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WORMS

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 833 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WORMS , a See also:

city of See also:Germany, in the See also:grand-duchy of See also:Hesse-See also:Darmstadt, situated in a fertile See also:plain called the Wonnegau, on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Rhine, 25 M. S. of See also:Mainz, 20 M. N.W. of See also:Heidelberg, and 9 m. by See also:rail N.W. of See also:Mannheim. Pop. (1895) 28,636; (1905) 43,841, about a third of whom are See also:Roman Catholics. The See also:town is irregularly built, and some of the old walls and towers still remain, but its See also:general aspect is See also:modern. The See also:principal See also:church and See also:chief See also:building is the spacious See also:cathedral of SS. See also:Peter and See also:Paul, which ranks' beside those of See also:Spires and Mainz among the noblest Romanesque churches of the Rhine (see .See also:ARCHITECTURE: Romanesque and See also:Gothic in Germany). This magnificent See also:basilica, with four See also:round towers, two large domes, and a See also:choir at each end, has a specially imposing exterior, though the impression produced by the interior is also one of See also:great dignity and simplicity, heightened by the natural See also:colour of the red See also:sandstone of which it is built. Only the ground See also:plan and the See also:lower See also:part of the western towers belong to the See also:original building consecrated in I I I0; the See also:remainder was mostly finished by 1181, but the See also:west choir and the vaulting were built in the 13th See also:century, the elaborate See also:south portal was added in the 14th century, and the central See also:dome has been rebuilt. The ornamentation of the older parts is See also:simple to the See also:verge of rudeness; and even the more elaborate later forms show no high development of workmanship. The See also:baptistery contains five remarkable See also:stone reliefs of the See also:late 15th century.

The cathedral is 358 ft. See also:

long, and 89 ft. wide, or including the transepts, which are near the west end, 118 ft. (inside measurements). It belongs to the Roman See also:Catholic community, who possess also the church of St See also:Martin and the church of Our See also:Lady (Liebfrauenkirche), a handsome Gothic edifice outside the town, finished in 1467. The principal See also:Protestant See also:place of See also:worship is the Trinity church, built in 1726. Second in See also:interest to the cathedral is the church of St Paul, also in the Romanesque See also:style, and dating from IIO2-1116, with a choir of the See also:early 13th century, cloisters and other monastic buildings. This church has been converted into an interesting museum of See also:national antiquities. The late Romanesque church of St See also:Andrew is not used. The old See also:synagogue, an unassuming building erected in the 1th century and restored in the 13th, is completely modernized. The Jewish community of Worms (about 1300 in number) claims to be the most See also:ancient in Germany and to have existed continuously since the See also:Christian era, though the earliest See also:authentic mention of it occurs in 588. A curious tradition, illustrating the efforts of the dispersed See also:people ,to conciliate their oppressors, asserts that the See also:Jews of Worms, gave their See also:voice against the crucifixion, but that their messenger did not arrive at See also:Jerusalem until after the event. The town See also:hall was rebuilt in 1884. The Bischofshof, in which the most famous See also:diet of Worms (1521) was held, is now replaced by a handsome modern See also:residence.

The Luginsland is an old See also:

watch-See also:tower of the 13th century. In the Lutherplatz rises the imposing See also:Luther See also:monument (unveiled in 1868), on a See also:platform 48 ft. sq. In the centre the See also:colossal statue of Luther rises, on a See also:pedestal at the See also:base of which are sitting figures of Peter See also:Waldo, Wycliffe, Hus and See also:Savonarola, the heralds of the See also:Reformation; at the corners of the platform, on lower pedestals, are statues of Luther's contemporaries, See also:Melanchthon, See also:Reuchlin, See also:Philip of Hesse, and See also:Frederick the See also:Wise of See also:Saxony, between which are allegorical figures of See also:Magdeburg (See also:mourning), Spires (protesting) and See also:Augsburg (confessing). The greater part of the See also:work, which took nine years to execute, was designed by See also:Rietschel, and carried out after his See also:death in 1861 by Gustav Kietz (1826-1908), Adolf von Donndorf (b. 1835) and Johannes Schilling (b. 1828). The " Rosengarten " on the opposite bank of the Rhine. associated with the stories of the wooing of See also:Kriemhild (see infra), has been laid out in keeping with the old traditions and was opened with great festivities in 1906. Extensive See also:burial-grounds, ranging in date from See also:neolithic to Merovingian times, have recently been discovered near the city. The See also:trade and See also:industry of Worms are important, and not the least resource of the inhabitants is See also:vine-growing, the most famous vintage being known as Liebfraumilch, grown on vine-yards near the Liebfrauenkirche. The manufacture of patent See also:leather employs about 5000 hands. Machinery, See also:wool, See also:cloth, See also:chicory, slates, &c., are also produced.

Worms possesses a See also:

good See also:river See also:harbour, and carries on a considerable trade by See also:water. Worms was known in Roman times as Borbetomagus, which in the Merovingian See also:age became Wormatia, afterwards by popular See also:etymology connected with Wurm, a See also:dragon. The name Borbetomagus indicates a See also:Celtic origin for the town, which had, however, before See also:Caesar's See also:time become the See also:capital of a See also:German tribe, the Vangiones. See also:Drusus is said to have erected a fort here in 14 B.C. In 413 the See also:emperor Jovinus permitted the Burgundians under their See also:king Guntar or Guntiar to See also:settle on the left bank of the Rhine between the Lauter and the See also:Nahe. Here they founded a See also:kingdom with Worms as its capital. Adopting Arianism they came into conflict with the See also:Romans, and under their king Gundahar or Gundicar (the See also:Gunther of the See also:Nibelungenlied) See also:rose in 435 against the Roman See also:governor See also:Aetius, who called in the See also:Huns against them. The destruction of Worms and the Burgundian kingdom by the Huns in 436 was the subject of heroic legends afterwards incorporated in the Nibelungenlied (q.v.) and the Rosengarten (an epic probably of the late 13th century). In the Nibelungenlied King Gunther and See also:Queen See also:Brunhild hold their See also:court at Worms, and Siegfried comes hither to woo Kriemhild. Worms was rebuilt by the See also:Merovingians, and became an episcopal see, first mentioned in 614, although a See also:bishop of the Vangiones had attended a See also:council at See also:Cologne as early as 347. There was a royal See also:palace from the 8th century, in which the Frankish See also:kings, including See also:Charlemagne, occasionally resided. The See also:scene of the graceful though unhistorical See also:romance of See also:Einhard and Emma, the daughter of Charlemagne, is laid here.

Under the German kings the See also:

power of the bishops of Worms gradually increased, although they never attained the importance of the other Rhenish bishops. See also:Otto I. granted extensive lands to the bishop, and in 979 Bishop Hildbold acquired comital rights in his city. Burchard I. (bishop from l000 to 1o25)destroyed the See also:castle of the Franconian See also:house at Worms, built the cathedral and laid the See also:foundations of the subsequent territorial power of the see. There were frequent struggles between the bishops and the citizens, who espoused the cause of the emperors against them; and were rewarded by privileges which fostered trade. Herny IV. granted a See also:charter to Worms in 1074, and held a See also:synod there in 1076, by which See also:Pope See also:Gregory VII. was declared deposed. See also:Henry V. acquired Worms in 1121 by the treaty of Wtirzburg, built a castle and granted privileges to the city, which retained its freedom until 18o1, in spite of the bishops, who ruled a small territory south of the city, on both sides of the Rhine, and resided at Ladenburg near Mannheim till 1622. The city of Worms was frequently visited by the imperial court, and won the See also:title of " See also:Mother of Diets." The See also:concordat of Worms closed the See also:investiture controversy in 1122. The " perpetual See also:peace " (ewiger Landfriede) was proclaimed by the emperor See also:Maximilian I. at the diet of 1495, and Luther appeared before the famous diet of 1521 to defend his doctrines in the presence of See also:Charles V. Four years later, Worms formally embraced Protestantism, and religious conferences were held there in 1J40 and 1557. It suffered severely during the See also:Thirty Years' See also:War. After being sacked in turn by See also:Mansfeld, See also:Tilly and the Spaniards, it was taken by Oxenstierna in 1632, who held a See also:convention here with his German See also:allies.

The imperialists again took Worms in 1635, and it admitted the See also:

French under See also:Turenne in 1644. The French under Melac burnt the city almost entirely in 1689, and it has only fully recovered from this See also:blow in See also:recent years.

End of Article: WORMS

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