesbaden (on the north bank of the river). The AKK was separated from Mainz when the
Rhine was designated the boundary between the French occupation zone (the later state of
Rhineland-Palatinate) and the U.S. occupation zone (
Hesse) in 1945.
Administrative structure
The city of Mainz is divided into 15 local districts according to the main statute of the city of Mainz. Each local district has a district administration of 13 members and a directly elected mayor, who is the chairman of the district administration. This local council decides on important issues affecting the local area, however, the final decision on new policies is made by the Mainz's municipal council.
In accordance with § 29 Par. 2 of Local Government Regulations, which refers to municipalities of more than 150,000 inhabitants, the city council has 60 members.
Districts of the town are:
- Altstadt
- Bretzenheim
- Drais
- Ebersheim
- Finthen
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- Gonsenheim
- Hartenberg-Münchfeld
- Hechtsheim
- Laubenheim
- Lerchenberg
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- Marienborn
- Mombach
- Neustadt
- Oberstadt
- Weisenau
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Former districts (until the end of WWII):
- Mainz-Amöneburg, Mainz-Kastel, Mainz-Kostheim, Mainz-Bischofsheim and Mainz-Gustavsburg
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of Mainz is derived from the coat of arms of the
Archbishops of Mainz and features two six-spoked silver wheels connected by a silver cross on a red background.
History
Roman Moguntiacum
The Roman stronghold of
castrum
Moguntiacum
, the precursor to Mainz, was founded by the Roman general Drusus perhaps as early as 13 BC. As related by Suetonius the existence of
Moguntiacum
is well established by four years later (the account of the death and funeral of Nero Claudius Drusus), though several other theories suggest the site may have been established earlier. [1] Although the city is situated opposite the mouth of the Main river, the name of Mainz is not from Main, the similarity being perhaps due to diachronic analogy. Main is from Latin
Menus
, the name the Romans used for the river. Linguistic analysis of the many forms that the name "Mainz" has taken on, make it clear that it is a simplification of
Moguntiacum''.
The name appears to be
Celtic and ultimately it is from the Celtic. However, it also had become Roman and was selected by the Romans with a special significance. The Roman soldiers defending
Gallia had adopted the Gallic god
Mogons (Mogounus, Moguns, Mogonino), for the meaning of which etymology offers two basic options: "the great one", similar to Latin magnus, which was used in aggrandizing names such as
Alexander magnus
, "Alexander the Great" and
Pompeius magnus
, "Pompey the great", or the god of "might" personified as it appears in young servitors of any type whether of noble or ignoble birth.
[2]
To name the fort after this particular god was an ideological statement. It was placed in the territory of the
Vangiones, a formerly Germanic tribe now Celticised and working for the Romans. Their capital was at
Worms on the same side of the Rhine not far to the south. Dedications of their troops serving in Britain mention the god frequently.
Germania Superior was a geographical gateway between Gaul and Germany. The Romans were saying in essence by placing the fort here and naming it that "You barbarians shall not pass into the civilized and international state because the might of its youth inspired by its ancient god will stop you." If the barbarians needed any example, the previous fate of the Vangiones, who had come as conquerors and were conquered, was before them.
Moguntiacum was an important military town throughout Roman times, probably due to its strategic position at the confluence of the Main and the Rhine. The town of
Moguntiacus
grew up between the fort and the river. The castrum was the base of
Legio XIIII Gemina
and
XVI Gallica
(AD 9–43),
XXII Primigenia
,
IIII Macedonica
(43–70),
I Adiutrix
(70–88),
XXI Rapax
(70–89), and
XIIII Gemina
(70–92), among others. Mainz was also the base of a Roman river fleet (the remains of Roman patrol boats and cargo barges from about 375/6 were discovered in 1982 and may now be viewed in the
Museum für Antike Schifffahrt
). The city was the provincial capital of
Germania Superior, and had an important funeral monument dedicated to Drusus, to which people made pilgrimages for an annual festival from as far away as
Lyon. Among the famous buildings were the largest
theatre north of the Alps and a bridge across the rhine.
Alamanni forces under Rando sacked the city in 368. In last days of 406, the Siling and Asding
Vandals, the
Suebi, the
Alans, and other Germanic tribes took advantage of the rare freezing of the
Rhine to cross the river at Mainz and overwhelm the Roman defences. Christian chronicles relate that the bishop, Aureus, was put to death by the Alamannian Crocus. The way was open to the sack of
Trier and the invasion of Gaul. This event is familiar to many from the historical novel,
Eagle in the Snow
, by
Wallace Breem.
Throughout the changes of time, the Roman castrum never seems to have been permanently abandoned as a military installation, which is a testimony to Roman military judgement. Different structures were built there at different times. The current citadel originated in 1660, but it replaced previous forts. It was used in World War II. One of the sights at the citadel is still the
cenotaph raised by his legionaries to commemorate Drusus.
Frankish Mainz
Through a series of incursions during the 4th century Alsace gradually lost its Belgic ethnic character of formerly Germanic tribes among Celts ruled by Romans and became predominantly influenced by the
Alamanni. The Romans repeatedly reasserted control; however, the troops stationed at Mainz became chiefly non-Italic and the emperors had only one or two Italian ancestors in a pedigree that included chiefly peoples of the northern frontier.
The last emperor to station troops serving the western empire at Mainz was
Valentinian III, who relied heavily on his
Magister militum per Gallias
,
Flavius Aëtius. By that time the army included large numbers of troops from the major Germanic confederacies along the Rhine, the Alamanni, the
Saxons and the
Franks. The Franks were an opponent that had risen to power and reputation among the Belgae of the lower Rhine during the 3rd century and repeatedly attempted to extend their influence upstream. In 358 the emperor
Julian bought peace by giving them most of
Germania Inferior, which they possessed anyway, and imposing service in the Roman army in exchange.
The European chessboard in the time of master Aëtius included Celts, Goths, Franks, Saxons, Alamanni, Huns, Italians, and Alans as well as numerous minor pieces. Aëtius played them all off against one another in a masterly effort to keep the peace under Roman sovereignty. He used Hunnic troops a number of times. At last a day of reckoning arrived between Aëtius and
Attila, both commanding polyglot, multi-ethnic troops. Attila went through Alsace in 451, devastating the country and destroying Mainz and Triers with their Roman garrisons. Shortly after he was stalemated by
Flavius Aëtius at the
Battle of Chalons, the largest of the ancient world.
Aëtius was not to enjoy the victory long. He was assassinated in 454 by the hand of his employer, who in turn was stabbed to death by friends of Aëtius in 455. As far as the north was concerned this was the effective end of the Roman empire there. After some sanguinary but relatively brief contention a former subordinate of Aëtius,
Ricimer, became emperor, taking the name Patrician. His father was a Suebian; his mother, a princess of the
Visigoths. Patrician did not rule the north directly but set up a client province there, which functioned independently. The capital was at
Soissons. Even then its status was equivocal. Many insisted it was the
Kingdom of Soissons.
Previously the first of the
Merovingians,
Clodio, had been defeated by Aëtius at about 430. His son,
Merovaeus, fought on the Roman side against Attila, and his son,
Childeric, served in the domain of Soissons. Meanwhile the Franks were gradually infiltrating and assuming power in this domain. They also moved up the Rhine and created a domain in the region of the former Germania Superior with capital at
Cologne. They became known as the
Ripuarian Franks as opposed to the
Salian Franks. It is unlikely that much of a population transfer or displacement occurred. The former Belgae simply became Franks.
Events moved rapidly in the late 5th century. Clovis, son of Childeric, became king of the Salians in 481, ruling from
Tournai. In 486 he defeated
Syagrius, last governor of the Soissons domain, and took northern France. He extended his reign to
Cambrai and
Tongeren in 490–491, and repelled the Alamanni is 496. Also in that year he converted to non-Arian Christianity.
After the
Fall of the Roman Empire in 476, the
Franks under the rule of
Clovis I gained control over western Europe by the year 496. Clovis annexed the kingdom of Cologne in 508. Thereafter, Mainz, in its strategic position, became one of the bases of the Frankish kingdom. Mainz had sheltered a Christian community long before the conversion of Clovis. His successor
Dagobert reinforced the walls of Mainz and made it one of his seats. A
solidus of
Theodebert I (534–548) was minted at Mainz.
The Franks united the Celtic and Germanic tribes of Europe. The greatest Frank of all was
Charlemagne (768–814), who built a new empire in Europe, the
Holy Roman Empire. Mainz from its central location became important to the empire and to Christianity. Meanwhile language change was gradually working to divide the Franks. Mainz spoke a dialect termed
Ripuarian. On the death of Charlemagne, distinctions between France and Germany began to be made. Mainz was not central any longer but was on the border, creating a question of the nationality to which it belonged, which descended into modern times as the question of Alsace-Lorraine.
Christian Mainz
In the early
Middle Ages, Mainz was a centre for the
Christianisation of the
German and
Slavic peoples. The first Archbishop in Mainz,
Boniface, was killed in 754 while trying to convert the Frisians to Christianity and is buried in
Fulda. Other early archbishops of Mainz include
Rabanus Maurus, the scholar and author, and
Willigis (975–1011), who began construction on the current building of the
Mainz Cathedral and founded the monastery of St. Stephan.
From the time of Willigis until the end of the
Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the
Archbishops of Mainz were archchancellors of the Empire and the most important of the seven
Electors of the German emperor. Besides
Rome, the
diocese of Mainz today is the only
diocese in the world with an
episcopal see that is called a
Holy See (
sancta sedes
). The Archbishops of Mainz traditionally were
primas germaniae
, the substitutes of the
Pope north of the
Alps.
In 1244, Archbishop
Siegfried III granted Mainz a city charter, which included the right of the citizens to establish and elect a city council. The city saw a feud between two
Archbishops in 1461, namely
Diether von Isenburg, who was elected Archbishop by the
cathedral chapter and supported by the citizens, and Adolf II von
Nassau, who had been named Archbishop for Mainz by the
Pope. In 1462, the Archbishop Adolf II raided the city of Mainz, plundering and killing 400 inhabitants. At a tribunal, those who had survived lost all their property, which was then divided between those who promised to follow Adolf II. Those who would not promise to follow Adolf II (amongst them
Johann Gutenberg) were driven out of the town or thrown into prison. The new Archbishop revoked the city charter of Mainz and put the city under his direct rule. Ironically, after the death of Adolf II his successor was again Diether von Isenburg, now legally elected by the chapter and named by the Pope.
Early Jewish community
The Jewish community of Mainz dates to the 10th century CE. It is noted for its religious education. Rabbi
Gershom ben Judah (960–1040) taught there, among others. He concentrated on the study of the
Talmud, creating a German Jewish tradition. The Jews of Mainz,
Speyer and
Worms created a supreme council to set standards in Jewish law and education in the 12th century.
The city of Mainz responded to the Jewish population in a variety of ways, behaving, in a sense, in a bipolar fashion towards them. Sometimes they were allowed freedom and were protected; at other times, they were persecuted. For example, they were expelled in 1462, invited to return, and expelled again in 1474. Outbreaks of the
Black Death were usually blamed on the Jews, at which times they were massacred. This unstable pattern, which was not typical for Mainz only, but for whole Europe at that time, went on until World War II.
Nowadays the Jewish community is growing rapidly, and is considering the creation of a new synagogue.
[3] The community itself has 1,034 members, according to the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and at least twice as many Jews altogether since many are unaffiliated with Judaism.
Republic of Mainz
During the
French Revolution, the French Revolutionary army occupied Mainz in 1792; the
Archbishop of Mainz, Friedrich Karl Josef von Erthal, had already fled to
Aschaffenburg by the time the French marched in. On 18 March 1793, the
Jacobins of Mainz, with other German democrats from about 130 towns in the
Rhenish Palatinate, proclaimed the ‘
Republic of Mainz’. Led by
Georg Forster representatives of the Mainz Republic in
Paris requested political affiliation of the Mainz Republic with France, but too late: As
Prussia was not entirely happy with the idea of a democratic free state on German soil, Prussian troops had already occupied the area and besieged Mainz by the end of March, 1793. After a
siege of 18 weeks, the French troops in Mainz surrendered on 23 July 1793; Prussians occupied the city and ended the Republic of Mainz. Members of the Mainz
Jacobin Club were mistreated or imprisoned and punished for treason.
In 1797, the French returned. The army of
Napoléon Bonaparte occupied the German territory to the west of the
Rhine river, and the
Treaty of Campo Formio awarded France this entire area. On 17 February 1800, the French
Département du Mont-Tonnerre
was founded here, with Mainz as its capital, the
Rhine river being the new eastern frontier of la Grande Nation.
Austria and
Prussia could not but approve this new border with France in 1801. However, after several defeats in Europe during the next years, the weakened Napoléon and his troops had to leave Mainz in May 1814.
Hessian Mainz
In 1816, the part of the former French Département which is known today as
Rhenish Hesse (
German:
Rheinhessen
) was awarded to the
Hesse-Darmstadt, Mainz being the capital of the new
Hessian province of Rhenish Hesse. From 1816 to 1866, to the
German Confederation Mainz was the most important fortress in the defence against France, and had a strong garrison of
Austrian and
Prussian troops.
In the afternoon of 18 November 1857, a huge explosion rocked Mainz when the city’s powder magazine, the
Pulverturm
, exploded. Approximately 150 people were killed and at least 500 injured; 57 buildings were destroyed and a similar number severely damaged in what was to be known as the
Powder Tower Explosion
or
Powder Explosion
.
During the
Austro-Prussian War in 1866, Mainz was declared a neutral zone. After the founding of the
German Empire in 1871, Mainz no longer was as important a stronghold, because in the
war of 1870/71 France had lost the territory of
Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, and this defined the new border between the two countries.
Industrial expansion
For centuries the inhabitants of the
fortress of Mainz had suffered from a severe shortage of space which led to disease and other inconveniences. In 1872 Mayor
Carl Wallau and the council of Mainz persuaded the military government to sign a contract to expand the city. Beginning in 1874, the city of Mainz assimilated the
Gartenfeld
, an idyllic area of meadows and fields along the banks of the
Rhine River to the north of the rampart. The city expansion more than doubled the urban area which allowed Mainz to participate in the
industrial revolution which had previously avoided the city for decades.
Image:Mainz-Stadtplan1898.jpg|thumb
|320px|Mainz including expansion zone the Rhine river (1898).
Eduard Kreyßig was the man who made this happen. Having been the master builder of the city of Mainz since 1865, Kreyßig had the vision for the new part of town, the Mainz
Neustadt.
He also planned the first sewer system for the old part of town since Roman times and persuaded the city government to relocate the railway line from the Rhine side to the west end of the town.
The main station was built from 1882 to 1884 according to the plans of Philipp Johann Berdellé (1838–1903).
The Mainz master builder constructed a number of state-of-the-art public buildings, including the Mainz town hall — which was the largest of its kind in Germany at that time — as well a synagogue, the Rhine harbour and a number of public baths and school buildings. Kreyßig's last work was Christ Church (
Christuskirche
), the largest Protestant church in the city and the first building constructed solely for the use of a Protestant congregation.
In the 20th century
After
World War I the
French occupied Mainz between 1919 and 1930 according to the
Treaty of Versailles which went into effect 28 June 1919. The
Rhineland (in which Mainz is located) was to be a demilitarized zone until 1935 and the French garrison, representing the
Triple Entente
, was to stay until reparations were paid.
In 1923 Mainz participated in the Rhineland separatist movement that proclaimed a republic in the Rhineland. It collapsed in 1924. The French withdrew on 30 June 1930.
Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January, 1933 and his political opponents, especially those of the Social Democratic Party, were either incarcerated or murdered. Some were able to move away from Mainz in time. One was the political organizer for the SPD,
Friedrich Kellner, who went to Laubach, where as the chief justice inspector of the district court he continued his opposition against the Nazis by recording their misdeeds in a 900-page
diary.
In March, 1933, a detachment from the
National Socialist Party in
Worms brought the party to Mainz. They hoisted the
swastika on all public buildings and began to denounce the Jewish population in the newspapers. In 1936 the forces of the
Third Reich reentered the Rhineland with a great fanfare, the first move of the Third Reich's meteoric expansion. The former Triple Entente took no action.
During
World War II the citadel at Mainz hosted the Oflag XII-B prisoner of war camp.
The Bishop of Mainz formed an organization to help Jews escape from Germany.
During
World War II, more than 30 air raids destroyed about 80 percent of Mainz city centre, including most of the historic buildings. Mainz fell to XII Corps,
90th Division, of the Third Army under the command of General
George S. Patton, Jr. on 22 March 1945. Patton used the ancient strategic gateway through
Germania Superior
to cross the Rhine south of Mainz, drive down the
Danube towards
Czechoslovakia and end the possibility of a Bavarian redoubt crossing the Alps in Austria when the war ended. With regard to the Roman road over which Patton attacked Trier, he said:
[4]
one could almost smell the coppery sweat and see the low dust clouds where those stark fighters moved forward into battle.
From 1945 to 1949, the city was part of the French zone of occupation. When the federal state of
Rhineland-Palatinate was founded on 18 May 1947,
Koblenz was the temporary capital; in 1950 Mainz became the capital of the new state. In 1962, the diarist,
Friedrich Kellner, returned to spend his last years in Mainz. His life in Mainz, and the impact of his
writings, is the subject of the Canadian documentary
My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner.
Following the withdrawal of French forces from Mainz, the
U.S. Army Europe occupied the military bases in Mainz. Today USAREUR only occupies McCulley Barracks in Wackernheim and the
Mainz Sand Dunes for training area. Mainz is home to the headquarters of the ''Bundeswehr
s
Wehrbereichskommando'' II and other units.
Community
Culture
- As city in the Greater Region, Mainz participated in the program of the year of European Capital of Culture 2007.
- The Walk of Fame of Cabaret may be found nearby the Schillerplatz.
- Every year in the period before Lent, Mainz celebrates one of Germany's largest Carnivals, culminating on Rosenmontag.
- The music publisher Schott Music is located in Mainz.
- The one of the oldest brass instrument manufacturer in the world, Gebr. Alexander is located in Mainz.
- Stiftung Lesen is a non profit foundation for the improvement of reading competencies.
Sport
The local football club
1. FSV Mainz 05 has a long history in the German football leagues, but could reach the
Fußball-Bundesliga (First German soccer league) a few years ago. It is currently intending to build a new stadium called
Coface Arena. In 2007 the
Mainz Athletics won the
German Men's Championsship in baseball. As a result of the 2008 invasion of Georgia by Russian troops, Mainz acted as a neutral venue for the Georgian Vs Republic of Ireland football game.
Attractions
thumb
- Roman-Germanic central museum (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum
). It is home to Roman, Medieval, and earlier artifacts.
- Antique Maritime Museum (Museum für Antike Schifffahrt
). It houses the remains of five Roman boats from the late 4th century, discovered in the 1980s.
- Roman remains, including Jupiter's column, Drusus' mausoleum, the ruins of the theatre and the aqueduct.
- Mainz Cathedral of St. Martin (Mainzer Dom
), over 1,000 years old.
- The Iron Tower (Eisenturm
, tower at the former iron market), a tower from the 13th century.
- The Wood Tower (Holzturm
, tower at the former wood market), a tower from the 14th century.
- The Gutenberg Museum – exhibits an original Gutenberg Bible amongst many other printed books from the 15th century and later.
- The Mainz Old Town – what's left of it, the quarter south of the cathedral survived World War II.
- The Electoral Palace (Kurfürstliches Schloss
), residence of the prince-elector .
- Marktbrunnen
, one of the largest Renaissance fountains in Germany.
- Domus Universitatis
(1615), for centuries the tallest edifice in Mainz.
- Christ Church (Christuskirche
), built 1898–1903, bombed in ’45 and rebuilt in 1948–1954.
- The Church of St. Stephan, with post-war windows by Marc Chagall.
- Citadel.
- Schönborner Hof
(1668).
- Rococo churches of St. Augustin (the Augustinerkirche, Mainz) and St. Peter (the Petruskirche, Mainz).
- Church of St. Ignatius (1763).
- Erthaler Hof (1743).
- The Botanischer Garten der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, a botanical garden maintained by the university
Economy
Wine centre
Mainz is one of the centers of the
German wine economy
[5]as a center for wine trade and the seat of the state's wine minister. Due to the importance and history of the wine industry for the federal state, Rhineland-Palatinate is the only state to have such a department. The city is member of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network. Many wine traders also work in the town. The
sparkling wine producer Kupferberg produces in Mainz-Hechtsheim and even
Henkell — now located on the other side of the river Rhine — had been founded once in Mainz. The famous
Blue Nun, one of the first branded wines, had been marketed by the family Sichel.
Mainz had been a wine growing region since Roman times and the image of the wine town Mainz is fostered by the tourist center. The
Haus des Deutschen Weines
(English: House of the German Wine), is located in beside the theater. It is the seat of the German Wine Academy, the German Wine Institute (DWI) and the German Wine Fund (DWF). The Mainzer Weinmarkt (wine market) is one of the great wine fairs in Germany.
Other industries
The
Schott AG, one of the world's largest glass manufactures, as well as the
Werner & Mertz, a large chemical factory, are based in Mainz. Other companies such as
IBM or
Novo Nordisk have their German administration in Mainz as well.
Johann-Joseph Krug, founder of France's famous
Krug champagne house in 1843, was born in Mainz in 1800.
The
Port of Mainz, now handling mainly containers, is a sizable industrial area to the north of the city, along the banks of the Rhine. It will soon shift further northwards to open up space along the city's riverfront for residential development.
Miscellaneous
After the last
ice age, sand dunes were deposited in the Rhine valley at what was to become the western edge of the city. The
Mainz Sand Dunes area is now a nature reserve with a unique landscape and rare
steppe
vegetation for this area.
Johannes Gutenberg, credited with the invention of the modern
printing press with movable type, was born here and died here. The
Mainz University, which was refounded in 1946, is named after
Gutenberg; the earlier University of Mainz that dated back to 1477 had been closed down by Napoleon's troops in 1798.
Mainz was one of three important centers of
Jewish theology and learning in Central Europe during the Middle Ages. Known collectively as
Shum
, the cities of
Speyer,
Worms and Mainz played a key role in the preservation and propagation of Talmudic scholarship. (
See also:
Gershom ben Judah)
Mainz is famous for its
Carnival, the
Mainzer Fassenacht
or
Fassnacht
, which has developed since the early 19th century. Carnival in Mainz has its roots in the criticism of social and political injustices under the shelter of cap and bells; today, the uniforms of many traditional Carnival clubs still imitate and caricature the uniforms of the French and Prussian troops of the past. The height of the carnival season is on Rosenmontag ("rose Monday", before
Ash Wednesday), when there is a large parade in Mainz, with more than 500,000 people celebrating in the streets.
The first ever
Katholikentag, a festival-like gathering of German Catholics, was held in Mainz in 1848.
The city is well-known in Germany as the seat of Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (literally, "Second German Television",
ZDF), one of two federal nationwide TV broadcasters. There are also a couple of radio stations based in Mainz.
According to legend, Mainz is the supposed birthplace of
Pope Joan (John Anglicus), the woman who, disguised as a man, was elected pope, and served for two years during the
Middle Ages.
Notable people
- List of people related to Mainz
- Archbishops of Mainz
- List of mayors of Mainz
Twinning
Mainz is
twinned with:
- Watford, United Kingdom, since 1956
- Dijon, France, since 1957
- Longchamp, France, since 1966
- Zagreb, Croatia, since 1967
- Rodeneck/Rodengo, Italy, since 1977
|
- Valencia, Spain, since 1978
- Haifa, Israel, since 1981
- Erfurt, former East Germany, since 1988
- Baku, Azerbaijan, since 1984
- Louisville, Kentucky, USA, since 1994
|
Alternative names
Mainz is called by a number of
different names in other languages and dialects. These include:
Määnz
(formerly
Meenz
) in the local
West Middle German dialect, and
Mentz in
English or
Mayence
in
French. The latter name was also used in English, but this usage of Mayence has almost completely disappeared, although
Google Maps and
Google Earth use it. Other names for this city are:
Magonza
(
Italian),
Maguncia
(
Spanish),
Majnc
(
Serbian),
Mogúncia
(
Portuguese),
Moguncja
(
Polish),
Moguntiacum
(
Latin), and
Mohuc
(
Czech,
Slovak).
See also
References and notes
- Title Unavailable
- A second hypothesis suggests that Moguns was a wealthy Celtic person whose estate was taken for the fort and that a tax district was formed on the area parallel to other tax districts with a -iacum suffix (Arenacum, Mannaricium). One difficulty is that there is no evidence for the wealthy man or his estate, but there is plenty of evidence for the god. According to Carl Darling Buck in ''Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin'', -yo- and -k- are general Indo-European formative suffices and are not related to taxes. As the loyalty of the Vangiones was unquestioned and Drusus was campaigning over the Rhine, it is unlikely Moguntiacum would have been built to collect taxes from the Vangiones, who were not a Roman ''municipium''.
- :de:Neue Synagoge Mainz
- George S. Patton, ''War as I Knew It''
- Culture and History (from the Mainz city council website. Accessed 2008-02-10.)