Meißner (; or ''Meissner'') is a municipality in the

Werra-Meißner-Kreis Werra-Meißner is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Göttingen, Eichsfeld, Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Wartburgkreis, district-free Eisenach, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Kassel. History The di ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. As of 2022, city had a population of 2,950.

Geography

Location

Meißner lies at the Krösselberg between the Hoher Meißner and the

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 to ...

valley in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park, some 40 km southeast of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

and 10 km west of

Eschwege Eschwege (), the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. In 1971, the town hosted the eleventh ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Wer ...

Neighbouring communities

Meißner borders in the north on the community of Berkatal, in the east on the town of

, in the south on the community of Wehretal and the town of Waldkappel and in the west on the town of

Hessisch Lichtenau Hessisch Lichtenau () is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in eastern Hesse, Germany. In 2006, the town hosted the 46th Hessentag state festival. Geography Location Hessisch Lichtenau lies in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis 20 km southeast o ...

(all in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Meißner’s seven ''

Ortsteil A village is a human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located ...

e'' are Abterode (administrative seat), Alberode, Germerode, Vockerode, Weidenhausen, Wellingerode and Wolfterode.

History

Alberode had its first documentary mention in 1276. In 1823, the current

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

church was consecrated. The estate of Mönchhof belonging to Alberode was first mentioned in 876. Germerode had its first documentary mention in 1186. The Germerode Monastery was first mentioned as early as 1454 or 1455. It was the house monastery to the Hessian lower nobility. The

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

double monastery A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East ...

is one of the most important building works in North Hesse. The estate of Mönchhof was formerly an outlying piece of the monastery’s property. An estate named Vockenrode was mentioned as early as 1074. Only beginning in the late 14th century did the village belong to the

Landgraves of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, 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 ...

. There was once mining in Vockenrode, as still witnessed by a number of galleries and a

tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...

heap. Weidenhausen had its first documentary mention in 1301. There are still some wine cellars in the village. Until the early 19th century, there was a linen mill here. The

linear village In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a ''polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x)= ...

of Wellingerode had its first documentary mention in 1338. Wolfterode came into being through clearing in the 10th century. The village had its first documentary mention in 1195. The church was built in 1334 and stands in the middle of the village. Within are found wall and ceiling paintings from before the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. The community of Meißner came into being in the course of municipal reform in Hesse in 1971 through the merger of the formerly self-administering communities of Abterode, Alberode, Germerode, Vockerode, Weidenhausen and Wellingerode. The village of Wolfterode followed in 1974.

Politics

Community council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Mayor

The mayor is chosen in a direct election for a term of six years. Since 2002, Friedhelm Junghans (SPD) has been Mayor of Meißner.

Culture and sightseeing

Regular events

Every year on the weekend after Corpus Christi, a “Country-Festival” is held in the constituent community of Abterode. On the first day of

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

, the Christmas Market is held around the church, and always draws many visitors.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner Werra-Meißner-Kreis