Wikipedia:WikiProject Germany/Portal:Baden-Württemberg
Introduction
Baden-Württemberg (/ˌbɑːdən ˈvɜːrtəmbɜːrɡ/; German: [ˌbaːdn̩ ˈvʏʁtəmbɛʁk] (listen)), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state (Land) in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a total area of nearly 35,752 km2 (13,804 sq mi), it is the third-largest German state by both area (behind Bavaria and Lower Saxony) and population (behind North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria). As a federated state, Baden-Württemberg is a partly-sovereign parliamentary republic. The largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Pforzheim, Reutlingen, Tübingen, and Ulm.
What is now Baden-Württemberg was formerly the historical territories of Baden, Prussian Hohenzollern, and Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg became a state of West Germany in April 1952 by the merger of Württemberg-Baden, South Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. These states had just been artificially created by the Allies after World War II out of the existing traditional states Baden and Württemberg by their separation over different occupation zones.
Baden-Württemberg is especially known for its strong economy with various industries like car manufacturing, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, the service sector, and more. It has the third-highest gross regional product (GRP) in Germany. Part of the Four Motors for Europe, some of the largest German companies are headquartered in Baden-Württemberg, including Daimler, Porsche, Bosch and SAP.
The sobriquet Ländle (a diminutive of the word "Land" in the local Swabian, Alemannic and Franconian dialects) is sometimes used as a synonym for Baden-Württemberg. (Full article...)
Selected article
Maultaschen (singular Maultasche (help·info)) is a traditional German dish that originated in the region of Swabia (in Baden-Württemberg). It consists of an outer-layer of pasta dough which encloses a filling traditionally consisting of minced meat, smoked meat, spinach, bread crumbs and onions and flavoured with various herbs and spices (e.g. pepper, parsley and nutmeg).
Maultaschen are similar to the Italian ravioli but are typically larger in size—each Maultasche being approximately 8-12 centimeters (3-5 inches across). They are almost invariably square or rectangular in shape.
On 22 October 2009, the European Union recognized Maultaschen (Schwäbische Maultaschen or Schwäbische Suppenmaultaschen) as a "regional specialty" and remarked that the dish is significant to the cultural heritage of Baden-Württemberg. This measure provides protection to the integrity of the dish, mandating that genuine Maultaschen are only produced in Swabia, a historical region that was incorporated into the modern German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.
Selected biography
Karl Friedrich Benz (German: [bɛnts] (listen); November 25, 1844 – April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine, and together with Bertha Benz, pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. Other German contemporaries, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach working as partners, also worked on similar types of inventions, without knowledge of the work of the other, but Benz received a patent for his work first, and, subsequently patented all the processes that made the internal combustion engine feasible for use in an automobile. In 1879, his first engine patent was granted to him, and in 1886, Benz was granted a patent for his first automobile.
State facts
- Nickname: Ländle
- Capital: Stuttgart
- Minister-president: Winfried Kretschmann
- Governing parties: Greens / CDU
- Total area: 35,751 km2 (13,804 sq mi)
- Population: 10,879,618 (2015)
- Founded: April 25, 1952
- Website: www.baden-wuerttemberg.de
Selected image
Hohenzollern Castle is the ancestral seat of the imperial House of Hohenzollern.
Did you know?
- ...that the 18th-century Schloss Bruchsal is noted for its fine Roccoco decoration and in particular its grand Baroque entrance staircase, which is regarded as one of the finest examples of its genre.
- ... that the Schwarzwaldverein (Black Forest Association) was founded in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1864, making it the oldest German hiking and mountaineering club. The Schwarzwaldverein has almost 90,000 members in 241 local chapters.
Subcategories
- Select [►] to view subcategories
Selected panorama
Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen (German for 'Stilt house museum') is an archaeological open-air museum on Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Unteruhldingen, Germany, consisting of reconstructions of stilt houses or lake dwellings from the Neolithic Stone Age and Bronze Age.