salt, oil, leather, cotton and linen fabrics, beer, wine and spirits
The chief commercial cities are Stuttgart, Ulm, Heilbronn and
Friedrichshafen. The book trade of Stuttgart, called the Leipzig of South
Germany, is very extensive.
Communications.—In 1907 there were 1219 m. of railways, of which all except 159 m. belonged to the state. The Neckar, the Schussen and the lake of Constance are all navigable for boats; the Danube begins to be navigable at Ulm. The roads of Württemberg are fairly good; the oldest of them are Roman. Württemberg, like Bavaria, retained the control of its own postal and telegraph service on the foundation of the new German empire.
Constitution.—Württemberg is a constitutional monarchy and a member of the German empire, with four votes in the federal council (Bundesrat), and seventeen in the imperial diet. The constitution rests on a law of 1819, amended in 1868, in 1874, and again in 1906. The crown is hereditary, and conveys the simple title of king of Württemberg. The king receives a civil list of £103,227. The legislature is bi-cameral. The upper chamber (Standesherren) is composed of adult princes of the blood, heads of noble families from the rank of count (Graf) upwards, representatives of territories (Standesherrschaften), which possessed votes in the old German imperial diet or in the local diet; it has also members (not more than 6) nominated by the king, 8 members of knightly rank, 6 ecclesiastical dignitaries, a representative of the university of Tübingen, and 1 of the technical high school of Stuttgart, 2 representatives of commerce and industry, 2 of agriculture, and i of handicrafts. The lower house (Abgeordnetenhaus) has 92 members, viz. a representative from each of the administrative divisions (Oberamtsbezirke), 63 in all without Stuttgart, which has 6 representatives; also 1 from each of the six chief provincial towns, and 17 members elected by the two electoral divisions (Landeswahlkreise) into which the kingdom is divided. The latter class of members as well as those for Stuttgart are elected on the principle of proportional representation. The king appoints the president of the upper chamber; since 1874 the lower chamber has elected its own chairman. Members of both houses must be over twenty-five years of age, and parliaments are elected for six years; the suffrage is enjoyed by all male citizens over twenty-five years of age, and voting is by ballot.
The highest executive is in the hands of a ministry of state (Staatsministerium), consisting of six ministers respectively of justice, foreign affairs (with the royal household, railways, posts and telegraphs), the interior, public worship and education, war and finance. There is also a privy council, consisting of the ministers and some nominated councillors (wirkliche Staatsräte), who advise the sovereign at his command. The judges of a special supreme court of justice, called the Staatsgerichtshof (which is the guardian of the constitution), are partly elected by the chambers and partly appointed by the king. Each of the chambers has the right to impeach the ministers. The country is divided into four governmental departments (Kreise) and subdivided into sixty-four divisions (Oberamtsbezirke), each of which is under a headman (Oberamtmann} assisted by a local council (Amtsversammlung). At the head of each of the four departments is a government (Regierung).
Religion.—The right of direction over the churches resides in the king, who has also, so long as he belongs to the Protestant Church, the guardianship of the spiritual rights of that Church. The Protestant Church is controlled (under the minister of religion and education) by a consistory and a synod the former consisting of a president, 9 councillors and 6 general superintendents or “prelates” from six principal towns, and the latter of a representative council, including both lay and clerical members. The Roman Catholic Church is subject to the bishop of Rottenburg, in the archdiocese of Freiburg. Politically it is under a Roman Catholic council, appointed by government. The Jews also, since 1828, have been subject to a state-appointed council (Oberkirchenbehörde).
Education.—According to official returns there is not an individual in the kingdom above the age of ten years who cannot both read and write. The higher branches of learning are provided in the university of Tübingen, in the technical high school (with academic rank) of Stuttgart, the veterinary high school at Stuttgart, the commercial college at Stuttgart, and the agricultural college of Hohenheim. There are gymnasia and other schools in all the larger towns, while every commune has a school. There are numerous schools and colleges for women. There is also a school of viticulture at Weinsberg.
Army.—By terms of the convention of 1871 the troops of Württemberg form the XIII. army corps of the imperial German army.
Finances.—The state revenue for 1909-1910 was estimated at £4,840,520, which is nearly balanced by the expenditure. About one-third of the revenue is derived from railways, forests and mines; about £1,400,000 from direct taxation; and the remainder from0 indirect taxes, the post-office and sundry items. In 1909 the public debt amounted to £29,285,335, of which more than £27,000,000 was incurred for railway construction. Of the expenditure over £900,000 is spent upon public worship and education, and over £1,200,000 goes in interest and repayment of the national debt. To the treasury of the German empire the kingdom contributed £660,000.
Authorities.—See Württembergische Jahrbücher für Statistik und Landeskunde; Das Königreich Württemberg, eine Beschreibung nach Kreisen, Oberämtern und Gemeinden (Stuttgart, 1904); Statistisches Handbuch für das Königreich Württemberg (Stuttgart, 1885 fol.); Das Königreich Württemberg, eine Beschreibung von Land, Volk und Staat (1893); the Jahresberichte der Handels- und Gewerbekammern in Württemberg; Lang, Die Entwickelung der Bevölkerung Württembergs im Laufe des 19ten Jahrhunderts (Tübingen, 1903); Engel and Schulze, Geognosticher Wegweiser durch Württemberg (Stuttgart, 1908); Göz, Staatsrecht des Königreichs Württemberg (Tübingen, 1908); and F. Bitzer, Regierung und Stände in Württemberg (Stuttgart, 1882).
History.—The origin of the name Württemberg is uncertain, but the once popular derivation from Wirth am Berg is now universally rejected. Some authorities derive it from a proper name, Wiruto or Wirtino; others from a Celtic place-name, Virolunum or Verdunum. At all events from being the name of a castle near the village of Rothenberg, not far from Stuttgart, it was extended over the surrounding country, and as the lords of this district increased their possessions so the name covered an ever-widening area, until it reached its present denotation. Early forms of it are Wirtenberg, Wirtemberc and Wirtenberc. Wirtemberg was long current, and in the latter part of the 16th century Würtemberg and Württemberg appeared. In 1806 Württemberg was adopted as the official spelling, though Würtemberg is also common and occurs sometimes in official documents and even on coins issued after that date.
As far as we know, the first inhabitants of the country were the Celts, and then the Suebi. In the 1st century A.D. the Romans conquered the land and defended their position there by a rampart (limes). Early in the 3rd century the Alamanni drove the Romans beyond the Rhine and the Danube, but in their turn they were conquered by the Franks under Clovis, the decisive battle being fought in 496. For about four hundred years the district was part of the Frankish empire, being administered by counts, but in the 9th century it was incorporated with the German duchy of Swabia. The duchy of Swabia was ruled by the Hohenstaufen family until the death of Conradin in 1268, when a considerable part of it fell to the count of Württemberg, the representative of a family first mentioned about 1080, a certain Conrad von Beutelsbach, having called himself after his ancestral castle of Württemberg. The earliest count about whom anything is known is one Ulrich, who ruled from 1241 to 1265. He was marshal of Swabia and advocate of the town of Ulm, and had large possessions in the valleys of the Neckar and the Rems. Under his sons, Ulrich II. and Eberhard I., and their successors the power of the family grew steadily. Eberhard (d. 1325) was the opponent, and not always the unsuccessful one, of three German kings; he doubled the area of his county and transferred his residence from Württemberg to Stuttgart. His successors were not perhaps equally important, but all added something to the area of Württemberg. The lands of the family were several times divided, but in 1482 they were declared indivisible and were united under Count Eberhard V., called im Bart. This arrangement was confirmed by the German king, Maximilian I., and the imperial diet in 1495.
Eberhard was one of the most energetic rulers that Württemberg ever had, and in 1495 his county was raised to the rank of duchy. Dying in 1496, he was succeeded by his cousin, Duke Eberhard II., who, however, was deposed after a short reign of two years. The long reign (1498-1550) of Ulrich I., who succeeded to the duchy while still a child, was a most eventful period for the country, and many traditions cluster round the name of this gifted, unscrupulous and ambitious man. The extortions by
