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158-711: The Rhine Province was bounded on the north by the Netherlands , on the east by the Prussian provinces of Westphalia and Hesse-Nassau , and the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt , on the southeast by the Palatinate (a district of the Kingdom of Bavaria ), on the south and southwest by Lorraine , and on the west by Luxembourg , Belgium and the Netherlands. The small exclave district of Wetzlar , wedged between

316-479: A pars pro toto for the entire country. Many Dutch people object to the country being referred to as Holland instead of the Netherlands , on much the same grounds as many Welsh or Scottish people object to the United Kingdom being referred to as England. In particular, those from regions other than Holland find it undesirable or misrepresentative to use the term Holland for the whole country, as

474-458: A Spanish prisoner, nailed it on a vessel's prow, and invited the townsmen to come and fasten their teeth in it, which many did with savage satisfaction. The Duke of Alba attempted to suppress the Protestant movement in the Netherlands. Netherlanders were "burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive" by his " Blood Council " and Spanish soldiers. Bodies were displayed along roads to terrorise

632-534: A confiscation of ration cards. German is now the third official language of Belgium, along with French and Dutch (see German-Speaking Community of Belgium ). After the enlargement of the French occupation zone by the American withdrawal from the occupation (1919–1930) , the French encouraged the establishment of an independent Rhenish Republic by banking on traditional anti-Prussian resentments, especially in

790-603: A crossing of the river the day before the much anticipated Rhine crossings by the 21st Army Group ( First Canadian Army and the British Second Army ) under Field Marshal Montgomery in the third week of March 1945. Operation Varsity was a massive airborne operation in conjunction with Operation Plunder , the amphibious crossings. By early April, the Rhine had been crossed by all the Allied armies operating west of

948-780: A direct successor of the Rhine Province administration. There is no equivalent successor in Rhineland-Palatinate or Saarland. Netherlands – in Europe  (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (light green) The Netherlands , informally Holland , is a country in Northwestern Europe , with overseas territories in the Caribbean . It

1106-684: A distinct governmental structure of their own. They were utilized as a buffer zone between the Republic and the Spanish-controlled Southern Netherlands . In the Dutch Golden Age , spanning much of the 17th century, the Dutch Empire grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers. Science, military and art (especially painting ) were among the most acclaimed in the world. By 1650,

1264-515: A long record of social tolerance , having legalised prostitution and euthanasia , along with maintaining a liberal drug policy . The Netherlands allowed women's suffrage in 1919 and was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001. Its mixed-market advanced economy has the eleventh-highest per capita income globally. The Hague holds the seat of the States General , Cabinet , and Supreme Court . The Port of Rotterdam

1422-551: A mercantile middle class began to develop in these urban areas, especially in Flanders, and later Brabant. Wealthy cities started to buy certain privileges for themselves from the sovereign. Around 1100 AD, farmers from Flanders and Utrecht began draining and cultivating uninhabited swampy land in the western Netherlands, making the emergence of the County of Holland as the centre of power possible. The title of Count of Holland

1580-644: A plebiscite in 1935, when the region was returned to Germany. In fact, the last Allied troops left Germany five years early, in 1930, as a result of an agreement reached between Germany and the Allies in parallel with the Young Plan on German war reparations . Sections of the Rhineland, which had once belonged to the Habsburg Netherlands ' Duchy of Limburg , were annexed by Belgium according to

1738-562: A space of about 30,000 acres (120 km), about half of which was in the valley of the Mosel , a third in that of the Rhine itself, and the rest mainly on the Nahe and the Ahr . In the hilly districts more than half the surface was sometimes occupied by forests, and large plantations of oak are formed for the use of the bark in tanning. Considerable herds of cattle were reared on the rich pastures of

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1896-433: A state of almost continual war or paradoxically formed personal unions. As Frankish settlement progressed from Flanders and Brabant, the area quickly became Old Low Franconian (or Old Dutch). Around 1000 AD, due to several agricultural developments, the economy started to develop at a fast pace, and the higher productivity allowed workers to farm more land or become tradesmen. Towns grew around monasteries and castles , and

2054-497: A total area of 41,543 km (16,040 sq mi), including water bodies, and a land area of 33,481 km (12,927 sq mi). The Caribbean Netherlands has a total area of 328 km (127 sq mi) It lies between latitudes 50° and 54° N , and longitudes 3° and 8° E . The Netherlands is geographically very low relative to sea level and is considered a flat country, with about 26% of its area and 21% of its population below sea level. The European part of

2212-481: A total area of 41,850 km (16,160 sq mi)—of which the land area is 33,500 km (12,900 sq mi)—the Netherlands is the 33rd most densely populated country, with a density of 535 people per square kilometre (1,390 people/sq mi). Nevertheless, it is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products by value, owing to its fertile soil , mild climate, intensive agriculture , and inventiveness . The four largest cities in

2370-656: Is a separate Bereich is that it, in contrast to the other 99% of Mosel's vineyard area, is located in the state of Saarland , and therefore is supervised by this state's government. All of Moseltor is located within the borders of Perl . The wines of the Upper Mosel, especially along the Saar and Ruwer tributaries, are characterized by their low alcohol content in the 6-9% range with intense fruity notes and high acidity. An obscure local poet once described them as 'Sonnenfeuer, Sternengold, Kühlen Mondlichtschein' - The fire of

2528-451: Is centered on the city of Trier. The Middle Mosel or Mittelmosel is the main wine growing region and includes the villages of Bernkastel and Piesport . The Middle Mosel begins at the village of Zell and extends south to just north of the village of Schweich . The slate-based soil here is said to have one of the most recognizable terroir with the wines, especially Riesling, displaying slatey mineral notes. The Lower Mosel includes

2686-472: Is home to some of the steepest vineyards in the Mosel planted on soil composed of blue devonian slate, red slate and quartzite . Many of the vineyards of the lower Mosel are terraced, which has led many producers to adopt the name Terrassenmosel, which sounds nicer than Untermosel in German. This district produces a higher proportion of dry wines than the rest of the region. A well known vineyard from this area

2844-654: Is now the southern Netherlands: the Menapii and the Eburones . Under Augustus , the Roman Empire would conquer the entirety of the modern day Netherlands, incorporating it into the province of Germania Antiqua in 7 BC, but would be repelled back across the Rhine after the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, with the Rhine becoming fixed as Rome's permanent northern frontier around 12 AD. Notable towns would arise along

3002-500: Is one of 13 German wine regions ( Weinbaugebiete ) for quality wines ( Qualitätswein , formerly QbA and Prädikatswein ) , and takes its name from the Mosel River ( French : Moselle ; Luxembourgish : Musel ). Before 1 August 2007 the region was called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer , but changed to a name that was considered more consumer-friendly. The wine region is Germany 's third largest in terms of production but some consider it

3160-482: Is primarily lesser sites previously planted with "low quality" varieties that have been abandoned in this process; during the 20-year period from 1988 to 2008, plantings of Müller-Thurgau decreased by 55% and those of Elbling by 49%. However, in 2007 and 2008, the negative trend in total plantations has been broken, and the Mosel vineyard surface has seen a small increase of 59 hectares (150 acres) in two years. The projected Mosel High Bridge will cross and affect some of

3318-405: Is that the wine produced from these sites are typically of a lower quality than Riesling wines which in turn has a depressing economic effect on the prices of all Mosel wines. While consumers have benefited with top quality Riesling wines being underpriced in comparison with some of the world's other great wines from places like Bordeaux , Burgundy and California , the economic hardship created by

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3476-458: Is the Juffermauer located near Treis-Karden , whose name means "Virgin-Wall" in the local Franconian dialect/language. This is the central district of the region. One of the most notable vineyards in this area is known as Doctorberg , and its wines as Bernkasteler Doctor . An apocryphal story of how the vineyard got its name originated in the late Middle Ages when a local archbishop

3634-640: Is the busiest in Europe . Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands , and the fourth busiest in Europe . Being a developed country , the Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union , Eurozone , G10 , NATO , OECD , and WTO , as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts intergovernmental organisations and international courts , many of which are in The Hague. The countries that comprise

3792-477: Is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces ; it borders Germany to the east and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom , Germany, and Belgium. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in

3950-655: The Armistice of 1918 , Allied forces occupied the Rhineland as far east as the river with some small bridgeheads on the east bank at places like Cologne . Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 the occupation was continued and the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission was set up to supervise affairs. The treaty specified three occupation zones, which were due to be evacuated by Allied troops five, ten and finally 15 years after

4108-739: The Batavian rebellion of 69 AD but were eventually defeated. The Batavi later merged with other tribes into the confederation of the Salian Franks, whose identity emerged in the first half of the third century. Salian Franks appear in Roman texts as both allies and enemies. They were forced by the confederation of the Saxons from the east to move over the Rhine into Roman territory in the fourth century. From their new base in West Flanders and

4266-517: The Eighty Years' War between the Provinces and their Spanish ruler began. The level of ferocity exhibited by both sides can be gleaned from a Dutch chronicler's report: On more than one occasion men were seen hanging their own brothers, who had been taken prisoners in the enemy's ranks... A Spaniard had ceased to be human in their eyes. On one occasion, a surgeon at Veer cut the heart from

4424-640: The European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community . In 1993, the former two were incorporated into the European Union . Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 Dutch to leave the country after the war. The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid de- pillarisation . Students and other youth rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as women's rights , sexuality , disarmament and environmental issues . In 2002

4582-753: The First United States Army fought a costly battle to capture the Hürtgen Forest . The heavily forested and ravined terrain of the Hürtgen negated Allied combined arms advantages (close air support, armor, artillery) and favoured German defenders. The U.S. Army lost 24,000 troops. The military necessity of their sacrifice has been debated by military historians. In early 1945, after a long winter stalemate, military operations by most Allied armies in Northwest Europe resumed with

4740-581: The Hilversum culture . Iron ore brought a measure of prosperity and was available throughout the country. Smiths travelled from settlement to settlement with bronze and iron, fabricating tools on demand. The King's grave of Oss (700 BC) was found in a burial mound, the largest of its kind in Western Europe. The deteriorating climate in Scandinavia from 850 BC and 650 BC might have triggered

4898-683: The Holland region only comprises two of the twelve provinces, and 38% of Dutch citizens. As of 2019, the Dutch government officially has preferred the Netherlands instead of Holland when talking about the country . Often Holland or Hollanders is used by the Flemish to refer to the Dutch in the Netherlands, and by the Southern Dutch (Dutch living " below the great rivers ", a natural cultural, social and religious boundary formed by

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5056-753: The Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies . In 1944–45, the First Canadian Army liberated much of the Netherlands. Soon after VE Day , the Dutch fought a colonial war against the new Republic of Indonesia . In 1954, the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands reformed the political structure as a result of international pressure to carry out decolonisation . The Dutch colonies of Surinam and Curaçao and Dependencies and

5214-787: The Limes Germanicus : Nijmegen and Voorburg . In the first part of Gallia Belgica , the area south of the Limes became part of the Roman province of Germania Inferior . The area to the north of the Rhine, inhabited by the Frisii, remained outside Roman rule, while the Germanic border tribes of the Batavi and Cananefates served in the Roman cavalry . The Batavi rose against the Romans in

5372-680: The Nordwestblock culture. The first author to describe the coast of Holland and Flanders was the geographer Pytheas , who noted in c. 325 BC that in these regions, "more people died in the struggle against water than in the struggle against men." During the Gallic Wars , the area south and west of the Rhine was conquered by Roman forces under Julius Caesar from 57 BC to 53 BC. Caesar describes two main Celtic tribes living in what

5530-497: The Palatinate . In the end, the separatists failed to gain any decisive support among the population since they were viewed as puppets of the French. The Treaty of Versailles also specified the demilitarization of the entire area to provide a buffer between Germany on one side and France, Belgium and Luxembourg (and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands) on the other side, which meant that no German forces were allowed there after

5688-758: The People's State of Hesse , was transferred to Hesse-Nassau. In the last free German federal election in March 1933 , two of the four parliamentary districts of the Rhine Province (Cologne-Aachen and Koblenz-Trier) were the only districts in Germany in which the Nazi Party did not win the plurality of votes. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the spirit of the Locarno Pact , Nazi Germany remilitarized

5846-467: The Rhine - Meuse river estuary . In the east of the Netherlands, remains are found of the last ice age , which ended approximately ten thousand years ago. As the continental ice sheet moved in from the north, it pushed moraine forward. The ice sheet halted as it covered the eastern half of the Netherlands. After the ice age ended, the moraine remained in the form of a long hill-line. The cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen are built on these hills. Over

6004-696: The Romans who planted vineyards along the Mosel and the Rhine in order to have a local source of wine for their garrisons . The cost of transporting wine up from the Italian Peninsula or across the Vosges Mountains and the Roman vineyards in Gaul was very high and impractical. The Romans considered creating a canal between the Saône and the Rhine before ultimately deciding to plant vines in

6162-565: The States General , was headquartered in The Hague and comprised representatives from each of the seven provinces. The sparsely populated region of Drenthe was part of the republic, albeit not considered a province in its own right. Moreover, during the Eighty Years' War , the Republic came to occupy a number of Generality Lands located in Flanders , Brabant and Limburg . These areas were primarily inhabited by Roman Catholics and lacked

6320-464: The Treaty of Versailles . The cantons of Eupen , Malmedy and Sankt Vith though (with the exception of Malmedy) German in culture and language, became the East Cantons of Belgium. Although a plebiscite was held in early 1920, it was not conducted as a secret ballot but required only those opposed to Belgian annexation to register their formal protest. Only a few did so because of the threat of

6478-682: The euro was introduced as fiat money , and in 2010 the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved . Referendums were held on each island. As a result, Bonaire , Sint Eustatius and Saba (the BES islands) were incorporated as special municipalities upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. The special municipalities are collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands . The European Netherlands has

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6636-404: The "Netherlands" lost their original deictic meaning . In most Romance languages , the term "Low Countries" is officially used as the name for the Netherlands. The term Holland has frequently been used informally to refer to the whole of the modern country of the Netherlands in various languages, including Dutch and English. In some languages, Holland is used as the formal name for

6794-436: The 490s, Clovis I had conquered and united all these territories in the southern Netherlands in one Frankish kingdom , and from there continued his conquests into Gaul . During this expansion, Franks migrating to the south (modern territory of France and Walloon part of Belgium) eventually adopted the Vulgar Latin of the local population. A widening cultural divide grew with the Franks remaining in their original homeland in

6952-492: The 72 km (28 sq mi) Biesbosch tidal floodplains. The huge North Sea flood of February 1953 caused the collapse of several dikes in the southwest Netherlands; more than 1,800 people drowned. The Dutch government subsequently instituted a large-scale programme, the " Delta Works ", to protect the country against future flooding, which was completed over a period of more than 40 years. Mosel (wine region) Mosel ( German: [ˈmoːzl̩] )

7110-405: The Allied forces had withdrawn. Furthermore, quite unbearably from the German perspective, the treaty entitled the Allies to reoccupy the Rhineland at their will if the Allies unilaterally found the German side responsible for any violation of the treaty. In 1932, Wetzlar ( Landkreis Wetzlar  [ de ] ), formerly an exclave of the Rhine Province situated between Hesse-Nassau and

7268-454: The British and the French but did not demand war over the issue. The remilitarization of the Rhineland was supported by most of the local population because of a resurgence of German nationalism and the bitterness that had been harboured over the Allied occupation of the Rhineland until 1930 and Saarland until 1935. A side effect of the French occupations was the offspring of French soldiers and German women. Those children, who were seen as

7426-438: The Dutch Republic was attacked by France, England and three German Bishoprics simultaneously, in what would become known as the Franco-Dutch War . At sea , it could successfully prevent the English and French navies from blockading the western shores. On land, however, it was almost taken over by the advancing French and German armies from the east. It managed to turn the tide by inundating parts of Holland . From 1672 to 1712,

7584-439: The Dutch established a presence in India , the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia ), Formosa (now Taiwan ), and the only western trading post in Japan, Dejima . During the period of Proto-industrialisation , the empire received 50% of textiles and 80% of silks import from the India's Mughal Empire . Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country. In early modern Europe, it had

7742-485: The Dutch owned 16,000 merchant ships. The Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company established colonies and trading posts all over the world. The Dutch settlement in North America began with the founding of New Amsterdam in 1614. In South Africa, the Dutch settled the Cape Colony in 1652. Dutch colonies in South America were established along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains, among them Colony of Surinam (now Suriname ). In Asia,

7900-457: The European country all became countries within the Kingdom, on a basis of equality. Indonesia had declared its independence in August 1945. Suriname followed in 1975. The Netherlands was one of the founding members of Benelux and NATO . In the 1950s, the Netherlands became one of the six founding countries of the European Communities , following the 1952 establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community , and subsequent 1958 creations of

8058-507: The Frisians were defeated after a series of wars . With the approval of the Franks, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Willibrord converted the Frisian people to Christianity and established the Archdiocese of Utrecht . However, his successor Boniface was murdered by the Frisians in 754. The Frankish Carolingian empire controlled much of Western Europe. In 843, it was divided into three parts— East , Middle , and West Francia . Most of present-day Netherlands became part of Middle Francia, which

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8216-403: The Low Countries from 1384 to 1581. The new rulers defended Dutch trading interests. The fleets of the County of Holland defeated the fleets of the Hanseatic League several times. Amsterdam grew and in the 15th century became the primary trading port in Europe for grain from the Baltic region . Amsterdam distributed grain to the major cities of Belgium, Northern France and England. This trade

8374-413: The Low Countries south of the great rivers. These tribes would eventually develop into the Salian Franks . The Celtic La Tène culture (c. 450 BC to the Roman conquest) expanded over a wide range, including the southern area of the Low Countries . Some scholars have speculated that even a third ethnic identity and language, neither Germanic nor Celtic, survived in the Netherlands until the Roman period,

8532-409: The Meuse. These rivers functioned as a natural barrier between fiefdoms and hence historically created a cultural divide, as is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognisable on either side of what the Dutch call their "Great Rivers" ( de Grote Rivieren ). Another significant branch of the Rhine, the IJssel river, discharges into Lake IJssel , the former Zuiderzee ('southern sea'). Just like

8690-460: The Mosel and throughout the German wine-growing regions and has become of increasing interest to the international wine community. Because of the northerly location of the Mosel, the Riesling wines are often light, tending to lower alcohol , crisp and high in acidity , and often exhibit "flowery" rather than or in addition to "fruity" aromas. Its most common vineyard soil is derived in the main from various kinds of slate deposits, which tend to give

8848-402: The Mosel region are traditionally packaged in a long green colored "hock style" wine bottle . Historically the green color distinguished Mosel wines from the brown bottles of the Rheinhessen . Plantings of Müller-Thurgau accounts for more the 20% of the Mosel wine production and is typically used for basic quaffing wine or sweet wine. The Elbing grape accounts for a little more than 9% of

9006-427: The Mosel than in flatter terrain such as the Médoc . Grapevines are individually staked to the ground without connecting wires so that vineyard workers can tend the plants going horizontally across the vineyard rather than vertically , which would be more treacherous and tiring. Safety is a priority for many Mosel vineyard owners with the area having a documented history of fatalities among workers while tending

9164-424: The Mosel would see. By the 1850s, wine-makers in the Mosel had discovered the benefits of chaptalization in helping to compensate for bad weather vintages and under ripened grapes. Another significant boom came a couple decades later when the British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone lowered the duties on light wine which opened up the British market to lower cost Mosel wines. This increased prosperity had

9322-399: The Mosel. In order to create more suitable land for vineyards, vineyard owners in the 16th century used explosives to break up the vertical spurs of rock along the rivers. Towards the end of the 17th century, the Kunda began to be identified more with wine made from the Riesling grape. The St. Maximin's Abbey in Trier owned 74 vineyards and by 1695 had over 100,000 Riesling vines. Today

9480-454: The Netherlands are Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague and Utrecht . Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and the nominal capital , though the primary national political institutions are located in the Hague. The Netherlands has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. The country has a tradition of pillarisation (separation of citizens into groups by religion and political beliefs) and

9638-441: The Netherlands entered a unique era of political, economic, and cultural greatness, ranked among the most powerful and influential in Europe and the world; this period is known as the Dutch Golden Age . During this time, its trading companies, the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company , established colonies and trading posts all over the world. With a population of over 18 million people, all living within

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9796-476: The Netherlands to the brink of bankruptcy. However, the Cultivation System was introduced in 1830; in the Dutch East Indies, 20% of village land had to be devoted to government crops for export. The policy brought the Dutch enormous wealth and made the colony self-sufficient. The Netherlands abolished slavery in its colonies in 1863. Enslaved people in Suriname would be fully free only in 1873. The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, in part because

9954-415: The Netherlands) and upstream Germania Superior . Thus, in the case of the Low Countries and the Netherlands, the geographical location of this lower region is more or less downstream and near the sea, compared to that of the upper region of Germania Superior. The designation 'Low' returned in the 10th-century Duchy of Lower Lorraine , which covered much of the Low Countries. The Dukes of Burgundy used

10112-432: The Netherlands. However, Holland is a region within the Netherlands that consists of the two provinces of North and South Holland . Formerly these were a single province, and earlier the County of Holland , which included parts of present-day Utrecht . The emphasis on Holland during the formation of the Dutch Republic , the Eighty Years' War , and the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, made Holland

10270-470: The Netherlands. On the western and southern frontiers (especially in the Saarland ) resided smaller French-speaking communities, while the industrial region of the Ruhr housed recent Polish migrants from the eastern provinces of the Empire . The Rhine Province was the most densely populated part of Prussia, the general average being 617 persons per km. The province contains a greater number of large towns than any other province in Prussia. Upwards of half,

10428-407: The Northern Netherlands in 1839 as the Kingdom of the Netherlands was created by decree), while the personal union between Luxembourg and the Netherlands was severed in 1890, when William III died with no surviving male heirs. Ascendancy laws prevented his daughter Queen Wilhelmina from becoming the next Grand Duchess. The Belgian Revolution and the Java War in the Dutch East Indies brought

10586-428: The Republic, led by William III of Orange and Anthonie Heinsius would regularly clash with France in what some historians have come to call the Forty Years' War . In the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession , the Republic was at the centre of anti-French coalitions. The Dutch ultimately successfully defended the Spanish Netherlands , established a barrier there, and their troops proved central to

10744-443: The Rhine Province furnished its most substantial claim to the title of the "richest jewel in the crown of Prussia". Besides parts of the carboniferous measures of the Saar and the Ruhr, it also contains important deposits of coal near Aachen . Iron ore was found in abundance near Koblenz, the Bleiberg in the Eifel possessed an apparently inexhaustible supply of lead, and zinc was found near Cologne and Aachen. The mineral products of

10902-402: The Rhine Province in 1905 was 6,435,778, including 4,472,058 Roman Catholics , 1,877,582 Protestants and 55,408 Jews . The left bank was predominantly Catholic, while on the right bank about half the population was Protestant. The great bulk of the population was ethnically German, although some villages and towns in the northern part ( Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg ) were more oriented toward

11060-486: The Rhine Province was split between the French and British Occupation Zones . The Rhine Province was abolished in August 1946 when the northern part of the province, under British administration, was merged with the former province of Westphalia to form North Rhine-Westphalia and most of the southern portion, under French administration, was merged with the Palatinate (previously an exclave of Bavaria ) and other territories to form Rhineland-Palatinate . These areas of

11218-424: The Rhine river. The supporting operation by the US Ninth Army, Operation Grenade , was planned to coincide from the River Roer , in the south. This was delayed for two weeks, however, by German flooding of the Roer valley. On March 7, 1945, a company of armoured infantry of the U.S. 9th Armored Division captured the last intact bridge over the Rhine at Remagen . General George Patton 's Third US Army also made

11376-464: The Rhineland on Saturday, March 7, 1936. The occupation was done with very little military force, the troops entered on tractors and no effort was made to stop it . Even though France had an overwhelming force nearby it did not act because of its political instability, and since the remilitarization occurred during a weekend, the British government could not find out or discuss actions to be taken until

11534-633: The Riesling grape will even ripen at all. A positive characteristic of the Riesling grape is that despite less than perfect ripeness it can still create a wine of finesse and elegance that would escape most other grape varieties . In place of Riesling, the easier cultivated Müller-Thurgau grape (14.7%) and other Riesling crossings like Kerner (4.6%) were planted in large quantities on the sites that were not suitable for Riesling, and which in many cases had been previously used for other agricultural purposes. A negative consequence of these large-scale plantings

11692-634: The Silent in driving out Spanish troops and forming a new government for the Netherlands. Don Juan of Austria , the new Spanish governor, was forced to concede initially, but within months returned to active hostilities. The Dutch looked for help from the Protestant Elizabeth I of England, but she initially stood by her commitments to the Spanish in the Treaty of Bristol of 1574. When the next large-scale battle occurred at Gembloux in 1578,

11850-734: The Southwest Netherlands, they were raiding the English Channel . Roman forces pacified the region but did not expel the Franks, who continued to be feared at least until the time of Julian the Apostate (358) when Salian Franks were allowed to settle as foederati in Texandria . After the Roman government in the area collapsed in roughly the year 406, the Franks expanded their territories into numerous kingdoms. By

12008-528: The Spanish forces won easily. In light of the defeat at Gembloux , the southern states of the Seventeen Provinces distanced themselves from the rebels in the north with the 1579 Union of Arras . Opposing them, the northern half of the Seventeen Provinces forged the Union of Utrecht in which they committed to support each other against the Spanish. The Union of Utrecht is seen as the foundation of

12166-532: The Spanish in the Netherlands under the Duke of Parma in a series of largely indecisive actions that tied down significant numbers of Spanish troops and bought time for the Dutch to reorganise their defences. The war continued until 1648, when Spain under King Philip IV recognised the independence of the seven north-western provinces in the Peace of Münster . Parts of the southern provinces became de facto colonies of

12324-585: The Sun, the gold of the stars, and cool moonlight. The wines of the Middle Mosel are considered the most complete examples of German wines with some of the finest examples being able to age gracefully for 50–100 years. Mosel Rieslings rely on a strong presence of tartaric acid to balance the grape's sugar and to help impart its fruity notes. A characteristic of all Mosel wines is their normally high acidity and transparency of clearly defined flavors. The wines of

12482-614: The United Provinces consistently possessed one of Europe's largest and most capable armies. However, following the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession , other major powers such as Prussia, Austria, Britain, and Russia significantly expanded their military forces. The Republic struggled to match these developments, and gradually assumed the status of a mid-tier power. However, historians have sometimes overstated

12640-542: The alliance which halted French territorial expansion in Europe until a new cycle began in 1792 with the French Revolutionary Wars . However, the wars left them effectively bankrupt, and inflicted permanent damage on the Dutch merchant navy; while they remained the dominant economic power in the Far East, Britain took over as the pre-eminent global commercial and maritime power. Between 1590 and 1713,

12798-631: The area's growers could store their wines. Probably most well known among the Winzerdörfer was the village of Bernkastel which was granted town rights in 1291. In 1435 when Count Johann IV of Katzenelnbogen planted Riesling in the nearby town of Rüsselsheim the first time he owned vineyards in Winningen like the Destil , in Burgen and Kochem one half of the city and many vineyards more along

12956-424: The area's production and is often used as a low-cost riesling alternative in the production of sparkling Sekt . The Mosel is also well known for its Eiswein production with the area's characteristic high acidity coupled with the sweetness produced by the concentration of the sugars in the frozen grapes. The most cultivated grape varieties, by area in 2008, were: There are two major wine growers' associations in

13114-425: The area. Trier (founded 16 BC) was a major Roman outpost and it is likely that the first Mosel vineyards were planted in the surrounding hillsides sometime in the 2nd century. Viticulture was certainly flourishing in the area by the 4th century when the Roman poet Ausonius wrote a poem about the beauty of the land at harvest time. The Mosel wine of the Roman period was described as light bodied and "austere". It

13272-631: The armed support of revolutionary France , Dutch republicans proclaimed the Batavian Republic , modelled after the French Republic and rendering the Netherlands a unitary state on 19 January 1795. The stadtholder William V of Orange had fled to England. From 1806 to 1810, the Kingdom of Holland was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom governed by his brother Louis Bonaparte . However, King Louis Bonaparte tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's, and he

13430-418: The centuries, the Dutch coastline has changed considerably as a result of natural disasters and human intervention. On 14 December 1287, St. Lucia's flood affected the Netherlands and Germany, killing more than 50,000 people in one of the most destructive floods in recorded history. The St. Elizabeth flood of 1421 and the mismanagement in its aftermath destroyed a newly reclaimed polder , replacing it with

13588-484: The cold autumn the fermentation process would not be fully complete because of the low temperature, thus leaving the wine with high levels of residual sugars . In the Middle Ages , villages sprung up that were centered on the region's wine industry. These "wine villages", known as "Winzerdörfer" , included paths from the town center up to the area's vineyards. At the center was a community wine cellar where all

13746-498: The continuing French pollution of German culture, were shunned by the broader German society and were known as Rhineland Bastards . Children fathered by French colonial or American troops of African ancestry were especially despised and became targets of Nazi sterilisation programmes in the 1930s. The American poet Charles Bukowski was born in 1920 in Andernach as the son of a German mother and an American soldier, who served in

13904-546: The country is for the most part flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast, up to a height of no more than 322 m (1,056 ft) at the Vaalserberg , and some low hill ranges in the central parts. Most of the areas below sea level are caused by peat extraction or achieved through land reclamation . Since the late 16th century, large polder areas are preserved through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes , canals and pumping stations. Much of

14062-640: The country was originally formed by the estuaries of three large European rivers: the Rhine ( Rijn ), the Meuse ( Maas ) and the Scheldt ( Schelde ), as well as their tributaries . The south-western part of the Netherlands is a river delta of these rivers, the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta . The European Netherlands is divided into north and south parts by the Rhine, the Waal , its main tributary branch, and

14220-631: The countryside was plundered for food. Although there were thousands of Dutch who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Germans, over 20,000 Dutch fascists joined the Waffen SS . Political collaborators were members of the fascist NSB , the only legal political party in the occupied Netherlands. On 8 December 1941, the Dutch government-in-exile in London declared war on Japan, but could not prevent

14378-409: The district also included lignite, copper, manganese, vitriol, lime, gypsum, volcanic stones (used for millstones) and slates. By far the most important item was coal. Of the numerous mineral springs, the best known were those of Aachen and Kreuznach. The mineral resources of the Rhine Province, coupled with its favourable situation and the facilities of transit afforded by its great waterway, made it

14536-434: The district, while the principal exports are coal, fruit, wine, dyes, cloth, silk and other manufactured articles of various descriptions. In the 1815 Congress of Vienna , Prussia gained control of the duchies of Cleves, Berg, Gelderland and Jülich, the ecclesiastical principalities of Trier and Cologne, the free cities of Aachen and Cologne, and nearly one hundred small lordships and abbeys which would all be amalgamated into

14694-599: The end of the Ice Age , the nomadic late Upper Palaeolithic Hamburg culture (13,000–10,000 BC) hunted reindeer in the area, using spears. The later Ahrensburg culture (11,200–9,500 BC) used bow and arrow . From Mesolithic Maglemosian-like tribes (c. 8000 BC), the world's oldest canoe was found in Drenthe . Indigenous late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from the Swifterbant culture (c. 5600 BC), related to

14852-505: The end of the work day. Since these vineyards receive the most exposure to the sun, many of the wines produced from these vineyards are richer and more full-bodied than wine produced from other vineyards. In a similar way to many of Burgundy's Grand Cru vineyards , the Sonnenuhr vineyards are highly parceled with multiple owners of individual plots or rows of vines. The Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard alone has more than 200 owners. Located to

15010-414: The entire German wine industry) has dedicated itself to reversing the reputation it gained during these years and focus on the quality of the area's dry wines. The Mosel wine region has northernly continental climate that is marked by cool temperatures. The best producing vineyard sites are located along the Mosel river and its tributary where the heat from the sun can be maximized by reflection up from

15168-534: The extent of this decline, especially when considering the period up to the 1750s. In the 18th century the Dutch Republic had seen a state of a general decline, with economic competition from England and long-standing rivalries between the two main factions in Dutch society, the republican Staatsgezinden and the supporters of the stadtholder the Prinsgezinden as main political factions. With

15326-571: The following Monday. As a result, the governments were inclined to see the remilitarization as a fait accompli . Adolf Hitler took a risk when he sent his troops to the Rhineland. He told them to "turn back and not to resist" if they were stopped by the French Army. The French, however, did not try to stop them because they were about to hold legislative elections ; further, President Albert Lebrun did not want to start an unpopular war against Germany and French intelligence greatly overestimated

15484-640: The formal ratification of the treaty, which took place in 1920, thus the occupation was intended to last until 1935. Initially, 5 zones of Occupation of the Rhineland were established, but the American Forces handed over their zone in 1923, since they had not ratified the Treaty of Versailles, to the French. The treaty also separated the Saar from the Province and administered by the League of Nations until

15642-832: The former province were incorporated as states into the new Federal Republic of Germany when it was established in May 1949. The French organised the Saarland as a separate protectorate on 16 February 1946 and it eventually joined the Federal Republic as a separate state in 1957. Within North Rhine-Westphalia, the Landschaftsverband Rheinland  [ de ] (LVR), which was established in 1953 as regional council, still holds considerable administrative power and can be regarded as

15800-472: The goal of reaching the Rhine. From their winter positions in The Netherlands, the First Canadian Army under General Henry Crerar reinforced by elements of the British Second Army under General Miles Dempsey , drove through the Rhineland beginning in the first week of February 1945. Operation Veritable lasted several weeks, resulting in the clearance of all German forces from the west side of

15958-546: The grand duchy states Hesse-Nassau and Hesse-Darmstadt was also part of the Rhine Province. The principality of Birkenfeld , on the other hand, was an enclave of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg , a separate state of the German Empire . In 1911, the extent of the province was 10,423 km (4,024 sq mi); its extreme length, from north to south, was nearly 200 km (120 mi), and its greatest breadth

16116-558: The grapes can develop enough sugar to produce floral and honeyed notes. This wine district is composed of a thin strip of land along the Luxembourg border. The region starts just north of Igel and continues south to the village of Palzem where it meets the Moseltor district. Elbling, Müller-Thurgau, and Auxerrois Blanc are some of the region largest plantings. Obermosel and Moseltor contain very few notable vineyards compared to

16274-528: The high-lying plateaus in the south of the province, but the river-valleys and the northern lowlands were extremely fertile. The great bulk of the soil was in the hands of small proprietors, and this is alleged to have had the effect of somewhat retarding the progress of scientific agriculture. The usual cereal crops were, however, all grown with success, and tobacco, hops, flax, hemp and beetroot (for sugar) were cultivated for commercial purposes. Large quantities of fruit were also produced. The vine-culture occupied

16432-682: The import of goods through the Netherlands proved essential to German survival until the blockade by the British Royal Navy in 1916. That changed in World War II, when Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. The Rotterdam Blitz forced most of the Dutch army to surrender. During the occupation, over 100,000 Dutch Jews were transported to Nazi extermination camps ; only a few survived. Dutch workers were conscripted for forced labour in Germany, civilians who resisted were killed in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers, and

16590-415: The leading region in terms of international prestige. The region covers the valleys of the rivers Mosel, Saar , and Ruwer from near the mouth of the Mosel at Koblenz and upstream to the vicinity of Trier in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate . The area is known for the steep slopes of the region's vineyards overlooking the river. At 65 ° degrees incline , the steepest recorded vineyard in

16748-517: The lower Rhine, but the number of sheep in the province was comparatively small, not greatly in excess of that of the goats. The wooded hills were well stocked with deer, and a stray wolf occasionally found its way from the forests of the Ardennes into those of the Hunsrück . The salmon fishery of the Rhine was very productive, and trout abound in the mountain streams. The great mineral wealth of

16906-593: The migration of Germanic tribes from the North. By the time this migration was complete, around 250 BC, a few general cultural and linguistic groups had emerged. The North Sea Germanic Ingaevones inhabited the northern part of the Low Countries . They would later develop into the Frisii and the early Saxons . The Weser–Rhine Germanic (or Istvaeones ) extended along the middle Rhine and Weser and inhabited

17064-561: The modern Netherlands. Spanish troops sacked Maastricht in 1579, killing over 10,000 civilians. In 1581, the northern provinces adopted the Act of Abjuration , the declaration of independence in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II. Against the rebels Philip could draw on the resources of the Spanish Empire . Elizabeth I sympathised with the Dutch struggle and sent an army of 7,600 soldiers to aid them. English forces faced

17222-718: The most delicate and perfumed expressions of German wines. Like the Ruwer region, wine from the Saar district (along the lower course of the Saar River , in Rhineland-Palatinate ) is particularly dependent on the overall quality of the vintage typically only 4 years out of every 10 producing a worthwhile set of wines. The wines that do come out of these warm vintages are noted for their apple-like freshness and steely mineral notes. The most ideal vintages allow harvest to take place between late October and mid November when

17380-416: The most famous vineyards prompting international wine critics and oenologists to oppose its construction. Within the Mosel region, there are the following six districts ( Bereiche ) and 19 collective vineyard designations ( Großlagen ), plus 524 single vineyard ( Einzellagen ) designations. Four of the six districts are situated on the river Mosel, and one each on rivers Saar and Ruwer. The Cochem district

17538-572: The most important manufacturing district in Germany. The industry was mainly concentrated around two chief centres, Aachen and Düsseldorf (with the valley of the Wupper ), while there were naturally few manufacturers in the hilly districts of the south or the marshy flats of the north. The largest iron and steel works were at Essen , Oberhausen , Duisburg , Düsseldorf and Cologne, while cutlery and other small metallic wares were extensively made at Solingen, Remscheid and Aachen. The cloth of Aachen and

17696-415: The net effect of encouraging more quantity in production rather than quality. Many areas that were not ideal for Riesling were soon planted with the easier to grow Müller-Thurgau and other Riesling crossings. In the 20th century, a North American taste for sweet wines saw the prominence of Liebfraumilch and brands like Blue Nun dominate the German import wine market. In recent times, the Mosel (as well as

17854-488: The new Prussian Rhine Province. In 1822 Prussia established the Rhine Province by joining the provinces of Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg . Its capital was Koblenz ; it had 8.0 million inhabitants by 1939. Popes Pius VIII (in 1830) and Gregory XVI (in 1833) raised concerns regarding the pastoral care of Catholics in the Upper Rhineland, both writing letters of concern to the local bishops. Following

18012-490: The new republican-mercantile empire. Following the declaration of independence, the provinces of Holland , Zeeland , Groningen , Friesland , Utrecht , Overijssel , and Gelderland entered into a confederation . All these duchies, lordships and counties enjoyed a significant degree of autonomy and was governed by its own administrative body known as the States-Provincial . The confederal government, known as

18170-646: The north (i.e. the southern Netherlands and Flanders), who kept on speaking Old Frankish , which by the ninth century had evolved into Old Low Franconian or Old Dutch. A Dutch-French language boundary hence came into existence. To the north of the Franks, climatic conditions improved, and during the Migration Period Saxons , the closely related Angles , Jutes , and Frisii settled the coast. Many moved on to England and came to be known as Anglo-Saxons , but those who stayed would be referred to as Frisians and their language as Frisian . Frisian

18328-536: The north to create a strong country on the northern border of France. William Frederick raised this United Netherlands to the status of a kingdom and proclaimed himself as King William I in 1815. William became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg in exchange for his German possessions. However, the Southern Netherlands had been culturally separate from the north since 1581, and rebelled . The south gained independence in 1830 as Belgium (recognised by

18486-478: The number of German troops. The British government did not oppose the remilitarization in principle, and Lord Lothian famously stated that "the Germans are after all only going into their own back garden". However, the British government rejected the Nazi manner of accomplishing the act, which they had been willing to concede by negotiations with Germany. Winston Churchill advocated military action by co-operation by

18644-670: The occupation troops. Two different military campaigns were fought in the Rhineland. The first operation of the campaign was the Allied Operation Market Garden that sought to allow the Second British Army to advance past the northern flank of the Siegfried Line and enter the Ruhr industrial area. After the failure of that operation for five months, from September 1944 until February 1945,

18802-468: The other districts of the region. The Moseltor area is the most southern area of the Mosel region, and is located together with the Obermosel along the Luxembourg border. The Elbling grape is the most commonly planted here producing a thin, rustic wine with high acidity. Sparkling wine production is growing in this area. The reason why tiny Moseltor with its around 110 hectares (270 acres) of vineyards

18960-567: The people", akin to Old Dutch Dietsch or Old English þeodisc , meaning "(of) the common ( Germanic ) people". At first, the English language used Dutch to refer to any or all speakers of West Germanic languages . Gradually its meaning shifted to the West Germanic people they had the most contact with. The oldest human ( Neanderthal ) traces in the Netherlands, believed to be about 250,000 years old, were found near Maastricht . At

19118-406: The population into submission. Alba boasted of having executed 18,600; this figure does not include those who perished by war and famine. The first great siege was Alba's effort to capture Haarlem and thereby cut Holland in half. It dragged on from December 1572 to the next summer, when Haarlemers finally surrendered on 13 July upon the promise that the city would be spared from being sacked. It

19276-469: The population were supported by industrial and commercial pursuits, and barely a quarter by agriculture. There was the University of Bonn , and elementary education was especially successful. For purposes of administration, the province was divided into the five districts ( Regierungsbezirke ) of Koblenz , Düsseldorf , Cologne , Aachen and Trier . Koblenz was the official capital, though Cologne

19434-461: The previous, this river forms a linguistic divide: people to the northeast of this river speak Dutch Low Saxon dialects (except for the province of Friesland , which has its own language). The Netherlands is mostly composed of deltaic , coastal and aeolian derived sediments during the Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods. Almost the entire west Netherlands is composed of

19592-535: The prices has caused some of the smaller Mosel vineyards to go out of business. In 2008, the Mosel vineyards covered 9,034 hectares (22,320 acres), making it the fifth-largest of Germany's 13 wine regions. White grape varieties cover 91 percent of the region's total vineyard surface. The trend in total vineyard area has until recently been slightly negative over a longer period of time, down from 12,760 hectares (31,500 acres) in 1988 to 9,533 hectares (23,560 acres) in 2003 and to 8,975 hectares (22,180 acres) in 2006. It

19750-477: The province of Friesland . Dutch, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories . Netherlands literally means "lower countries" in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with 26% below sea level . Most of the areas below sea level, known as polders , are the result of land reclamation that began in the 14th century . In the Republican period , which began in 1588,

19908-582: The region called the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium , and Luxembourg ) all have comparatively the same toponymy . Place names with Neder , Nieder , Nedre , Nether , Lage(r) or Low(er) (in Germanic languages ) and Bas or Inferior (in Romance languages ) are in use in low-lying places all over Europe. The Romans made a distinction between the Roman provinces of downstream Germania Inferior (nowadays part of Belgium and

20066-419: The region south of the city of Koblenz to the village of Alf near Zell. It is the most northern wine region of the Mosel and includes the area's confluence with the Rhine river. The steep river bank slopes that are scattered around the Mosel region are considered some of the most labor-intensive vineyards in the world. Mechanical harvesting is impractical and nearly seven times more man hours are needed in

20224-415: The region's cultivated vineyard surface in 2008, is widely considered the most prestigious and highest quality wine grape of the Mosel but it cannot be planted on every vineyard site due to difficulties the grape has in ripening in particularly cool climates. Factors such as altitude , aspect and sunlight exposure can have a pronounced effect not only one the resulting quality of the wine but also whether

20382-555: The region's wine, the Prussian government lowered the tariffs for the import of Mosel wines to other regions of the Prussian kingdom. The development of the Zollverein customs union even further benefited the Mosel by reducing the customs on their wines traveling to other regions of the German Confederation . A string of bad weather vintages in the late 1830s and early 1840s would dampen the extent of prosperity that

20540-535: The river, and the battles for the Rhineland were over. In the official histories of the British and Canadian armies, the term Rhineland refers only to fighting west of the river in February and March 1945, with subsequent operations on the river and to the east known as "Rhine Crossing". Both terms are official Battle Honours in the Commonwealth forces. Following the unconditional surrender of Germany in 1945,

20698-611: The rivers Rhine and Meuse ) to refer to the Northern Dutch (Dutch living North of these rivers). In the Southern province of Limburg, the term is used for the Dutch from the other 11 provinces. The use of the term in this context by the Southern Dutch is in a derogatory fashion. Dutch is used as the adjective for the Netherlands, as well as the demonym . The origins of the word go back to Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz , Latinised into Theodiscus , meaning "popular" or "of

20856-455: The silk of Krefeld formed important articles of export. The chief industries of Elberfeld - Barmen and the valley of the Wupper was cotton-weaving, calico-printing and the manufacture of turkey red and other dyes. Linen was largely made at Mönchengladbach , leather at Malmedy , glass in the Saar district and beetroot sugar near Cologne. Though the Rhineland was par excellence the country of

21014-582: The southeast of Trier, this region includes the vineyards around Waldrach and Kasel . The region is home to many vineyards in Alleinbesitz ( monopole ). At Mertesdorf , there is a subterranean Roman aqueduct that connects the Grünhaus vineyard with the city of Trier. The quality of Ruwer wine is particularly dependent on the quality of the vintage with cool vintages marked by sharply acidic wines that quickly fade and warmer vintage producing some of

21172-465: The southern Scandinavian Ertebølle culture , were strongly linked to rivers and open water. Between 4800 and 4500 BC, the Swifterbant people started to adopt from the neighbouring Linear Pottery culture the practice of animal husbandry , and between 4300 and 4000 BC agriculture. The Funnelbeaker culture (4300–2800 BC) erected the dolmens , large stone grave monuments found in Drenthe . There

21330-482: The term les pays de par deçà ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries. Under Habsburg rule , this became pays d'embas ("lands down-here"). This was translated as Neder-landen in contemporary Dutch official documents. From a regional point of view, Niderlant was also the area between the Meuse and the lower Rhine in the late Middle Ages. From the mid-sixteenth century, the "Low Countries" and

21488-412: The vine, beer was produced in quantities, distilleries were also numerous, and large quantities of sparkling Mosel wine were made at Koblenz, chiefly for exportation to Britain. Commerce was greatly aided by the navigable rivers, a very extensive network of railways, and the excellent roads constructed during the French régime. The imports consist mainly of raw material for working up in the factories of

21646-411: The vines. A benefit of the steep Mosel vineyards is that the incline allows for more direct sunlight to have contact with the vines. During the winter, rain often causes some soil erosion , especially of the vital slate chips that are needed for their heat retaining properties. Many vineyards will gather these eroded sediments and carry them back up the hillside. The Riesling grape, grown on 59.7% of

21804-409: The vineyard of Maximin Grünhaus is considered one of the best Riesling vineyards in all of Germany. In the 18th century, the Prince-elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony , mandated that over a seven-year period every vine in the Mosel area was to be Riesling only. The rise of the House of Hanover in Great Britain saw a period of increase exportation of "moselle wine" to England. However,

21962-409: The water. South and southwest facing slopes are even more sought after because of the increased exposure to direct sunlight that can aid in ripening of the grapes. The soil of the area is dominated by porous slate which has ideal drainage for the regions heavy rainfall and good heat retaining properties. Many of the best vineyards have no topsoil at all, just broken slate. During the summer months

22120-409: The wealthiest trading city in Amsterdam , and the first full-time stock exchange . The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as phenomena such as the boom-bust cycle , the world's first asset-inflation bubble , the tulip mania of 1636–1637, and the world's first bear raider , Isaac le Maire . In 1672 – known in Dutch history as the Rampjaar (Disaster Year) –

22278-399: The weather is warm but rarely hot with July's average temperatures around 64 °F (18 °C). The Mosel river dominates the geography of the region which is typically divided into three main sections. The Upper Mosel is the southernmost section located closest to the river's origins along the French and Luxembourg border. The region includes the Saar and Ruwer river tributaries and

22436-423: The wine's high price kept the wines mostly in the hands of the Royal court and English nobility rather than replacing claret in the village taverns. The 19th century saw an unprecedented era of prosperity for the Mosel wine industry under the rule of Prussia starting with the historic vintage of 1819. For the rest of the 1820s, there was a succession of outstanding weather and sterling wines produced. To promote

22594-400: The wines a transparent, mineralic aspect, that often exhibit great depth of flavor. In the current era of climate change much work has been done to improve and gain acceptance for completely dry ("Trocken") Rieslings in this region, so that most of the more famous makers have found acceptance for such wines, particularly in Europe. It is believed that viticulture was brought to this area by

22752-423: The world is the Calmont vineyard located on the Mosel and belonging to the village of Bremm , and therefore referred to as Bremmer Calmont . The Mosel is mainly famous for its wines made from the Riesling grape , but Elbling and Müller-Thurgau also contribute to the production, among others. In the past two decades red wine production, especially from the Spätburgunder ( Pinot noir ), has increased in

22910-438: Was Gerolf of Holland , who assumed lordship in Frisia, and Viking rule came to an end. The Holy Roman Empire ruled much of the Low Countries in the 10th and 11th century but was not able to maintain political unity. Powerful local nobles turned their cities, counties and duchies into private kingdoms that felt little sense of obligation to the emperor. Holland , Hainaut , Flanders , Gelre , Brabant , and Utrecht were in

23068-562: Was a quick transition from the Funnelbeaker farming culture to the pan-European Corded Ware pastoralist culture (c. 2950 BC). In the southwest, the Seine-Oise-Marne culture —related to the Vlaardingen culture (c. 2600 BC)—survived well into the Neolithic period, until it too was succeeded by the Corded Ware culture. The subsequent Bell Beaker culture (2700–2100 BC) introduced metalwork in copper, gold and later bronze and opened new international trade routes, reflected in copper artefacts . Finds of rare bronze objects suggest that Drenthe

23226-516: Was a stipulation Don Fadrique was unable to honour, when his soldiers mutinied, angered over pay owed and the miserable conditions of the campaign. On 4 November 1576, Spanish tercios seized Antwerp and subjected it to the worst pillage in the Netherlands' history. The citizens resisted but were overcome; seven thousand were killed and a thousand buildings were torched. Following the sack of Antwerp , delegates from Catholic Brabant, Protestant Holland and Zeeland agreed to join Utrecht and William

23384-433: Was a trading centre in the Bronze Age (2000–800 BC). The Bell Beaker culture developed locally into the Barbed-Wire Beaker culture (2100–1800 BC) and later the Elp culture (1800–800 BC), a Middle Bronze Age culture marked by earthenware pottery. The southern region became dominated by the related Hilversum culture (1800–800 BC). From 800 BC onwards, the Iron Age Celtic Hallstatt culture became influential, replacing

23542-500: Was a weak kingdom and subject to numerous partitions and annexation attempts by its stronger neighbours. It comprised territories from Frisia in the north to the Kingdom of Italy in the south. Around 850, Lothair I of Middle Francia acknowledged the Viking Rorik of Dorestad as ruler of most of Frisia. When the kingdom of Middle Francia was partitioned in 855, the lands north of the Alps passed to Lothair II and subsequently were named Lotharingia . After he died in 869, Lotharingia

23700-405: Was forced to abdicate on 1 July 1810. The Emperor sent in an army and the Netherlands became part of the French Empire until November 1813, when Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Leipzig . William Frederick , son of the last stadtholder, returned to the Netherlands in 1813 and proclaimed himself Sovereign Prince . Two years later, the Congress of Vienna added the southern Netherlands to

23858-483: Was fought over in the Hook and Cod Wars between 1350 and 1490. The Cod faction consisted of the more progressive cities, while the Hook faction consisted of the conservative noblemen. These noblemen invited Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy to conquer Holland. Most of the Imperial and French fiefs in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium were united in a personal union by Philip the Good in 1433. The House of Valois-Burgundy and their Habsburg heirs would rule

24016-415: Was just under 90 km (56 mi). It included about 200 km (120 mi) of the course of the Rhine, which formed the eastern border of the province from Bingen to Koblenz , and then flows in a north-northwesterly direction inside the province, approximately following its eastern border. It is now part of North Rhine-Westphalia , Rhineland-Palatinate , Saarland , and Hesse . The population of

24174-407: Was miraculously cured of a terminal illness by drinking wine made from the grapes of this vineyard. Other notable vineyards of the Mittelmosel include the Sundial (German Sonnenuhr ) vineyards; Brauneberg Juffer-Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr. In the 19th century, large sundials were built in these vineyards so that the workers would know what time to break for lunch or

24332-453: Was partitioned, into Upper and Lower Lotharingia , the latter comprising the Low Countries that became part of East Francia in 870. Around 879, another Viking expedition led by Godfrid, Duke of Frisia , raided the Frisian lands. Resistance to the Vikings, if any, came from local nobles, who gained in stature as a result, and that laid the basis for the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia into semi-independent states. One of these local nobles

24490-453: Was said to be an easier drinking wine than that of other Roman areas. In the winter time, the wine was heated in a kettle and drunk like a tea (a practice that still has some tradition among modern vineyard workers who drink it like coffee , often with a little sugar added). In warmer vintages the wine was noticeably more fruity and sweet . This was because the warmth allowed the grapes to more fully ripen and develop more sugars . During

24648-399: Was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. By the seventh century, a Frisian Kingdom (650–734) under King Aldegisel and King Redbad emerged with Traiectum ( Utrecht ) as its centre of power, while Dorestad was a flourishing trading place. Between 600 and around 719 the cities were often fought over between the Frisians and the Franks. In 734, at the Battle of the Boarn ,

24806-521: Was the largest and most important city. Being a frontier province, the Rhineland was strongly garrisoned, and the Rhine was guarded by the three strong fortresses of Cologne with Deutz , Koblenz with Ehrenbreitstein , and Wesel . The province sent 35 members to the German Reichstag and 62 to the Prussian House of Representatives . Of the total area of the Rhine Province, about 45% was occupied by arable land, 16% by meadows and pastures, and 31% by forests. Little except oats and potatoes could be raised on

24964-443: Was vital because Holland could no longer produce enough grain to feed itself. Land drainage had caused the peat of the former wetlands to reduce to a level that was too low for drainage to be maintained. Under Habsburg Charles V , all fiefs in the current Netherlands region were united into the Seventeen Provinces , which included most of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of France and Germany. In 1568, under Phillip II,

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