2 euro Germany 2013, Maulbronn Abbey in Baden-Württemberg

2 Euro Commemorative Coins Germany 2013, Kloster Maulbronn Abbey Baden-Württemberg
2 euro Germany 2013, Kloster Maulbronn - Baden-Württemberg




German commemorative 2 euro coins - Baden-Württemberg from the "Bundesländer"- series

Commemorative 2 euro coins from Germany

The eighth release in the annual German Federation series features the third largest of the 16 German states, Baden-Württemberg.

The inner part of the coin divided into two parts. The left shows the fountain in the pavilion with a mineral source of the XIII century, beneath the artist's initials engraved Eugen Ruhl - letters «ER». Right - the facade of the church of the Maulbronn Monastery which is home to the most perfectly preserved medieval monastery complex north of the Alps. Founded in 1147, this complex has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. On the top, the year of issuance "2013". Right - the sign of one of the mints Germany. Under the image there is the name of the federal state - BADEN-WURTTEMBERG ("Baden-Württemberg") and the letter «D», indicating the issuing State (Germany)




Reverse: left from the coin centre face value: 2, on the right inscription: EURO; in the background of the inscription a map of Europe; in the background of the map vertically six parallel lines ending on both sides with five-pointed stars (the reverse is common for all euro coins)

The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.
Design: Eugen Ruhl
Issuing volume: 30 million coins

Date of issue: February 2013
Face value: 2 euro
Diameter:         25.75 mm
Thickness:         2.2 mm
Weight:         8.5 gr
Composition: BiAlloy (Nk/Ng), ring Cupronickel (75% copper - 25% nickel clad on nickel core), center Nickel brass
€2 Edge Inscription: The German €2 coin edge inscription is "EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT" (Unity and Justice and Freedom), followed by the German federal eagle.

German Bundesländer series
Germany started the commemorative coin series Die 16 Bundesländer der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (The 16 States of the Federal Republic of Germany) in 2006, which will continue until 2021. Coins will be issued in the same sequence as the annual rotation of the presidency in the 'Bundesrat' (upper house of parliament), in which the 16 federal states are represented.
The coins issued are: 2 euro 2006 Schleswig-Holstein, 2 euro 2007 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 2 euro 2008 Hamburg, 2 euro 2009 Saarland, 2 euro 2010 Bremen, 2 euro 2011 North Rhine-Westphalia, 2 euro 2012 Bavaria, 2 euro 2013 Baden-Württemberg, 2 euro 2014 Lower Saxony, 2 euro 2015 Hesse, 2 euro 2016 Saxony, 2 euro 2017 Rhineland-Palatinate, 2 euro 2018 Berlin, 2 euro 2019 Saxony-Anhalt, 2 euro 2020 Thuringia, 2 euro 2021 Brandenburg.

Mint Marks:
A - Berlin National Mint ( Staatliche Münze Berlin ) in Berlin, Germany.
D - Bavarian Central Mint ( Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt ) in München, Germany.
F - Baden-Württemberg National Mint, Stuttgart Embossing ( Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg Prägestätte Stuttgart ) in Stuttgart, Germany.
G - Baden-Württemberg National Mint, Karlsruhe Embossing ( Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg Prägestätte Karlsruhe ) in Karslruhe, Germany.
J - Hamburg Mint ( Hamburgische Münze ), in Hamburg, Germany.
while B, C, E and H used to be mint locations that had been closed prior to the introduction of the Euro.

Baden-Württemberg 
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest of Germany's sixteen states in terms of both area and population, with an area of 35,742 square kilometres (13,800 sq mi) and 10.7 million inhabitants. The state capital is Stuttgart, also the state's largest city and one of the most important German cities. The sobriquet Ländle ("small land" or "dear land" in the local dialect) is sometimes used as a synonym for the Swabian part of Baden-Württemberg.
The area used to be covered by the historical state of Baden, the former Prussian Hohenzollern, and Württemberg, part of the region of Swabia.
In the first century AD, Württemberg was occupied by the Romans, who defended their position there by constructing a limes (fortified boundary zone). Early on in the third century, the Alemanni drove the Romans beyond the Rhine and the Danube, but in their turn they succumbed to the Franks under Clovis I, the decisive battle taking place in 496. It later became part of the Holy Roman Empire.
After World War II, Allied forces established three federal states: Württemberg-Hohenzollern, Baden (both occupied by France), and Württemberg-Baden (US-occupied). In 1949, these three states became founding members of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 118 of the new German constitution, however, had already prepared a procedure for those states to merge. After a referendum held on 16 December 1951, Württemberg-Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden voted in favor of a merger. Baden-Württemberg officially became a state on 25 April 1952.
Baden-Württemberg is a popular holiday destination. Main sights include the capital and biggest city, Stuttgart, modern and historic at the same time, with its urban architecture and atmosphere (and famously, its inner city parks and historic Wilhelma zoo), its castles (such as Castle Solitude), its (car and art) museums as well as a rich cultural programme (theatre, opera) and mineral spring baths in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt (also the site of a Roman Castra); it is the only major city in Germany with vineyards in an urban territory.
The residential (court) towns of Ludwigsburg and Karlsruhe, the spas and casino of luxurious Baden-Baden, the medieval architecture of Ulm (Ulm Münster is the tallest church in the world), the vibrant, young, but traditional university towns of Heidelberg and Tübingen with their old castles looking out above the river Neckar, are popular smaller towns. Sites of former monasteries such as the ones on Reichenau Island and at Maulbronn (both World Heritage Sites) as well as Bebenhausen Abbey are to be found. Baden-Württemberg also boasts rich old Free Imperial Cities such as Biberach, Esslingen am Neckar, Heilbronn, Ravensburg, Reutlingen and Schwäbisch Hall, as well as the southernmost and sunniest city of Germany, Freiburg, close to Alsace and Switzerland, being an ideal base for exploring the heights of the nearby Black Forest (e.g. for skiing in winter or for hiking in summer) with its traditional villages and the surrounding wine country of the Rhine Valley of South Baden.
The countryside of the lush Upper Neckar valley (where Rottweil is famous for its carnival (Fastnacht)) and the pristine Danube valley Swabian Alb (with Hohenzollern Castle and Sigmaringen Castle), as well as the largely pristine Swabian Forest, the Rhine Valley and Lake Constance (German: Bodensee), where all kinds of water sports are popular, with the former Imperial, today border town of Konstanz (where the Council of Constance took place), the Neolithic and Bronze Age village at Unteruhldingen, the flower island of Mainau, and the hometown of the Zeppelin, Friedrichshafen a.o., are especially popular for outdoor activities in the summer months.
In spring and autumn (April/May and September/October), beer festivals (fun fairs) are taking place at the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart; the one in the autumn, the Cannstatter Volksfest, is the second biggest such festival in the world after the Munich Oktoberfest. In late November/early December, Christmas markets are a tourist magnet in all major towns, with the biggest one in Stuttgart, lasting for the three weeks prior to Christmas.
The Bertha Benz Memorial Route is a 194 km signposted scenic route from Mannheim via Heidelberg and Wiesloch to Pforzheim and back, which follows the route of the world's first long-distance journey by automobile which Bertha Benz undertook in August 1888.

Maulbronn Monastery
Maulbronn Monastery (German: Kloster Maulbronn) is the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex in Europe. It is situated on the outskirts of Maulbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and is separated from the town by fortifications. Since 1993 the monastery is part of the Unesco World Heritage.
The monastery was founded in 1147 under the auspices of the first Cistercian pope, Eugenius III. The main church, built in a style transitional from Romanesque to Gothic, was consecrated in 1178 by Arnold, Bishop of Speyer. A number of other buildings — infirmary, refectory, cellar, auditorium, porch, south cloister, hall, another refectory, forge, inn, cooperage, mill, and chapel — followed in the course of the 13th century. The west, east and north cloisters date back to the 14th century, as do most fortifications and the fountain house or lavatorium.
After the Reformation broke out, Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, seized the monastery in 1504, later building his hunting lodge and stables there. The monastery was pillaged repeatedly: first by the knights under Franz von Sickingen in 1519, then again during the German Peasants' War six years later. In 1534, Duke Ulrich secularised the monastery, but the Cistercians regained control — and Imperial recognition — under Charles V's Augsburg Interim. In 1556, Christoph, Duke of Württemberg, built a Protestant seminary, with Valentin Vannius becoming the first abbot two years later; Johannes Kepler studied there 1586–89.
In 1630, the abbey was returned to the Cistercians by force of arms, with Christoph Schaller von Sennheim becoming abbot. This restoration was short-lived, however, as Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden forced the monks to leave again two years later, with a Protestant abbot returning in 1633; the seminary reopened the following year, however the Cistercians under Schaller also returned in 1634. Under the Peace of Westphalia, in 1648, the confession of the monastery was settled in favour of Protestantism; with abbot Buchinger withdrawing in process. A Protestant abbacy was re-established in 1651, with the seminary reopening five years later. In 1692, the seminarians were removed to safety when Ezéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac, torched the school, which remained closed for a decade.
The abbey was secularised by Frederick I, King of Württemberg, in the course of the German Mediatisation in 1807, forever removing its political quasi-independence; the seminary merged with that of Bebenhausen the following year, now known as the Evangelical Seminaries of Maulbronn and Blaubeuren.
The monastery, which features prominently in Hermann Hesse's novel Beneath the Wheel, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993. The justification for the inscription was as follows: "The Maulbronn complex is the most complete survival of a Cistercian monastic establishment in Europe, in particular because of the survival of its extensive water-management system of reservoirs and channels". Hesse himself attended the monastery before fleeing in 1891 after a suicide attempt, and a failed attempt to save Hesse from his personal religious crisis by a well-known theologian and faith healer.
An image of Maulbronn Abbey is set to appear representing Baden-Württemberg on the obverse of the 2013 €2 commemorative coin for Germany.

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