Meißner (or ''Meissner'') is a municipality 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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Location

Meißner lies at the Krösselberg between 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. ...

and the

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the t ...

valley in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park, some 40 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 ...

and 10 km west of Eschwege.

Neighbouring communities

Meißner borders in the north on the community of

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 ...

, in the east on the town of Eschwege, in the south on the community of

Wehretal Wehretal is a municipality in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Wehretal lies roughly 50 km southeast of the North Hesse city of Kassel. It is found between Eschwege in the north and Sontra in the s ...

and the town of

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 ...

and in the west on the town of

Hessisch Lichtenau Hessisch Lichtenau ( is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in eastern Hesse, Germany. In 2006, the town hosted the 46th Hessentag state festival. Geography Location Hessisch Lichtenau lies in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis 20 km southeast of ...

(all in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Meißner’s seven ''

Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population t ...

e'' are Abterode (administrative seat), Alberode, Germerode, Vockerode, Weidenhausen, Wellingerode and Wolfterode.

History

Alberode had its first documentary mention in 1276. In 1823, the current

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

church was consecrated. The estate of Mönchhof belonging to Alberode was first mentioned in 876. Germerode had its first documentary mention in 1186. The Germerode Monastery was first mentioned as early as 1454 or 1455. It was the

house monastery A house monastery, family monastery or dynastic monastery (german: Hauskloster) is a Christian monastery that has a particular relationship with a noble family. Often, but not always, what subsequently became the house monastery was founded by th ...

to the Hessian lower nobility. The

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

double monastery is one of the most important building works in North Hesse. The estate of Mönchhof was formerly an outlying piece of the monastery’s property. An estate named Vockenrode was mentioned as early as 1074. Only beginning in the late 14th century did the village belong to 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 ...

. There was once mining in Vockenrode, as still witnessed by a number of galleries and a

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...

heap. Weidenhausen had its first documentary mention in 1301. There are still some wine cellars in the village. Until the early 19th century, there was a linen mill here. The

linear village Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship (''function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear r ...

of Wellingerode had its first documentary mention in 1338. Wolfterode came into being through clearing in the 10th century. The village had its first documentary mention in 1195. The church was built in 1334 and stands in the middle of the village. Within are found wall and ceiling paintings from before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The community of Meißner came into being in the course of municipal reform in Hesse in 1971 through the merger of the formerly self-administering communities of Abterode, Alberode, Germerode, Vockerode, Weidenhausen and Wellingerode. The village of Wolfterode followed in 1974.

Politics

Community council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Mayor

The mayor is chosen in a direct election for a term of six years. Since 2002, Friedhelm Junghans (SPD) has been Mayor of Meißner.

Culture and sightseeing

Regular events

Every year on the weekend after Corpus Christi, a “Country-Festival” is held in the constituent community of Abterode. On the first day of

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

, the Christmas Market is held around the church, and always draws many visitors.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner Werra-Meißner-Kreis