Willingen (official name: ''Willingen (Upland)'') is a municipality in

Waldeck-Frankenberg Waldeck-Frankenberg is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Höxter, Kassel, Schwalm-Eder, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Hochsauerland. History The district was created in 1972 by merg ...

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 Da ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, some 80 km west of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2 ...

Geography

Location

Willingen is found in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in the Upland. Its main town stretches between two river valleys, the Hoppecke in the west and the Itter in the east. The ski resort Skigebiet Willingen is near. It is located 60 km west of Kassel. Mühlenkopfschanze ski jump is also located here.

Neighbouring communities

Willingen borders in the north on the community of

Diemelsee The Diemelsee or Diemel Reservoir (german: Diemelstausee) is a reservoir with a surface area of 1.65 km² and about capacity of 19.9 million m³ on the River Diemel in the counties of Waldeck-Frankenberg in North Hesse, and Hochs ...

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

Medebach Medebach () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Medebach is situated approximately east of Winterberg, south-west of Korbach and north of Marburg. Neighbouring municipalities * Korbach * L ...

, and in the west on the towns of

Winterberg Winterberg ( Westphalian: ''Winnenmerg'') is a town in the Hochsauerland district of North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany and a major winter sport resort of the Wintersport Arena Sauerland. Geography Winterberg is located in the middle o ...

, Olsberg and Brilon (all three in the

Hochsauerlandkreis Hochsauerlandkreis (meaning “High Sauerland District” in German) is a Kreis (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Soest, Paderborn, Höxter, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Olpe, M� ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

Constituent communities

Willingen consists of the following centres: * Bömighausen, 300 inhabitants (as of 1 September 2003) * Eimelrod, 582 inhabitants (as of 31. December 2006) * Hemmighausen, 100 inhabitants * Neerdar, 100 inhabitants * Rattlar, 400 inhabitants * Schwalefeld, 900 inhabitants * Usseln, 2,100 inhabitants * Welleringhausen, 100 inhabitants * Willingen, 3,500 inhabitants

History

Willingen was founded in 1874 in the second municipal reform by uniting the villages of Bömighausen, Eimelrod, Hemmighausen, Neerdar, Rattlar, Schwalefeld, Welleringhausen and the climatic spas of Usseln and Willingen. Until 1929, Willingen belonged to the Free State of Waldeck, after which it passed to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

Politics

Municipal council

Willingen's council is made up of 31 councillors, with seats apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 6 March 2016: Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.

Coat of arms

The field is parted horizontally, below the middle, by a row of interlocking arrows between the gold above and the green below. It is meant, of course, to look like treetops, and refers to the Upland's extensive woods. There are two charges, one inside the other. The eight-pointed black star is the ubiquitous – in terms of the local civic heraldry – Star of Waldeck, borne centuries ago by the Counts of Waldeck when they held sway over the area. The snowflake is included as a charge within the star and is representative of the community's status as a winter resort. The community was granted this coat of arms on 12 June 1974.

Culture and sightseeing

Willingen's landmark is the great railway bridge, ''"Das Viadukt"'', built about 1918. The community thrives mainly on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

. There were 1.3 million overnight stays in 2003, and attractions include

winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold a ...

and

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thoug ...

clubs.

Regular events

Among Willingen's sports events are the International Ski Federation's annual FIS Ski Jumping World Cup competition at the Mühlenkopfschanze, and the annual ''Mountainbike-Event'' at the Ettelsberg. Nearby lie the trails of ''Bike Arena Sauerland''.

Transport

Willingen lies on the ''Uplandbahn''

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

line between Korbach and Brilon-Wald.

Gallery

Image:Willingen, kerk1 foto3 2010-08-10 12.14.JPG, Willingen, bar/restaurant in former church building Image:Willingen, spoorviadukt foto1 2010-08-10 12.22.JPG, Willingen, viaduct Image:Usseln, kerk foto4 2010-08-10 12.44.JPG, Usseln, church Image:Tussen Usseln en Dudighausen, panorama foto2 2010-08-10 12.53.JPG, Between Usseln and Düdinghausen, panorama

Notable people

* Stephan Leyhe (born 1992), ski jumper *

Jochen Behle Jochen Behle (born 7 July 1960 in Korbach, Hesse) is a former ( West) German cross-country skier who competed from 1980 to 1998. Competing in six Winter Olympics, he earned his best career finish of fourth in the 4 × 10 km relay at Lill ...

(born 1960), former cross-country skier and trainer in the cross-country skiing, lives in the district Schwalefeld and started for the SC Willingen *

Tobias Lindner Tobias Lindner (born January 11, 1982 in Karlsruhe) is a German economist and politician of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen who has been serving as member of the Bundestag since 2011, as a list member for Rhineland-Palatinate. Since December 8, 2021, ...

(born 1961), former biathlete, grew up in Willingen and started for SC Willingen *

Klaus Huber Klaus Huber (30 November 1924 – 2 October 2017) was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saar ...

(born 1968), former

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

, ski jumping trainer at the SC Willingen *

Petra Behle Petra Behle (born Petra Schaaf on 5 January 1969 in Offenbach am Main) is a former German biathlete. Career Behle won her first gold medal in the 1988 World Championships when she was 19 and she also has three gold meda ...

(born 1969), former biathlete, started for SC Willingen *

Anna Häfele Anna Häfele (born 26 June 1989 in Bad Arolsen, Hesse) is a German ski jumper. She came at the second place in the FIS Junior Ski Jumping World Championships 2009 in Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. She received an eight place in the World Champion ...

(born 1989), ski jumping champion, started for SC Willingen

References

External links

* * http://sites.google.com/site/photowithkalirajan/home/trip/germany/20090330 {{Authority control Waldeck-Frankenberg Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont