Upper Hesse

The term Upper Hesse (German: Provinz Oberhessen) originally referred to the southern possessions of the Landgraviate of Hesse, which were initially geographically separated from the more northerly Lower Hesse by the County of Ziegenhain [de].

Later, it became the name of one of the three provinces in the Grand Duchy of Hesse (and the People's State of Hesse after World War I), which was located within the historical region; the other two were Starkenburg (capital: Darmstadt) and Rhenish Hesse (capital: Mainz). Its territory covered the area of land north of the River Main. The provincial capital and largest town of the rural provinces was the university town of Gießen.