Schlitz is a small town in the
Vogelsbergkreis
The Vogelsbergkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Schwalm-Eder, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Fulda, Main-Kinzig, Wetteraukreis, Gießen and Marburg-Biedenkopf.
History
The district was created in ...
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 ...
.
Geography
Location
The town of Schlitz lies at the outlet of the small river Schlitz on the
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
.
Neighbouring communities
Schlitz borders in the north on the communities of
Breitenbach and
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 ...
(both in
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 ...
), in the east on the communities of
Haunetal
Haunetal is a municipality in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany. Haunetal is the district's southernmost municipality.
Geography
Location
Haunetal is located in the ''Vorderrhön'' (literally: “Anterior Rhön”) between B ...
(Hersfeld-Rotenburg) and
Burghaun
Burghaun is a municipality in the district of Fulda in the state of Hessen in Germany.
Burghaun itself is a small town with about 3,800 residents. Following the administrative reorganization of Germany in 1972 when smaller communities were group ...
and the town of
Hünfeld
Hünfeld is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Fulda. In 2000, the town hosted the 40th Hessentag state festival. Hünfeld has a population close to 16,000.
Infrastructure Transport
The f ...
(both in
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
district), in the southeast on the city of
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
(Fulda district), in the south on the communities of
Großenlüder
Großenlüder is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, 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 th ...
and
Bad Salzschlirf
Bad Salzschlirf is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, 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 ...
(both in Fulda district), in the southwest on the community of
Wartenberg, and in the west on the town of
Lauterbach.
Constituent communities
Schlitz is divided into the following communities: Bernshausen, Fraurombach, Hartershausen, Hemmen, Hutzdorf, Nieder-Stoll, Ober-Wegfurth, Pfordt, Queck, Rimbach, Sandlofs, Schlitz, Üllershausen, Ützhausen, Unter-Schwarz, Unter-Wegfurth and Willofs.
History
The name Schlitz had its first documentary mention in 812. Schlitz is known throughout Hesse for the town's five
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 ...
s and is also called the ''Romantische Burgenstadt Schlitz'' (the Romantic Castle Town of Schlitz).
One peculiarity about the town is its so-called ''Burgenring'', or Castle Ring, with the town built on a hill with its accumulated castles, towers, lords' houses, the town church and many
half-timbered
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
houses presenting a well preserved, compact, historic Old Town. For the Castle Ring's splendour and the town's outstanding location, Schlitz was sometimes called in earlier times the "Hessian
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the ...
"
The Lords of Schlitz had built up their mastery in an autonomous
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
from the Fulda Abbey. As of 1404 they were calling themselves Schlitz von Görtz (in documents also ''Gurz'' or ''Görz''). After 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 ...
came in 1563, and as a result of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, however, they broke away from Fulda. In 1677, they became Imperial Barons and, in 1726, Imperial Counts. In 1806, the area passed to
Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...
.
Schlitz was granted
town rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
in the early 15th century.
File:Ev. Stadtkirche Schlitz.jpg, Schlitz town church first documentary mention in 812
File:Schlitz Vorderburg Westfluegel.png, Schlitz Vorderburg western wing
File:Schlitz Ottoburg rueck.png, Schlitz Ottoburg
File:Schlitz Hinterburg Seniorenstift.png, Schlitz Hinterburg
Since 1951, the ''Fluß-Station Schlitz'' ("Schlitz River Station") has been in Schlitz. This working group from the Max Planck Institute for Limnology is researching the
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
of the tiny Breitenbach stream in the neighbouring
Breitecke Nature Preserve. The Breitenbach, through many studies and publications, is one of the world's best researched and documented streams. In 2006, this research station, with the current scientific leader's retirement, is to be closed by the
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. ...
.
Politics
Local council
Elections were held in March 2016:
The council has 31 members:
*CDU: 13
*SPD: 10
*BLS: 5
*FDP: 3
Coat of arms
Schlitz's civic coat of arms might heraldically be described thus: In argent a fess sable, within, an inescutcheon, in argent bendlets sinister embattled three points each sable.
The oldest town seal dates only from the 17th century. The current arms were conferred in 1919. The embattled bendlets in the inescutcheon stand for the town's castles.
[ ]
Twinned towns
*
Bogyiszló
Economy
Transport
Schlitz can be reached by long-distance travel by
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'. ...
A 7 (Hünfeld/Schlitz interchange). Nearby lie the towns of
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
and
Lauterbach.
Public institutions
Educational institutions
Schlitz is home to the ''Hessische Akademie für musisch-kulturelle Bildung GmbH'' ("Hessian Academy for Artistic-Cultural Education, Limited"), the state
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
academy, at
Hallenburg Castle.
Regular events
* Schlitzerländer Trachtenfest ("Schlitz-Land Costume Festival"), takes place in
odd-numbered years on the second weekend in July.
Personalities
Sons and daughters of the town
*
Cyriacus Spangenberg
Cyriacus Spangenberg (7 June 1528 – 10 February 1604) was a German theologian, Protestant reformer and historian, son of the reformer (1484–1550).
Cyriacus was born in Nordhausen. As a student, he was a fellow tenant of Martin Luther in ...
(1528–1604), pastor in Schlitz for ten years after losing his position at Mansfeld.
*
Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlitz (1647–1728), privy councillor and President of the Chamber
*
Gudrun Pausewang
Gudrun Pausewang (3 March 1928 – 23 January 2020), less commonly known by her married name, Gudrun Wilcke, was a German author of children's and young adult literature. She was known for books such as '' The Last Children of Schewenborn'' and ...
(1928–2020), writer, who lived in town for many years
*
Florian Illies (1971– ), writer, who grew up in Schlitz who describes German rural life as an example of his hometown in his book '' Ortsgespräch "'.
*
Georg Christian Dieffenbach (1822–1901), clergyman and poet
*
Carl Wilhelm Kern (1874-1945), composer, pianist and music theorist, active in the USA
*
Jost Trier
Jost Trier (15 December 1894 – 15 September 1970) was a German philologist who was Chair of German Philology at the University of Münster from 1932 to 1961.
Biography
Jost Trier was born in Schlitz, Hesse, Germany on 15 December 1894, the son ...
(1894-1970), Old Germanist
In fiction
The fictional town of Schewenborn, where the plot of the 1983 novel ''
The Last Children of Schewenborn
''The Last Children of Schewenborn'' (German: ''Die letzten Kinder von Schewenborn'') is a 1983 novel by Gudrun Pausewang, depicting life in rural Germany in the aftermath of a Nuclear warfare, nuclear war.
While the story is entirely fictional, ...
'' (german: Die letzten Kinder von Schewenborn) takes place (depicting life in Germany in the aftermath of a
nuclear war) is modeled on Schlitz, as specifically stated by the writer
Gudrun Pausewang
Gudrun Pausewang (3 March 1928 – 23 January 2020), less commonly known by her married name, Gudrun Wilcke, was a German author of children's and young adult literature. She was known for books such as '' The Last Children of Schewenborn'' and ...
, herself an inhabitant of the town.
See also
*
Schlitz Christmas Candle
References
External links
Official websiteOffizielle Seite zum Schlitzerländer Heimat- und Trachtenfest
{{Authority control
1806 disestablishments
States and territories established in 1116
Towns in Hesse
Vogelsbergkreis
Grand Duchy of Hesse