Hanau

Title

Hanau

Description

Map shows the city map of Hanau

ca. 1650

Artist

Merian (1593-1650)

Matthäus Merian (1593 – 1650) , born in Basel, learned the art of copperplate engraving in Zurich and subsequently worked and studied in Strasbourg, Nancy, and Paris, before returning to Basel in 1615. The following year he moved to Frankfurt, Germany where he worked for the publisher Johann Theodor de Bry. He married his daughter, Maria Magdalena 1617. In 1620 they moved back to Basel, only to return three years later to Frankfurt, where Merian took over the publishing house of his father-in-law after de Bry's death in 1623. In 1626 he became a citizen of Frankfurt and could henceforth work as an independent publisher. He is the father of Maria Sibylla Merian, who later published her the famous and wellknown studies of flowers, insects and butterflies.

Historical Description

The history of Hesse in the 16th to 19th centuries was shaped by significant political, religious, and social changes. This period was marked by the Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, and changes within the German Confederation. In the 16th century, Hesse was a state in the Holy Roman Empire. The Reformation began in Hesse in 1527, when Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous of Hesse became one of the first German princes to adopt the Lutheran faith. As a result, Hesse became a center of the Reformation, which brought profound religious and political changes to the region. In the 17th century, Hesse was affected by the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The war, which plunged Europe into a devastating conflict, also had catastrophic consequences for Hesse. In particular, the mid-century saw economic decline and social hardships. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the war, but its economic and political repercussions were felt for a long time. In the 18th century, Hesse began to stabilize. The state was an important part of the Holy Roman Empire and was governed by the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel. Hesse-Kassel was a prosperous region, particularly benefiting from tax revenues generated through trade in iron and salt. The early 19th century was shaped by the Napoleonic Wars and the resulting upheavals. In 1806, Hesse-Kassel joined the Confederation of the Rhine and came under French influence. After the end of the Napoleonic era and the decisions of the Congress of Vienna (1815), Hesse-Kassel came under the control of the House of Hesse again but became part of the German Confederation, a loose union of German states. In 1866, Hesse took part in the Austro-Prussian War and, after the conflict, was annexed by Prussia and integrated into the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. By the end of the 19th century, Hesse had become part of the newly unified German Empire, established in 1871 under Prussian leadership, and the region experienced a phase of industrialization and modernization.