Oberaula is a municipality in the

Schwalm-Eder Schwalm-Eder is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 170. It is locate ...

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 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

Oberaula lies in the Knüllgebirge, a low mountain range, in the Aula river valley and its neighbouring valleys. The nearest towns are

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 southeast ...

(about 20 km to the east),

Schwalmstadt Schwalmstadt is the largest town in the Schwalm-Eder district, in northern Hesse, Germany. It was established only in 1970 with the amalgamation of the towns of Treysa and Ziegenhain together with some outlying villages to form the town of Schwalms ...

(about 25 km to the west), and Homberg (about 27 km to the north).

Constituent communities

The community consists of the six centres of Hausen, Friedigerode, Ibra, Oberaula (administrative seat), Olberode and Wahlshausen.

History

Oberaula had its first mention in 856 as ''Ovilaha'' (roughly "the place in a moist river

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

" or "the place at the owl water"). The constituent community of Hausen was first mentioned in 1160. Quite early on, the Fulda Abbey had 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 ...

with a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

in Hausen, upon whose remains the Barons of Dörnberg built their

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

stately home in 1674.

Amalgamations

As part of municipal reforms, the two communities of Oberaula and Hausen merged on 1 April 1972. On 1 January 1974 came the formation of the Greater Community of Oberaula with the amalgamation of the other above-named communities with Oberaula.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 23 members. As of the last municipal elections held on 26 March 2006, the seats are apportioned thus: The community executive consists of 7 members. Four of these seats are held by the CDU and three by the SPD. The mayor Klaus Wagner (CDU) was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2016.

Coat of arms

Oberaula's civic

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

might heraldically be described thus: Azure an

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

argent armed gules flanked by six mullets of six of the second and standing on a mount of three Or surmounted by a three-leafed oak sprig vert. The blue background has its roots in a traditional story that mentions a blue flag. The owl stands for Oberaula and the six stars for the six constituent communities. The stars were chosen as the Counts of Ziegenhain, who held sway in the area for centuries, bore the star in their arms. The three-knolled hill – called a ''Dreiberg'' in German

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...

– stands for the Knüllgebirge in which the community lies, and the oak sprig refers to the community's membership in the former Kurhessen-Waldeck Tourist Association.

Municipal partnerships

Marsanne Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as ''grosse roussette''. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known as ' ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

since 1996.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

* Schloss Hausen (stately home), from 1674 * ''Steinmühle'' ("Stone Mill", a still-working old

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

)

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Oberaula lies on Federal Highway (''Bundesstraße'') B 454 (

Kirchhain Kirchhain () is a town in Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Kirchhain is located in the heart of the state of Hesse in Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Geographically, it is surrounded by the Amöneburg Basin on the southeast ...

–

Niederaula Niederaula is a market community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, 59 km south of Kassel. Geography Location The community lies on the Fulda between the outliers of the Rhön, the Vogelsberg and the Knüllgebi ...

). The community belongs to the North Hesse Transport Network. Through the

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 tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s at

and

Treysa Treysa, an independent town until 1970, is the biggest ''Stadtteil'' of the German town Schwalmstadt. It was incorporated into Schwalmstadt in December 1970. The location around Treysa and Schwalmstadt is called Schwalm. The historic city lies ...

, the community is connected to the

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 tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

network. The former ''Knüllwaldbahn'' railway between Bad Hersfeld and Treysa is out of service.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the community

* Wilhelm Caspar Ferdinand Freiherr von Dörnberg (born 14 April 1768 in Schloss Hausen, died 19 March 1850 in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

) was a German

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

Sundry

Oberaula shares its name with nearby

(''Ober'' = "upper"; ''Nieder'' = "lower") in the neighbouring

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.

References

External links

Community's history
{{Authority control Schwalm-Eder-Kreis