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NASSAU , a territory of See also: Germany, now forming the bulk of the See also: government See also: district of See also: Wiesbaden, in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, but until 1866 an See also: independent and See also: sovereign duchy of Germany
.
It consists of a compact mass of territory, 1830 sq. m. in See also: area, bounded on the S. and W. by the See also: Main and Rhine, on the N. by Westphalia and on the E. by Hesse
.
This territory is divided into two nearly equal parts by the See also: river See also: Lahn, which flows from See also: east to west into the Rhine
.
The See also: southern See also: half is almost entirely occupied by the See also: Taunus Mountains, which attain a height of 2900 ft. in the See also: Great Feldberg, while to the See also: north of the Lahn is the barren Westerwald, culminating in the Salzburgerkopf (2000 ft.)
.
The valleys and low-lying districts, especially the Rheingau, are very fertile, producing abundance of grain, See also: flax, See also: hemp and fruit; but by far the most valuable product of the See also: soil is its See also: wine, which includes several of the choicest Rhenish varieties, such as Johannisberger, Marcobrunner and Assmannshauser
.
Nassau is one of the most thickly wooded regions in Germany, about 42% of its See also: surface being occupied by forests, which yield See also: good See also: timber and harbour large quantities of See also: game
.
The See also: rivers abound in See also: fish, the See also: salmon See also: fisheries on the Rhine being especially important
.
There are upwards of a See also: hundred See also: mineral springs in the district, most of which formerly belonged to the duke, and afforded him a considerable See also: part of his revenue
.
The best known are those of Wiesbaden, See also: Ems, Soden, See also: Schwalbach, See also: Schlangenbad, Geilnau and Fachingen
.
The other mineral See also: wealth of Nassau includes iron, See also: lead, copper, See also: building See also: stone, coals, slate, a little
See also: silver and a See also: bed of See also: malachite
.
Its manufactures, including See also: cotton and woollen goods, are unimportant, but a brisk See also: trade is carried on by See also: rail and river in wine, timber, grain and fruit
.
There are few places of importance besides the above-named spas; See also: Hochst is the only manufacturing See also: town
.
Wiesbaden, with 100,955 inhabitants, is the capital of the government district as it was of the duchy . In 1864 the duchy contained 468,311 in-habitants, of whom 242,000 were Protestants, 215,000See also: Roman Catholics and 7000 Jews
.
The ecclesiastical jurisdiction was in the hands of the See also: Protestant See also: bishop of Wiesbaden and the Roman Catholic bishop of See also: Limburg
.
See also: Education was amply provided for in numerous higher and See also: lower See also: schools
.
The See also: annual revenue of the dukedom was about £400,000 and it furnished a contingent of 6000 men to the army of the See also: German Confederation
.
See also: History.—During the Roman See also: period the district enclosed by the Rhine, the Main and the Lahn was occupied by the Mattiaci and later by the Alamanni
.
The latter were subdued by the Franks under See also: Clovis at the end of the 5th century, and at the See also: partition of See also: Verdun in 843 the country became part of the East Frankish or German See also: kingdom
.
See also: Christianity seems to have been introduced in the 4th century
.
The founder of the See also: house of Nassau is usually regarded as a certain Drutwin (d. ro76), who, with his See also: brother See also: Dudo, count of Laurenburg, built a See also: castle on a See also: hill overlooking the Lahn, near the
See also: present town of Nassau
.
Drutwin's descendant Walram (d
.
1198) took the title of count of Nassau, and placed his lands under the immediate See also: suzerainty of the German See also: king; previously he had been a vassal of the
See also: arch-bishop of See also: Trier
.
Then in 1255 Walram's grandsons, Walram and See also: Otto, divided between them their paternal See also: inheritance, which had been steadily increasing in See also: size
.
Walram took the part of Nassau lying on the See also: left See also: bank of the Lahn and made Wiesbaden his residence; Otto took the part on the right bank of the river and his capital was See also: Siegen
.
The See also: brothers thus founded the two branches of the house of Nassau, which have flourished to the present See also: time
.
The fortunes of the Ottonian, or younger See also: line, belong mainly to the history of the See also: Netherlands
.
The See also: family was soon divided into several branches, and in the 15th century one of its members,
Count Engelbert I
.
(d
.
1442), obtained through See also: marriage lands in See also: Holland
.
Of his two sons one took the Dutch, and the other the German possessions of the house, but these were
See also: united again in 1504 under the sway of See also: John, count of Nassau-Dillenburg, the
See also: head of a branch of the family which, in consequence of a series of deaths, the last of which took place in 1561, was a few years later the See also: sole representative of the descendants of Count Otto
.
John's son was Count See also: William the
See also: Rich (d
.
1559), and his See also: grandson was the See also: hero, William the Silent, who inherited the principality of Orange in 1544 and surrendered his prospective inheritance in Nassau to his brother John (d
.
16o6)
.
William and his descendants were called princes of Orange-Nassau, and the line became See also: extinct when the See also: English king William III. died in 1702
.
Meanwhile the descendants of Count John, the rulers of Nassau, were flourishing
.
They were divided into several branches, and in 1702 the head of one of these, John William Friso of Nassau-Dietz (d . 1711), whose ancestor had been made a See also: prince of the See also: Empire in 1654, inherited the title of prince of Orange and the lands of the English king in the Netherlands
.
A few years later in 1743 a number of deaths left John William's son, William, the sole representative of his family, and as such he ruled over the ancestral lands both in Nassau and in the Netherlands
.
In 18o6, however, these were taken from a succeeding prince, William VI., because he refused to join the Confederation of the Rhine
.
Some of them were given in 1815 to the other main line of the family, the one descended from Count Walram (see below)
.
In 1815 William VI. became king of the Netherlands as William I., and was compensated for this loss by the See also: grant of parts of Luxemburg and the title of
See also: grand-duke
.
When in 1890 William's male line died out Luxemburg, like Nassau, passed to the descendants of Count Walram
.
In the See also: female line he is now represented by the See also: queen of the Netherlands
.
Adolph of Nassau, a son of Walram, the founder of the elder line 'of the house of Nassau, became German king in 1292, but was defeated and slain by his See also: rival, See also: Albert of See also: Austria, in 1298
.
The territories of his descendants were partitioned several times, but these branch lines did not usually perpetuate them-selves beyond a few generations, and Walram's share of Nassau was again united in 1605 under See also: Louis II. of Nassau-
See also: Weilburg (d
.
1626)
.
Soon, however, the family was again divided; three branches were formed, those of Saarbriicken, Idstein and Weil-See also: burg, the heads of the first two becoming princes of the Empire in 1688
.
Other partitions followed, but at the opening of the 19th century only two lines were flourishing, those of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg . In 18o1 See also: Charles William, prince of Nassau-Usingen, was deprived by
See also: France of his lands on the left bank of the Rhine, but both he and See also: Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg, who suffered a similar loss, received ample compensation
.
In 18o6 both Frederick William and Frederick See also: Augustus, the brother and successor of Charles William, joined the Confederation of the Rhine and received from See also: Napoleon the title of duke, but after the See also: battle of See also: Leipzig they threw in their See also: lot with the See also: allies, and in 1815 joined the German See also: Con-federation
.
As a result of the changes of 1815 Frederick Augustus of Nassau-Usingen ceded some of his newly-acquired lands to Prussia, receiving in return the greater part of the German possessions of the Ottonian branch of the house of Nassau (see above)
.
In See also: March 1816 he died without sons and the whole of Nassau was united under the
See also: rule of Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg as duke of Nassau
.
Already in 1814 Frederick William had granted a constitution to his subjects, which provided for two representative See also: chambers, and under his son William, who succeeded in 1816, the first landtag met in 1818
.
At once, however, it came into collision with the duke about the ducal domains, and these dissensions were not settled until 1836
.
In this See also: year the duchy took an important step in the development of its material prosperity by joining the German Zollverein
.
In 1848 Duke Adolph, the son and successor of Duke William, was compelled to yield to the temper of the times and to grant a more liberal constitution to Nassau, but in the following years a series of reactionary See also: measures reduced matters to their formerunsatisfactory condition
.
The duke adhered stedfastly to his conservative principles, while his See also: people showed their sympathies by electing one liberal landtag after another
.
In 1866 Adolph espoused the cause of Austria, sent his troops into the See also: field and asked the landtag for
See also: money
.
This was refused, Adolph was soon a fugitive before the Prussian troops, and on the 3rd of See also: October 1866 Nassau was formally incorporated with the kingdom of Prussia
.
The deposed duke entered in 1867 into a See also: convention with Prussia by which he retained a few castles and received an indemnity of about 1,500,000 for renouncing his claim to Nassau
.
In 189o, on the extinction of the collateral line of his house, he became grand-duke of Luxemburg, and he died on the 17th of See also: November 1905
.
The town of Nassau (See also: Lat
.
Nasonga) on the right bank of the Lahn, 15 M. above See also: Coblenz, is interesting as the birthplace of the Prussian statesman, Freiherr von Stein
.
Pop
.
(1905) 2238
.
It has a Roman Catholic and an Evangelical See also: church, while its main
See also: industries are See also: brewing and See also: mining
.
Near the town are the ruins of the castle of Stein, first mentioned in 1138, with a marble statue of Stein, while the ruins of the ancestral castle of the house of Nassau may also be seen
.
For the history of Nassau see Hennes, Geschichte der Grafen von Nassau bis 1255 (Cologne, 1843) ; von Schutz, Geschichte See also: des Herzog-turns Nassau (Wiesbaden, 1853) ; von Witzleben, Genealogie and Geschichte der Furstenhauses Nassau (See also: Stuttgart, 1855) ; F
.
W
.
T
.
Schliephake and K
.
Menzel, Geschichte von Nassau (Wiesbaden, 1865—1889) ; the Codex diplomaticus nassoicus, edited by K . Menzel and W . Sauer (1885—188;); and the Annalen des Vereins fiir nassauische Altertumskunde and Geschichtsforschung (1827 fol.) . |
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