Grantville Gazette Volume 93
Page 10
In 1529 Hamburg became Lutheran, but they willingly accepted Reformed (Calvinist) refugees from the Netherlands and France.
After the Congress of Copenhagen, Hamburg was created a free imperial city of the United States of Europe.
The seventeenth-century flag of Hamburg showed a white castle on a red field (Hanseatic colors). The twenty-first-century flag of the city is essentially the same.
Lübeck
Lübeck was founded on the banks of the Trave River in the early ninth century by order of Charlemagne, with the name Liubice (which meant "lovely"). The city was razed by the Rani, a pagan tribe from the island of Rügen, in 1128. In 1143 the city was re-established at a site about two and a half miles (four kilometers) upstream. From that time on, Lübeck grew to become one of the largest and most prosperous port cities along the coast of the Baltic. In 1241, Hamburg and Lübeck formed a trade alliance, which became the basis for the Hanseatic League. Lübeck became the largest and most important port city, and, in effect, the capital of the Hanseatic League.
Between 1391 and 1398, the Stecknitz Canal was built, linking Lübeck on the Trave River with Lauenburg, on the Elbe. It mostly followed the natural courses of the Stecknitz and Delvenau rivers, allowing barge traffic between Lübeck and Hamburg. By the 1630s, the canal had fallen into disrepair, and was no longer navigable, but in 1633 NTL, Gustav Adolf was having the canal rehabilitated and restored to service.
During the Thirty Years’ War, Lübeck tried to remain neutral. In the original timeline, Lübeck succeeded, but in the new timeline, Lübeck became embroiled in the War between the League of Ostend and Sweden/the Confederated Principalities of Europe.
After the Congress of Copenhagen, Lübeck was made a free imperial city of the United States of Europe.
The white-red horizontal bicolor, like the fesswise-divided field of the city’s arms, signifies Lübeck’s history as the seat of the Hanseatic League. The two-headed black eagle, with the city’s arms on its breast, signifies its past as a Holy Roman Empire free imperial city. An alternate flag, the white-red horizontal bicolor without the eagle, was also used.
Magdeburg City
Magdeburg was the largest city in central Germany. At the start of 1631, its population was about 25,000. It was a Protestant stronghold, and the first major city in Germany to publish the writings of Martin Luther.
During the Thirty Years' War, Lutheran Magdeburg was besieged twice by Catholic armies. In 1629, Albrecht von Wallenstein laid siege to Magdeburg, but the city withstood the siege.
In May 1631, the army of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, laid siege to Magdeburg. The city leaders held out, hoping for the arrival of Gustav II Adolf’s army to lift the siege. On 20 May 1631, Tilly’s chief lieutenant, Gottfried Heinrich, Count of Pappenheim, persuaded Tilly to allow him to storm the walls of the city with 40,000 troops and artillery. The city leaders immediately offered to surrender, but Tilly did not receive word until after the city had fallen. Pappenheim’s troops breached the wall and opened one of the main gates of the city, letting the rest of the force in. The sack of Magdeburg took four days, and at the end, of the 25,000 citizens in the city before the siege, only about 5000 remained alive. About 1000 of those survivors immediately fled the ruins of the city. The city had been almost completely destroyed by fire. The Sack of Magdeburg was the largest massacre committed during the Thirty Years' War.
In the original timeline, the population of Magdeburg in 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War, was still only about 4000.
In the new timeline, the Ring of Fire event occurred just as the Sack of Magdeburg came to an end. Several up-timers and more down-time Germans established industries in Magdeburg, and the industries attracted unemployed Germans looking for work. Gustav Adolf made Magdeburg his capital in Germany. Magdeburg flourished, and by the end of 1636, Magdeburg was rebuilt, and then some.
At the end of 1636, the population of Magdeburg stands at about 100,000. Magdeburg City is simultaneously the capital of the United States of Europe, the capital of Magdeburg Province, and a free imperial city of the United States of Europe.
The flag is a green-red horizontal bicolor (the colors of Magdeburg) with the city’s seal overlying the center of the flag. A castle is on the seal, with a young woman standing on the castle; that is a punning reference to the city’s name ("Magdeburg" = "Maiden Fortress"). Historically, it was the flag of Magdeburg City in the seventeenth century.
Strassburg
Strassburg (Strasbourg in French) began as a Roman camp named Argentoratum around 12 BCE. Over the centuries it grew as a main waypoint on a major trade route. Between 362 CE and 1262 it was the seat of the Bishopric of Strassburg. In 1262, the citizens of Strassburg City revolted against the prince-bishop and Strassburg became a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.
After the Swedish army conquered Strassburg in 1634, the city seized as much surrounding land as possible. Since the city had been surrounded by the Bishopric of Strassburg, this city must have taken land from the bishopric. Strassburg was made a free imperial city of the United States of Europe, so in 1636 it is the largest free imperial city in the United States of Europe, at least in terms of land area.
When Strassburg became a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, it took a simple red bend dexter on a white field as its coat of arms. The coat of arms has remained unchanged since then.
Ulm
The first settlements in the area of Ulm appear to date from the Early Neolithic Period, around 5000 BCE. The oldest record of the town dates to 854 CE. In 1181, Ulm was made a free independent city of the Holy Roman Empire by a proclamation of Frederick I Barbarossa.
In 1377, construction of an enormous church, the Ulm Minster, was begun. This church's construction was financed by the citizens of Ulm, rather than by the Roman Catholic Church.
Ulm became prosperous due to its location at the crossroads of many trade routes to Italy. Ulm also was a center of high-quality textile manufacture, which added to that prosperity.
Ulm became Protestant in the Reformation and was repeatedly attacked by Catholic forces during the Thirty Years' War. The effects of the war, along with the discovery of the Americas, led to a decrease in Ulm’s trade, and Ulm began to decline. In the new timeline, however, the coming of the United States of Europe has re-invigorated Ulm.
Ulm’s flag is, and has always been, a plain black-white horizontal bicolor. The colors refer to the Ulm Minster, as black and white are the colors of the church.
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Another Special Case: Bremen
The area around Bremen has been settled since about 12,000 BCE. In 787 CE Bremen received its first bishop. In 1032 Bremen built its first stone walls. In 1186, Frederick I Barbarossa granted Bremen all the privileges of imperial immediacy, but, in the original timeline, Bremen’s immediacy was not made official until 1646.
In the new timeline, at the Congress of Copenhagen, Bremen was given the status of a regular city within the Province of Westphalia. As of the end of 1636, Bremen remains a regular city.
The original flag of Bremen was a silver key centered diagonally on a red field. It was used from about 1350 until the beginning of the seventeenth century.
The second flag, a 7 x 6 checkerboard in red and white, was the flag of Bremen in the 1630s.
In 1695 OTL, the flag was changed to one with two columns of red and white squares at the hoist, with nine red and white stripes extending to the fly. That newer flag is still the flag of Bremen in the twenty-first century. That flag is commonly called the "Speckflagge" (Bacon Flag) due to the stripes’ similarity to the alternating layers of meat and fat in bacon.
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Next, Two Districts
The two districts of the United States of Europe have no representation in the United States of Europe Parliament. They are directly administered by the United States of Europe Navy and may have military governors.
Harlingen
During the war against the Le
ague of Ostend, CPE forces swept through the northern Netherlands, taking the Dutch provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, and Frisia. At the end of the war, the provinces were given back to the Netherlands, but the United States of Europe kept the port city of Harlingen in Frisia.
It is expected that Harlingen will eventually be fully incorporated into the United States of Europe as a free imperial city, but at the end of 1636 it remains a district.
Red, white, and gold are the traditional colors of Harlingen. This is the flag historically used in the 1630s. The flag used in the twenty-first century is a much more complex design, but it still uses those colors, plus blue, signifying the sea.
Heligoland
Heligoland (Helgoland in German) is two tiny islands less than a single kilometer apart in the North Sea, about 43 miles (69 kilometers) from the mouths of the Elbe and Weser rivers. Throughout history, Heligoland has been shrinking due to erosion by the North Sea and its weather. It is expected that Heligoland will eventually disappear altogether.
During the war with the League of Ostend, Sweden and the Confederated Principalities of Europe took Heligoland from the Danish Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. After the end of the war, the United States of Europe kept Heligoland to use as a naval base, due to its strategically-important location.
The flag shown is the one historically used by Heligoland in the 1630s. Heligoland’s twenty-first-century flag is a green-red-white horizontal tricolor.
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Yet Another Special Case: The Swabian Cities
In 1635, the former Holy Roman Empire free imperial cities of Ravensburg, Lindau, Wangen, Isny, Leutkirch, Biberach, Überlingen, and Constance (Konstanz) petitioned for admittance to the Swiss Confederation as a new "Canton of Swabian Cities." As of the end of 1636, the Swiss cantons have not responded to the cities’ application.
All of these flags are derived from the historical coats of arms that the cities used in the 1630s; Constance’s flag was the flag Constance actually used in the 1630s.
Biberach
If anybody is wondering, the critter on the flag is a beaver. Biberach an der Riss’ name is similar to the German word biber, which means 'beaver.' Armigers (persons, groups, or organizations who are entitled to coats of arms) often use charges that punningly refer to their names when designing their coats of arms. This practice is called 'canting' in English. One example of canting already mentioned above is the coat of arms of Magdeburg. The use of a beaver in Biberach’s arms is another example.
Biberach was created a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in 1240. In 1488 Biberach was granted the right to a coat of arms by Emperor Friedrich III. Originally the arms were a blue beaver on a silver field, but later the colors were changed to a gold beaver on a blue field.
Constance
Unlike the other cities, Constance (Konstanz in German) was not a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in the 1630s. In the 1520s, Constance declared itself Protestant. In 1548, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, imposed the imperial ban on Constance, revoking its status as a free imperial city. The Habsburgs’ army immediately attacked and captured Constance. Constance then became part of Further Austria.
The flag’s design follows the design of Constance’ coat of arms, but the elements of the arms are rotated counterclockwise by 90°. Originally the coat of arms was only the black cross on a white field, but later a red chief (a wide horizontal bar along the top of the field of the escutcheon [shield]) was added.
Isny
Isny im Allgäu was a prosperous trading town. In 1365 it was elevated to a free imperial city. At the time, the town seal only showed a horseshoe. The use of a horseshoe was a canting reference to Isny’s name ("Isny" implies eisen the German word for iron; Hufeisen means 'horseshoe'—literal translation: "hoof iron").
In 1488, as a reward for Isny’s help in a then-recent war against Flanders, Emperor Friedrich III granted Isny the right to use the imperial eagle in its coat of arms, and the eagle was added. The horseshoe was then inverted, and placed on the eagle’s breast.
Leutkirch
Leutkirch im Allgäu gained the status of free imperial city in 1293. Its coat of arms showed a church in yet another case of canting (Leutkirch is German for 'the people’s church'). It also shows a small escutcheon with a black two-headed eagle to indicate its former status as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.
Lindau
Lindau is located on a small island in Lake Constance ("Bodensee" in German) a mere 570 feet (175 meters) from the eastern shore of the lake.
The earliest surviving documented mention of Lindau dates to 882 CE, in a document written by a monk at St. Gallen, that states that a nunnery had been founded on the island. However, the remains of a Roman settlement dating to the first century CE have been found (in the twentieth century OTL) in Aeschach, the area on the mainland closest to the island.
In 1275 Lindau became a free imperial city. Lindau was given the status of "city" despite its relatively small population.
The Linden tree has been the symbol of Lindau since at least 1180. The tree’s presence in Lindau’s coat of arms is a canting reference to the city’s name.
Ravensburg
Ravensburg was founded by the Guelphs (Welfs) sometime in the eleventh century. The Guelphs made the castle of Ravensburg their ancestral seat. In 1191, Frederick I Barbarossa, a Hohenstaufer, inherited Ravensburg. In 1276 Ravensburg was elevated to a free imperial city.
The castle on the coat of arms represents Ravensburg Castle. The small escutcheon (shield) with the cross is supposed to be the arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It represents either Konrad of Hohenstaufen, who was native to the area of Ravensburg and became the King of Jerusalem during a crusade, or the shield may represent Duke Welf IV, who was also a crusader and was reputed to have brought back a piece of the True Cross from the Holy Land.
Überlingen
Überlingen am Bodensee is located on the north shore of Lake Constance 11 km (7 mi) due north of Constance. Its history dates back to the first century, but there is archeological evidence of human habitation long before then. The first recorded settlement on the site of Überlingen was Iburinga, where the Allemannic dukes maintained their primary seat while the Franks and Goths contested for the region.
Most of the region’s earliest historical records have been lost, but it is known that Überlingen achieved free imperial city status at the end of the fourteenth century.
Überlingen’s arms were originally the imperial eagle. The Spanish red lion was granted to the city in 1528 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and added to the coat of arms at that time.
Wangen
Wangen im Allgäu lay at the crossroads among Ravensburg, Isny, Leutkirch, and Lindau. This location led to great prosperity due to trade. Wangen was founded in 1217 by Emperor Friedrich II. It received city rights in 1286 and was made a free imperial city in 1347.
Originally, Wangen’s city seal showed only the fleur de lis. The eagle was added shortly after 1286. The three human heads were added some time later. The cheeks of the heads are emphasized, making a canting reference to the city’s name. "Wangen" is German for 'cheeks.'
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On Aug. 31, 1773, Samuel Johnson said, "No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned." In 1765, Wilkinson claimed that on average 4200 British seamen drowned annually (WilkinsonSP vi).
It is helpful to distinguish two situations. In one, the ship is intact, but one or more individuals have by accident fallen overboard. In the second, the ship itself is in distress; it may have run aground, or it may even be sinking.
Man Overboard. In 1620, John Howland fell overboard from the Mayflower during a storm, but "managed to grab hold of the topsail halyards, giving the crew enough time to rescue him with a boat-hook" (Johnson). Most men overboard were less lucky. For example, Dana's Two Years Before the Mast reported that a young sailor
was going aloft with a "strap and block, a coil of halyards, and a marline-spike about his neck" when he fell from the starboard futtock shrouds. "[N]ot knowing how to swim, and being heavily dressed, with all those things round his neck, he probably sank immediately." Nonetheless, his shipmates rowed about for nearly an hour trying to find him.
Abandon Ship! If a ship were wrecked, the loss of life was likely to be much greater. In the period January, 1814 to June, 1816, 1702 lives were lost as a result of the shipwreck of British transports, presumably by drowning (Estimates). "The introduction of iron ships in the 1850s meant that (a) the ships sank faster and (b) there was little flotsam and jetsam to provide flotation. As a result, marine drowning statistics promptly increased" (Brooks).
Nowadays, even with far more safety measures than in the nineteenth century, there is a recreational sailing-related fatality rate of 1.19 per million sailing days."As many as 73% of sailing-related deaths are due to drowning as a result of falls overboard (39–44%) or capsizing the vessel (20–40%). . . . Leading contributing factors to fatal sailing accidents are high winds (12–27%), alcohol use (10–15%), and operator inexperience (8%)" (Nathanson).