Via Regia
Via Regia means King or Royal Road ( in mathematics ); it is a national road and a Altstrasse. Via Regia in the general sense is not referred to a specific road, but a road type ( as in Spanish the " Camino Real "). She was legally assigned to the king and was under special protection peace.
Such land and highways, there was the Holy Roman Empire a lot, for example, the Via Regia of Stettin Menzlin to Wismar, Lübeck and Hamburg that. "Most important east-west road in the north " of the medieval West Slavic settlement area In Menzlin they crossed the Peenetal.
In the famous Via Regia from the Rhine to Silesia in the course of time was the road type to the name of this particular road. Via Regia and Via Regina is also called the road along the west bank of Lake Como.
Via Regia Rhine - Silesia, also High Street
1252 it is first mentioned in a document of Margrave Heinrich of Meissen as king street ( strata regia). But are their beginnings already back to 8th and 9th centuries. Over the centuries, the High Street shifted into the river valleys to include the cities. After the decline of the royal central power in Central Germany as a result of the Battle of Lucka in 1307 it lost its royal function; since the 14th century can therefore no longer be called a Via Regia for this route.
The road was, however, in spite of the decline in the various sections under the name High Street continues. Now stand (including the King of Bohemia in Upper Lusatia, the Electors of Saxony in central Germany, the Abbey of Fulda in Hesse, the Archbishopric of Mainz on the Rhine ) and was privileged to wonderful country road forced under supervision.
Trade route
The road had great economic importance for the national trade and exchange of goods. From the west the cloth of Flanders, from the East wood, furs, wax and honey came, and the center controlled the woad of the Thuringian Basin, and mining products Upper Saxony at. The Via Regia also questioned the direct link between the two major German trade fair cities of Frankfurt am Main ( Frankfurt Trade Fair ) and Leipzig ( Leipzig Fair ) ago. Two other major roads between fair cities were " by the short Hesse " and " through the long Hessen".
Military road
Repeats the Strait of armies was used. Its catchment area is therefore found great battles instead ( Breitenfeld in 1631 and 1642, Lützen, Rossbach, Hochkirch, Bergen, Jena and Auerstedt, Bautzen, Großgörschen, Leipzig, Hanau ). After the defeat of Napoleon, the importance of the road, as by the reduction of the Saxon territory at the Congress of Vienna the street in favor of Leipzig forced expired was no longer tenable. The death march of concentration camp Adlerwerke Frankfurt to the Buchenwald concentration camp in March 1945, was also on the Via Regia, from Frankfurt to Hünfeld.
Pilgrimage
In large numbers have pilgrims who attended the Aachen Pilgrimage, uses the road. To this end, they turned in Eisenach from the highway by the long Hessen to Marburg and Cologne. Testimonies of pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela are known inter alia from Wroclaw, Gorlitz, Big Grove, Leipzig, Erfurt, Gotha, Vacha, Fulda, Frankfurt am Main and Mainz.
Major Cultural Route
In 2005 was declared the European Cultural Route of the Via Regia from EUR Europe.
Course
It proceeded from the Rhine via Frankfurt am Main, Hanau ( Kinzigtalstraße ), Gelnhausen, Steinau, Neuhof, Fulda, Hünfeld, Eisenach, Erfurt, Eckartsberga, in Bad Kösen over the Saale bridge to Naumburg (Saale ), White Rock, Leipzig, Grimsby, hurry castle, Great grove Koenigsbrueck, Kamenz, Bautzen and Görlitz to Wroclaw in Silesia.
Today, the historical course of the Via Regia is marked by several federal highways:
- Between Hünfeld and Eisenach by the federal highway 84
- Between Eisenach and Erfurt by the Federal Highway 7
- Between Eckartsberga and Eilenburg over Leipzig by the federal highway 87
- Between Leipzig and Görlitz in sections by the Federal Highway 6
- In Hanau branched from the Via Regia both the Kinzigtalstraße ( Langenselbold, Gelnhausen, Schlüchtern ) and the Birkenhainer road ( as a trail through the Spessart ), to the east and south.
Mainz and Leipzig
Beginning at Mainz, led the road parallel to the river Main to ( Frankfurt ) Maximum (old Elizabeth Street ) by Kurmainzisches area. From there, led an older track on the Nidda at ( Frankfurt ) Nied and by the Niedwald ( Roedelheimer road today Oeserstraße ), on the vine past by the Biegwald ( Biegweg ), then north to (Frankfurt ) Bockenheim past, about the Ginnheimer height ( Diebsgrundweg ) and the bush ( Marbachweg ) and Lohrberg to ( Frankfurt ) Bergen ( through the county, and later Principality of Hanau ). From here, the trail stopped on the ridge between the Nidder and the Kinzig. She went from mountains between Kilianstädten and Roßdorf about Ostheim ( Nidderau ) until after Marköbel where the road led out through the Marköbeler castle and the limit from the former Roman -controlled area in Roman times. Noteworthy here is the alignment of long, straight Limes distances on this transition, suggesting a pre-Roman existence of the road.
Over the hills between Langen -Bergheim and Altwiedermus the way was more about Diebach at the Hague and Mr Hague. From here was the High Street as Reffenweg between Lorbach and Vonhausen over the Great Reffenkopf, by the Büdinger forest. Coming out of the forest, the road (county Isenburg ) went on between Rinderbügen and Waldensberg, past Leisenwald, Hitzkirchen and Hettersroth and between Upper Reichenbach and Unterreichenbach by isenburgisches area until after Radmühl where the salt was crossed, here they crossed the Ortesweg. Between salt and Freiensteinau, Reichlos and between Houseleek ( Neuhof ) and Brandlos led through the route ( old road ) north of Giesel over to Fulda in Kämmerzell where the river was crossed by a ford. The High Street then united in Hünfeld again with the younger route via Frankfurt and through the Kinzig valley. In Vacha with its stone bridge and several fords the river Werra was crossed.
Several paths leading from Vacha in Eisenach: on the Vitzerodaer Cross and Mark Suhl or Berka / Werra- Herda - Oberellen reached the main routes the Thuringian Forest with the passports on Vachaer Stein and the Clausberg. From Eisenach the road first led on the edge of Nessetales and Hörselberg about Lupnitz and Haina ( hill forts in Hainaer wood) or Sättelstädt to Gotha. The route through the Hörseltal was available all year round only with the expansion of the downhill roads. From Sättelstädt led the still easily recognizable terrain road past Neufrankenroda to Krahnberg east of Mechterstädt and Unteraspach continue to Gotha.
From Gotha, the road led on to Erfurt, she crossed to the west by the Lauentor on the cathedral square, the market street, the Krämer bridge and the Merchants' Church to the east and left through the Krämpfertor to the east. She led north on Etter Mountain by over Eckartsberga to Naumburg and on about White Rock to Leipzig.
Leipzig- Silesia
It led from Leipzig Eilenburg or Grimsby after Oschatz, Big Grove, Koenigsbrueck, Kamenz, Bautzen, Lobau, Görlitz and Zittau, Lauban, Naumburg, Boleslawiec, Haynau, Legnica, Neumarkt to Wroclaw. She had sequels east towards to Krakow. In addition to the High Street (also called High Road ) developed secondary roads that competed with the road through the Upper Lusatia. Especially the low road offered an alternative to avoid duties. However, a system of escort agencies provided a compliance with the road compulsion. Bypassing the escort agencies was associated with high penalties, including seizure of goods.