Hauneck is a municipality in
Hersfeld-Rotenburg
Hersfeld-Rotenburg is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Werra-Meißner, Wartburgkreis, Fulda, Vogelsbergkreis, Schwalm-Eder.
History
In 1821, districts were created in Hesse, including the districts H ...
district in eastern
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Geography
Location
The town of
Bad Hersfeld
The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southe ...
lies right nearby to the north. Some 35 km away lie
Fulda to the south and
Alsfeld
Alsfeld () is a town in the center of Hesse, in Germany.
Located about north of Frankfurt, Alsfeld is in the center of Hesse and part of the densely populated Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. It is well known for its well-preserved old ...
to the west.
The community stretches along the Haune. A few kilometres to the north, the Haune flows into the
Fulda.
Constituent communities
The community's ''
Ortsteil
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
e'' are Bodes, Eitra, Fischbach, Oberhaun, Rotensee, Sieglos and Unterhaun.
Neighbouring communities
These are
Bad Hersfeld
The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southe ...
,
Schenklengsfeld,
Eiterfeld,
Haunetal
Haunetal is a municipality in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany. Haunetal is the district's southernmost municipality.
Geography
Location
Haunetal is located in the ''Vorderrhön'' (literally: “Anterior Rhön”) between B ...
and
Niederaula.
History
In 972 came the first documentary mention of a
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
. It is believed to have served as a
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
place. The village developing here had its first documentary mention in 1217 in a document from the abbot of
Hersfeld Abbey
Hersfeld Abbey was an important Benedictine imperial abbey in the town of Bad Hersfeld in Hesse (formerly in Hesse-Nassau), Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Geisa, Haune and Fulda. The ruins are now a medieval festival venue.
History
...
, Ludwig I to the ''
Vogt'' (roughly “reeve”) Bertho von Buchenau, in which the place is named as Cruceberc. The chapel served over the centuries that followed as a village church. In the 16th century, the village was forsaken, until the late 17th century when another place, called Unterhaun, arose here. In 1736, the community acquired a new village church. Subsequently, the old chapel up on a bank overlooking the community fell into ruins in this century.
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, the Knights of Buchenau (Buchenaouwe) held the ''
Amt'' of Schildschlag and the court district of Johannesberg as a
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
from the
Hersfeld Abbey
Hersfeld Abbey was an important Benedictine imperial abbey in the town of Bad Hersfeld in Hesse (formerly in Hesse-Nassau), Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Geisa, Haune and Fulda. The ruins are now a medieval festival venue.
History
...
. To these areas belonged many of today's constituent communities. The Abbey also put the knights to work as ''
Vögte
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
''. The ''Vogtei'' (''Vogt’s'' seat) and the court seat lay together with the St. Johannes provost's seat at the Johannesberg. Later, under the
Landgraves of Hesse
The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.
History
In the early Midd ...
, the administrative areas were ruled from Hauneck Castle (now in ruins), out of which then came the community's name in 1971.
Amalgamations
Through municipal reform on 31 December 1971, the community of Hauneck came into being with the amalgamation of Oberhaun, Rotensee, Sieglos and Unterhaun. In 1972, the formerly self-administering communities of Bodes, Fischbach and Eitra also joined the community.
Population development
Politics
Community council
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:
The community's executive (''Gemeindevorstand'') is made up of six members, with four seats allotted to the SPD, one to the CDU and 1 to the FWG.
Mayor
The mayor Stephan Bolender (SPD) was elected on 16 January 2022 with 74% of the vote.
Coat of arms
The community's
arms might be described thus: Argent a bend wavy azure between seven mullets of six gules.
The wavy bend (diagonal stripe) stands for the Haune, which flows through the community. The mullets of six (six-pointed stars) symbolize the community's seven constituent communities.
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
Hauneck lies right on ''
Bundesstraße
''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.
Germany
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...
'' 4, right near
interchange 32 (Bad Hersfeld). ''Bundesstraße'' 27 runs along the Haune through the community. The
Bebra–Fulda railway runs through Hauneck.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
* Church in Oberhaun from the 14th century
* Old graveyard in Unterhaun with chapel ruins (from 972) on the ''Crucaberc'' (Kirchberg)
References
External links
Community’s official webpage
*
{{Authority control
Hersfeld-Rotenburg