Freiensteinau

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coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the municipality of Freiensteinau
Freiensteinau
Map of Germany, position of the municipality Freiensteinau highlighted

Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '  N , 9 ° 24'  E

Basic data
State : Hesse
Administrative region : to water
County : Vogelsbergkreis
Height : 427 m above sea level NHN
Area : 65.67 km 2
Residents: 3066 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 47 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code : 36399
Primaries : 06666, 06644, 06669
License plate : VB
Community key : 06 5 35 004
LOCODE : DE FNU
Address of the
municipal administration: 		Alte Schulstrasse 5
36399 Freiensteinau
Website : www.freiensteinau.de
Mayor : Sascha Spielberger ( independent )
Location of the municipality of Freiensteinau in the Vogelsbergkreis
Antrifttal Alsfeld Grebenau Schlitz (Vogelsbergkreis) Kirtorf Homberg (Ohm) Mücke (Hessen) Gemünden (Felda) Romrod Schwalmtal (Hessen) Lauterbach (Hessen) Wartenberg (Hessen) Feldatal Lautertal (Vogelsberg) Ulrichstein Herbstein Schotten (Stadt) Grebenhain Freiensteinau Landkreis Marburg-Biedenkopf Schwalm-Eder-Kreis Landkreis Hersfeld-Rotenburg Landkreis Fulda Wetteraukreis Main-Kinzig-Kreismap
About this picture

Freiensteinau is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in central Hesse .

geography

Freiensteinau is located on the southern slope of the Vogelsberg . The German Fairy Tale Route runs through the town .

Neighboring communities

Freiensteinau borders in the north on the municipality Grebenhain , in the northeast on the municipality Hosenfeld ( district Fulda ), in the east on the municipality Neuhof (district Fulda), in the south on the town of Steinau an der Straße ( Main-Kinzig district ) and in the west to the community of Birstein (Main-Kinzig-Kreis).

Community structure

The community consists of the eleven districts of Fleschenbach , Freiensteinau, Gunzenau , Holzmühl , Nieder-Moos , Ober-Moos , Radmühl , Reichlos , Reinhards , Weidenau and Salz .

The seat of the municipal administration is Freiensteinau, which is by far the largest district with 887 inhabitants.

history

View of the core district of Freiensteinau, 2016

middle Ages

The area was populated as early as the 9th century. The oldest dated mention of a district is that of Fleschenbach (between 863 and 889). The core district of Freiensteinau is clearly mentioned in a document for the first time in 1059. A medieval old road , the Via Regia , ran through what is now the municipality .

Early modern age

From 1715 the Freiensteinau and Moos courts were administered jointly by a Riedeselian Samtschultheiß , which had its seat in the administrative building in Freiensteinau.

In Freiensteinau, the Riedesel'schen ordinances were considered particular law . The Common Law applied only to the extent those regulations did not contain provisions. Theoretically, this special right retained its validity even while it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Hesse in the 19th century, but only individual provisions were used in judicial practice. The particular law was replaced on January 1, 1900 by the civil code that was uniformly valid throughout the German Empire .

The districts of Fleschenbach, Freiensteinau, Holzmühl, Radmühl I, Reichlos and Salz formed the Riedeselian court of Freiensteinau until 1806 . The districts of Gunzenau, Nieder-Moos and Ober-Moos, together with the localities of Metzlos and Metzlos-Gehaag, which today belong to the greater municipality of Grebenhain, formed the court of moss . Both dishes were a Vogteilehen of the Electoral Palatinate . Since the feudal lords were Wittelsbachers , the public often mistakenly assumed that the area belonged to Bavaria before. In fact, the Freiensteinau and Moos courts were only temporary during the Thirty Years War and from 1776, when the Palatinate Elector Karl Theodor inherited Bavaria, until 1806 a Bavarian- Wittelsbach fiefdom. The landscape designation Blue Corner , which is still in use today, goes back to the feudal lordship of the Electorate of the Palatinate .

Modern times

As a result of the mediatization in 1806, both courts fell to the Grand Duchy of Hesse , where the Freiensteinau civil office was formed from their area . After the Hessian municipal and district regulations came into force in 1821, the municipalities of the former Freiensteinau office were incorporated into the Herbstein District (from 1825 Lauterbach District). Since 1852 they belonged to the Lauterbach district.

Radmühl II, Reinhards and Weidenau had a completely different historical development. Radmühl II belonged to the Reichenbach court in the Principality of Isenburg-Birstein until 1815 , then came first to the Austrian Empire and in 1816 to the Electorate of Hesse . As a result of the annexation of Kurhessen by the Kingdom of Prussia after the German War in 1866, Radmühl II became Prussian, which is where today's colloquial name Prussian Radmühl goes back. Until the territorial reform of 1972, Radmühl II did not belong to the Lauterbach district, but to the Gelnhausen district, which was Prussian until 1945.

Until 1806 Reinhards belonged to the office of Schlüchtern within the county of Hanau-Münzenberg , which from 1736 was part of the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel and subsequently the Electorate of Hesse. Prussian from 1866, the place belonged to the district of Schlüchtern until 1972 . Weidenau, on the other hand, shared the history of the Riedeselian court of Freiensteinau until 1544 and also belonged there ecclesiastically until 1603, before the territorial rule of the prince-bishopric of Fulda established itself here . For this reason, the district is today the only one in the large community of Freiensteinau to be predominantly Catholic. From 1815 Weidenau was part of the Hessian electorate, from 1866 Prussian and belonged to the district of Fulda until the regional reform .

The large community of Freiensteinau was formed as part of the regional reform in Hesse on December 31, 1971 through the formally voluntary amalgamation of the previously independent communities of Fleschenbach, Freiensteinau, Gunzenau, Holzmühl, Nieder-Moos, Ober-Moos, Reichlos and Salz. On August 1, 1972, state law incorporated the municipalities of Radmühl (west of the Salz , in the Gelnhausen district ), Radmühl (east of the Salz, in the Lauterbach district ), Reinhards (until then in the Schlüchtern district ) and Weidenau (until then in the district of Fulda ).

With the exception of Radmühl II (west of the Salz), Reinhards and Weidenau, the districts of the large community of Freiensteinau are linked by centuries of belonging to the domain of the Barons Riedesel zu Eisenbach .

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 19 seats
  • SPD : 3
  • CDU : 2nd
  • FW : 8
  • UBL : 4
  • Alliance : 2
 Parties and constituencies %
2016 		Seats
2016 		%
2011 		Seats
2011 		%
2006 		Seats
2006 		%
2001 		Seats
2001
FW Free voters 41.1 8th 37.5 7th 41.0 8th 43.2 10
UBL Independent citizen list 18.6 4th 17.6 3 - - - -
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 14.7 3 17.4 3 33.8 6th 31.9 7th
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 13.1 2 14.4 3 25.2 5 24.9 6th
alliance Alliance for Freiensteinau 12.4 2 13.1 3 - - - -
total 100 19th 100 19th 100 19th 100 23
Voter turnout in% 64.4 66.0 62.4 64.0

mayor

The mayor was elected on July 6, 2014. The previous incumbent Friedel Kopp decided not to run again after four terms in office. The choice had the following result:

Applicants Political party % be right
Andreas Schwenz independent 24.1 482
Erich Schöniger independent 19.1 382
Sascha Spielberger independent 47.3 945
Heiko Hofmann independent 9.4 188

In the runoff election on July 20, 2014, Sascha Spielberger (1,357 votes or 72.3%) clearly prevailed against Andreas Schwenz (519 votes or 27.7%). Sascha Spielberger was elected as the new mayor of the Freiensteinau community and took office on December 31, 2014. The previous mayors of the municipality were:

  • 1971–1991: Johannes Karl
  • 1991–2014: Friedel Kopp
  • since 2014: Sascha Spielberger

Partnerships

Freiensteinau has been in partnership with the French community of Tourouvre in Normandy since 1977 .

Culture and sights

Evangelical parish church in Freiensteinau
Main building of the former Riedesel court in Freiensteinau

church

The late Gothic choir tower of the Protestant church dates from the second half of the 14th century and is therefore the oldest building in Freiensteinau. Today's nave was added to these between 1721 and 1724 . According to various assumptions, the old nave is said to have been built in the 11th century and the church tower was originally a defensive tower from the 8th century.

Amtshof

The coat of arms of the Riedesel zu Eisenbach, hereditary marshals of Hesse above the entrance to the office building

→ Main article: Freiensteinau Castle

Below the church are the buildings of a former court estate of the barons Riedesel zu Eisenbach , who were the landlords and court lords of Freiensteinau until 1806. The former manor house of the Hofgut, also known colloquially as the castle , was the official house of the Riedeselischen Samtschultheissen until the mediatization by the Rheinbund act 1806. From here the Freiensteinau court was administered together with the Moos court, which is also Riedeselian, since 1715. The court was located in front of the official courtyard and is now marked by two old wells.

In addition to the manor house built in 1688 and remodeled in the 1920s, the estate ensemble consists of a courtyard with stables and barns as well as a gardener's house on an area of ​​around 15,000 square meters. The Amtshof was owned by the Riedesel until 1975 and at times also served as the residence of a branch of the family.

The property of the former Amtshof has been divided since 1975, when it was sold by Riedesel:

  • The larger area and the old buildings of the Hofreite, which were used for the management and administration of the property, the administrator's apartment, barns and stables belong to the municipality of Freiensteinau. These buildings have been restored in recent years. The NABU local group Freiensteinau has set up a small room in the gatehouse as an exhibition; a visit is possible by arrangement. Other parts of the building are used for fairs. Part of the barn building is used to store agricultural equipment, while the former sheepfold is currently not in use.
  • The property area with the former administrative building, part of the farm buildings, open spaces and the private burial site were acquired by the von Westernhagen family.

music

The organ of the Protestant church in Nieder-Moos was built in 1790/91 by Johann-Markus Oestreich from Oberbimbach near Fulda. Every year the Nieder-Mooser summer concerts take place around the organ .

Sports

bicycle

From 2004 to 2007 one of the biggest cycling events in Germany took place in Freiensteinau every year. The “Vulkan-Marathon” included routes in six different lengths (28 to 222 km), which not only lead through the Blue Corner , but also through the entire Vogelsberg district and four neighboring districts. For financial or technical reasons, however, the event will no longer take place.

Soccer

The soccer club "SG Freiensteinau 1947" has moved up to the seventh German division, the Fulda group league, with its first men's team for the 2019/20 season , and the second team plays in the Schlüchtern B league (tenth division). The women's team was promoted to the Verbandsliga Nord in 2019 and thus fifth class, the second women's team was promoted to the Fulda group league. The soccer team of the Nieder-Moos district , SV Nieder-Moos 1921, has been playing in the Schlüchtern A-League after being promoted again in 2019, while KSG Radmühl , which temporarily stopped playing after the 2008/09 season, has been in the 2011/12 season Again represented with a team in the game and was able to celebrate promotion to the B-League Schlüchtern in 2019.

Economy and Infrastructure

The area of ​​the municipality of Freiensteinau is dominated by agriculture, but only a fraction of the population is employed in agriculture . The only major industrial company since the beginning of 2014 is the cannula manufacturer Acti-Med AG , which is based in the core district of Freiensteinau and has 110 employees. The company was founded in 1997 in Biebergemünd and moved to Freiensteinau in 2001.

Until 2014 there was a branch in Freiensteinau of the STI Group packaging company based in the district town of Lauterbach , the STI Vertriebs- und Industrieservice GmbH with 82 employees. The plant has existed since 1958 and last took over the final production of displays within the STI group of companies . In December 2013 the closure of the site was announced, the production of which was relocated to the neighboring STI branch in Grebenhain-Oberwald .

Systems of the two wind farms completed in 2014 north of Freiensteinau in the corridors "Hallo" and "Auf der Haid"

energy

Similar to Ulrichstein , Freiensteinau is now known within the region for the use of renewable energies . There are three wind parks and one solar park in the municipality. In addition, the district of Gunzenau, as a bioenergy village, is supplied by a wood chip heating system.

  • Ober-Moos solar park : commissioning 2012, 12,328 modules, total nominal output 3.02 MWp .
  • Fleschenbach-Neustall wind farm : Commissioning in 2009, 9 turbines, total nominal output 18 MW .
  • Freiensteinau wind farm : Commissioning 1997 (extension 1999, repowering 2013–2014), 4 turbines, total nominal output 12 MW (before repowering 2.4 MW).
  • Blaues Eck wind forest : Commissioning in 2014, 7 turbines, total nominal output 21 MW.

education

The Windbergschule in Freiensteinau is the primary school for the municipality with around 150 pupils. It was founded in 1966 as a central school and until 1982 also had a secondary school branch .

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Personalities related to the community

Individual evidence

  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. ↑ Municipality of Freiensteinau: Data & Facts - Population figures as of December 31, 2016
  3. ↑ Arthur Benno Schmidt : The historical foundations of civil law in the Grand Duchy of Hesse . Curt von Münchow, Giessen 1893, p. 29, note 92 and p. 103, note 14.
  4. ↑ Law on the reorganization of the Alsfeld and Lauterbach districts (GVBl. II 330-12) of August 1, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 215 , § 5 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  5. ^ 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 GmbH, Stuttgart and Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 367 and 368 .
  6. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 6, 2016. Hessian State Statistical Office, accessed in April 2016 .
  7. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 27, 2011
  8. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 26, 2006
  9. ↑ a b Result of mayoral election in Freiensteinau on July 6, 2014 , Hessian State Statistical Office. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  10. ↑ 1960 until the regional reform, mayor of the independent municipality of Freiensteinau
  11. ↑ Elected directly for the first time in 1996
  12. ↑ "Fountain at the church in Freiensteinau, around 1900". Historical image documents from Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  13. ↑ Source: Freiensteinau land register sheet No. 158
  14. ↑ Acti-Med AG - Facts and Figures ( Memento from November 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ Acti-Med AG - Company profile ( Memento from January 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ^ STI Group, Freiensteinau plant ( Memento from January 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  17. ↑ Kinzigtal Nachrichten of December 4, 2013 . Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  18. ^ History of the Windbergschule Freiensteinau ( memento from January 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). Retrieved October 28, 2012.

literature

Web links

Commons : Freiensteinau  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Freiensteinau  - travel guide