The New Student's Reference Work/Mayence

Mayence (mä′yŏns′) or Mainz (mīnts), the capital and largest town of the grand-duchy of Rhenish Hesse, Germany, on the Rhine, near its union with the Main. It is a fortified city, with double wall, bastions, outworks and a citadel in the center, and commands both sides of the river. There is a monument to Gutenberg, with a statue by Thorwaldsen and a bronze statue of Schiller in the public squares. The house in which Gutenberg was born still stands, as does the one where he had his first printing-press. Mayence is an old city, having been a place of importance under the Romans. It was the head of the league of Rhenish towns in the 13th century, and through Gutenberg became the bookmaking center. In 1801 it belonged to France, but in 1816 was assigned to Hesse-Darmstadt. Since 1871 it has been a fortress of the German empire. Population 110,634.