Upper Hesse

Upper Hesse (top right) as one of the provinces of the People's State of Hesse in 1930.

Province of Upper Hesse, 1905

The province of Upper Hesse (German: Provinz Oberhessen) was one of three provinces in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and later the People's State of Hesse. Its territory covers the area of land north of the River Main in the historic region of Upper Hesse. The provincial capital and largest town of the rural provinces was the university town of Gießen.

History

The province emerged as part of the new order in Germany after the Vienna Congress of 1815. The other two provinces in Hess were Starkenburg (capital: Darmstadt) and Rhenish Hesse (capital: Mainz).

The provinces of the Grand Duchy were wound up on 31 Juli 1848 and replaced by administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke); this was reversed again on 12 May 1852.