Giessen , spelled Gießen in German ( German pronunciation: [ˈɡiːsn̩] ), is a town in the German state ( Bundesland ) of Hesse , capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen . The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students.
15-718: The Theater Gießen , official name Stadttheater Gießen (Gießen Municipal Theatre), is a theatre in Gießen , Germany, a cultural center for the university city and the region. The main building was designed in Neo-classical style with influences of Jugendstil by architects Fellner & Helmer and completed in 1906. It has two stages, seats around 700 visitors and presents opera , musical , operetta , plays and modern dance theatre. 50°35′03″N 8°40′38″E / 50.5841°N 8.6773°E / 50.5841; 8.6773 Gie%C3%9Fen The name comes from Giezzen , as it
30-529: A moated castle in 1152 built by Count Wilhelm von Gleiberg , although the history of the community in the northeast and in today's suburb called "Wieseck" dates back to 775. The town became part of Hesse-Marburg in 1567, passing to Hesse-Darmstadt in 1604. The University of Giessen was founded in 1607. Giessen was included within the Grand Duchy of Hesse created in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars . After
45-506: Is a dialect of rotwelsch spoken in and around Giessen by people in lower income neighbourhoods, some of which are known as "Eulenkopf", "Gummiinsel", "Heyerweg" and "Margaretenhütte". Approximately 700–750 residents spoke the dialect fluently as of 1976. Although the dialect still influences the Giessen vernacular , it is nearly extinct in terms of fluent speakers. Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there
60-604: Is a secret language , a cant or thieves' argot , spoken by groups (primarily marginalized groups ) in Germany , Switzerland , Austria , and Bohemia . The language is based on a mix of Low German , Yiddish , Hebrew , Romani , Latin , and Czech with a High German substrate. Rotwelsch was first named by Martin Luther in his preface of Liber Vagatorum in the 16th century. Rot means "beggar" while welsch means "incomprehensible" (cf *Walhaz ): thus, rotwelsch signifies
75-400: Is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Cfb ". (Marine West Coast Climate). Rotwelsch Rotwelsch ( German: [ˈʁoːtvɛlʃ] , " beggar's foreign (language) ") or Gaunersprache ( German: [ˈɡaʊnɐʃpʁaːxə] " crook's language ") also Khokhmer Loshn (from Yiddish " חוכמער לשון ", "tongue of the wise")
90-749: Is very common in the Berlin dialect; Bombe is still used in German prison jargon. Bock haben is also still used all around Germany. The Manisch dialect of the German city of Gießen is still used, although it was only spoken fluently by approximately 700-750 people in 1976. Josef Ludwig Blum from Lützenhardt (Black Forest) wrote from war prison: "[E]s grüßt Dich nun recht herzlich Dein Mann, viele Grüße an Schofel und Bock. Also nochmals viel Glück auf ein baldiges Wiedersehen in der schönen Heimat. Viele Grüße an Mutter u. Geschwister sowie an die Deinen." The censors allowed
105-671: The First World War , it was part of the People's State of Hesse . During the Second World War , a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp was in the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Licher Straße . Heavy bombing destroyed about 75 percent of Giessen in 1944, including most of the town's historic buildings. It became part of the modern state of Hesse after the war. In 1977, Giessen was merged with
120-733: The Yeniche language . In form and development it closely parallels the commercial speech ("shopkeeper language") of German-speaking regions. During the 19th and 20th century, Rotwelsch was the object of linguistic repression , with systematic investigation by the German police . From: Variants of Rotwelsch, sometimes toned down, can still be heard among travelling craftspeople and funfair showpeople as well as among vagrants and beggars. Also, in some southwestern and western locales in Germany, where travelling peoples were settled, many Rotwelsch terms have entered
135-417: The incomprehensible cant of beggars. Rotwelsch was formerly common among travelling craftspeople and vagrants . The language is built on a strong substratum of German, but contains numerous words from other languages, notably from various German dialects , and other Germanic languages like Yiddish , as well as from Romany languages . Rotwelsch has also played a great role in the development of
150-568: The large influx of 2016. After the war, the city was twinned with Winchester , UK. Giessen is twinned with: Giessen is home to the basketball club Giessen 46ers , five-time champion of the Basketball Bundesliga . Its home games take place at the Sporthalle Gießen-Ost . Also, Giessen has an American football team called Giessen Golden Dragons. The Catholic Scouts of Europe were founded in Giessen in 1975. Manisch
165-624: The neighbouring city Wetzlar to form the new city of Lahn . However, this attempt to reorganize the administration was reversed in 1979. It was part of the Darmstadt region (regierungsbezirk) between 1945 and 1981, until the Giessen (region) was founded on 1 January 1981. A U.S. military base was located in Giessen after the Second World War. The U.S. Army Garrison of Gießen had a population of up to 10,000 American soldiers and their families. Gießen
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#1733126679971180-470: The passage to remain, apparently believing that Bock and Schofel were people. They were instead code words, Schofel ("bad") and Bock ("hunger"), which hid the message that the prisoners weren't doing well, and that they were starving. A variant of Rotwelsch was spoken by some American criminal groups in the 1930s and the 1940s, and harpist Zeena Parkins ' 1996 album Mouth=Maul=Betrayer made use of spoken Rotwelsch texts. An example of Rotwelsch
195-453: The vocabulary of the vernacular, for instance in the municipalities of Schillingsfürst and Schopfloch . Some Rotwelsch- and Yenish-speaking vagrant communities also exist in Switzerland due the country's neutral status during World War Two. A few Rotwelsch words have entered the colloquial language, for example, aufmucken , Bau , and berappen . Baldowern or ausbaldowern
210-639: Was also the site of the central US army depot for all of Europe as well as the site of a special ammunition depot. The base is a converted German Army Air Field which is reflected in some of the buildings including the housing area. A theatre, known as the Keller Theatre, is a converted German Army Officers' Club. As of 28 September 2007, the Giessen Depot and all other U.S. facilities in the greater Giessen area were returned to local German authorities. The former U.S. Army buildings were used to house refugees after
225-522: Was first referred to in 1197, which refers to the position of the town between several rivers, lakes and streams. The largest river in Giessen is the Lahn , which divides the town in two parts (west and east), roughly 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Frankfurt am Main . Giessen is also home to the University of Giessen . In 1969, the town hosted the ninth Hessentag state festival. Giessen came into being as
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