Freiensteinau is a municipality 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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Location

Freiensteinau lies on the southern slopes of the

Vogelsberg Mountains The is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda river valley. Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg is Central Europe's largest ...

Neighbouring communities

Freiensteinau borders in the north on the community of

Grebenhain Grebenhain is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The municipality of Grebenhain lies from 400 to 733 m above sea level in the southeastern Vogelsberg Mountains, about 30 km west of Fulda. Neighbouri ...

, in the northeast on the community of

Hosenfeld Hosenfeld 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 the mos ...

( Fulda district), in the east on the community of Neuhof (Fulda district), in the south on the town of Steinau an der Straße (

Main-Kinzig-Kreis Main-Kinzig-Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Wetteraukreis, Vogelsbergkreis, Fulda, Bad Kissingen, Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg, Offenbach and the district-free cities of Offenbach and Frankfur ...

) and in the west on the community of Birstein (Main-Kinzig-Kreis).

Constituent communities

The community consists of the twelve centres of Freiensteinau (administrative seat), Holzmühl, Fleschenbach, Salz, Ober-Moos, Nieder-Moos, Gunzenau, Reichlos, Weidenau, Reinhards, Hessisch Radmühl and Preußisch Radmühl.

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results: Elections in March 2016 *CDU = 2 seats *SPD = 3 seats *FW = 8 seats *UBL = 4 seats *Bündnis = 2 seats

Mayors

In July 2014 Sascha Spielberger was elected the new mayor, he started in office in December 2014, and was re-elected in 2020. Former mayors: *1971–1991: Johannes Karl *1991–2014: Friedel Kopp

Partnerships

* Tourouvre,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

since 1977

Culture and sightseeing

Music

The organ at the Evangelical Church in Nieder-Moos was built in 1790-1791 by Johann-Markus Oestreich from Oberbimbach near Fulda. Every year, the ''Nieder-Mooser Sommerkonzerte'' (Nieder-Moos Summer Concerts) take place around the organ. Freiensteinau Schloss Tor Ausen

Sundry

A curious fact about the community's political history is that before Hesse's municipal reforms in the 1970s, the 12 constituent communities nowadays within Freiensteinau not only were not united, but even belonged to four different districts: Fulda, Gelnhausen, Lauterbach and Schlüchtern.

References

{{Authority control Vogelsbergkreis Grand Duchy of Hesse