Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the Breton March, responsible for defending Francia's frontier against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni, which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed in retribution by the Basques in Iberia at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.
Brandenburg an der Havel is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417.
Koblenz is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multinational tributary.
The Hermannsdenkmal is a monument located southwest of Detmold in the district of Lippe, in Germany. It stands on the densely forested Grotenburg, sometimes also called the Teutberg or Teut, a hill in the Teutoburger Wald range. The monument is located inside the remains of a circular rampart.
Bremervörde is a town in the north of the district (Landkreis) of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the Oste river near the centre of the "triangle" formed by the rivers Weser and Elbe, roughly equidistant from the cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Cuxhaven.
Kraków Old Town is the historic central district of Kraków, Poland. It is one of the most famous old districts in Poland today and was the centre of Poland's political life from 1038 until King Sigismund III Vasa relocated his court to Warsaw in 1596.
Freimarkt in Bremen, Germany, first held in 1035, is one of the oldest fairs in Germany. With more than four million visitors each year, it is also considered to be the biggest funfairs in Northern Germany.
Kalocsa is a town in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. It lies 142 km (88 mi) south of Budapest. It is situated in a marshy but highly productive district, near the left bank of the Danube River. Historically it had greater political and economic importance than at present.
Neuhaus an der Oste is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany.
For most of its 1,200 year history, Bremen was an independent city within the confederal jurisdiction of Germany's Holy Roman Empire. In the late Middle Ages, its governing merchant guilds were at the centre of the Hanseatic League, which sought to monopolise the North Sea and Baltic trade. To establish and confirm its independence, the city had to contend first with the Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, and then with the Swedes, who had become the masters of the surrounding, former episcopal, duchies after the Thirty Years' War.
Bremen, officially the City Municipality of Bremen, is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. With about 570,000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city is the 11th largest city of Germany and the second largest city in Northern Germany after Hamburg.
Bremen City Hall is the seat of the President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen, Germany. It is one of the most important examples of Brick Gothic and Weser Renaissance architecture in Europe. Since 1973, it has been a protected historical building. In July 2004, along with the Bremen Roland statue, the building was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of its outstanding architecture and its testimony to the development of civic autonomy in the Holy Roman Empire.
German heraldry is the tradition and style of heraldic achievements in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions. German heraldic style is one of the four major broad traditions within European heraldry and stands in contrast to Gallo-British, Latin and Eastern heraldry, and strongly influenced the styles and customs of heraldry in the Nordic countries, which developed comparatively late. Together, German and Nordic heraldry are often referred to as German-Nordic heraldry.
The Roland was an express train that ran in Germany. For part of its existence, it was also an international train. Introduced in 1939, suspended during World War II, and reintroduced in 1952, it was operated in Germany by the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft (DRG), the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) and the Deutsche Bahn (DB), respectively.
The Bremer Marktplatz is a square situated in the centre of the Hanseatic City of Bremen. One of the oldest public squares in the city, it covers an area of 3,484 m2 (37,500 sq ft). It is no longer used as a market place except for the Christmas market and the annual Freimarkt Fair at the end of October.
The New Town Hall has stood on the Domshof in the centre of Bremen, Germany since 1913. Located behind the Unser-Lieben-Frauen-Kirchhof cemetery, it is adjacent to the older section of the Town Hall with which it forms a harmonious ensemble. Among its sumptuous rooms decorated with local artefacts, the New Town Hall houses the Senate Chamber used by the Senate for its regular meetings and the Great Hall, a venue for official receptions. In 2004, Bremen Town Hall was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the Roland of Bremen, because of its outstanding architecture and testimony to the development of civic autonomy during the Holy Roman Empire.
The Domshof is a town square in Bremen, north of the cathedral and the Marktplatz. The Domshof is used for markets as well as larger outdoor events, particularly May Day demonstrations.
The Mermaid of Warsaw is a symbol of Warsaw, represented on the city's coat of arms as well as in a number of statues and other imagery.
A Roland statue is a statue of a knight with a drawn sword, signifying the town privileges of a medieval city. Such statues exist in a number of cities notably in northern and eastern Germany, where they are often placed on the market square or in front of the city hall. Examples are also known from Central Europe, Croatia and Latvia, and there are copies in Brazil and the United States. Statues of the mythological Roland, who enjoyed the status as a popular hero, were erected in cities during the Middle Ages as an emblem of the freedom and city rights of a town. In Germany, such a town is sometimes known as a Roland town. Philippe Dollinger notes that although there are several Roland statues in the Baltic Sea area, there is nothing specifically Hanseatic about them. Rather, Roland statues are known mainly from cities that used Saxon Law.
Mozartplatz, formerly known as Michaelsplatz, is a square in the historic centre of Salzburg in Austria. In the centre of the square is a statue in memory of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born in the city and after whom the square is now named.
