Neu-Isenburg is a town in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, located in the Offenbach district of

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 Da ...

. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 38,204 (2020). The town is known nowadays mainly for its regionally used shopping centre, the ''Isenburg-Zentrum'' (IZ), the ''Hugenottenhalle'', the Hotel Kempinski Frankfurt, the ''Autokino Gravenbruch'' (the oldest drive-in cinema in Europe), the ''Sportpark'', the ''Waldschwimmbad'' (swimming pool) and not least of all its central location near

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centre ...

Geography

Neighbouring communities

Neu-Isenburg borders in the west and north on the district-free city of

Frankfurt am Main 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 ...

, in the east on the district-free city of Offenbach and in the south on the towns of Dreieich, Langen and Mörfelden-Walldorf ( Groß-Gerau district).

Constituent communities

In 1959, building work began on the ''Wohnstadt im Grünen'' ("Living Town in the Green"), as it was marketed. This was Gravenbruch. Almost 7,000 people found a new home in this satellite town between the main town and Heusenstamm, lying in the woods. Owing to the great number of young families that moved there, this constituent community was known as the town with Europe's densest population of children. It is also well known for the Kempinski-Hotel and the drive-in cinema. With the amalgamation of the formerly self-administering community of Zeppelinheim in the course of municipal reform in 1977, Neu-Isenburg also stretched farther westwards. Here is found the

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, ...

museum.

History

Neu-Isenburg was founded on 24 July 1699 as a town of exiles by

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...

s, French Protestants who had had to flee their homeland after the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aim ...

was revoked. Their new landlord, Count Johann Philipp von Isenburg-Offenbach, guaranteed them safety, the free use of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in ...

and

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

. He gave them leave to settle in the Wildbann Dreieich, an old royal hunting forest, in the place where 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 pilgrimage chapel ''Zum Heiligen Kreuz'' ("To the Holy Cross") once stood. By way of thanks to the Count, the town was named Neu-Isenburg after him. The town plan was laid out by Andreas Loeber in a right-angled grid pattern. From corners ran diagonal streets to the marketplace. Also, the middles of the outer sides were linked by streets to the square marketplace. This township survives today in the streets of Kronengasse, Pfarrgasse, Löwengasse and Hirtengasse. Neu-Isenburg was one of the planned towns of the 17th and 18th centuries. The settlers at first worked at farming, but later turned back to the handicraft trades that they had learnt, such as the stocking knitter's craft, thereby laying the groundwork for Neu-Isenburg's economic development. The surrounding communities eyed the French settlers with great mistrust and called the town ''welsches Dorf'' (the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

word ''welsch'' refers to peoples who speak

Romance languages The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...

, especially

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

; it is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical e ...

with the English word Welsh, but does not have the same meaning). On 20 May 1700 – a Thursday – the clergyman Isaac Bermond held the first church services under an old oak in the middle of the church square. About 1701, the ''Forsthaus'' was built (today an inn called ''Frankfurter Haus'') by the city of Frankfurt am Main at the city limits with Neu-Isenburg. The first French Reformed church was built of wood between 1702 and 1706. The foundation stone was laid on Ascension Day 1702. Likewise in 1702, the Town Hall was built at the marketplace, and the ''Haus zum Löwen'' was mentioned for the first time. This was used until 1918 as an inn called ''Au Lion d'Or'' ("At the Golden Lion"), and today it houses the local history museum. The first school followed in 1704, and in 1705 the ''Bansamühle'' (mill). The wooden church was replaced between 1773 and 1775 with a stone building. In 1781, the first German-language school was built. After the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

in 1815, the County of Ysenburg, together with the '' Oberamt'' of Offenbach and its member municipalities, passed to the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 18 ...

. In 1828, the Prussian-Hessian Customs Union built a customs house (Frankfurter Straße 10) as its main customs office on the border with what was then the

Free City of Frankfurt For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt was a city-state within two major Germanic entities: *The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt () (until 1806) *The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt ...

. Despite considerable reservations, German families, too, were moving into the town beginning in the 18th century, leading to the church's having to hold services alternately in

and

as of 1761, much to the French-speaking population's chagrin. In the end, German was confirmed as the town's official language in 1829. In 1846, the Main-Neckar

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

near Neu-Isenburg was completed, but the town did not get its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

until 1852. Other events in Neu-Isenburg's history, in brief, are as follows: *1860 The firm Müller markets ''Frankfurter Würstchen'' (sausages, but not the kind often called "Frankfurters" in the English-speaking world) for the first time. *1865 First postal station in Neu-Isenburg *1875 Volunteer fire brigade was founded *1885 The ''Waldeisenbahn'', a steam tramway to Frankfurt, was opened (now tramline 17, and electric). *4 February 1889 Town rights were granted. *1889 The ''Waldbahn'', a railway, began running to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

. *April 1896 The ''Höhere Bürgerschule'' (now ''Goetheschule'') took on its task as Neu-Isenburg's first secondary school. *1899 On the occasion of its bicentenary, Neu-Isenburg received a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

. *1907 The Jewish Women's Federation's home for Jewish girls was founded by

Bertha Pappenheim Bertha Pappenheim (27 February 1859 – 28 May 1936) was an Austrian-Jewish feminist, a social pioneer, and the founder of the Jewish Women's Association (''). Under the pseudonym Anna O., she was also one of Josef Breuer's best-documented pat ...

. *23 October 1911 Consecration of the first

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

church, St. Josef. *Between 1943 and 1945 the town suffered heavy damage from air raids. *1945 A broad area in the town's west had to be evacuated for the Occupying Power *1959 Building work began on Gravenbruch, a residential neighbourhood, after the woods there had been cleared. *1960 The Autokino Gravenbruch, Europe's first drive-in cinema, was opened. *1 January 1977 Amalgamation of the formerly self-administering community of Zeppelinheim, which itself had been cobbled together from parts of the self-administering municipal areas of Mitteldick and Gundwald (the latter in Groß-Gerau district) and parts of the community of

Kelsterbach Kelsterbach () is a town in Groß-Gerau district in Hessen, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located on Frankfurt's southwestern outskirts at a bend on the left bank of the river Main, right where a small brook, cal ...

on 1 January 1938. *1997 Neu-Isenburg was linked to the Rhine-Main S-Bahn.

Population development

In 1834, Neu-Isenburg had only 1,762 inhabitants. By 1939, there were 15,081. After Zeppelinheim was amalgamated and Gravenbruch had been built, the population reached 35,000 by 1983.

Politics

Town council

The municipal elections held on 6 March 2016 yielded the following results, compared to earlier municipal elections: The CDU formed a coalition with ''Die Grünen'' (“The Greens”), the FDP and the ''Freie Wähler'' (“Free Voters”).

Mayors

Past mayoral elections have yielded the following results: At the last election on 27 September 2015, the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

candidate Herbert Hunkel, who was supported by the CDU, was reelected with 77.4% of the vote over Thilo Seipel (FDP, 22.6%). Voter turnout was 30.3%.

Twin towns – sister cities

Neu-Isenburg is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Andrézieux-Bouthéon, France * Bad Vöslau, Austria *

Chiusi Chiusi ( Etruscan: ''Clevsin''; Umbrian: ''Camars''; Ancient Greek: ''Klysion'', ''Κλύσιον''; Latin: ''Clusium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy. History Clusium (''Clevsin'' in Etruscan) was one ...

, Italy * Dacorum, England, United Kingdom * Veauche, France * Weida, Germany

Friendly cities

Neu-Isenburg also has friendly relations with: * Alexandria, Minnesota, United States * Sighisoara, Romania

Economy and infrastructure

Economy

Given its proximity to the trade fair city of

and to

, Neu-Isenburg is an attractive location for businesses of the most varied sectors. Among them are many hotels, which see more than 230,000 overnight stays every year, the highest figure in the Offenbach district. Over time, the town has converted itself from a location for producing businesses to a service-industry-based location and is among the biggest high-technology locations in the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region. Some of the businesses established here are: *

Aramark Aramark Corporation, known commonly as Aramark, is an American food service, facilities, and uniform services provider to clients in areas including education, healthcare, business, prisons, and leisure. It operates in North America ( United S ...

Holdings GmbH & Co. KG * eprimo GmbH *

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

GmbH (Managing Germany, Austria and Switzerland) *

Jeppesen Jeppesen (also known as Jeppesen Sanderson) is an American company offering navigational information, operations planning tools, flight planning products and software. Jeppesen's aeronautical navigation charts are often called "Jepp charts" or s ...

GmbH * Kempinski Frankfurt AG * Lorenz Snack-World GmbH (

Bahlsen Bahlsen is a German food company based in Hanover. It was founded in July 1889 by Hermann Bahlsen (1859–1919) as the "Hannoversche Keksfabrik H. Bahlsen". German politician Ernst Albrecht (politician, born 1930), Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014) w ...

) *

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding ...

Service GmbH ( LSG Sky Chefs) *

AirPlus International AirPlus International (Lufthansa AirPlus Servicekarten GmbH) is a global corporate payment provider offering payment and data solutions for corporate travel management, procurement, and travel trade. It is a subsidiary of Lufthansa Group. The ...

Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

GmbH *

Symantec Symantec may refer to: *An American consumer software company now known as Gen Digital Inc. *A brand of enterprise security software purchased by Broadcom Inc. Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier ...

Corporation * Keyence Deutschland GmbH * UL International Germany GmbH * Sescoi GmbH *

Alpha Industries Alpha Industries is an American clothing manufacturer founded in 1959 in Knoxville, Tennessee and specialises in American military style and fashion apparel. Alpha makes items such as flight jackets and vests, and has made jackets for the mili ...

GmbH & Co. KG * Banque PSA Finance, SA. * KarstadtQuelle Bank * G. A. Müller GmbH (meat products factory, oldest manufacturer of the original ''Frankfurter Würstchen'') * Hans Wirth GmbH & Co. KG (meat products factory, manufacturer of the original ''Frankfurter Würstchen'') Around the 1980s and 1990s the airline

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. They are: * The Andean condor (''V ...

was headquartered in Neu-Isenburg.

Transport

The town is close to several routes of the German

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

network ( A 3, A 5, A 661). Neu-Isenburg station is on the Main-Neckar Railway and is served by Rhine-Main S-Bahn lines

S 3 S, or s, is the nineteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphab ...

and S 4, although the station is somewhat remote from the town centre. It is the only station in Hesse that has loading tracks for a motorail service, connecting to several destinations in Austria, Italy and southern France. This service was discontinued in 2014. However the terminal remains. Line S 7 runs over the Mannheim–Frankfurt railway, stopping at

Zeppelinheim station Zeppelinheim station is a station in the district of Zeppelinheim of the town of Neu-Isenburg in the German state of Hesse. It is located in the urban periphery of Frankfurt am Main and adjacent to Frankfurt Airport. The station is at the junction ...

. The Frankfurt tram network has a terminal at Isenburger Schneise, just within the Frankfurt boundary for reasons of municipal identity, linking the northern margin of Neu-Isenburg with Frankfurt Central Station.

lies at the town limits.

Culture and sightseeing

Hugenottenhalle

Neu-Isenburg is known far beyond its limits for the various events staged at the Hugenottenhalle. In this multipurpose hall with a variable capacity of up to 2,000 people, rock concerts are held, guest theatrical performances are given and dancing and music are performed. Citizens are offered a comprehensive cultural programme covering every

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...

Open-Doors-Festival

Neu-Isenburg is especially well known in the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region for its yearly summertime Open-Doors-Festival (formerly ''Musikspektakel''). For three days, some 40 different bands and artists from all genres of music play. The free event is attended by some 15,000 guests and is held on several different stages throughout the town area.

Fastnacht

The parade through town on Shrove Monday ( Rosenmontag) — sometimes called ''Lumpenmontag'' in Neu-Isenburg — enjoys great popularity.

Education

Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s ** Albert-Schweitzer-Schul

** Hans-Christian-Andersen-Schule ** Wilhelm-Hauff-Schule ** Ludwig-Uhland-Schule, Gravenbruch ** Selma-Lagerlöf-Schule, Zeppelinheim * Gymnasium (school), Gymnasium ** Goetheschul

** Abendgymnasium (formerly Schule im Buchenbusch

*

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 r ...

** Brüder-Grimm-Schul

* Special school ** Friedrich-Fröbel-Schule, school for learning help and speech therapy * Other schools ** Music school ** Folk high schoolbr>

Media

'' Ärzte-Zeitung'', a newspaper for physicians, has its headquarters in Neu-Isenburg.Impressum
" '' Ärzte-Zeitung''. Retrieved on 4 April 2015. "Ärzte Zeitung Verlags-GmbH Am Forsthaus Gravenbruch 5 63263 Neu-Isenburg"

Notable people

(1859–1936), feminist and social worker * Franz Völker (1899–1965), operatic singer * Wilhelm Leichum (1911–1941), athlete * Anny Schlemm (born 1929), operatic singer * Peter Dietrich (born 1944), footballer * Horst Ludwig Störmer (born 1949), physicist,

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ...

* (born 1957), artist and graphic artist *

Torsten de Winkel Torsten de Winkel (born 6 January 1965) is a German musician, composer, and philosopher primarily active in the jazz, world music, fusion and electronic music genres. He is known as an electric and acoustic guitarist but also records and perfor ...

(born 1965), guitarist

Honorary citizens

*Rudi Seiferlein (1921–2010), honorary chairman of the community of interests (IG) associations, posthumous award of honorary citizenship in March 2011