Haunetal 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,

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 ...

. Haunetal is the district's southernmost municipality.

Geography

Location

Haunetal is located in the ''Vorderrhön'' (literally: “Anterior Rhön”) between

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 ...

, which is some from it, and Hünfeld, which is some from it. The community stretches along both sides of the lower Haune river. Rising above the community is the

Stoppelsberg Stoppelsberg is a mountain of Hesse, 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 o ...

Neighbouring communities

Haunetal borders in the northwest on the community of Niederaula, in the northeast on the community of Hauneck (both in Hersfeld-Rotenburg), in the east on the community of Eiterfeld, in the south on the community of Burghaun (both in Fulda district) and in the west on the town of Schlitz (in the

Vogelsbergkreis The Vogelsbergkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Schwalm-Eder, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Fulda, Main-Kinzig, Wetteraukreis, Gießen and Marburg-Biedenkopf. History The district was created in ...

Constituent communities

Haunetal's '' Ortsteile'' are Hermannspiegel, Holzheim, Kruspis, Mauers, Meisenbach, Müsenbach, Neukirchen, Oberstoppel, Unterstoppel, Odensachsen, Rhina, Schletzenrod, Stärklos, Wehrda and Wetzlos.

History

The constituent communities of Odensachsen and Rhina had their first documentary mention on 1003 when Emperor Heinrich II divided the Imperial forest of Ehringswald (Ehrenvirst) up between 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 ...

and the Fulda Abbey. Some of today's constituent communities were already governed together 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 ...

under the lordship of Wehrda and later in the '' Amt'' of Neukirchen. Most of the places belonged to one of the two above-named monastic institutions, which had enfeoffed them to the Knights of Romrod, of Trubenbach (later Trümbach), of Otensassen and of Haune (later Hune). The last-named were the ones who built Hauneck Castle. In 1886, the writer Heinrich Ruppel was born in Haunetal. In a barn in the constituent community of Neukirchen, towards the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Konrad Zuse’s computer Z4 was sheltered. Konrad Zuse founded Zuse KG in Neukirchen in 1949; in 1957 the company’s head office moved to

. The above-named constituent communities were merged by municipal reform in 1971 into the greater community of Haunetal. Since 16 May 1998, the community of Haunetal has had leave to style itself ''“Marktgemeinde”'' (“Market Community”)

Politics

Community council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results: The community's executive (''Gemeindevorstand'') is made up of nine members, with four seats allotted to the SPD, four to the CDU and 1 to the FWG.

Mayor

*1995–2011: Hein-Peter Möller (SPD) *2011–2014: Stefan Euler *2014–2020: Gerd Lang *2020–incumbent: Timo Lübeck (CDU)

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The Evangelical church in Neukirchen was built in Late Gothic in 1515 on a lower structure that was partly Romanesque. Worthy of note among the inner features are the carved winged

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

from 1522 and the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

from 1588. Above Neukirchen and Oberstoppel, on Haunetal's local mountain, the Stoppelsberg, is found Hauneck Castle, whose building history reaches back to the 14th century. From even further into the past comes the Sinzigburg, a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

west of the Stoppelsberg in the Haune valley. Not far away, likewise on the Stoppelsberg's slopes is the natural monument called the ''Lange Steine'' (“Long Stones”). Further buildings in the constituent community of Wehrda are the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

fortified church with old rustic

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es, the Schloss Hohenwehrda (palatial castle built about 1900 by Prince von Kleidorff, today a

Hermann Lietz Hermann Lietz (28 April 1868, in Putbus, Dumgenevitz auf Rügen – 12 June 1919, in Haubinda) was a German Progressive education, educational progressive and theologian who founded the German ''Landerziehungsheime für Jungen'' (country boarding s ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

), the ''Rotes Schloß'' (“Red Palace”, today owned by Baron Johannes von Campenhausen) and the Altwehrda (“Old Wehrda”) ruins (believed to have been the first fortified settlement in a fortified defensive tower, built by the Knights of Trumbach, later of Stein). Old

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

can be found in Wehrda and Rhina.

Culinary specialities

One culinary speciality from the Haune valley is ''

Ploatz Ploatz is a hearty sheet cake made of rye bread dough with variable topping, a speciality of the Haune valley of Hesse, Germany. It is common in Upper Hesse, Franconia, Middle Franconia, Rhön and Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a G ...

'', a hearty

sheet cake A sheet cake or slab cake is a cake baked in a large, flat, rectangular cake pan. Sheet cakes are usually 2 inches deep, although they are sometimes 3 inches deep. These single-layer cakes are frequently frosted, with decorations and ornamental ...

made of rye bread dough with variable topping.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

* Friedrich Christian Delius (born 1943), is an acclaimed German writer.Profile 2
/ref> * Heinrich Ruppel, writer * Konrad Zuse, computer pioneer