Mainz
Mainz (French Mayence) is a city in Germany, capital of the German Bundesland Rheinland-Pfalz, and is located at the confluence of the Main River with the Rhine. Population (2002): 183,822 (an additional 18,619 people maintain a primary residence elsewhere but have a second home in Mainz). The city consists of 15 districts: Altstadt, Neustadt, Mombach, Gonsenheim, Hartenberg-MÃÂünchfeld, Oberstadt, Bretzenheim, Finthen, Drais, Lerchenberg, Marienborn, Hechtsheim, Ebersheim, Weisenau, and Laubenheim. Until 1945, the districts of Bischofsheim (now an independent city), Ginsheim and Gustavsburg (which together are an independent city), AmÃÂöneburg, Kastel, and Kostheim (which are now part of the city of Wiesbaden) belonged to Mainz. They were separated when the Rhine became the boundary between the French occupation zone (Rheinland-Pfalz) and the American occupation zone (Hessia).
Mainz was founded in 13 BC as Moguntiacum by Roman soldiers. During the Holy Roman Empire, Mainz was ruled by the archbishop, who also served as the secular prince for the discontiguous area ranging from the immediate vicinity to places as far away as Erfurt. The "Mainzer Republik" was declared during the French Revolution in 1792-1793, but was soon occupied by and later (1801) annexed by France. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the city and surrounding area were awarded to the Grand Duchy of Hessia, also known as Hesse-Darmstadt. From 1919-1930 and again from 1945-1949 the city was occupied by French troops. In 1947 it became the capital of the newly created province of Rheinland-Pfalz. Mainz' downtown was heavily damaged in World War II.
Johannes Gutenberg was born and died in Mainz. The local university (founded in 1946) is named for him. A previous University of Mainz was closed during the Napoleonic era.
Mainz was also a center for the Christianisation of the German and Slavic people. The first Archbishop of Mainz, Boniface, was killed while trying to missionize the Frisians and is buried in Fulda. Beginning with Willigis (975-1011) until the end of the Holy Roman Empire the Archbishops of Mainz were archchancellors of the Empire and the most important of the seven Electors who elected the German Emperor. Apart from Rome, Mainz is the only diocese in the world whose episcopal see is called a Holy See (sancta sedes). The Archbishops of Mainz traditionally were primas germaniae, the substitutes of the Pope north of the Alps. In the diocesan reorganisation following the Napoleonic era, the see of Mainz was demoted to a bishopric under the metropolitan jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Freiburg, and the borders of the diocese were adjusted to coincide with those of the Grand Duchy of Hessia. In 2001 the current Bishop of Mainz Karl Lehmann was appointed a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II. The importance of Mainz as an episcopal city is reflected in today's title of Cardinal Lehmann: His Eminence Karl Cardinal Lehmann, Cardinal-Priest of the Holy Roman Church, By the grace of God and the mercy of the Holy Roman See, Bishop of the Holy See of Mainz
Mainz is famous for its "Mainzer Fastnacht", a large party (Mardi Gras) which reaches its climax at "Rose Monday" when many of the citizens and tourists (approx. 500,000) are celebrating the beginning of Lent.
The city is well-known in Germany as the seat of Second German Television (ZDF), one of two national public TV channels. It is also one of the seats of SWR, a local public television and radio channel, which serves Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-WÃÂürttemberg from here and its studios in Baden-Baden.