Wurtemberg

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

a kingdom of Germany. It lies between Baden and Bavaria and touches the Lake of Constance. Area, 7,528 square miles, about equal to that of New Jersey . The surface is for the greater part hilly. The soil is chiefly of limestone formation. About a third of the country is forested with beech, birch, oak, and pine. The chief mineral productions are iron, salt, limestone, gypsum, slate, millstone, and potter's clay. The sheltered hillsides are favorable to the growth of the grape. Wine is an important product. The valleys produce wheat, rye, oats, barley, orchard fruits, hops, tobacco, and garden vegetables. The large manufacturing establishments produce cotton and woolen cloth, beer, and chemicals. The peasantry live in small villages and are skillful in the making of dolls, wooden toys, cuckoo clocks, and musical instruments. Wurtemberg was raised from a duchy to a kingdom by Napoleon. The Congress of Vienna confirmed the arrangement. In the war of 1866 the kingdom took the side of Austria and was punished. In 1870-1 it sided with Prussia and became a member of the new German Empire . It is entitled to send four members to the upper house and seventeen to the lower. The government of Wurtemberg is a constitutional monarchy. Education is compulsory. The national university is at Tubingen. The capital is Stuttgart. Ulm is perhaps the best known city. Religious liberty is guaranteed, but the king is made the guardian of the Lutheran church. The population in 1905 was 2,302,179. See Ulm ; Stuttgart