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The soul house in Eibelstadt, built around 1550 and freshly restored, has a macabre past. Those who were homeless or sick could find shelter here. In the 17th century, many communities in the surrounding area carted their destitute sick people to Eibelstadt, every evening, in the hope that they would die in the soul house. Then Eibelstadt had to pay the funeral costs. Those who survived the night were transported away again.
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Wikipedia: Franconia (German: Franken) is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Heilbronn-Franken. The Bavarian part is made up of the administrative regions of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken), Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken), and Upper Franconia (Oberfranken).Franconia (like France) is named after the Germanic tribe of the Franks. This tribe played a major role after the breakdown of the Roman Empire and colonised large parts of medieval Europe.Modern day Franconia comprises only a very tiny and rather remote part of the settlement area of the ancient Franks. In German, Franken is used for both modern day Franconians and the historic Franks, which leads to some confusion. The historic Frankish Empire, Francia, is actually the common precursor of the Low Countries, France and Germany. In 843 the Treaty of Verdun led to the partition of Francia into West Francia (modern day France), Middle Francia (from the Low Countries along the Rhine valley to northern Italy) and East Francia (modern day Germany). Frankreich, the German word for "France", and Frankrijk, the Dutch word for "France"; literally mean "the Frankish Empire".
