Melsungen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the city of Melsungen
Melsungen
Map of Germany, location of the city of Melsungen highlighted

Coordinates: 51 ° 8 '  N , 9 ° 33'  E

Basic data
State : Hesse
Administrative region : kassel
County : Schwalm-Eder district
Height : 172 m above sea level NHN
Area : 63.1 km 2
Residents: 13,689 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 217 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code : 34212
Primaries : 05661, 05602Template: Infobox municipality in Germany / maintenance / area code contains text
License plate : HR, FZ, MEG, ZIG
Community key : 06 6 34 014
LOCODE : DE MLS
City structure: 8 districts

City administration address : 		Am Markt 1
34212 Melsungen
Website : www.melsungen.de
Mayor : Markus Boucsein (non- party )
Location of the city of Melsungen in the Schwalm-Eder district
Kassel Landkreis Fulda Landkreis Hersfeld-Rotenburg Landkreis Kassel Landkreis Marburg-Biedenkopf Landkreis Waldeck-Frankenberg Vogelsbergkreis Vogelsbergkreis Werra-Meißner-Kreis Knüllwald Homberg (Efze) Frielendorf Schwarzenborn (Knüll) Neukirchen (Knüll) Oberaula Ottrau Schrecksbach Willingshausen Schwalmstadt Gilserberg Jesberg Neuental Bad Zwesten Borken (Hessen) Morschen Malsfeld Wabern (Hessen) Felsberg (Hessen) Spangenberg Melsungen Körle Guxhagen Edermünde Gudensberg Niedenstein Fritzlarmap
About this picture

Melsungen is a medieval town and a climatic health resort in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse .

geography

Geographical location

Melsungen is located in the northeast part of the Schwalm-Eder district between the Melsunger Bergland in the east and the Homberg highlands in the west. Its core city is at the influence of the Kehrenbach in the Fulda . Not far south of the city center, the Pfieffe flows into the Pfieffewiesen industrial area and, below the northern district of Röhrenfurth, on the border with Körle, the Mülmisch flows into the Fulda.

The next larger cities on the Fulda are the city of Kassel , about 21 km north, and the medium-sized town Bad Hersfeld , about 32 km (depending on the beeline ) south-southeast.

The lowest point of the urban area is 160  m above sea level. NN a little below the village district of Röhrenfurth, at the confluence of the Mülmisch in the Fulda, the highest with 557  m above sea level. NN a little below the Himmelsberg summit ( Günsteröder Höhe in the Melsunger Bergland ). Here, about 2.5 km northeast of the village district of Günsterode , the boundary to the neighboring town of Hessisch Lichtenau runs .

Neighboring communities

Melsungen borders in the north on the communities of Körle (Schwalm-Eder district) and Söhrewald ( district of Kassel ) as well as the city of Hessisch Lichtenau ( Werra-Meißner district ), in the east on the city of Spangenberg , in the southeast on the community of Morschen , in the south to the community of Malsfeld and to the west to the city of Felsberg (all four in the Schwalm-Eder district).

City structure

Melsungen includes not only the city itself 7 other neighborhoods that in the course of administrative reform in Hesse amalgamated were.

district Incorporation Inhabitants (approx.)
Adelshausen 1st February 1971 470
Günsterode 1st February 1971 350
Kehrenbach 1st February 1971 320
Churchyard 1st February 1971 520
Obermelsungen December 31, 1971 720
Röhrenfurth March 1, 1971 1200
Schwarzenberg 1st January 1974 570

history

Melsungen - Excerpt from the Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian the Younger 1655

The city was first mentioned in a document in 802 as Milisunge . The first settlements were probably already in the Hallstatt period (9th – 4th century BC).

In the course of its history, Melsungen changed hands several times. So gave Emperor Otto III. in 973 parts of his possessions in Elesenge in pago Hassim , including a military building, a Dietrat von Melsungen. In 1040 Count Dietrich bequeathed his Melsung possessions to the Fulda monastery . Heinrich Raspe II (around 1130 to around 1155/57), Count von Gudensberg from the house of the Thuringian Ludowingers , as bailiff of the Hersfeld Abbey, managed to alienate Melsungen from Hersfeld's possession and left the strategically important Fulda crossing of the road from Gudensberg to Thuringia build a small castle (" burgus Milsungen"). The place was of particular importance because it was at the crossroads of three important trade routes: the “ Sälzerweg ” (west-east), the “Nürnberger Straße” (north-south), and the “Through the long Hesse” .

The archbishops of Mainz and the landgraves of Thuringia, and later the landgraves of Hesse, fought the city most fiercely . In 1189/90 Archbishop Konrad I of Mainz bought the castle and town for 350 marks from the Ludowinger Landgraves of Thuringia and granted the town town charter; The coat of arms also comes from this period. Just a few years later, in 1193/94, the town and castle were destroyed in a feud between Mainz and Thuringia , but immediately rebuilt by the landgraves because of their important location, this time as the property of the landgraves. In the Thuringian-Hessian War of Succession (1247-1264), as a result of which Melsungen came to the Landgraviate of Hesse , the castle was at least partially destroyed again, but it was also restored.

The originally Romanesque parish church was converted into a Gothic hall church in 1350 . In 1465 the place already had about 950 inhabitants. In 1554 a fire destroyed large parts of the city center. Only a few buildings survived the fire, as almost all the houses were made of half-timbered houses . After this disaster, the town hall, which is still in use today, was built, an architectural jewel in half-timbered style. In 1596 a massive stone bridge was completed over the Fulda, the so-called Bartenwetzerbrücke .

View of the town hall from Fritzlarer Strasse

Landgrave Wilhelm IV and his father, Landgrave Philipp the Magnanimous , built a hunting lodge directly outside the city wall in 1552–1557 , in the immediate vicinity of the old castle, which was demolished due to dilapidation and made way for the stables completed in 1577 . From 1627 to 1632 this Moritz castle served the scholar of Hessen-Kassel as a temporary residence after he had abdicated as landgrave and retired to Eschwege . After his death, the palace and the stables were used as a garrison for landgraves and electoral cavalry from 1733 to 1825 . From 1825 to 1867 it was the seat of the Hessian Forest Academy. After the Prussian annexation of the Electorate of Hesse , it became an administrative building. During the Second World War there was a prison camp for British officers in the castle and in the so-called Kreisgut in Elbersdorf . Today the building is the seat of the district tax office and the judicial authority.

During the Thirty Years 'War , the Seven Years' War and during the French rule from 1806 to 1813, the city suffered repeated occupation and damage. In 1813, after Jérôme Bonaparte's abdication as King of Westphalia , General Tschernyshev's Russian troops defeated those of the French General Bastineller near Melsungen.

From 1821 to 1974 Melsungen was the administrative seat of the district of Melsungen . By merging the districts of Melsungen, Fritzlar-Homberg and Ziegenhain in 1974 to form the Schwalm-Eder district , the responsible administrative center has been in the town of Homberg (Efze) ever since . Melsungen is one of the main places of the Protestant Althessian church .


Politics and administration

City Council

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

Distribution of seats in the 2016 city council
     
A total of 37 seats
Parties and constituencies %
2016 		Seats
2016 		%
2011 		Seats
2011 		%
2006 		Seats
2006 		%
2001 		Seats
2001
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 43.4 16 49.8 18th 59.9 22nd 56.1 21st
FDP Free Democratic Party 16.6 6th 14.1 5 16.5 6th 16.4 6th
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 16.5 6th 17.2 6th 23.6 9 21.6 8th
FWG Free community of voters 14.4 5 6.7 3 - - - -
GREEN Alliance 90 / The Greens 9.1 4th 12.2 5 - - 5.9 2
total 100.0 37 100.0 37 100.0 37 100.0 37
Voter turnout in% 54.7 53.3 54.7 61.1

mayor

On November 28, 2004, Dieter Runzheimer ( SPD ) was elected mayor against a candidate from the CDU and the FDP (taking office March 1, 2005), with 62.8% of the votes. On November 7, 2010, Runzheimer was confirmed in office with 80% of the votes. He was the only candidate. On December 4, 2012 it was announced that Runzheimer had passed away. The previous First City Councilor Fritz Voit was in charge of official business on an interim basis until a new mayor was elected. The mayoral election took place on March 17, 2013. Ulrike Hund (SPD, supported by the FDP) and Markus Boucsein (independent, supported by the CDU) were candidates. Boucsein was able to prevail with 50.7% of the votes cast. Boucsein took over the office on June 1, 2013. On October 28, 2018, at the same time as the state elections and the referendums , the next mayoral election took place. Markus Boucsein, Timo Riedemann (SPD) and Gerhard Schönemann (independent) stood for election. Office holder Boucsein was able to prevail against Riedemann (44.4%) and Schönemann (2.6%) with a turnout of 70.6% with 53.0% of the votes cast.

Table of directly elected mayors:

Surname from to Remarks
Karl-Heinz Dietzel 1998 2005 Elected as SPD candidate, first directly elected mayor
Dieter Runzheimer 2005 2012 elected as SPD candidate
Markus Boucsein 1st June 2013 Non-party

coat of arms

Melsungen coat of arms
 Blazon : "In blue over an open gate of a silver (white) crenellated wall rising on both sides, a silver (white) tower with a red roof, decorated with two golden (yellow) knobs."
Founding of the coat of arms: The coat of arms, last awarded in 1906 and documented for the first time in 1577, is based on the city's oldest seal from 1267, which showed the same structure, but with two stars next to the tower. The second seal from the 14th century shows a slightly different tower, but no stars. Later seals all showed the tower, sometimes with small side towers or crosses.

  • with banner head

  • without banner head

The city has two versions of a white and blue banner. The version, shown for the first time in 1963, has white and blue vertical stripes with a white banner head; therein the coat of arms with the signature "Melsungen". In 1967 a white and blue striped banner with the coat of arms above the middle and the signature "Melsungen" was added.

Town twinning

City partnerships exist with the following cities:

Partnerships of the city of Melsungen
Dreux France 1966 FranceFrance
Evesham United Kingdom 1982 United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Todi Italy 1985/86 ItalyItaly
Koudougou Burkina Faso 1990 Burkina FasoBurkina Faso
Bad Liebenstein Thuringia 1990 Thuringia

Friendly relationships exist with the Berlin district of Spandau .

View from the Bartenwetzerbrücke to the half-timbered old town

Culture and sights

The local name for the residents of the city is Bartenwetzer . The city hosted the Hessentag in 1987 .

Museums

The Melsungen local history museum is located in the city, near the Bartenwetzerbrücke bridge.

Typical half-timbering in Melsungen
The Melsung Castle
The two-penny bridge over the Fulda

Buildings

Sports

  • Handball club MT Melsungen (since the 2005/06 season in the 1st handball Bundesliga )
  • Melsung football club 08
  • Melsunger Turngemeinde 1861 e. V. (running meeting, athletics, volleyball, gymnastics)
  • MSC Melsungen Motorsport Club: International grass track motorcycle races
  • TSV Röhrenfurth, TSV Schwarzenberg, TSV Obermelsungen, FTSV Kehrenbach, TSV Adelshausen (sports clubs in the districts)

Regular events

  • Melsung Wine Festival
  • Melsung cabaret competition with awarding of the Sharp Beard Prize
  • "Tour of the city partnership" (annual running event between Melsungen and Bad Liebenstein)

Culinary specialties

traffic

Melsungen-Bartenwetzerbrücke stop

rail

Melsungen train station is on the Bebra-Baunatal-Guntershausen railway line . The station building from 1846/47 was originally designed by Julius Eugen Ruhl , but was significantly rebuilt in 1895. The Melsungen train station is in the area of ​​the North Hessian Transport Association . The RegioTram line RT5 has been operating on the Kassel – Melsungen route since June 2006 . It connects Melsungen with the Kassel city center without having to change trains and ends at the Melsungen Süd turning track. On May 20, 2011, a new stop was opened with Melsungen Bartenwetzerbrücke . Melsungen Süd (on the turning track) and Melsungen-Schwarzenberg are planned as further stations. An extension of the RegioTram to the Pfieffewiesen industrial area is also being discussed.

Street

The city is on the federal highway 7 . The federal highway 83 leads through Melsungen and the federal highways 253 and 487 start and end here.

Bike trails

The following cycle paths lead through the city :

economy

Established businesses

The largest employer is B. Braun Melsungen AG , a global pharmaceutical and medical supplies company. The company EDEKA Handelsgesellschaft Hessenring mbH is represented in the retail and logistics sector and is responsible for supplying the markets in North and Central Hesse and parts of Thuringia and southern Lower Saxony for its sales area. Small and medium-sized enterprises are represented by companies such as Solupharm GmbH, Faubel & Co. Nachhaben GmbH, WESPA Metallsägefabrik Simonds Industries GmbH and Dr. Karl Wetekam & Co. KG. Which also are as publishers Neumann Neudamm GmbH and A. Bernecker Verlag resident.

The Kreissparkasse Schwalm-Eder and the VR PartnerBank eG Chattengau-Schwalm-Eder have their headquarters in the city.

education

There are three elementary schools in the city of Melsungen (Grundschule am Schloth, Christian-Bitter-Grundschule, Wolfgang-Fleischert-Schule ( Röhrenfurth )).

Secondary schools are the comprehensive school Melsungen, the Geschwister-Scholl-Schule (grammar school) and the Radko-Stöckl-Schule . For pupils with physical and mental problems there are two special schools (special school for the learning disabled and a school for the practically educable).

The Schwalm-Eder Music School and the Schwalm-Eder Adult Education Center have branches in Melsungen.

State institutions

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

People who have a special connection with the city

literature

Web links

Commons : Melsungen  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Melsungen  - travel guide
Wikisource: Melsungen in Merian's Topographia Hassiae  - Sources and full texts

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. ^ 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. 404-406 .
  3. ↑ a b c d municipal area reform: mergers and integration of municipalities from January 20, 1971 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1971 No.  6 , p. 248 , item 328, para. 41 ( online at the information system of the Hessian State Parliament [PDF; 6.2 MB ]).
  4. ↑ Law on the reorganization of the districts Fritzlar-Homberg, Melsungen and Ziegenhain (GVBl. II 330-22) of September 28, 1973 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1973 No. 25 , p. 356 , § 19 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 2,3 MB ]).
  5. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 6, 2016. Hessian State Statistical Office, accessed in April 2016 .
  6. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 27, 2011 Hessian State Statistical Office
  7. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 26, 2006 Hessian State Statistical Office:
  8. ↑ a b c mayoral election in Melsungen, city. Hessian State Statistical Office , accessed in April 2019 .
  9. ↑ HNA: Melsungen's mayor Dieter Runzheimer is dead. Retrieved on December 4, 2012.
  10. ↑ HNA: Everything in the flow on the Fulda: Boucsein starts in June. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  11. ↑ Stadler, Klemens, Deutsche Wappen, Volume 3, Bremen 1967, p. 64
  12. ↑ Melsungen - coat of arms of Melsungen. In: www.ngw.nl. Retrieved February 2, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Banner of the city of Melsungen. Retrieved February 2, 2020 .
  14. ^ Bettina Toson: Medieval hospitals in Hesse between Schwalm, Eder and Fulda. Hessian Historical Commission Darmstadt and Historical Commission for Hesse, Darmstadt / Marburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-88443-319-5 .
  15. ^ Siegfried Lohr : Planning and buildings by the Kassel master builder Julius Eugen Ruhl 1796–1871. A contribution to the building history of Kassel and Kurhessen in the 19th century . Masch. Diss. Darmstadt [1982], p. 341.
  16. ↑ Katrin Kimpel: Dispute over platform height delays new Regiotram station. In: hessenschau.de. February 23, 2018, archived from the original on February 23, 2018 ; accessed on February 23, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Construction of the second RegioTram stop begins in Melsungen - first groundbreaking for the Bartenwetzerbrücke station. (No longer available online.) NVV, April 27, 2010, formerly in the original ; accessed on February 23, 2018 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nvv.de