Western Europe since the 11th century, divided Christianity in Europe, and consequently the world, into Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. With certain simplifications, Western Europe is thus Catholic or Protestant and uses the Latin alphabet. Eastern Europe is Orthodox and uses the Greek alphabet or Cyrillic script. According to this definition, Western Europe is formed by countries with dominant Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, including countries which are considered part of Central Europe now: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
Hill Country homes the ground using materials such as cypress wood, cedar, adobe brick and limestone. The original Hill Country homes were quite simple with straight roofs. The German immigrants mixed some of their own personal influences such as elaborate mill work on the porches and gables. Texas hill country also had influence from Alsatian French immigrants who were part of the Castroville group as well as Scottish immigrants. It was not simply a German influence but was an evolution from earlier pioneer building techniques once skilled craftsmen and more abundant building materials became available. "Built in Texas" (1979)edited by Francis Edward Abernathy