Hemeln is an outlying village (''Ortsteil'') in the borough of the town of

Hann. Münden Hann. Münden (short for Hannoversch Münden) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. Münden lies in the district of Göttingen (district), Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda River, Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form the Weser. It ha ...

. The village lies on the right bank of the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

River, 12 km from the city proper. The highways L561 and L560 run through the community. The village's population of some 960 includes those of the two neighbouring villages, Glashütte (100 residents)and Bursfelde (40). The parish chair is Alfred Urhahn. The village has numerous social and service organizations, a kindergarten and a grammar school. There are a few inns for food and lodging. Since the village is not too far from Goettingen, it is a popular outing place for the university's students, who can sit in a ''Gaststätte'', enjoying each other's company and the scenery. The earliest known name reference to Hemeln is in 834, the year in which Frankish emperor Ludwig ceded Hemeln to the

Corvey Abbey The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely ...

. In 1342 the village was severely flooded. Again, in May 1943, the village suffered flood damage, this time due to RAF bombing and destruction of the

Edersee The Edersee, also known as the Ederstausee, is an reservoir in Waldeck-Frankenberg, Hesse, Germany with of storage space. It has the 2nd largest area (behind the Forggensee), and the 3rd largest volume (behind the Bleilochstausee and Rurstause ...

dam. The church was built in 1681 as a replacement for a small church dating to 1175 and destroyed in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

. The church steeple, though, dates from around the beginning of the thirteenth century, when it served as a watchtower. There is also an abbey church in Bursfelde. Since at least 1342, the village has been connected by the

Veckerhagen Ferry The Veckerhagen Ferry is a cable ferry across the Weser River in Germany. The ferry crosses between Veckerhagen, in Hesse, and Hemeln, in Lower Saxony. The crossing is located some north of Kassel. The ferry takes automotive, bicycle and foot p ...

(Fähre Hemeln - Veckerhagen) to the larger village of

Veckerhagen Reinhardshagen is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 24 kilometers north of Kassel, and 21 kilometers west of Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, cent ...

in northern

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 ...

directly across the river. Today the ferry serves automotive, bicycle, and foot traffic.

Son of Hemeln

Reference material

* Willi Osenbrück, ''Hemeln 834–1984. Beiträge zur Geschichte eines Oberweserdorfes''. 1984, 443 pp. * Heinz Potthast, ''Beispiele zum Werden einer Kulturlandschaft im Raum Hemeln-Bursfelde. Flurnamen, alte Wege, Wüstungen. Sydekum-Schriften zur Geschichte der Stadt Münden 9.'' Münden 1984 * Walter Henckel, ''Am Weserradweg bei Hemeln. Auf Entdeckungstour zwischen Hannoversch Münden und Bursfelde.'' E.g. Kultur- und Naturförderverein Hemeln e. V., Husum Verlag, Husum 2007 {{Authority control Villages in Lower Saxony Bramwald