Neukirchen (Knüll)
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Neukirchen () is a small town in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse,
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 ...
.


Constituent communities

The town is made up of a main town bearing the same name as the whole town, and the centres of Asterode, Christerode, Hauptschwenda, Nausis, Wincherode, Riebelsdorf
Rückershausen
and Seigertshausen.


History

Neukirchen had its first documentary mention in 1142 in a document from the Hersfeld
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
. In 1351, Neukirchen was granted town rights. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, the town was bedevilled by fires that repeatedly broke out. One catastrophe in 1533 destroyed three fourths of all the town's houses.


Politics

The town council is made up of 31 members. * SPD 9 seats * CDU 8 seats * FDP 4 seats *UBL (citizens' coalition) 4 seats *FWG (citizens' coalition) 4 seats * Greens 2 seats (as of town council elections held on 14th March 2021)


Culture and sightseeing


Museums

The ''Heimatmuseum'' ("Homeland Museum") has documents about the town's history, a complete school classroom and prehistoric collections.


Churches


Nikolaikirche

This church's history is closely tied to the town's. The earliest known mention of Neukirchen is in a monastery document from 1142. It is assumed that a few years later, the choir at the Nikolaikirche was built. About 1350, the two-aisled symmetrical hall and the three lower floors of the tower were built onto the choir, as it was at this time that "Nuwenkirchen", as it was then called, was granted town rights. According to an inscription above the doorway of the south aisle, remodelling and expansion were undertaken in 1497 that led to the church being transformed into a three-aisled Gothic hall church with an irregular transept and an eight-sided choir area. Since 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 ...
's introduction in Hesse in 1526,
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 ...
services have been held there. The 36-m-high tower, the town's landmark, is built as a mighty military tower. The tower's roof is ringed with a walk with a tracery gallery from about 1500. At that same height, the tower watchman's old dwelling can be found. A fascinating impression about the "tower family's" life awaits anyone who books a tower tour here. The climb up the 132 steps is made worthwhile by the outstanding view over Neukirchen and the Knüllgebirge. Since 2001, in the tower's parlour, civil "tower wedding ceremonies" have been performed. Information is available by calling 06694/80810.


Kirche Christerode

The Christerode Church's oldest parts have their roots in the Middle Ages. The church is a plain hall whose ceiling rests on a beam laid lengthwise on a mighty oaken column. Over the last few years, the building, threatened as it was by collapse, has been thoroughly renovated. The
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
was built about 1912 by Peter Battenberg, an organ builder from Weißenborn, and in 2001 it was restored.


Kirche Hauptschwenda

Hauptschwenda lies at an elevation of 500 m, making it the highest parish in the church district of Ziegenhain. The place was mentioned in 1223 under the name "Eizicheswinden". Even then, there was a chapel. The place is likely even older. In 1506, Hauptschwenda was mentioned as a
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
place with its ''Annenquelle'' ( spring, and now called ''Lindenborn'') that could work wonders. The church was bigger before 1537 than the building that stands today. Worth seeing inside are some wall paintings from the 16th century that have been renovated over a long period of time and an organ from 2003.


Sport

Neukirchen became known nationwide for SC Neukirchen's First
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
Team, who played for four years in the ''
Regionalliga (football) A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the German football league syst ...
'', which still had four divisions at that time


Economy and infrastructure


Transport

Neukirchen lies on Federal Highway (''Bundesstraße'') B 454 (
Kirchhain Kirchhain () is a town in Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Kirchhain is located in the heart of the state of Hesse in Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Geographically, it is surrounded by the Amöneburg Basin on the southeast ...
Niederaula). The town also belongs to the North Hesse Transport Network.


Personalities

* Manfred Roeder (1929-2014), convicted right-wing extremist and Holocaust denier


References


External links


Kirche Christerode
{{Authority control Schwalm-Eder-Kreis