French Mayence
City (pop., 2002 est.: 185,293), west-central Germany.
Situated on the Rhine River opposite the mouth of the Main River , it was established as a Roman military camp с 14 BC on the site of an earlier Celtic settlement. It became an archbishopric in AD 775, a free city in 1244, and the head of the Rhenish League in 1254. It was under French rule from 1797 to 1816 and then passed to Hesse-Darmstadt. It served as a fortress of the German Confederation and later of the German Empire until 1918. Severely damaged during World War II, it was rebuilt. The birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg , it is the seat of Johannes Gutenberg University.