Entry 15: Sebastianskirch
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In today's entry, we are going to have a look at the lower elevation levels of Sebastianskirch, directly at the coast, as well as the old town parts. Brace yourselves for a long entry, because it will also cover historical aspects of Maxiland.
In the beginning, when humans first moved into the area which is now known as Maxiland, those were mostly nomadic tribes. Sometimes those tribes were founding settlements, sometimes they retained their nomadic way of life, although those disappeared over time. Among the more politically successful tribes was the one that founded the city of Maxima at the shore of the Maxistädter Lagune (lagoon of Maxistadt) in 723 BC; thus, the First Empire was formed, the Imperium Maximum. Unlike the later empires, people there spoke Latin (in later empires until present-day Maxiland, German succeeded Latin as lingua franca). This empire, led by kings, senators, and dictators, eventually was able to take over large areas, even outside the boundaries of present-day Maxiland. It was more or less an era of culture, big marble cities, science, and law (unfortunately also the era of a good amount of violence towards other countries and people who did not do what the Empire wanted, as well as slowly spreading decadence and destruction of the environment).
This is a makeshift map of the Imperium Maximum. Note that the northwestern quadrant actually never was part of the First Empire (but of later empires). What we know now as Sebastianskirch is basically the successor of the ancient Vitellium. The map covers all important cities and fortified settlements, as well as the most important rivers: Tibris, Fluvius Ruber (red river), Fluvius Albus (white river), and, of course, Lobnavius, the most important river, which has already been featured in previous entries.
Very little traces of that era remain in the field of architecture - over the next centuries, people just tore down existing buildings, selling the materials or constructing new buildings. But recently, some ruins have been discovered, and an ancient temple disctrict has been partly reconstructed (more about that in Entry 16):
As already mentioned before, the First Empire started to crumble, and eventually fell to its own decadence, and the immigration of Germanic tribes in app. the 5th century AD. The Imperium was shattered, and again saw an era of countless small tribes. Some historicians called it a dark era, but it was not without its laws and rights of people; besides, the decadence, and destruction of the environment, as well as the waste of valuable resources (can you imagine how expensive it is to build an entire city from marble?) came to an end. The temples and big marble buildings were removed, making place for simpler and more unpretentious timberframe buildings.
The year of 812 marked the beginning of the Second Empire, Maxirrîchi, as this was the first time it has been mentioned on a document somewhere. This empire started expanding over time, by marriage and still sometimes conquest, more or less retaining the timberframe style of architecture. It should be noted that unfortunately, civilian unrest and attacks by marauding bands and hostile tribes and countries were quite common, and thus, settlements have often been founded on elevated locations, giving them a defense advantage.
And a view from a different angle, showing the Rathaus (city hall), as well as the big church, constructed in the 12th century AD.
In 1352, the Emperor Woyzeck's only daughter (and only throne successor) Simone eloped to a hostile city. An attempt to get her back by attacking this city resulted in defeat. In 1357, the Emperor was assassinated (some think by his own wife, some think by other nobles), therefore, due to the royal line dying out and its humiliating defeat, an interregnum began. Unlike the fall of the First Empire, Maxiland didn't break apart, but the lack of a king/government/whatever made life very difficult. This interregnum was finally put to an end by the takeover of Emperor Kasimir Falkenhorst, founding the Third Empire, called Maxireich, and his own dynasty, the House of Falkenhorst. Over time, his dynasty was able to put an end to all the intrigues, inner unrest, and various scandals (such as banning people from the Empire for not accepting Christianity or inventing curious new machinery). As for the architecture part of this history, the people started to rediscover their artistic roots. The town expanded over the hills, colorful buildings popped up everywhere. Some call it a mess - that is the result of centuries of growth and addition of new buildings. Two pictures, one from a more distant zoom level, and one covering 4 particular areas of interest: the old church, the market hall, the old lookout tower, and the old noble quarter.
The growth of the city increased in the 19th century with the advent of industry, and thus, the first land reclamation efforts began. The newly gained land was quickly filled with Gründerzeit buildings and rowhouses. You may have noticed the small canal below the old town parts. Back then, the land areas below them didn't even exist, those are results of land claiming in the early 20th century.
In 1906, due to pressure from both inside and outside Maxireich, as well as economic disaster, the last Emperor had to resign, making place for the Republic of Maxiland and a parliamentary democracy. I'm really not a fan of modern architecture, although, if it comes to modern buildings, I prefer the content I've been using (mostly SOMY, madhatter106, and LBT) over other stuff. The land gaining efforts continued, two new islands have been constructed, new buildings been erected, and extensive recreational areas laid out. Two pictures, showing both islands:
Here, we see the passenger harbor, along with the recreational (and also cultural) center, mainly, the Musikverein, the open-air stage, and the museum.
We conclude this entry with various different pictures of Sebastianskirch which aren't actually related to the historical development of Maxiland. This is one of the arms of the Sebastianskircher Bucht (bay of Sebastianskirch), where the swimming pool, restaurants, and the sports area are located:
A close-up of the colorful area at the bottom. This is a small, very shallow area with mostly sand, overgrown by cord grass. This type of plant (in reality, there are huge areas of this grass on the coast of the North Sea, ranging from Denmark over Germany to the Netherlands) can tolerate high amounts of salt and looks interestingly colorful.
In comparison, a real-life picture from the island of Langeoog, Germany (courtesy of Huebi, Wikipedia):
Another picture of the Fine Arts College, located on top of a small cliff. Some free areas in this city are interestingly sometimes used as farm fields.
At the opposite end of the city, there is a hillside park close to the old town parts. We can also have another look at the small cove with a beach there.
And finally, an overview over almost the entire town (there is an additional island located on another city tile; it will be shown off in Entry 16). Note the small cove at the top right, and the bay. You can also see the villages of Weinbach and Buchberg, which are part of Entry 13. There's still some work to do - the area around the overly green spot at the top shall be cow pastures, and the eastern parts of the bay (at the bottom of the picture) need to be MMP'ed. I hope you liked this entry, it was - quite intense and long.
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