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MAINZ (Fr. Mayence)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 445 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MAINZ (Fr. Mayence) a See also:city, episcopal see and fortress of See also:Germany, situated on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Rhine, almost opposite the influx of the See also:Main, at the junction of the important main lines of railway from See also:Cologne to See also:Mannheim and See also:Frankfort-on-Main, 25 M. W. of the latter, Pop. (1905), 91,124 (including a See also:garrison of 7500 men), of whom two-thirds are See also:Roman See also:Catholic. The Rhine, which here attains the greatest breadth of its upper course, is crossed by a magnificent See also:bridge of five See also:arches, leading to the opposite See also:town of See also:Castel and by two railway See also:bridges. The old fortifications have recently been pushed farther back, and their See also:place occupied by pleasant boulevards. The See also:river front has been converted into a See also:fine See also:promenade, commanding extensive views of the See also:Taunus range of mountains, and the " Rheingau," the most favoured See also:wine See also:district of Germany. Alongside the See also:quay are the landing-places of the steamboats navigating the Rhine. The railway, which formerly incommoded the bank, has been diverted, and now, following the ceinture of the new See also:line of inner fortifications, runs into a central station lying to the See also:south of the city. The interior of the old town consists chiefly of narrow and irregular streets, with many See also:quaint and picturesque houses. The See also:principal See also:street of the new town is the Kaiserstrasse, leading from the railway station to the river. The first See also:object of See also:historical and architectural See also:interest in Mainz is the See also:grand old See also:cathedral, an imposing Romanesque edifice with numerous See also:Gothic additions and details (for See also:plan, &c. see See also:ARCHITECTURE: Romanesque and Gothic in Germany).

It was originally erected between 975 and 1009, but has since been repeatedly burned down and rebuilt, and in its See also:

present See also:form See also:dates chiefly from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. The largest of its six towers is 300 ft. high. The whole See also:building was restored by See also:order of See also:Napoleon in 1814, and another thorough renovation was made more recently. The interior contains the tombs of See also:Boniface, the first See also:archbishop of Mainz, of See also:Frauenlob, the Minnesinger, and of many of the See also:electors. Mainz possesses nine other Roman Catholic churches, the most noteworthy of which are those of St See also:Ignatius, with a finely painted See also:ceiling, of St See also:Stephen, built 1257–1328, and restored after an See also:explosion in 1857, and of St See also:Peter. The old electoral See also:palace (1627–1678), a large building of red See also:sandstone, now contains a valuable collection of Roman and Germanic antiquities, a picture See also:gallery, a natural See also:history museum, the See also:Gutenberg Museum, and a library of 220,000 volumes. Among the other principal buildings are the palace of the grand duce of See also:Hesse, built in 1731–1739 as a See also:lodge of the See also:Teutonic order, the See also:theatre, the See also:arsenal, and the See also:government buildings. A handsome statue of Gutenberg, by See also:Thorwaldsen, was erected at Mainz in 1837. Mainz still retains many See also:relics of the Roman See also:period, the most important of which is the Eigelstein, a See also:monument believed to have been erected by the Roman legions in See also:honour of See also:Drusus. It stands within the citadel, which occupies the site of the Roman castrum. A little to the south-See also:west of the town are the remains of a large Roman See also:aqueduct, of which upwards of sixty pillars are still See also:standing. The educational and scientific institutions of Mainz include an episcopal See also:seminary, two gymnasia and other See also:schools, a society for literature and See also:art, a musical society, and an antiquarian society.

The university, founded in 1477, was suppressed by the See also:

French in 1798. The site of Mainz would seem to See also:mark it out naturally as a See also:great centre of See also:trade, but the illiberal See also:rule of the archbishops and its military importance seriously hampered its commercial and See also:industrial development, and prevented it from rivalling its See also:neighbour Frankfort. It is now, however, the See also:chief See also:emporium of the Rhenish wine See also:traffic, and also carries on an extensive transit trade in See also:grain, See also:timber, See also:flour, See also:petroleum, See also:paper and vegetables. The natural facilities for See also:carriage by See also:water are supplemented by the extensive railway See also:system. Large new harbours to the See also:north of the city were opened in 1887. The principal manufactures are See also:leather goods, See also:furniture, carriages, chemicals, musical See also:instruments and carpets, for the first two of which the city has attained a wide reputation. Other See also:industries include See also:brewing and See also:printing. Mainz is the seat of the administrative and judicial authorities of the See also:province of Rhein-Hessen, and also of a Roman Catholic See also:bishop. History.—Mainz, one of the See also:oldest cities in Germany, was originally a See also:Celtic See also:settlement. Its strategic importance was See also:early recognized by the See also:Romans, and about 13 B.C. Drusus, the son-in-See also:law of See also:Augustus, erected a fortified See also:camp here, to which the castellum Mattiacorum (the See also:modern Castel) on the opposite bank was afterwards added, the two being connected with a bridge at the opening of the See also:Christian era. The Celtic name be-came latinized as Maguntiacum, or Moguntiacum, and a town gradually arose around the camp, which became the See also:capital of Germania See also:Superior.

During the Volkerwanderung Mainz suffered severely, being destroyed on different occasions by the See also:

Alamanni, the See also:Vandals and the See also:Huns. See also:Christianity seems to have been introduced into the town at a very early period, and in the 6th See also:century a new Mainz was founded by Bishop Sidonius. In the See also:middle of the 8th century under Boniface it became an archbishopric, and to this the primacy of Germany was soon annexed. See also:Charlemagne, who had a palace in the neighbourhood, gave privileges to Mainz, which See also:rose rapidly in See also:wealth and importance, becoming a See also:free city in 1118. During the later middle ages it was the seat of several diets, that of 1184 being of unusual See also:size and splendour. In 116o the citizens revolted against Archbishop See also:Arnold, and in 1163 the walls of the city were pulled down by order of the See also:emperor See also:Frederick I. But these events did not retard its progress. In 1244 certain rights of self-government were given to the citizens; and in 1254 Mainz was the centre and mainspring of a powerful See also:league of Rhenish towns. Owing to its commercial prosperity it was known as goldene Mainz, and its See also:population is believed to have been as great as it is at the present See also:day. But soon a decline set in. In 1462 there was warfare between two See also:rival archbishops, Diether or See also:Dietrich II. of Isenburg (d. 1463) and Adolph II. of See also:Nassau (d.

1475). The citizens espoused the cause of Diether, but their city was captured by Adolph; it was then deprived of its privileges and was made subject to the See also:

arch-bishop. Many of the inhabitants were driven into See also:exile, and these carried into other lands a knowledge of the art of printing, which had been invented at Mainz by Johann Gutenberg in 1450. During the See also:Thirty Years' See also:War Mainz was occupied by the Swedes in 1631 and by the French in 1644, the fortifications being strengthened by the former under Gustavus See also:Adolphus; in 1688 it was captured again by the French, but they were driven out in the following See also:year. In 1792 the citizens welcomed the ideas of the French Revolution; they expelled their archbishop, See also:Friedrich Karl See also:Joseph d'Erthal, and opened their See also:gates to the French troops. Taken and retaken several times during the next few years, Mainz was ceded to See also:France by the treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, and again by the Treaty of See also:Luneville in 18or. In 1814 it was restored to Germany and in 1816 it was handed over to the grand See also:duke of Hesse; it remained, however, a fortress of the See also:German See also:confederation and was garrisoned by Prussian and See also:Austrian troops. Since 1871 it has been a fortress of the German See also:Empire. There were disturbances in the city in 1848. See Briihl, Mainz, geschichtlich, topographisch and malerisch (Mainz, 1829); C. A. Schaab, Geschichte der Stadt Mainz (Mainz, 1841–1845); K.

See also:

Klein, Mainz and See also:seine Umgebungen (1868); C. G. Bockenheimer, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Stadt Mainz (1874); Neeb, Fiihrer durch Mainz and Umgebung (See also:Stuttgart, 1903) ; and 0. See also:Beck, Mainz and sein See also:Handel (Mainz, 1881). The ARCHBISHOPRIC OF MAINZ, one of the seven electorates of the See also:Holy Roman Empire, became a powerful See also:state during the middle ages and retained some of its importance until the See also:dissolution of the empire in 18o6. Its archbishop was See also:president of the electoral See also:college, arch-See also:chancellor of the empire and See also:primate of Germany. Its origin dates back to 747, when the city of Mainz was made the seat of an archbishop, and a See also:succession of able and ambitious prelates, obtaining lands and privileges from emperors and others, made of the district under their rule a strong and vigorous state. Among these men were Hatto I. (d. 913), Siegfried III. of Eppstein (d. 1249), See also:Gerhard of Eppstein (d. 1305), and See also:Albert of See also:Brandenburg (d.

1545), all of whom played important parts in the history of Germany. There were several violent contests between rivals anxious to secure so splendid a position as the electorate, and the pretensions of the archbishops occasionally moved the citizens of Mainz to revolt. The lands of the electorate See also:

lay around Mainz, and were on both See also:banks of the Rhine; their See also:area at the See also:time of the French Revolution was about 3200 sq. m. The last elector was Karl Theodor von See also:Dalberg. The archbishopric was secularized in 1803, two years after the lands on the left bank of the Rhine had been seized by France. Some of those on the right bank of the river were given to See also:Prussia and to Hesse; others were formed into a grand duchy for Dalberg. The archbishopric itself was transferred to See also:Regensburg. For the history of the electorate see the Scriptores rerum moguntiacarum, edited by G. C. Joannis (Frankfort, 1722–1727); Schunk, Beitrage zur Mainzer Geschichte (Frankfort, 1788–1791) ; Hennes, See also:Die Erzbischofe von Mainz (Mainz, 1879) ; Ph. Jaffe, Monument¢ moguntina (See also:Berlin, 1866), and J. F.

See also:

Bohmer and C. Will, Regesta archiepiscoporum moguntinensium (See also:Innsbruck, 1877–1886).

End of Article: MAINZ (Fr. Mayence)

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