culture in the North is more or less similar to that of the rest of the country, heavily based on beer with Pale lagers and pilsners being favourites. Unlike Bavaria, Austria and Central Germany, dark beers or dark lagers are not at all popular in Northern Germany. The North has a slightly stronger tradition of hard liquor, such as Korn, vodka, and schnapps. Binge drinking is far more common in the North – almost 70% of binge drinking hospitalizations on weekends happen in the eight Northern provinces and states containing just 40% of the population. As in all of Germany, mulled wine is a popular alcoholic drink during the Christmas season. History In the Early Middle Ages, Northern Germany was the settlement area of the Saxon tribes, which were subjugated by the Frankish ruler Charlemagne in the Saxon Wars from 772 onwards, whereafter the Imperial Duchy of Saxony was established in 804. In the 10th century the Saxon lands, enlarged by the Saxon Eastern March, became the cradle of the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, when the dukes of the Ottonian dynasty were elected King of the Romans and crowned Holy Roman Emperors. From 1500 onwards, the former Saxon territories (except for Westphalia) were incorporated into the Lower Saxon Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. The Hanseatic League is also part of the common history and culture of the cities in northern Germany. Northern Germany corresponds to the territory of the North German Confederation in the 19th century. The boundary between the spheres of political influence of Prussia (Northern Germany) and Austria (Southern Germany) within the German Confederation (1815–1866) was known as the "Main line" (Mainlinie, after the river Main), Frankfurt am Main being the seat of the federal assembly. The "Main line" did not follow the course of the river Main upstream of Frankfurt, rather corresponding to the northern border of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Cultural or political east–west divisions have existed in northern Germany since at least the early modern period, when the easternmost and southeastern part (mainly East Prussia, Brandenburgian Pomerania, and Brandenburg) was owned by or part of the State of the Teutonic Order and later Brandenburg-Prussia, the middle part (the island of Rügen, parts of Western Pomerania, eastern coastal regions of Schleswig-Holstein, and a fragmented Mecklenburg in the middle) during the Early Middle Ages was at least in parts inhabited by a