Zweibrücken
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Template:Infobox Town DE Zweibrücken is a city of Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, on the Schwarzbach river at the border of the Palatine Forest.
The town was the capital of the former duchy of Zweibrücken, and the Alexander-Kirche (founded in 1493) contains the tombs of the dukes. The ducal castle is now occupied by the chief court of the Palatinate. There is a fine Gothic Protestant church. Weaving and brewing and the manufacture of machinery, chicory, cigars, malt, boots, furniture and soap are the chief industries.
Zweibrücken ("two bridges") is the Latin Bipontinum; it appears in early documents also as Geminus Pons, and was called by the French Deux-Ponts.
The independent territory was at first a county, the counts being descended from Henry I (Heinrich I.), youngest son of Simon I, count of Saarbrücken (d. 1182). This line, the Walramides, became extinct on the death of Count Eberhard (1393), who in 1385 had sold half his territory to the count palatine of the Rhine, and held the other half as his feudatory. Louis (d. 1489), son of Stephen, count palatine of Zimmern-Veldenz, founded the line of the dukes of Zweibrücken. In 1559, a member of the line, Duke Wolfgang, founded the earliest grammar school of the town (Herzog-Wolfgang-Gymnasium), which existed until 1987.
After Charles X Gustav, the son of John Casimir, Margrave of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, succeeded his cousin Queen Christina of Sweden on the Swedish throne, Pfalz-Zweibrücken was in personal union with Sweden until 1718.
- See also House of Pfalz-Zweibrücken
In 1731, the Zimmern-Veldenz line of the dukes of Zweibrücken became extinct and the duchy passed to the Birkenfeld branch, whence it came under the sway of Bavaria in 1799. At the Peace of Luneville in 1801 Zweibrücken was ceded to France; on its reunion with Germany in 1814 the greater part of the territory was given to Bavaria, the remainder to Oldenburg and Kingdom of Prussia.
At the ducal printing office at Zweibrücken the fine edition of the classics known as the Bipontine Editions was published (1799 sqq.).
On the outskirts of the city, Zweibrucken Air Base was for many years home to U.S. Airmen and their families. Prior to being a home for the USAFE, the base was home to the 1st Canadian Air Division of the RCAF. From 1953 to 1968, it was the home of 413, 427 and 434 Squadrons.
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Twinnings
- Image:Flag of Canada.svg Barrie, Ontario, Canada since 1996
- Image:Flag of France.svg Boulogne-sur-Mer, France since 1959
- Image:Flag of Rwanda.svg Nyakizu (formerly Runyinya), Rwanda since 1982
- Image:Flag of the United States.svg Yorktown, Virginia, USA since 1978
Further reading
- Ammerich, "Zweibrücken. Die alte Herzogsstadt in Geschichte und Gegenwart", Zweibrücken 1983
- Bartz, Günther, "Zweibrücken. Frühe Kunde – Herzogliche Zeiten – heute", Speyer 1960
- Lehmann, "Vollständige Geschichte des Herzogthums Zweibrücken und seiner Fürsten, der Stamm- und Voreltern des k. bayer. Hauses", Munich, 1867
- Molitor, Ludwig, "Vollständige Geschichte der ehemals pfalz-bayerischen Residenzstadt Zweibrücken von ihren ältesten Zeiten bis zur Vereinigung des Herzogtums Zweibrücken mit der Bayerischen Krone", Zweibrücken 1884
External links
- http://www.zweibruecken.de - Official website
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition{{#if:{{{article|}}}| article {{#if:{{{url|}}}|[{{{url|}}}}} "{{{article}}}"{{#if:{{{url|}}}|]}}{{#if:{{{author|}}}| by {{{author}}}}}}}, a publication now in the public domain.Template:Germany districts rhineland-palatinatede:Zweibrücken
fr:Deux-Ponts nl:Zweibrücken ja:ツヴァイブリュッケン no:Zweibrücken pl:Zweibrücken (księstwo)