Greater Hesse

Greater Hesse (German: Groß-Hessen) 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.

Formation

Greater Hesse was formed from parts of two German states that were dissolved in the aftermath of World War II:

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.

Hesse

Hesse /ˈhɛs/ or Hessia (German: Hessen [ˈhɛsn̩], Hessian dialect: Hesse [ˈhɛzə]) is a federal state (Land) of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden; the largest city is Frankfurt am Main. Until the formation of the German Reich in 1871, Hesse was an independent country ruled by a Grand Duke (Grand Duchy of Hesse). Due to divisions after World War II, the modern federal state does not cover the entire cultural region of Hesse which includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen) in the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The English name "Hesse" originates in the Hessian dialects. The variant "Hessia" comes from the medieval Latin Hassia. The German term Hessen is used by the European Commission because their policy is to leave regional names untranslated (paragraphs 1.31 & 1.35). The term "Hesse" ultimately derives from a Germanic tribe called the Chatti, who settled in the region in the first century B.C. An inhabitant of Hesse is called a Hessian (German: Hesse (masculine) or Hessin (feminine)). The synthetic element hassium, number 108 on the periodic table, is named after the state of Hesse.

Hesse (disambiguation)

Hesse is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.

Hesse may also refer to:

Sports

See also

Hesse (surname)

Hesse is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:

See also