Espenau

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 51 ° 24 '  N , 9 ° 29'  E
Basic data
State :	Hesse
Administrative region :	kassel
County :	kassel
Height :	261 m above sea level NHN
Area :	13.59 km 2
Residents:	5158 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	380 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	34314
Area code :	05673
License plate :	KS, HOG, WOH
Community key :	06 6 33 007
Address of the municipal administration:	In the place 1 34314 Espenau
Website :	www.espenau.de
Mayor :	Carsten Strzoda (non-attached)
Location of the community Espenau in the district of Kassel

Espenau is a municipality in the Kassel district in northern Hesse ( Germany ).

geography

Geographical location

Espenau is located a few kilometers north of Kassel and directly north of Vellmar between the Habichtswald in the southwest and the Reinhardswald in the northeast. The areas of origin of the western Fulda tributary Espe (running in the middle between Hohenkirchen and Möncheberg) and the southern Diemel tributary Esse are located on a plateau at a maximum of 280 m high .

The districts of Espenau are close together, but there is still a lot of open space in the municipal area. On the northern edge of Hohenkirchen there is a pond with the Esse origin. A fairly extensive forest area with the Staufenberg and the “Brand” forest area and the bell pond in front of it adjoins the community to the west, and extensive meadows and fields to the north .

Neighboring communities

Espenau borders the town of Immenhausen in the north, the municipality Fuldatal in the east, the town Vellmar in the south, the municipality Ahnatal in the southwest, the municipality Calden in the west and the town Grebenstein in the northwest (all in the Kassel district).

structure

Official districts of Espenau are:

• Hohenkirchen
• Mönchehof

The Schäferberg and Auf der Heide settlements are not official districts.

history

On December 1, 1970, the community Espenau was re-formed through the voluntary amalgamation of the previously independent communities Hohenkirchen and Mönchehof.

politics

Community representation

The local elections on March 6, 2016 produced the following results, compared to previous local elections:

Distribution of seats in the municipal council 2016      A total of 23 seats SPD : 8 GLE : 2 CDU : 4th FW : 9	Parties and constituencies		% 2016	Seats 2016	% 2011	Seats 2011	% 2006	Seats 2006	% 2001	Seats 2001
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	32.2	8th	41.9	10	40.5	9	46.4	11
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	18.9	4th	23.1	5	28.2	6th	29.0	7th
	FWG	Free community of voters Espenau	38.6	9	20.5	5	20.0	5	15.4	3
	GLE	Green List Espenau	10.3	2	14.5	3	11.4	3	9.2	2
	total		100.0	23	100.0	23	100.0	23	100.0	23
	Voter turnout in%		54.1		53.8		52.8		61.8

mayor

In September 2013 Carsten Strzoda was elected new mayor with 73.6 percent of the vote. Michael Wielert had previously held the office for twelve years.

partnership

Espenau maintains partnerships with Gangloffsommern ( Sömmerda district , Thuringia ) and the SOS Children's Village Imst ( Tyrol ).

The sponsorship for the Imst Children's Village is of particular importance for the community. Imst is the very first children's village that was founded by Hermann Gmeiner . The sponsorship of the community Espenau was the first sponsorship that a community established as a children's village. This sponsorship is still very much cultivated by the community through mutual visits by citizens.

Economy and Infrastructure

The largest commercial enterprise is the Waldhotel Schäferberg Kassel, which has an important touristic importance with over 100 hotel rooms, 20 conference and event rooms and over 100 employees. In addition to the hotel and conference business, the gastronomy is well known within a radius of more than 60 kilometers. Many of the employees come from the region or from the town itself.

traffic

train

The district Mönchehof has a train station on the Kassel – Warburg railway line , which runs from Kassel through Espenau and to Warburg (with a connection to the Ruhr area ). From there, a controversial connection to the Hanover Southern Railway near Speele is planned, which would enable freight trains to bypass Kassel.

bus

Espenau provides its citizens with a free city bus system. Instead of fare, a donation to a non-profit organization is requested.

The Reinhardswald near Espenau is an important excursion destination in the region.

Personalities

• Bernd Herrmann (born November 22, 1951), athlete

Web links

Commons : Espenau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the community
• Literature about Espenau in the Hessian Bibliography
• Link catalog on Espenau at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
• "Espenau, District of Kassel". Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).

swell

1. ↑ Hessian State Statistical Office: Population status on December 31, 2019 (districts and urban districts as well as municipalities, population figures based on the 2011 census) ( help ).
2. ^ Former district of Hohenkirchen; came on December 1, 1970 when the communities Hohenkirchen and Mönchehof merged to form the new community Espenau. Schäferberg then belonged to Hohenkirchen, today a settlement in the Mönchehof district . Developed from a forced labor camp in 1943 , after 1945 accommodation for displaced persons and refugees became a housing estate.
3. ^ Information from the municipality, Central Services and Finances (FB 1) from April 29, 2016
4. ^ Espenau, Kassel district. Historical local lexicon for Hesse (as of February 24, 2014). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on May 3, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Merger of the communities Hohenkirchen in the district of Hofgeismar and Mönchehof in the district of Kassel to form the new community "Espenau" in the district of Kassel on November 12, 1970 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1970 No. 48 , p. 2253 , item 2246 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 5,6 MB ]).
6. ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 400 .
7. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 6, 2016. Hessian State Statistical Office, accessed in April 2016 . 
8. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 27, 2011
9. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 26, 2006
10. ↑ HNA report ( Memento from August 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), a little more hidden on the local website