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Top Attractions in Mainz

Osteiner Hof

The Osteiner Hof is one of several Baroque-era palatial mansions along Schillerplatz square in the German city of Mainz. The mansion, along the southern edge of the square, was built in 1747-1752 by architect-soldier Johann Valentin Thomann for Franz Wolfgang Damian von Ostein, brother of Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein, who was prince-bishop of Mainz at that time. Characteristic features for this building are the three round protrusions at the front entrance and on the two corners. The building is lavishly decorated; for instance, the windows are framed by rococo-style cartouches symbolising the elements of air, earth and water. The classical gods Diana and Mars are shown on the cartouches framing the balcony doors. The von Osteins, a dynasty of counts, were not able to make use of the mansion for very long. After the left bank of the Rhine was occupied by French Revolutionary armies, the mansion was appropriated by the state, and in 1798 it became the seat of a newly created département of France, Mont-Tonnerre. The building continued to be used as a seat of government after the Napoleonic era, even gaining the nickname Gouvernement during the years 1854-1859, while emperor-to-be Wilhelm I was serving as military governor of Mainz. During the early days of the Franco-Prussian War the Osteiner Hof served as military headquarters of a Prussian field marshal, Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia. In 1914, then-military governor General Hugo von Kathen announced the start of World War I to the Mainz populace from the balcony of the Osteiner Hof. The mansion was destroyed by fire during World War II, but was restored in 1947-1948. From 1958 until 2014, the Osteiner Hof was in use by the Bundeswehr as military headquarters and officers' mess. The Osteiner Hof plays an important part in the local carnival traditions. Every year, on 11 November at 11 past 11, the start of the carnival season is proclaimed from the balcony of the mansion.

Christuskirche

The Christuskirche is a Protestant church located in Mainz. The Christuskirche was built between 1896 and 1903 designed by Eduard Kreyßig. It was consecrated on 2 July 1903. After demolition during the air raids of World War II the church was reconstructed between 1952 and 1954. The congregation forms part of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau. In the predominantly Catholic Mainz of 1802, only some hundred Protestants could be traced at the end of the Ancien Régime. Napoleon Bonaparte was the first to grant them the right of freely practising their religion and he expanded their civil rights. Previously Protestants had the status of „tolerated“ human beings, a status they shared with the Jews. Around the year 1900 already 33% of the inhabitants of Mainz had the Protestant confession. Due to increase of the Protestant community, they had to search for new space. The extension of the old city borders by the new expanded town Mainz-Neustadt during the last trimester of the 19th century opened the opportunity to demonstrate the self-confidence of the Protestant community by erecting a new church building. Along with the Kaiserstraße, a new twin lined three-lane boulevard, the church was erected by Eduard Kreyßig, the master builder of Mainz, in Renaissance Revival style. The church was intended to be a representative counterbalance to the Catholic Mainz Cathedral. The mighty dome excels other churches and buildings of the inner city of Mainz. Besides services, the Christuskirche is shared by lovers of music, since Diethard Hellmann founded in 1954 the Bach Choir and Bach Orchestra to perform especially Bach's cantatas. Fans of Gospel music enjoy the yearly performances of Colours of Gospel. Traditionally the opening mass services of the University of Mainz at the beginning of the academic term take place here.

Jupiter Column

A Jupiter Column is an archaeological monument belonging to a type widespread in Roman Germania. Such pillars express the religious beliefs of their time. They were erected in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, mostly near Roman settlements or villas in the Germanic provinces. Some examples also occur in Gaul and Britain. The base of the monuments was normally formed by a Viergötterstein , in itself a common monument type, usually depicting Juno, Minerva, Mercury and Hercules. This would support a Wochengötterstein (a carving depicting the personifications of the seven days of the week), which, in turn, supported a column or pillar, normally decorated with a scale pattern. The column was crowned with a statue of Jupiter, usually on horseback, trampling a Giant (usually depicted as a snake). In some cases (e.g. at Walheim), the column capital is decorated with four heads, usually interpreted as depictions of the four times of day (morning, midday, evening, night). The total height of a Jupiter Column is normally around 4 m, but some examples are taller, e.g. a famous example at Mainz with a height of more than 9 m. The columns in Upper Germany normally depict Jupiter defeating a Giant, as described above, and are thus known as Jupitergigantensäulen ("Jupiter-Giant-Columns"). In Lower Germany, Jupiter is normally depicted enthroned without the Giant; those monuments are commonly described simply as Jupitersäulen ("Jupiter Columns"). The pillars were often placed within a walled enclosure and accompanied by an altar. No such monument has survived intact. They are known from excavated finds or from secondary use as spolia, e.g. in Christian churches. Recently, reconstructions of some Jupiter Columns have been erected at or near where they were found, e.g. in Ladenburg, Obernburg, Benningen am Neckar, Sinsheim, Stuttgart, Mainz and near the Saalburg. According to the historian Greg Woolf, the pillars depict the victory of Jupiter Optimus Maximus over the forces of Chaos, the god himself being raised high above the other gods and humankind, but closely linked with them. Woolf sees most such monuments as dedications by individuals.

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