Kriftel is a municipality in the Main-Taunus district, in

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. It is situated 16 km west of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...

(centre). It has about 11,000 inhabitants. Kriftel is also commonly known as "Fruit Orchard of the

Anterior Taunus The Anterior Taunus (german: Vordertaunus or ''Vortaunus'') is a natural region within the Hessian Central Upland range of the Taunus (major unit group 30) in Germany that lies south of the High Taunus (301). The region lies below the main rid ...

" (''Obstgarten des Vordertaunus''), because of the fields around it which are mainly used for producing

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

History

In July AD 754, the track which carried the dead Saint

Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

rested in the village over night. To the honour of the saint, the Bonifatiuskapelle (chapel of Boniface) was built. Kriftel was first mentioned documentary in 790. The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

damaged Kriftel including the chapel, which was not rebuilt until 1755. It took so long because a big fire destroyed almost the entire village (34 houses out of 38) in 1661. From 1945 up until the oil crisis in 1973, Kriftel experienced a population explosion due to massive immigration from urban sprawl and workers of the Hoechst-AG, who were offered cheap land to build their housing units. In 1959, the chapel had to be relocated due to community growth. During the mid-1970s, Kriftel fought for independence because Hofheim, the capital of the Main-Taunus district, wanted it to belong to it. Airaines has been Kriftel's French sister city since 1981. The "Platz von Airaines" (Place of Airaines) at the train station was named after this partnership.

Today

Kriftel has two churches, the catholic "St. Vitus" and the protestant "Auferstehungskirche". There are three schools, an elementary school (Lindenschule

inden School Inden may refer to: People * Gottfried Inden (1827–1896), American politician * Ronald Inden, American indologist Places * Inden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Inden, Switzerland {{dab, geo, surname ...

, a comprehensive school (Weingartenschule ineyard School and a vocational training school ( Konrad-Adenauer-Schule). Kriftel lies at the federal motorway A 66 and the regional train line S 2 (From Niedernhausen over Frankfurt to Dietzenbach). Kriftel is known for its good leisure facilities. In addition to multiple playgrounds, Kriftel has a large play park (Freizeitpark). This sports an outdoor swimming pool, sports fields including for football and volleyball, a miniature/crazy golf course, a quarter pipe for skating and extensive playgrounds. The village is also hosts various club activities. The most important clubs are the SV 07 Kriftel (

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

) and the Turn- und Sportverein Kriftel (sports in general especially

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and trick cycling). There are also large community festivals. The most prominent are the Lindenblütenfest (Feast of the blossom of the linden) in summer and the Krifteler Kerb (Kriftel's Kermesse) in autumn.

Town partnerships

Kriftel is twinned to the following town:Website Kriftel (in German)
/ref> * Airaines, France

References

External links

www.kriftel.de
Official homepage of the administration (German)
www.feuerwehr-kriftel.de
Homepage of the volunteer fire department (German) * Municipalities in Hesse Main-Taunus-Kreis 8th-century establishments in Europe {{Hesse-geo-stub