Hessisch Lichtenau ( is a small town in the

Werra-Meißner-Kreis Werra-Meißner is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Göttingen, Eichsfeld, Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Wartburgkreis, district-free Eisenach, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Kassel. History The di ...

in eastern

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

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 ...

. In 2006, the town hosted the 46th

Hessentag The Hessentag (; en, Hesse Day) is an annual event, both fair and festival, organized by the German state of Hesse to represent the different regions of Hesse. The events are shown for a week to the visitors, with an emphasis on cultural displ ...

state festival.

Geography

Location

Hessisch Lichtenau lies in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis 20 km southeast of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

between the Kaufunger Wald in the north, the

Hoher Meißner The Hoher Meißner is a mountain massif with a height of 753.6 m and is located in the '' Meißner-Kaufunger Wald'' nature park in Hesse, Germany. Geography The Hoher Meißner is densely forested and covers an area of 10 km by 5 km. ...

(753.6 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

) in the east, the Stölzinger Hills with the Eisberg (583 m) in the southeast and the Söhre in the south. The main town lies on the river Losse.

Neighbouring communities

Hessisch Lichtenau borders in the northeast on

Berkatal Berkatal is a municipality in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Berkatal lies in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park at the foot of the Hoher Meißner massif. The river Berka rises within community limits. Neig ...

and

Großalmerode Großalmerode (or ''Grossalmerode'') is a town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The small town, which has had town rights since 1775, lies 21 km east of Kassel in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park ...

, in the east on Meißner and

Waldkappel Waldkappel is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis district in northern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Waldkappel is located between Hessisch Lichtenau in the west and Eschwege in the east in the North Hesse Upland between the Meißner-Ka ...

, in the south on

Spangenberg Spangenberg is a small town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographic centrepoint o ...

, in the west on

Söhrewald Söhrewald is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 13 kilometers southeast of Kassel. The municipality was formed by the former independent municipalities Eiterhagen, Wattenbach and Wellerode in 1970. Geogra ...

and in the northwest on

Helsa Helsa is a municipality and village in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. The municipality is situated in the Losse valley amongst the hills of the Kaufunger Wald, approx. 15 km east of Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel un ...

Constituent communities

Hessisch Lichtenau’s '' Stadtteile'' are Friedrichsbrück, Fürstenhagen, Hausen, Hirschhagen, Hollstein, Hopfelde, Küchen, Quentel, Reichenbach, Retterode, Velmeden, Walburg and Wickersrode HeLi-Steintafel

Politics

Town council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results: Heading the town council is Franz-Josef Lewe.

Mayor

*2000–2016: Jürgen Herwig (SPD) *2016-incumbent: Michael Heußner (CDU).

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

In the constituent community of Fürstenhagen: Building complex of the Jérôme Henri Lenoir Foundation (former orphanages),

Pestalozzi Pestalozzi is the surname of an Italian family originally based in Gravedona and Chiavenna who settled in Switzerland during the Counter-Reformation. Members of this family include: * Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), Swiss pedagogue an ...

memorial,

Mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

of the family Lenoir, lying on a hill at a pond (architect: Julius Eubell; built 1903), endowed in 1893 by George André Lenoir (1825–1909), J. H. Lenoir’s son and honorary citizen of Kassel. Also, the neighbouring agricultural operation originally belonged to the Lenoir Foundation. In the constituent community of Reichenbach: ''Kirche der Deutschordensballei Hessen'' (“Church of the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

’ Bailiwick of Hesse”), formerly the Reichenbach Monastery Church, the Teutonic Knights’ oldest establishment in Germany. West of Reichenbach are found the ruins of Reichenbach Castle on the 522 m-high ''Schlossberg''.

Sport and leisure

* Indoor swimming pool

Natural monuments

* ''Große Steine'' (“Great Stones”)

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

line 4 (towards Mattenberg) runs directly into downtown Kassel every 30 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes at peak times. On Sundays, service is hourly. Near the constituent community of Reichenbach is found the aviation beacon ''LAU'' on an international air corridor.

Established businesses

* Format Tresorbau GmbH & Co. KG, manufactures

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

s and suchlike; half its turnover is in safes for

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...

s. * Vogt Foliendruck and its daughter company Card Factory make labels and cards, such as Payback cards. * Richter builds

Transrapid Transrapid is a German-developed high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Planning for the Transrapid system started in 1969 with a test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany completed in 1987. In 1991, technical readi ...

parts in Hessisch Lichtenau. * Quambusch KG Handelsgesellschaft has its seat as a wholesaler in Hessisch Lichtenau since 1946 and does trade in the field of environmental protection, e.g. oil absorber and protective work garments as well as sports clothing. * Klapp Cosmetics GmbH makes cosmetic products. * Spedition Frölich is a transport business in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis. * Wasserkaskaden.de produces waterfalls and garden articles. * Seeger Engineering AG – energy and environmental technology * Repa Maschinenbau und Verwaltungs GmbH * Ballettschule Duhme-Bock has been in Hessisch Lichtenau since 1988.
Highland Cattle von der Falkenau
- fold of Highland cattle founded in 1982 by Dr. Rainer Schöffel

Education

Schooling is to be had at ''Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule'', a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

with a Gymnasium upper level.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

* Johann Feige (1482–1543), Chancellor of the

Landgraviate 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 Mid ...

* Founders of the Fröhlich und Wolff heavy weaving mill: Richard Wolff and Salomon Fröhlich * Konrad Schwalm (d. 2003), landscape painter and draughtsman, owner of the ''Malerwinkel Schwalm'' (a Timber framing, timber-frame house) * Founder of the Rosenblath furniture factory and shop: Erich Rosenblath * Heinrich Schäfer, Egyptologist * Hermann Bente, Economist * Dr. Prof. Christian Nink (1985–present), renowned business strategist, organizational leader and Clausewitz enthusiast.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Werra-Meißner-Kreis