Ulrichstein () 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 1 ...

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

Ulrichstein lies in 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 larges ...

614 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 standardised g ...

and is thereby Hesse's highest town. It is a recognized climatic spa and lies right near the "Hoherodskopf" nature reserve. It is above all the good climate and the unique landscape that invites visitors to linger a while. Just northwest of town is the source of the river

Ohm Ohm (symbol Ω) is a unit of electrical resistance named after Georg Ohm. Ohm or OHM may also refer to: People * Georg Ohm (1789–1854), German physicist and namesake of the term ''ohm'' * Germán Ohm (born 1936), Mexican boxer * Jörg Ohm (b ...

Neighbouring communities

Ulrichstein borders in the north on the community of

Feldatal Feldatal is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The community lies 285 to 598 m above sea level on the north slope of the Vogelsberg mountains. Through the community flows the river Felda, which empties int ...

, in the east on the community of Lautertal, in the south on the town of

Schotten Schotten is a town in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Larger towns nearby include Alsfeld in the north, Fulda in the east, Friedberg in the south and Gießen in the west. Geography Location The officially recognised climatic spa lies between 168 m ...

, in the southwest on the town of

Laubach Laubach is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünberg, Schotten and Lic ...

(

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

district), and in the west on the community of

Mücke Mücke is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Mücke lies from 200 to 350 m above sea level in the northwest foothills of the Vogelsberg Mountains on the upper reaches of the river Ohm, a tributary to the ...

Constituent communities

In 1972, the town of Ulrichstein and the communities of Kölzenhain, Feldkrücken and Rebgeshain from the Lauterbach district, along with the communities of Bobenhausen, Helpershain, Ober-Seibertenrod, Unter-Seibertenrod and Wohnfeld from the Alsfeld district merged into a new municipality, today's town of Ulrichstein.

Sightseeing

Worth a visit are the stately home ruins.

Economy and infrastructure

Among Ulrichstein's claims to fame are its many

windfarm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

s. Ulrichstein was the first municipality in

Middle Hesse The region of Middle Hesse (german: Region Mittelhessen, ) is one of three planning regions in the German state of Hesse, alongside North and South Hesse. Its territory is identical with that of the administrative province of Gießen (''Regierung ...

to recognize that there was money to be earned from

wind generator A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. Wi ...

s, and so the council invested heavily in this technology. Owing to the town's location in the High Vogelsberg with its ridges exposed to the wind, there are, of course, ideal conditions for windfarms. In the main town – also called Ulrichstein – is a very large holiday village. Moreover, there are many weekend homes, whose owners come mostly from the

Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'' or ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'', abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan re ...

References

External links

Offizielle Website
{{Authority control Vogelsbergkreis Grand Duchy of Hesse