Württemberg Geography Climate Demography Agriculture

It lay between 47° 34' 48" and 49° 35' 17" N., and between 8° 15' and 10° 30' E. Its greatest length from north to south comprised 140 miles (225 km); its greatest breadth comprised 100 miles (160 km); its boundaries had a circumference of 1116 miles (1800 km). Its total area comprised 20,000 km² (7534 mile²). It shared a boundary on the East with BavariaWith an area of 70,553 km² and 11. 6 million inhabitants, the Free State of Bavaria ( German Bayern or Freistaat Bayern forms the southernmost of the 16 Bundeslander of Germany. Its capital is Munich. Geography Bavaria shares international borders with Au, and on the other three sides with Baden, with the exception of a short distance on the South, where it bordered Hohenzollern and Lake ConstanceLake Constance ( German Bodensee also known as Schwabisches Meer (informally) and sometimes written Lake of Constance is a lake on the Rhine between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The freshwater lake sits at 395 m above sea level and is central Europe'.

1 Geography

2 Climate

The temperate climate turns colder among the mountains in the south. The mean temperature varies at different points from 6 to 10 °C. Abundant forests induce much rain, most of which falls in the summer. Given on the whole fertile and well-cultivated soil, agriculture formed the main occupation of the inhabitants.

3 Demography

4 Agriculture

The Kingdom of Württemberg essentially formed an agricultural state, and of its 4,821,760 acres (20,000 km²), 44.9 % comprised agricultural land and gardens, 1.1 % vineyards, 17.9 % meadows and pastures, and 30.8 % forest.

It possessed rich meadowlands, cornfields, orchards, gardens, and hills covered with vines. The chief agricultural products were oats, spelt, rye, wheat, barley, hops. To these add wineMany people think of Germany as a beer producing country, and the beers of Bavaria in particular are known very well internationally. However many parts of Germany are wine-producing areas, and due to the northerly location have produced wines quite unlik (mostly of excellent quality) of an annual value of about one million pounds sterling, peas and beans, maize, fruit, (chiefly cherries and apples), beets and tobacco, and garden and dairy produce.

Württembergers reared considerable numbers of cattle, sheep and pigs; and paid great attention to the breeding of horses.

5 Mining

The Kingdom of Württemberg lacked minerals of great industrial importance apart from salt and iron. The salt industry came to prominence only at the beginning of the 19th century. The iron industry, on the other hand, had great antiquity, but completely lacked coal mines within the Kingdom. Other minerals produced included granite, limestone, ironstone and fireclay.

6 Manufactures

The old-established manufactures embraced linen, woollen and cotton fabrics, particularly at EsslingenAlternate use: Esslingen, Switzerland Esslingen is a city in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Esslingen. Population 91,239 (2002), geographical location 48° 45' North, 9° 19' East. It is located at the river N and GöppingenGoppingen is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Wurttemberg. Capital of the district Goppingen. It is situated at the bottom of the Hohenstaufen mountain, in the valley of the river Fils. History The city was supposedly foun, and paper-making, especially at RavensburgRavensburg town in Swabia, southern Germany. Capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Wurttemberg. First mention in 1088. 48000 inhabitants in 2002 (19000 in 1933). In Ravensburg the Otto Maier Verlag is settled which invented the puzzles. Also a famo, Heilbronn and other places in Lower Swabia.

The manufacturing industries, assisted by the government, developed rapidly during the later years of the 19th century, notably metal-working, especially such branches of it as require exact and delicate workmanship. Particular importance attached to iron and steel goods, locomotives (for which Esslingen enjoyed a good reputation), machinery, cars, bicycles, small arms (in the Mauser factory at Oberndorf), all kinds of scientific and artistic appliances, pianos (at Stuttgart), organs and other musical instruments, photographic apparatus, clocks (in the Black Forest), electrical apparatus, and gold- and silver-goods.

Extensive chemical works, potteries, cabinet-making workshops, sugar factories, breweries and distilleries operated. Water-power and petrol largely compensated for the lack of coal. Among other interesting developments note the manufacture of liquid carbonic acid gas extracted from natural gas springs beside the Eyach, a tributary of the Neckar.

7 Commerce

The Kingdom of Württemberg's principal exports included cattle, cereals, wood, pianos, salt, oil, leather, cotton and linen fabrics, beer, wine and spirits. Commerce centred on the cities of Stuttgart, Ulm, Heilbronn and Friedrichshafen. Stuttgart, once called the Leipzig of South Germany, boasted an extensive book trade.

8 Communications

In 1907 the Kingdom of Württemberg had 1219 miles (2,000 km) of railways, of which all except 159 miles (256 km) belonged to the state. Navigable waters included the Neckar, the Schussen, Lake Constance, and the Danube downstream from Ulm. The Kingdom had fairly good quality roads; the oldest of them of Roman construction. Württemberg, like Bavaria, retained the control of its own postal and telegraph service on the foundation of the new German Empire in 1871.

9 Constitution

As a constitutional monarchy, the Kingdom of Württemberg functioned as a member of the German Empire, with four votes in the then Federal Council (Bundesrat), and seventeen in the Reichstag (parliament). The constitution rested on a law of 1819, amended in 1868, in 1874, and again in 1906. The hereditary crown conveyed the simple title of "King of Württemberg". The king received a civil list of 103,227 pounds sterling.

The Kingdom possessed a bi-cameral legislature. The upper chamber (Standesherren) comprised:

adult princes of the blood
heads of noble families from the rank of count (Graf) upwards
representatives of territories (Standesherrschafien) which possessed votes in the old German Imperial Diet or in the local diet
members (not more than 6) nominated by the King
8 members of knightly rank
6 ecclesiastical dignitaries
a representative of the university of Tübingen
a representative of the technical high school of Stuttgart
2 representatives of commerce and industry
2 representatives of agriculture
1 representative of handicrafts.

The lower house (Abgeordnetenhaus) had 92 members:

63 representatives from the administrative divisions (Oberamtsbezirke)
6 representatives from Stuttgart, elected by proportional representation
6 representatives, one from each of the six chief provincial towns
17 members elected by the two electoral divisions (Landeswahlkreise), elected by proportional representation

The King appointed the President of the upper chamber; after 1874 the lower chamber elected its own chairman. Members of both houses had to have reached twenty-five years of age.

Württemberg parliaments had terms of six years; all male citizens over twenty-five years of age possessed suffrage rights, voting by ballot.

The highest executive power rested in the hands of the Ministry of State (Staatsministerium), consisting of six ministers for:

justice
foreign affairs (with the royal household, railways, posts and telegraphs)
the interior
public worship and education
war
finance

The Kingdom also had a Privy Council, consisting of the ministers and some nominated councillors (wirkliche Staatsräte), who advised the sovereign at his command. The judges of a special supreme court of justice, called the Staatsgerichtshof (which functioned as the guardian of the constitution), gained office partly through election by the chambers and partly through appointment by the King. Each of the chambers had the right to impeach the ministers.

The Kingdom comprised four governmental departments (Kreise), subdivided into sixty-four divisions (Oberamtsbezirke), each under a headman (Oberamtmann) assisted by a local council (Amtsversammlung). A Government (Regierung) heads each of the four departments.

10 Ecclesiatical Administration

The right of direction over the churches resided in the King, who had also, so long as he belonged to the Protestant Church, the guardianship of the spiritual rights of that Church. The Protestant Church is controlled (under the minister of religion and education) by a consistory and a synod. The consistory comprised a president, 9 councillors and 6 general superintendents or prelates from six principal towns. The synod consisted of a representative council, including both lay and clerical members.

The Roman Catholic Church in the Kingdom answered to the bishop of Rottenburg, in the archdiocese of Freiburg. Politically it obeyed a Roman Catholic council, appointed by government.

A state-appointed council (Oberkirchenbehörde) regulated Württemberg Judaism after 1828.

11 Education

The Kingdom claimed universal literacy (reading and writing) over the age of ten years. Higher learning occurred at the university of Tübingen, in the technical high school (with academic rank) of Stuttgart, the veterinary high school at Stuttgart, the commercial college at Stuttgart, and the agricultural college of Hohenheim. Gymnasia and other schools existed in all the larger towns, while every commune had a primary school. Numerous schools and colleges existed for women. Wuerttemberg also had a school of viticulture

12 Army

Under the terms of the convention of 1871 the troops of Württemberg formed the XIII. army corps of the imperial German army.

12.1 Finances

The state revenue for 1909-1910 comprised an estimated 4,840,520 pounds sterling, nearly balanced by expenditure. About one-third of the revenue derived from railways, forests and mines; about 1,400,000 pounds sterling from direct taxation; and the remainder from indirect taxes, the post-office and sundry items.

In 1909 the public debt amounted to 29,285,335 pounds sterling, of which more than 27,000,000 pounds sterling resulted from the costs of railway construction.

Of the expenditure, over 900,000 pounds sterling went towards public worship and education, and over 1,200,000 pounds sterling went in interest and repayment of the national debt. To the treasury of the German Empire the Kingdom contributed 660,000 pounds sterling.

13 History

History of Württemberg

14 Bibliography

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica
Württembergische Jahrbücher für Statistik und Landeskunde
Das Königreich Württemberg, eine Beschreibung nach Kreisen, Oberämtern und Gemeinden (Stuttgart, 1904)
Statistisches Handbuch für das Königreich Württemberg (Stuttgart, 1885 fol.)
Das Königreich Württemberg, eine Beschreibung von Land, Volk und Staat (1893)
Jahresberichte der Handels- und Gewerbekammern in Württemberg
Lang, Die Entwicklung der Bevölkerung Württembergs im Laufe des 19ten Jahrhunderts (Tübingen, 1903)
Engel and Schulze, Geognostischer Wegweiser durch Württemberg (Stuttgart, 1908)
Staatsrecht des Königreichs Württemberg (Tübingen, 1908)
F. Bitzer, Regierung und Stände in Württemberg (Stuttgart, 1882).

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