Fritzlar

Fritzlar is a small German town (pop. 15,000) in northern Hesse, 160 km north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany (north and east of the Roman Limes) began and the birthplace of the German nation as a political entity.

Related Topics:
German - Hesse - Frankfurt - Limes

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The town has a medieaval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. 37 meters high, the Graue Turm ("Grey Tower") is the highest remaining urban defense tower in Germany. The city hall, first documented in 1109, with a stone relief of St. Martin, the town's patron saint, is the oldest in Germany still in use for its original purpose. The Gothic church of the old Franciscan monastery is today the Protestant parish church, while its other buildings have been converted into a modern hospital. Many houses in the town center, notably around the market square, date from the 14th to 16th centuries and have been carefully maintained or restored. The town is dominated by the imposing Romanesque-Gothic cathedral from the 12th-14th centuries in the center of the old town. (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Fritzlar_dom_st_peter.jpg)

Related Topics:
Medieaval - 1109 - St. Martin - Franciscan - Romanesque - Gothic - Cathedral

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