Mainz / Germany

Mainz ; Latin: Mogontiacum, French: Mayence) is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Most of the city is upstream of a sudden direction change of the Rhine – before it flows west. The northern end of the city faces Wiesbaden, in Hesse. The east of the city faces the confluence of the Main. Mainz is an independent city with a population of 217,118 and forms part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region.Mainz was founded by the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC in Classical antiquity to serve as a military fortress on the northernmost frontier of the empire and as the provincial capital of Germania Superior. Mainz became an important city in the 8th century AD as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the capital of the Electorate of Mainz and seat of the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, the Primate of Germany. Mainz is famous as the home of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable-type printing press, who in the early 1450s manufactured his first books in the city, including the Gutenberg Bible. Mainz was heavily damaged in World War II; more than 30 air raids destroyed about 80 percent of the city's center, including most of the historic buildings. Today, Mainz is notable as a transport hub, a center of wine production, and for its many rebuilt historic buildings with public use.