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| 3257 Landau - The Market Hall and the statue of Prince Luitpold in Town Hall Square |
Landau, or Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (kreisfrei) town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße (Southern Wine Route) district. It is a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the Palatinate wine region. Landau was first mentioned as a settlement in 1106, and was granted a charter in 1274 by King Rudolf I of Germany, who declared the town a Free Imperial Town in 1291.
Landau was later part of France from 1680 to 1815, during which it was one of the Décapole, the ten free cities of Alsace, and received its modern fortifications by Louis XIV's military architect Vauban in 1688-1699, making the little town one of Europe's strongest citadels. In the War of the Spanish Succession it had four Sieges. Landau was part of Bas-Rhin department between 1789 and 1815. After Napoleon's Hundred Days following his escape from Elba, Landau, which had remained French, was granted to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1815.
Landau's large main square (Rathausplatz) is dominated by the town hall (Rathaus) and the market hall (Altes Kaufhaus). It was renamed many times: 1794 - Place de Egalite, 1816 - Parade Square, 1824 - Max Joseph Square, finally it got its present name - Town Hall Square. In the middle of the square is the equestrian statue of Prince Luitpold, a work of Wilhelm von Rümann from 1892. Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria (1821-1912), was the de facto ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, due to the incapacity of his nephews, King Ludwig II for three days and King Otto (who never actively reigned due to severe mental illness) for 26 years.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of the series Blumen, about which I wrote here.
References
Landau - Wikipedia
Sender: Jorn Hegner (direct swap)
Sent from Landau (Rhineland-Palatinate / Germany), on 12.01.2018
Photo: Verlag Johannes
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