Wildeck is a municipality 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 ...
district in northeastern
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 Dar ...
,
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 ...
lying right at the boundary with
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
, 54 km southeast of
Kassel.
Geography
Location
The community lies partly in the middle
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 ...
valley, in the Berka-Gerstunger-Becken (basin) with its small side basins, the Obersuhler Becken and the Kleinenseer Bucht. This basin is surrounded by heights. In the southwest lies the
Seulingswald, in the south the outliers of the
Anterior Rhön, in the east the outliers of the
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...
and in the north the Richelsdorfer Hills, which belongs to the southern Werra Upland. The community lies partly in this last-named range.
The nearest major centres 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 southe ...
(some 25 km to the southwest) and
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
(some 25 km to the east). The lowest point in the community is In der Aue ("On the Floodplain") near Obersuhl at 208 m above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
. The highest point is the Rotestock at 456 m above sea level.
Constituent communities
The community's five ''
Ortsteil
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
e'' are Obersuhl, Bosserode, Hönebach, Richelsdorf and Raßdorf.
Neighbouring communities
Wildeck borders in the north on the community of
Nentershausen (in Hersfeld-Rotenburg) and the town of Sontra (in the
Werra-Meißner-Kreis), in the east on the community of
Gerstungen
Gerstungen is a municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. In July 2018 the former municipalities of Marksuhl and Wolfsburg-Unkeroda were merged into Gerstungen.
History
Between 1945 and 1990, Gerstungen station served a ...
, in the southeast on the town of
Berka/Werra, in the south on the communities of
Dankmarshausen and
Großensee (all four in Thuringia's
Wartburgkreis) and the town of
Heringen
Heringen (Werra) is a small town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany lying right at the boundary with Thuringia.
Geography
Location
The nearest major towns and cities are Bad Hersfeld (28 km to the west), Eisenach ...
, in the southwest on the community of
Friedewald
Friedewald is a municipality in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous countr ...
and in the west on the community of
Ronshausen
Ronshausen is a municipality and a ''Luftkurort'' (“air spa”) in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
The community lies in the valley of the Ulfe, which in Bebra empties into the Fulda. It lies in th ...
(all three in Hersfeld-Rotenburg).
History
The community's name stems from the ''
Amt'' of Wildeck, to which some of today's constituent communities belonged, and which 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 ...
was under the
Fulda Abbey's rule. The ''Amt'' seat lay at Wildeck Castle, which stood on the Schloßberg near Raßdorf.
In 1277, Richelsdorf had its first documentary mention when the Fulda Abbey temporarily relinquished the community to build a convent at St. Nicholas's Monastery (''Nikolaikloster'') in
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
, which was, however, never built. In 1325, the brothers Friedrich and Hermann von Colmatsch were enfeoffed with the ''Amt'', in exchange for which today's constituent communities of Eisenach and Hötzelsroda went to St. Nicholas's Monastery. The fief passed in 1539 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 ...
. After the family von Colmatsch had died out in 1562, the community passed to Hesse.
The craggy state boundary in the south and east still bears witness to the disputes between the Landgraves of Hesse and
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
and the Fulda Abbey, which lasted throughout 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 ...
and on into modern times.
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
mining in Wildeck was mentioned for the first time in 1460. At the Richelsdorf foundry,
cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...
was also mined beginning in 1708, which raised the foundry's importance, as well as another's in Iba (nowadays an outlying centre of
Bebra
Bebra () is a small town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany.
Geography Location
Bebra lies some south of Kassel on the Fulda. The town is easy to find on most maps thanks to its prominent location on the ''Fuldakni ...
), causing the mining office of
Sontra
Sontra is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.
The air spa of Sontra is known as ''Berg- und Hänselstadt'', with ''Bergstadt'' referring to the time when there was bituminous shale mining (“mining” is ''B ...
to move to Richelsdorf.
Potash has been mined in the Wildeck region for over 100 years.
From 1945 to 1990, the community found itself right near the
Inner German border. The station in Hönebach, a component of Wildeck, served as West German border crossing for
rail transport
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 p ...
. The crossing was open for
train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...
s travelling between the
Soviet Zone of occupation in Germany
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
(till 1949, thereafter the East
German Democratic Republic
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
**G ...
, or
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
and the American zone of occupation (till 1949) and thereafter the West German
Federal Republic of 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 between ...
. The traffic was subject to the
Interzonal traffic {{Unreferenced, date=April 2020
Inter-zonal traffic was the cross-border traffic between the four designated garrison zones in Germany between 1945 and 1973 that were created in 1945 by the victors of the Second World War.
History
Following the ...
regulations, that between West Germany and West Berlin followed the special regulations of the
Transit Agreement (1972)
The Transit Agreement ( German: ''Transitabkommen''), signed 17 December 1971, arranged access to and from West Berlin from West Germany, secured the right of West Berliners to visit East Berlin and East Germany, and secured the rights of East ...
.
Within the framework of municipal reform, the new community of Wildeck came into being on 31 December 1971 through the merger of the above-named communities.
Population development
Data apply to community limits in each year named, and are in each case for 31 December
By November 2020, the population had declined to 4,980.
Politics
Community council
As of 2022, the municipal council is chaired by Egon Bachmann of the
Social Democratic Party of Germany, with the following members:
*
Social Democratic Party of Germany: 10 members
*
Christian Democratic Union of Germany: 4 members
*
Free Voters
Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...
: 6 members
*
Alliance 90/The Greens: 2 members
*
Free Democratic Party (Germany): 1 member
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:
Mayors
Mayoral elections are held every six years. The most recent mayors were:
[
*2020–present: Alexander Wirth (independent)]
*2014-2020: Alexander Wirth (independent)
*2003–2014: Jürgen Grau (independent)
*1997–2003: Willi Müller (SPD)
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
The community lies on Autobahn A 4 ( Aachen– Görlitz), at interchanges 34 and 35. Furthermore, the community has at its disposal three halts (Obersuhl, Bosserode and Hönebach) on the ''Thüringer Bahn'' (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 ...
) from Eisenach to Bebra.
Established businesses
* alsecco Bauchemische Produkte GmbH & Co KG – construction chemistry products, and a successor business to the Richelsdorfer foundry
* Betten Malsch GmbH – a leading German maker of medical care beds
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
* Rustic Baroque church in Richelsdorf
* Bosserode Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
church with winged altar and pietà
* Ruins of the Blumenstein hunting palace
* Remains of the palace's parklands with pond and obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
Image:Blumenstein weg.jpg, Blumenstein ruins
Image:Blumenstein nah.jpg, Gate
Image:Blumenstein obelisk.jpg, Obelisk
Image:Blumenstein inselsteich.jpg, Pond
Nature
* Rhäden nature and bird conservation area with information centre in Obersuhl
There are also many hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
trails, especially by way of the Blumenstein ruins around the Wildeck valley, by which one crosses the Bellers Estate. Quite a few forests can be visited on these hikes, leading by the ''Franzoseneiche'' ("Frenchman's Oak").
Famous people
Sons and daughters of the town
* Werner Heckmann, trumpet soloist at the Staatstheater Stuttgart and member of German Brass
* Margrit Klinger, German track and field athlete. Winner of bronze medal at the 1982 European Championships in Athletics in Athens
Nice to know
* Wildecker Herzbuben, German Volksmusik
Alpine folk music (german: Alpenländische Volksmusik; German's ''Volksmusik'' means "people's music" or as a Germanic connotative translation, "folk's music") is the common umbrella designation of a number of related styles of traditional folk ...
group (Wolfgang Schwalm and Wilfried Gliem)
References
External links
Wildeck
Richelsdorf
Obersuhl
*
{{Authority control
Inner German border
Hersfeld-Rotenburg