- Eichsfeld
.
Geography
.
Cities in the Eichsfeld are
Duderstadt , Heiligenstadt,Leinefelde-Worbis andDingelstädt .History
between 1342 and 1434.
During the
Peasants' War within the Reichsstadt ofMühlhausen most of the monasteries, churches and castles were plundered and most of the Eichsfeld became Protestant.In 1575 the
Society of Jesus successfully established theCounter-Reformation in Eichsfeld. TheThirty Years' War reached Eichsfeld in 1622 and during the years following several armies (Swedish, Danish, Thuringian) plundered the region. According to thePeace of Westphalia theArchbishopric of Mainz reestablishedCatholicism in the area which was two thirds devastated and had lost 75% of its population.During the Napoleonic time Eichsfeld was part of the
Kingdom of Westphalia , which was dissolved after the victory over Napoleon at theBattle of Leipzig .From 1949 to 1990 the Obereichsfeld belonged to the
GDR . In this atheistic state the people preserved their Catholic roots, and church life stayed relatively intact.Politics
In consequence of the traditionalism in Eichsfeld, the percentage of voters for the CDU is significantly higher than in the surrounding area. [ [http://www.kreis-eic.de/landkr/kreistag/kreistag.htm Kreitag of the district Eichsfeld] ] Eichsfeld is home to one prominent activist of the fascist party in Germany (NPD. But the NPD received just about 3.3% of the votes in the 2005 general election.
References
External links
* [http://www.eichsfeld.de Official Homepage] (German)
* [http://www.hoeckmann.de/deutschland/regionen/eichsfeld.htm History and map of the Eichsfeld 1789] (German)
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