Philologos
Bible Prophecy Research
Submitted by: research-bpr@philologos.org
Update: April 06, 2001

Eclipse Path Contents

August 11, 1999 Eclipse Path
Germany

1. Founded (1680) by Louis XIV, for whom it was named, was fortified (1680–85) by Vauban and became a major French frontier fortress. It was awarded (1815) to Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. As part of the Saar Territory it was administered by France from 1919 to 1935 and from 1945 to 1957. From 1935 to 1945 the city was known as Saarlautern. Karl Marx born here.

2. The arms were granted by King Louis XIV of France. The name of the fortress was also derived from the name of the King. The arms are typical French, the three fleur-de-lis in the header are the French royal symbol and are present in the majority of the arms of cities in France. The lower part represents the king himself, Louis XIV's nickname was the Solar King. To the arms also belonged the motto Dissipat Atque Fovet and a wall-crown, both of which are typical French (the motto comes from the royal arms). The arms survived all historical changes and were used as arms and on seals. Only in 1937 the arms were changed, as was the name. To Saarlautern arms were granted showing an eagle behind a city wall. The eagle had the swastika on his breast. In 1945 both the old name and the arms were restored (by the French occupational government...!).

1. Capital of Saarland, W Germany. It is the leading industrial center of the Saar coal basin and an important road and rail junction, with an airport nearby. There are also major industries in iron and steel. Located on the site of earlier Celtic, Roman, and Frankish settlements, Saarbrücken was chartered in 1321. It was the capital of the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken, a dependency of the Walramian counts of Nassau, from 1381 until its occupation (1793) by the French. The city passed to Prussia in 1815. From 1919 to 1935 and again from 1945 to 1957, Saarbrücken was included in and was the capital of the French-administered Saar Territory.

2. Although badly damaged in World War II, the city retains the 15th-century late Gothic Castle Church, the old city hall (1750), and a baroque church, the Ludwigskirche (1762–75). The city is the site of the Univ. of the Saarland.

3. Jews probably present in 1321 when Duke John I granted city its charter and reserved jurisdiction over Jews. 1935 accused of disloyalty and subjected to intensive harassment. Synagogue burned down on Nov. 9/10, 1938 and by summer of 1939 only 177 Jews were left. Jews of the Saar were deported, together with Baden Jewry, to Gurs in 1940. After war a new community founded and a new synagogue built in 1951.

4.The arms were granted in 1909 after the merger of the three cities to new Saarbrücken. The lion is the lion of Nassau-Saarbrücken, the county of which the city was the capital. The origin of the bordure I don't know. The rose is the old symbol for St. Johann and, combined with the lion, was used on the common seals of Saarbrücken and St. Johann since 1462. The miners tools were taken from the arms of Malstatt-Burbach. The above arms are the smaller arms of the city, which are also used in daily life. The large arms show the Prussian eagle behind the shield, and holding the Royal stick an orb (regalia) in his claws.

1. The first arms of the city date from 1886 and showed a miner and some symbols of mining, the lion of the Pfalz and the arms of Bavaria, as Sankt Ingbert at the time belonged to Bavaria. The present arms were grante din 1947 and show the cross as a canting symbol for 'Sankt'; the tools represent the mining, the wheel the industry. The fleur-de-lis are taken from the arms of the Knights of St. Ingebrt, the oldest noble family of the area, whereas the church represents the local church of St. Ingbertus.

1.Manufactures include iron and steel, and coal mining is important. Neunkirchen was first mentioned in the 13th cent.

2. The city grew due to the mining activities. The village became a city in 1922 and in 1935 the first arms were devised. The arms showed a wheel and a wolf's hook, the old village symbol. In 1946 the arms were finally granted and show the local church (canting symbol) and the symbols of mining and industry. The wolf's-hook resembled too much the swastika and was thus removed.

1. Jews were present in the city around 1321.

2. Sankt Wendel got city rights from Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria in 1332 and is thus one of the oldest cities in Saarland. The oldest seal dates from the early 15th century and shows the patron saint St. Wendelin holding the present arms. Later, 17th century, seals show the same image. St. Wendelin was the son of a Scottish King, who preached in the area as a missionary in the 7th century. He is buried in the town. The fleur-de-lis in the arms are supposedly a Scottish symbol, the cross is the cross of the State of Trier, to which Sankt Wendel belonged. The present arms were officially granted in 1907.

1. Transportation center and has ironworks, steelworks. It is also a noted horse-breeding center, horse races are held there. It was virtually demolished in World War II but has since been reconstructed.

2.Zweibrücken was already an important town in the 13th century, but it did not receive city rights until 1352. The oldest seal dates from about the same time. The arms show the lion as in the present arms. It is the lion of the counts of Zweibrücken, a younger line of the counts of Saarbrücken. In 1385 they sold the city and surrounding area to the Wittelsbach family, but the arms did not change. The present arms were officially granted in 1846. The arms of the counts of Zweibrücken also forms part of the arms of the county Homburg.

1. A leading German shoe and boot manufacturing center. Founded in the 8th cent. The city was heavily damaged in World War II.

1. It is a commercial, industrial, and cultural center, and a center for banking and rail shipment. The city was repeatedly devastated by warring armies, notably by the Spanish (1635) in the Thirty Years War. During the French Revolutionary Wars the Prussians defeated (1793) the French there.

2. Charlemagne built a castle in Kaiserslautern that was later enlarged (1153–58) by Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa); some ruins of the castle remain today. Has a noted early Gothic collegiate church (13th–14th cent.) and an art gallery.

3. Jewish community dates from 1242, but it is probably somewhat older. Black Death persecution 1348–49. Jews lived on a Judengasse Between 1383 and 1388 expelled "forever" but during the 17th and 18th centuries a few tolerated. Synagogue, built in 1823, was rebuilt in 1848, and a Reform synagogue dedicated in 1886 (the massive neo-Gothic structure was sold and dismantled before November 1938). A cemetery was consecrated in 1858. 48 deported to Gurs on Oct. 22, 1940. In 1951 a synagogue was consecrated.

4. Kaiserslautern became a city already in the 12th century. The oldest seal is known since 1262 and shows a pale between two towers behind walls. The fess probably is the Lauter river. In a seal from 1373 two fish are added on the pale, and one tower is transformed into a church. In the 17th century the buildings are removed and only one fish is shown, identical to the present arms. The fish have not always been shown on the pale. In a roll of arms from 1530 the arms are as they are today, but without the fish. Similarly, on another 14th century seal the arms, without fish, are placed on the breast of the imperial eagle. The colors are also not changed since the roll of arms in 1530, the oldest colored image of the arms. There is another story about the origin of the fish : In the year 1497 Prince Philipp had a huge fish served at a royal banquet in Heidelberg. The fish was 6m in length and weighed about 350 pounds. This fish was caught in the Kaiserwoog (imperial pond) in Lautern. The fish had a ring around its neck, stating that it was the first fish released in the pond on the 5th of October 1230 by emperor Frederic II. The fish thus was 267 years old at the time.

1. Jews in Offenburg during 13th century. Black Death (1348–49), three Jews "confessed" under torture they had poisoned wells. Although well was examined and no signs of poison were found, Jews expelled. Town gates not reopened to Jews until 1862. A community formally established in 1866. Offenburg seat of district rabbinate. On 9/10 Nov., 1938, interior of the synagogue was demolished, and 91 Jews deported to Gurs on Oct. 22, 1941.

2. Offenburg was a free imperial city from the 13th century until 1803, when the city became a possession of Baden. The town was granted city rigths in the 13th century. Between 1240 and 1803 the city was ruled by vassals for the German Emperor, such as the Viscounts of Baden, the Counts of Fürstenberg and the Archdukes of Austria. Regardless the actual ruler, the arms never changed. The arms show the image seen on the oldest seal of the city, which is probably made around 1260. All seals and images of the arms of the city have used the simple castle. Often in such cases the arms of the overlord (here the Emperor) or the local vassal were added in the gate. This never happened with Offenburg.

1. Jews were first mentioned in the late 13th century. Judengasse is noted in 1329. 1347 tconflict between Jews and townspeople. Black Death persecutions of 1349 the community was destroyed. Late 15th and early 16th centuries Jews constantly threatened with expulsion, which finally took place in 1545. Synagogue erected in 1884. With advent of Nazis to power, program of terrorization of Jewish community began. On June 19, 1933, gang of Nazis invaded Cafe Central, smashed windows, furniture, and crockery and forced those present to face the wall, beating them with rubber batons until they collapsed. The next day, 12 local Jews were arrested and paraded through the streets with obscene posters around their necks. They were then taken to a house on the outskirts of the town and flogged. Nazi boycott of Jewish firms instituted as well as a boycott of non-Jewish firms in which Jewish funds were invested. On Oct. 22, 1940, 89 Jews were deported to Gurs in southern France. In 1946, 20 Jewish concentration camp survivors established a community in Landau.

1. Chartered 1275. It is the center of the Rhenish Palatinate wine trade. The city is also a tourist center. The city is also known as Neustadt an der Haardt.

1. First mentioned in 1247. It was destroyed (1689) by the French, but was rebuilt soon thereafter and served as the residence of the margraves of Baden-Baden from 1705 to 1771. The Treaty of Rastatt (March, 1714) complemented the treaties signed at Utrecht and Baden in 1713–14; together they ended the War of the Spanish Succession. As a result of the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797), a congress of the states of the Holy Roman Empire (attended by France) was held (1797–99) at Rastatt in order to determine compensation for the member states that had lost territory near the Rhine River to France during the French Revolutionary Wars; the congress was prematurely adjourned after the resumption of hostilities against France. The city's name is sometimes spelled Rastadt.

2. Noteworthy buildings of the city include a baroque palace (17th–18th cent.) and several 18th-century churches.

3. The arms are canting, a Raste is a device used by grape-farmers to carry materials. The village was founded in the 13th century by the Counts of Calw-Eberstein, became a Markt in 1404 and a city in 1700. The oldest seal of the town dates from the early 16th century and shows a shield parted of the arms of Baden and the Raste as a canting symbol. This combination was used until around 1820 when the Baden part disappeared on the seals. The arms were officially adopted in 1898, nevertheless were the arms with the combination of Baden and the raste still used until the 1930s. Only the colours remind of the arms of Baden.

1. In the Black Forest. It is one of Europe's most fashionable spas.

2. The city has many parks and a large casino (built 1821–24). Was founded as a Roman garrison in the 3d cent. Its hot mineral springs were used by the Romans, and remains of Roman baths have been found in the city. It was the residence of the margraves of Baden until the early 18th cent.

3. Black Death, 1348–49, few Jews lived there but even these were expelled in 1470, as a result of the blood libel of Endingen (South Baden). Jews allowed to return to at beginning of the 16th century. Expelled 1614, but readmitted during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). In the first constitutional edict of May 14, 1807, Judaism was recognized as a tolerated religion; a year later, the sixth edict afforded the Jews irrevocable civil rights and abolished the marriage restrictions imposed on them. The ninth edict (the so-called "Judenedikt" of Jan. 13, 1809) granted the Jews an officially recognized state organization, required them to adopt permanent family names, and determined their as yet very curtailed civil status. The struggle for emancipation continued until 1862 when they achieved full civic equality. Anti-Jewish outrages in 1819 (Hep-Hep), 1848, and 1862. Among first to be deported from Germany. Transported to Gurs concentration camp (southern France), from where they were further deported to Poland from 1942 onward.

1. The arms are the old village sign of Gaggenau and they appear first on border stones from 1787. In the 19th century the symbol also appears in or without a shield, in the seals of the municipality. In 1900 the State Archives proposed new arms, based on the rapidly growing industry in the town. The new arms, which showed in the right half a wheel and in the left a glass-beaker were officially adopted in January 1901. After the incorporation of Ottenau in 1935 the arms were changed. The new arms showed the old village sign of Gaggenau, combined with the sickle of Ottenau. These arms have been used until January 7, 1971, when the present arms were granted. As now more municipalities were incorporated the sickle of Ottenau was no longer appropriate. Combining all arms was impossible, so the old village sign was restored.

1. On the northern fringes of the Black Forest. It is a transportation, industrial, and cultural center and is the seat of the federal constitutional court and the federal court of justice. Was founded in 1715 by Karl Wilhelm, margrave of Baden-Durlach, to replace nearby Durlach (incorporated into Karlsruhe in 1938) as the margravial residence. After 1771 it was the capital of the duchy (later grand duchy and, after 1919, state) of Baden. It is sometimes spelled Carlsruhe.

2. The old part of Karlsruhe, badly damaged in World War II, was laid out as a vast semicircle with the streets converging radially upon the ducal palace (1752–85; restored after 1945). The city has a university (founded as a technical academy in 1825), a school of fine arts, a school of music, a center for atomic research, well-known theaters and art galleries, and a large conference center, the Schwarzwaldhalle (1953–54).

3. Jews settled there shortly after its foundation in 1715. 1752 Jewry ordinance stated Jews were forbidden to leave the city on Sundays and Christian holidays, or to go out of their houses during church services; but they were exempted from service by court summonses on Sabbaths. They could sell wine only in inns owned by Jews and graze their cattle, not on the commons, but on the wayside only. Karlsruhe was the seat of the central council of Baden Jewry. Complete emancipation in 1862, Jews were elected to city council and Baden parliament, and from 1890 were appointed judges. Persecution during the Hep! Hep! riots in 1819. Anti-Jewish demonstrations in 1843, 1848, and 1880s During first years of Nazi regime the community continued to function and particularly to prepare Jews for emigration. On Oct. 22, 1938, all male Polish Jews living in Karlsruhe deported to Poland. Synagogues destroyed on Kristallnacht, November 1938; most of the men were arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp, but were released after they had furnished proof that they intended to emigrate. In October 1940, 895 Jews expelled and interned by the French Vichy authorities in Gurs in southern France, most of whom were deported from there to Auschwitz in November 1942. The 429 remaining Jews and non-Aryans deported to the east between 1941 and 1944. The Baden Central Jewish Council was reorganized in 1948. A new synagogue was built in 1969.

4. Karlsruhe is a relatively young city. It was founded around the castle of Count Karl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach in 1715-1718. The arms were granted to the young city in 1718. The main division of the field is the arms of Baden in opposite colors. The word Fidelitas is the Latin word for the Order of 'Der Treue', which was founded by Count Karl Wilhelm. During the18th and 19th century often the colors were identical to the arms of Baden. Not until 1895 the original colors were restored and the word Fidelitas was placed between two small black lines.

1. Black Death, 1348–49 persecution. 1588, 1589, and 1591, the representatives of Ettlingen pressed for the expulsion of the Jews from the city. Jews paid protection tax of 16 florins in 18th century, which was reduced to 8 florins in 1812. A prayer hall was opened in 1812 and a synagogue in 1849. On Oct. 22, 1939, nine Jews from Ettlingen deported to Gurs concentration camp.

1. On the Rhine River. The city, sometimes called Spires in English, is a river port and industrial center. Speyer is a noted cultural and historical center of the Rhine plain. Its site was originally settled by the Celts and was known under the Romans as Augusta Nemetum and Noviomagus. The city was destroyed (c.450) by the Huns but was later rebuilt and became (7th cent.) an episcopal see; in 1146 the Second Crusade was preached at Speyer by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. It was made a free imperial city in 1294, but its bishops ruled substantial territories on both sides of the Rhine as princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Several imperial diets were held there, notably the diet of 1529, at which Lutheran princes issued a strong protest against the anti-Lutheran measures of Emperor Charles V. The imperial chamber of justice (Ger. Reichskammergericht) was located at Speyer from 1526–27 to 1689; after the city had been devastated (1689) by the French during the War of the Grand Alliance, the chamber was moved to Wetzlar. Speyer, together with the territory of the bishops of Speyer W of the Rhine, was occupied by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars and formally ceded to France by the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797). The secularized bishopric E of the Rhine passed to Baden in 1803. Speyer and the episcopal lands W of the Rhine were subsequently given to Bavaria at the Congress of Vienna (1815); they were incorporated into the Rhenish Palatinate, of which Speyer was the capital until 1945.

2. The city has retained parts of its medieval wall and gates. Its four-towered Imperial Cathedral (begun c.1030 by Konrad II, completed 1061; altered 1082–1125; restored several times thereafter), is one of the greatest Romanesque buildings in Germany and contains the tombs of eight emperors. The Historical Museum of the Palatinate, located at Speyer, has large collections of pre-Roman and Roman materials and includes a wine museum. An early center of printing.

3. Jewish settlement from 1084; granted unrestricted freedom of trade and considerable autonomy. Expressly allowed to sell to Christians meat which was ritually unclean for Jews, and they did not have to pay any duties or tolls when entering or leaving the city. They also had the right to engage Christian servants. By 1096 a synagogue had been built. One of the first Rhine communities to suffer during First Crusade. 1195, 1282, 1342 blood libel. Judengasse that had Christians living there as well. Black Death persecutions, all property confiscated or destroyed while mob looked for gold. Graveyards plundered for building material and sown with corn. All debts to Jews annulled. Emperor Wenceslaus issued new letter of protection in 1394. 1405, 1430, 1435 expelled. 1468, 1472 anti-Jewish decrees including a ban on charging interest and practicing usury; forbidding Jews to appear publicly on Christian feast days; forcing Jews to wear distinctive clothing; forbidding the building of a school or synagogue without the bishop's permission; and an edict confining Speyer Jews to a ghetto. 1837 synagogue, enlarged in 1866. New cemetery in 1888. 1933 all community's cultural associations, youth societies banned. Government did business only with "Aryan" firms. Up to the outbreak of the war, many emigrated because of increasing anti-Semitic excesses. Almost all young Jews left the city. 51 were deported on Oct. 22, 1940 to Gurs concentration camp in France and almost all the rest to camps in Eastern Europe, where they perished. No new community established in Speyer after the war. Synagogue which had been built in 1836 destroyed in 1938, but cemetery still existed in 1971. Remains of the old Jews' court and Jewish public baths preserved in the Palatinate Historical Museum in Speyer along with a number of Jewish tombstones from 12th and 15th centuries and Jewish ritual objects from former community.

1. Jews there 1288. Community annihilated during Black Death, 1348–49. After a long interval Jews again settled in Bruchsal, but persecuted during Reformation. Synagogue, built in 1881, restored in 1923. On Nov. 11, 1938, synagogue was burned down. By 1939 community had declined to 166. Of those who remained 79 deported to the Gurs concentration camp in 1940. The community no longer exists. 

1. On the Enz River, at the northern end of the Black Forest. It is the center of the German jewelry and watchmaking industry. An important medieval trade center, Pforzheim often changed hands until it passed to the margraves of Baden in the 13th cent.; the city served as their residence until 1565. Was damaged in the Thirty Years War (1618–48) and was devastated (1689) by the French in the War of the Grand Alliance; later, more than three quarters of the city was destroyed in World War II.

2. Noteworthy buildings include an 11th-century church (the only remains of the former margravial residence) and the Romanesque Church of St. Martin.

3. Jews there from 13th century. 1267 discovery of corpse of drowned girl gave rise to a blood libel against Jewish community, and leaders killed. Their martyrdom was extolled in religious verse and the day of their death (20th Tammuz) set aside as a fast day. Community almost annihilated during Black Death persecutions of 1349. All Jews expelled in 1614. 1812 synagogue built. 1893, new synagogue built, later renovated in 1930. A cemetery was consecrated in 1846 and a school founded in 1832. With the rise of Nazism, Jewish enterprises were boycotted and the community was further depleted through emigration, largely to the U.S. and Erez Israel. On Nov. 10, 1938, the synagogue was desecrated and partly demolished. One hundred and eighty-three Jews were deported to the Gurs concentration camp on Oct. 22, 1940; 21 returned after the war. They were affiliated with the Karlsruhe community and possessed a new cemetery. A memorial was erected in 1967 on the site of the synagogue.

1. On the Neckar River. It is a cultural and industrial center. Was chartered c.1200, passed to the counts (later dukes) of Württemberg in the mid-14th cent., and became the second capital of Württemberg in the mid-15th cent. The old part of the city retains its medieval character;

2. Noteworthy buildings include the city hall (1435), the late-Gothic Church of St. George (15th cent.), and Hohentübingen, a castle first mentioned in the 11th cent. and later (16th cent.) renovated in Renaissance style. Famous for its university (founded 1477), where Melanchthon taught (1512–18); its theological faculty was famous in the 19th cent. as the Tübingen School, founded by F. C. Baur. Hegel and the astronomer Johannes Kepler both studied at the theological school.

3. Jews mentioned in 1335. The Judengasse was south of the town's bridge. 1459 accused of charging high interest. The founding of the university at Tuebingen in 1477 occasioned the expulsion of the Jews from the city and a ban against doing any business there. In 1815 the first Jewish student, Samuel Harum Mayer, was admitted to the university by special permission of the Wuerttemberg king; Jewish students were admitted generally from 1821. 1882 a synagogue was consecrated in the city. With the rising of Nazism a general boycott of Jewish establishments was initiated and Jewish students had to leave the university. The synagogue was burned in November 1938, and the community was dissolved in 1939. Fourteen Jews were deported to the east in 1941–43.

1. Near the Neckar River. It is a transportation and industrial center. There are hot mineral springs in the suburb of Hoheneck.

2. Ludwigsburg grew around the large baroque castle built (1704–33) in imitation of Versailles by Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Württemberg.

3. It was not until 1958 that German courts began a systematic inquiry into the Auschwitz issue, prompted by complaints submitted by camp survivors, as well as by the investigations carried out by the newly established central office for the prosecution of Nazi criminals (Zentralstelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen—("central agency of the ministries of Justice of the laender") in Ludwigsburg).

1. A port on the Neckar River. A commercial and industrial center. Heilbronn was the site (early 9th cent.) of a Carolingian palace and in the 14th cent. became a free imperial city. Although it suffered in the wars of the 16th cent., particularly in the Peasants' War, the city rose to great commercial prosperity in the late 16th and early 17th cent. In 1802, Heilbronn passed to Württemberg, and later in the 19th cent. it acquired industrial importance. In World War II (especially 1944) much of the city was destroyed, but many of its historic buildings have been reconstructed.

2. Points of interest include the church of St. Kilian (13th–15th cent.) and the Götzenturm, a tower built in 1392, which is mentioned in Goethe's drama Götz von Berlichingen (1772).

3. Oct. 19, 1298, the followers of Rindfleisch massacred 143 Jews. Synagogue, cemetery, and lived on a Judengasse, where non-Jews also resided. Black Death persecutions between February and April 1349 the community was expelled and their property transferred to the city. After 1411 King Sigismund granted them protection of life and property, limited taxation, freedom of movement, and judicial autonomy in Jewish lawsuits; a Jewish oath was to apply in cases tried before the city court. Expelled three times during the 15th century, the last in 1490 when the synagogue and the cemetery were confiscated. Subsequently until the 19th century, individual Jews allowed into the city during the daytime on payment of a body-toll. A large synagogue was built in 1877. Nazi restrictions and discrimination, boycott of Jewish goods, vicious agitation in the press, and occasionally physical attacks. In 1936 community forced to establish its own elementary school. In October 1938, all Jews of Polish citizenship deported back to Poland. On Nov. 10–11, 1938, synagogue set on fire, windows of Jewish stores smashed, and Jewish homes destroyed. Many Jews from Heilbronn were sent to Dachau. In August 1939 the community was officially dissolved. About 550 Jews are known to have been deported from Heilbronn to concentration camps in the east between 1941 and 1945. Few returned after the war.

4. Heilbronn was founded in 1220 as a Royal city by Emperor Friedrich II. In 1281 it became a free Imperial city. As all free Imperial cities Heilbronn used the Imperial Eagle in its seals. At first the eagle faced left, but since the 14th century until today the eagle faces right (which is more common). Most Imperial cities use a breast-shield to distinguish the arms. For Heilbronn a small shield with the letters H and B was used until 1556. In that year the three-coloured shield appears in images and architecture in the city. At first the colours were blue-silver-red, which in the 19th century were replaced by the present red-silver-blue. The meaning or origin of the colours is not known.

1. On the Neckar River. It is a major transportation point, with a large river port and an international airport, and a sizable industrial center. It is also a tourist center and the site of industrial fairs. Its per capita income is the highest of any German city. Stuttgart was chartered in the 13th cent. In 1320 it became a residence of the counts (later dukes, from 1806 kings) of Württemberg, who made it their capital at the end of the 15th cent. The city expanded rapidly in the 19th and 20th cent. as its industrial plant grew. After World War I it became famous for the innovative architecture of its numerous modern buildings.The center of the city, which formed its oldest part, was almost totally destroyed in World War II. After 1945 many old buildings were restored, and striking modern structures (such as the city hall and the concert hall) were erected.

2. Other points of interest in the city include the Stiftskirche, a 12th-century church (redone in the 15th cent.); the rococo Solitude Palace (1763–67); the New Palace (1746–1807; now an administrative center); Rosenstein Palace (1824–29; now housing a museum of natural history); and the main railroad station (1914–27). The city has several other museums, a university, and an academy of fine arts.

3. A small Jewish community with a synagogue was in existence by 1330–40. In November 1348 during the Black Death persecutions, most Jews burned to death. Some time after 1492 Jews banished in consequence of the will (enacted as a state law in 1498) of Count Eberhard Ill of Wuerttemberg. In 1831 the Central Wuerttemberg Jewish Council was organized in Stuttgart under state and church supervision. In 1834 a cemetery was acquired (a new one in 1876). A synagogue was consecrated in 1861. Polish Jews were deported on Oct. 26, 1938. From late 1941 through early 1945 Stuttgart was the collection point for deportation of all Wuerttemberg Jews, beginning on July 1, 1941, to Riga (where the deportees were subsequently massacred), in 1942 first to Izbica, Auschwitz (four transports 1942–43), and then to Theresienstadt (Aug. 5, 1942 to Feb. 1945). About 1,000 Stuttgart Jews died in deportation or in concentration camps. A synagogue, the only one in Wuerttemberg, was consecrated in 1952.

4. Stuttgart became a city in the 13th century and the capital of the Counts of Württemberg in 1312. From the same year the first seal is known. It shows 2 running horses. The two horses also appear in the two next seals, the lower horse being smaller than the upper one. It has been mentioned that the arms thus showed a horse and a foal, but it is more likely due to the shape of the shield that the lower horse is smaller. The first seal with a single horse dates from 1433 and is so small, that there simply was no room for two horses. It is the first seal that shows only a single horse. All later seals until the end of the 18th century show a single horse. In the end of the 15th century a lady appears as a supporter behind the shield. The lady still appears in a seal from the end of the 17th century, but disappears in later seals. Similarly, in some seals appears a small star, but this star also disappears in the late 18th In a seal from 1642 the horse is first shown rampant, instead of running. Ever since the horse has been shown this way. A second horse appears again between 1750 and 1820. This time it clearly shown as a foal. This practice was also discontinued in the 1830s. Ever since the arms have not changed. The horse itself is a canting symbol. Stute = stud, and the name is supposed to have been Stutengarten, or garden of the studs. Duke Ludolf of Schwaben founded, according to legends, in 950 a horse breeding center and riding school on the spot of the present city. The colour of the horse is known as black since 1490. The field historically was silver, but started to change to gold since 1618 and 1854 to have the same colours as the arms of Württemberg. In between, silver and golden fields are used both. Furthermore, there are many variations of the arms known. First, the horse is sometimes shown facing left, instead or right. This was only seen in images, never on seals. The colours were shown in 1599 as red on a unrecognisable dark field. The actual shape of the horse varies widely, according to the style of the painter or sculptor. The arms were for the first time officially described in 1885 in the present colours and shape. The additions of smaller municipalities has not changed the arms.

1. Jews first mentioned Feb. 10, 1331. In 1338 mayor successfully protects Jews uprisings. Dec. 8, 1348 many suffer martyrdom during Black Death persecutions. April 20, 1349 Emperor Charles IV pardons crimes perpetrated against Jews and distributs properties of victims among rulers of regions where they had lived at the time of massacres. In 1942 the last Jews were deported to Theresienstadt and to Riga; none returned. After World War II a monument was set up in the city cemetery in memory of the Jews who perished during the Holocaust.  

1. 13th century community owned a synagogue, a drinking (or dance) hall, and a cemetery. “Jews' Street” is first mentioned in 1308, but Jewish residence was not confined to it. Black Death persecutions in 1349, Jews set fire to their synagogue; some committed suicide and others fled. 16th century Jews were admitted for short periods at high rents and taxes.Expelled in 1543. Synagogue built in 1817–19, a Jewish elementary school opened in 1825, and an orphanage established in 1842. During the Nazi regime interior of synagogue destroyed (1938) and building later used as a center for training Hitler youth. The last 34 Jews remaining in Esslingen deported in 1941–42, including some children of the orphanage and the headmaster.

1. The oldest seal of the city, dating from the early 14th century, shows a single eagle. In 1324 the town became part of Württemberg and soon thereafter the three deer antlers appeared. At first the antlers were in the proper colours (black on gold) , but in the 16th or 17th century the colours were changed. This was probably done to avoid confusion with the arms of Württemberg. The right part of the shield is probably derived from the arms of the St. Pancratius monastery in the town.

1. Was chartered by the Hohenstaufen in the mid-12th cent. The city was twice (1425, 1782) devastated by fire.

2. Noteworthy buildings include a church (15th cent.) and a castle (1559–69).  

1. Rems River, at the northern foot of the Swabian Jura mts. It has long been known as a gold-working and silver-working center. Founded by the mid-12th cent., Schwäbisch Gmünd was a free imperial city from 1268 until 1803, when it passed to Württemberg.

2. Noteworthy buildings include the city hall (1783–85) and the St. Johanniskirche (1210–30), a late Romanesque church. 

1. Known in 854, Ulm became (14th cent.) a free imperial city in Swabia and ruled a considerable territory N of the Danube. It was one of the greatest commercial centers and one of the most powerful cities of the medieval empire, reaching its zenith in the 15th cent. Changes in international trade routes during the 15th and 16th cent. and the religious wars in Germany (e.g., the Thirty Years War, 1618–48) caused its decline. Ulm accepted the Reformation c.1530 and was a member of the Schmalkaldic League. The city and its territory were awarded to Bavaria in 1803 at the Diet of Regensburg, but were transferred to Württemberg in 1810. Bavaria built Neu-Ulm on the opposite shore of the Danube, which forms the state boundary there. The industrial development of Ulm dates from the 19th cent. In World War II more than half of the city, including many old and historic buildings, was destroyed; most of the major historic buildings have since been restored.

2. The famous Gothic minster, begun in 1377, is the largest Gothic church in Germany after the Cologne Cathedral and has one of the world's highest church towers (528 ft/161 m). The city has a university and several museums. Albert Einstein was born (1879) in Ulm.

3. Jewish community mentioned in 1241. Judengasse, although not restricted to one quarter. Black Death persecutions community all but destroyed. 1499 all Jews given five months to leave the city. These acts were carried out under a policy known as Judenfreiheit ("freedom from Jewish settlement"), which was vigorously observed for two centuries. Only in 1712 were Jews even allowed to trade at the cattle market. Synagogue consecrated in 1873 and a cemetery in 1885. During Nazi era population of community declined in part due to the boycott of Jewish business establishments and anti-Semitic harassment; the old cemetery was desecrated in 1936; the same year Jewish children were no longer able to attend the public schools and a Jewish school was established in its place. On Nov. 10, 1938, the synagogue was burned down and many Jews were viciously beaten. Of 116 Jews deported from Ulm during World War II (45 were sent to Theresienstadt on Aug. 22, 1942), only four returned.

4. Ulm was a free imperial city and thus used the imperial eagle on its seals. The oldest seal of the city dates from 1244 and shows the eagle with a star and lily around the head, to distinguish the seal from other seals of imperial cities. The present arms are known since 1351. At first the eagle held a small shield with the arms, later the arms appear as a breast shield. Since the 17th century the eagle becomes less important and the arms regularly appear without the eagle. In 1803 the eagle was finally removed. The arms have not changed since.

1. The eel on the arms of Aalen is a canting symbol. It is already known since 1385. The town got city rights in 1339, and became imperial town in 1360. Nevertheless the arms remained the simple eel. Only in some seals the imperial eagle appeared, but not before 1691. The colour of the eel is known since the 16th century. The arms were officially granted in 1939, but in 1956 the arms were changed (the claws and bill of the eagle became black instead of red).

1. The arms show a canting Heiden (heathen), most likely a Turk. The head is known as a symbol for the town since 1556 when it appears on the seal of the town. The head does not appear in a shield until the 19th century. The colours were not standardized until the end of the 19th century.  

1. Capital of Swabia, Bavaria. The city is an important rail junction. Augsburg was founded (c.14 B.C.) by Augustus as a Roman garrison called Augusta Vindelicorum. In early medieval times it was controlled by the Frankish kings. It was made a free imperial city in 1276 and was later a powerful member of various Swabian leagues, including the Swabian League of 1488–1534. Augsburg was one of Europe's most important commercial and banking centers in the 15th and 16th cent. and was a rallying point of German science and art. Several important agreements, including the Augsburg Confession (1530), were concluded there during the Reformation. Augsburg suffered greatly in the Thirty Years War (1618–48). In 1806 it became part of Bavaria.

2. Augsburg's many noteworthy structures include the cathedral (begun in the 9th cent.); the 16th-century Fuggerei, an enclosed settlement for poor persons founded by the Fugger family; and the 17th-century town hall.

3. According to legend, Jewish community in Augsburg originated in the Roman period. Documentary evidence of Jews living there dates from 1212. Augsburg municipal charter of 1276, determining political and economic status of Jewish residents, adopted by several cities in south Germany. Until 1436 lawsuits between Christians and Jews brought before a mixed court of 12 Christians and 12 Jews. In 1298 and 1336 the Jews saved from massacre. Black Death (1348–49), many massacred and remainder expelled. 1434–36 forced to wear the yellow badge, and in 1439 expelled. After Jews were only permitted to visit Augsburg during the day on business. Also granted the right of asylum in times of war. 1530 synod of German community representatives convened in Augsburg, the seat of the Reichstag. 1871 Augsburg was the meeting place of a rabbinical assembly dealing with liturgical reform. 1938 magnificent synagogue, dedicated in 1912, burned down by Nazis. During World War II community ceased to exist as result of a series of deportations. Immediate postwar period, a camp was established there to house displaced Jews.

1. On the Danube River. Chartered in 1250, Ingolstadt was besieged (1632) by Gustavus II of Sweden during the Thirty Years War.

2. The Univ. of Ingolstadt (founded 1472 and removed to Landshut in 1802 and then to Munich in 1826) was a stronghold of the Counter Reformation. The city's noteworthy buildings include the splendid Gothic Liebfrauenmünster (15th–16th cent.) and other churches.

3. Jews probably went to Ingolstadt when expelled from Munich (1285) and Eichstaett (1298), but first mentioned in 1312. Black Death persecutions (1349) and was impoverished by the abolition of debts to Jews. 1373 Jews allowed to attend Ingolstadt's fairs but forced to flee to Nuremberg after anti-Jewish riots of 1384; synagogue converted into a church. 1450, after complaints about usury, those who had returned earlier arrested and ordered to leave, along with the rest of Bavarian Jewry. Four hundred years later, Jews still required entrance permits, valid for one day only. Synagogue built in 1872, renovated in 1967, and a cemetery consecrated in 1891

1. On the Amper River; chartered in 1391. It is a rail junction.

2. There is a 16th-century castle.

3. Nearby concentration camp was established on March 10, 1933. The first of the S.S.-organized camps, it became the model and training ground for all other camps when they were taken over by the S.S. The Dachau camp existed until it was captured by the Americans on April 29, 1945. During World War II, approximately 150 branches of the main camp established in southern Germany and Austria were also called "Dachau." The main camp consisted of 32 huts in two rows, surrounded by an electrified fence, in which there was a gate surmounted by the slogan Arbeit macht frei ("Labor Liberates"). It was at Dachau that permission was first given to the guards to shoot a prisoner approaching the barbed-wire fence, and this practice was encouraged by granting leave to guards who hit their target. Dachau produced commandants for other camps, including Rudolph Hoess. It was at Dachau that German doctors and scientists first experimented on prisoners. Gas chambers were built in Dachau but were never used. When Dachau was occupied by the American army, one of the uses made of the camp was for the concentration of German prisoners of war and war criminals, who were to be tried in the town of Dachau. Of these, 260 were sentenced to death, and 498 to imprisonment. The camp was later a transit camp for refugees and foreign citizens freed from concentration camps. Part of the camp is preserved as a memorial.

1. Capital of Bavaria, S Germany, on the Isar River near the Bavarian Alps. It is a financial, commercial, industrial, transportation, communications, and cultural center. Munich is also a major center for film production and book publishing, and is home to one of Europe's largest wholesale produce markets. The city is a major tourist and convention center. National Socialism (Nazism) was founded there, and on Nov. 8, 1923, Adolf Hitler failed in his attempted Munich “beer-hall putsch”—a coup aimed at the Bavarian government. Despite this fiasco, Hitler made Munich the headquarters of the Nazi party, which in 1933 took control of the German national government. Michael Cardinal Faulhaber, the archbishop of Munich, was one of the few outspoken critics of the National Socialist regime. In Sept. 1938 the Munich Pact was signed in the city; in 1939 Hitler suppressed a Bavarian separatist plot there. Munich was badly damaged during World War II, but after 1945 it was extensively rebuilt and many modern buildings were constructed.

2. Among the city's chief attractions are the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), a twin-towered cathedral built from 1468 to 1488; the Renaissance-style St. Michael's Church (1583–97); the Theatinerkirche (17th–18th cent.), a baroque church; Nymphenburg castle (1664–1728), with a porcelain factory (founded 1747) and the nearby Amalienburg (1734–39), a small rococo hunting château; the new city hall (1867–1908); Propyläen (1846–62), a monumental neoclassic gate; and the large English Garden (laid out 1789–1832). The city also has several leading museums, including the Old Pinakothek (built 1826–36), which houses a distinguished collection of paintings; the Bavarian National Museum (built 1894–99); the Schackgalerie; the Glyptothek (built 1816–30); and the Deutsche Museum, which has wide-ranging exhibits on science, technology, and industry. The seat of an archbishop, Munich has a famous university (founded 1472 at Ingolstadt; transferred in 1802 to Landshut and in 1826 to Munich) in addition to a technical university, a conservatory of music, an opera, numerous theaters, and many publishing houses. Other educational institutions include academies of art, music, military studies, philosophy, film, and television. Munich is also noted for its lively Fasching (Shrove Tuesday) and Oktoberfest (October festival) celebrations.

3. Second half of 13th century Munich Jews lived in their own quarter and possessed a synagogue, a ritual bath, and a hospital. Oct. 12, 1285, blood libel, 180 Jews who had sought refuge in the synagogue were burnt to death. Black Death (1348/49) community again annihilated. Remission of debts owed to Jews ordained by Emperor Wenceslaus (1378–1400) resulted in Munich Jews losing all their assets. 1413 accused of desecration of the Host. The clergy succeeded in having all the Jews of Upper Bavaria expelled in 1442, and eight years later they were also driven out of Lower Bavaria, where they had taken temporary refuge. Duke Albert gave the Munich synagogue to a physician, and it was subsequently converted into a church. For almost three centuries Jews were excluded from Munich and Bavaria. March 22, 1715, again ordered them to leave the country. Every year they had to pay a special tax to enable them to observe Sukkot. In 1805 freedoms returned. 1824 synagogue started to be built. Center for Bavarian community affairs. Sporadic anti-Semitic outbursts characterized years till Nazi seizure of power in 1933; the first concentration camp, Dachau, was erected near Munich. Munich Jewry was subjected to particularly vicious and continuous acts of desecration, discrimination, terror and boycotts. July 8, 1938, main synagogue torn down on Hitler's express orders. During the Kristallnacht two synagogues burned down, 1,000 male Jews arrested and interned in Dachau, and one was murdered. The communal center was completely ransacked. During the war a total of 4,500 Jews were deported from Munich (3,000 of them to Theresienstadt); only about 300 returned; 160 managed to outlive the war in Munich. A new community was founded in 1945 by former concentration camp inmates, refugees, displaced persons, and local Jews. In the following five years about 120,000 Jews, refugees, and displaced persons passed through Munich on their way to Israel. In 1966 a Jewish elementary school was opened, the second in Gemany, but the postwar community was repeatedly troubled by acts of desecration and vandalism (against synagogue and cemetery). In March 1970 the Jewish home for the aged was burned down and seven people lost their lives. The Munich library contains a particularly valuable collection of Hebrew manuscripts.

1. On the Isar River, founded in 724 by St. Corbinian, and its bishops held temporal power until the see was secularized in 1802–3. The diocese was restored in 1817, the archbishop of Munich being also bishop of Freising.

2. The city has a Romanesque cathedral (c.1160), with 18th-century baroque additions, and is the site of one of the world's oldest breweries, licensed in 1146.

3. The arms show in the upper part the arms of Bayern. Freising was the capital of the free State of Freising, ruled by the Bishops of the city. In 1803 the State was abandoned and the territory was incorporated into Bayern. The chief of Bayern appears first in 1811. The bear in the lower part is known since 1340. On the oldest seal the bear is seen between two towers. Above the gate the arms of the Bishops appear, a crowned Moor's head. The bear and the head represent St.. Corbinianus, a 7th century bishop of München. The towers were removed from the seals and arms in the 16th century, since 1696 the small shield was also removed. From 1696-1811 thus only the bear was used.

1. SE Germany, on the Isar River. Once the capital of Lower Bavaria, it is now a transportation and industrial center. Founded in 1204, Landshut became the residence of the dukes of Bavaria-Landshut in 1255. The city suffered heavily in the Thirty Years War (1618–48). From 1802 to 1826 it was the seat of the Bavarian university (now at Munich).

2. A 13th-century castle, Burg Trausnitz, overlooks the city. St. Martin's Church (1389) has one of the world's highest brick steeples (436 ft/133m).

3. The arms show three helmets, which may be a canting element for the -hut part of the name. They already appear in the oldest known seal, from 1275. The present arms show the helmets according to the old seal, but during the centuries the shape of the helmets has differed widely. The colours are known since the 15th century and are probably the Bavarian colours. Two savages were added as supporters in 1446 and are still sometimes used.

1. Hermann Goering, Nazi leader's birthplace.

BPR Home | Sky Signs Files | Jewish Calendar | Reference Guide | Online Books | Search | About Us

Please be advised that this domain (Philologos.org) does not endorse 100 per cent any link contained herein. This forum is for the dissemination of pertinent information on an end-times biblical theme which includes many disturbing, unethical, immoral, etc. topics and should be viewed with a mature, discerning eye.