Fulda

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Fulda


Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Administrative region	Kassel
District	Fulda
Population	63,782 (2004)
Area	104.04 km²
Population density	613 /km²
Elevation	261 m
Coordinates	50°33′ N 9°40′ E
Postal code	36001–36043
Area code	0661
Licence plate code	FD
Mayor	Gerhard Möller (CDU)
Website	fulda.de

Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the Fulda River and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (Kreis).

1 History
- 1.1 Early Middle Ages
2 Rulers of Fulda through Secularization
3 Miscellaneous
4 People
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early Middle Ages

The Benedictine monastery of Fulda was founded in 744 by Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface, as one of Boniface's outposts in the reorganization of the church in Germany, and a base from which missionaries accompanied Charlemagne's armies in their political and military campaign to destroy heathen Saxony.

The initial grant for the abbey was signed by Carloman, the son of Charles Martel. The support of the Mayors of the Palace and later, the early Pippinid and Carolingian rulers, was important to Boniface's success. Fulda also received support from many of the leading families of the Carolingian world. Sturm, whose tenure as abbot lasted from 747 until 779, was most likely related to the Agilolfing dukes of Bavaria. Fulda also received large and constant donations from the Etichonids, a leading family in Alsace, and the Conradines, predecessors of the Salian Holy Roman Emperors. Under Sturm, the donations Fulda received from these and other important families helped in the establishment of daughter houses Johannesberg and Petersberg near Fulda.

After his martyrdom by the Frisians, the relics of Saint Boniface were brought back to Fulda. Because of the stature this afforded the monastery, the donations increased, and Fulda could establish daughter houses further away, for example in Hameln. Meanwhile Saint Lullus, successor of Boniface as archbishop of Mainz, tried to absorb the abbey into his archbishopric, but failed. This was one reason that he founded Hersfeld Abbey, to limit the attempts of the enlargement of Fulda.

Between 790 and 819 the community rebuilt the main monastery church to more fittingly house the relics. They based their new basilica on the (since demolished) Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, using the transept and crypt plan of that great pilgrimage church to frame their own saint as the "Apostle to the Germans". The crypt of the original abbey church still holds those relics, but the church itself has been subsumed into a Baroque renovation. A small, 9th century chapel remains standing within walking distance of the church, as do the foundations of a later women's abbey.

The great scholar Rabanus Maurus was abbot from 822 to 842.

From its foundation on the abbey Fulda and its territory was based on an Imperial grant and therefore a sovereign principality subject only to the German emperor. Fulda was made a bishopric in 1752 and the prince-abbots were given the additional title of prince-bishop. The prince-abbots (and later prince-bishops) ruled Fulda and the surrounding region until the bishopric was forcibly dissolved by Napoleon's minions in 1802.

The city went through baroque building campaign in the 1700's resulting in the current “Baroque City” status. This included a remodel of the Dom of Fulda (1704-1712) and the Fulda Stadtschloss (1707-1712) by Johann Dientzenhofer. The city parish church, St. Blasius, was built between 1771–1785. From 1764 until 1789 Fulda had a porcelain factory. Because of its quality and rarity, it is much prized by collectors. The factory was begun under Prince-Bishop, Prince-Abbot Heinrich von Bibra and closed down shortly after his death by his successor, Prince-Bishop, Prince-Abbot Adalbert von Harstall.

[edit] Rulers of Fulda through Secularization

Fulda is a stronghold of Catholicism in Germany

Abbots

St. Sturmius 744-779
Baugulf 779-802
Ratgar 802-817
Eigil von Fulda 818-822
Rabanus Maurus 822-842
Hatto I. 842-856
Thioto 856-869
Sigihart 869-891
Huoggi 891-915
Helmfried 915-916
Haicho 917-923
Hiltibert 923-927
Hadamar 927-956
Hatto II. 956-968
Werinheri 968-982
Branthoh I. 982-991
Hatto III. 991-997
Erkanbald 997-1011
Branthoh II. 1011-1013
Poppo 1013-1018, also Abbot of Lorsch (Franconian Babenberger)
Richard 1018-1039
Sigiwart 1039-1043
Rohing 1043-1047
Egbert 1047-1058
Siegfrid I. von Mainz (Sigfried von Eppenstein) 1058-1060
Widerad von Eppenstein 1060-1075
Ruothart 1075-1096
Godefrid 1096-1109
Wolfhelm 1109-1114
Erlolf von Bergholz 1114-1122
Ulrich von Kemnaten 1122-1126
Heinrich I. von Kemnaten 1126-1132
Bertho I. von Schlitz 1132-1134
Konrad I. 1134-1140
Aleholf 1140-1148
Rugger I. 1148
Heinrich II. von Bingarten 1148-1149
Markward I. 1150-1165
Gernot von Fulda 1165
Hermann 1165-1168
Burchard Graf von Nürings 1168-1176
Rugger II. 1176-1177
Konrad II. 1177-1192
Heinrich III. von Kronberg im Taunus 1192-1216
Hartmann I. 1216-1217
Kuno 1217-1221

Prince-Abbots

Konrad III. von Malkes 1221-1249
Heinrich IV. von Erthal 1249-1261
Bertho II. von Leibolz 1261-1271
Bertho III. von Mackenzell 1271-1272
Bertho IV. von Biembach 1273-1286
Markward II. von Bickenbach 1286-1288
Heinrich V. Graf von Weilnau 1288-1313
Eberhard von Rotenstein 1313-1315
Heinrich VI. von Hohenberg 1315-1353
Heinrich VII. von Kranlucken 1353-1372
Konrad IV. Graf von Hanau 1372-1383
Friedrich I. von Romrod 1383-1395
Johann I. von Merlau 1395-1440
Hermann II. von Buchenau 1440-1449
Reinhard Graf von Weilnau 1449-1472
Johann II. Graf von Henneberg-Schleusingen 1472-1513
Hartmann II. Burggraf von Kirchberg 1513-1521/29
Johann III. Graf von Henneberg-Schleusingen 1521/29-1541
Philipp Schenk zu Schweinsberg 1541-1550
Wolfgang Dietrich von Eusigheim 1550-1558
Wolfgang Schutzbar (named Milchling) 1558-1567
Philipp Georg Schenk zu Schweinsberg 1567-1568
Wilhelm Hartmann von Klauer zu Wohra 1568-1570
Balthasar von Dernbach (nanmed Grauel) 1570-1576, 1602-1606
Johann Friedrich von Schwalbach 1606-1622
Johann Bernhard Schenk zu Schweinsberg 1623-1632
Johann Adolf von Hoheneck 1633-1635
Hermann Georg von Neuhof (named Ley) 1635-1644
Joachim Graf von Gravenegg 1644-1671
Cardinal Gustav Adolf (Baden) (Bernhard Gustav Markgraf von Baden-Durlach) 1671-1677
Placidus von Droste 1678-1700
Adalbert I. von Schleifras 1700-1714
Konstantin von Buttlar 1714-1726
Adolphus von Dalberg 1726-1737

Fulda, c. 1830

Prince-Abbots & Prince-Bishops

Amand von Buseck, 1737-1756, Prince-Bishop starting 1752
Adalbert II. von Walderdorff 1757-1759
Heinrich VIII. von Bibra, 1759-1788
Adalbert von Harstall, 1789-1814, Prince-Bishop until 1802

[edit] Miscellaneous

Weser river watershed, showing Fulda River and the city of Fulda.

Fulda also lends its name to the "Fulda Gap", a traditional east-west invasion route used by Napoleon and others. The old West/East German border passed just east of Fulda, and large Soviet and East German forces were stationed in the area. Any conventional war between NATO and Soviet forces was figured to include an invasion through the Gap, and the US Army stationed the 14th and later the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment) (the Blackhorse Regiment) in the city and surrounding areas as the front line of NATO defenses. The relationship between the regiment and the city was very strong even during difficult periods of German-American relations, and when the Regiment was withdrawn in 1994, the city published a memorial book in tribute to that relationship.