Söhrewald

Basic data
State :	Hesse
Administrative region :	kassel
County :	kassel
Height :	374 m above sea level NHN
Area :	58.9 km 2
Residents:	4686 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	80 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	34320
Area code :	05608
License plate :	KS, HOG, WOH
Community key :	06 6 33 024
LOCODE :	DE SR9
Community structure:	3 districts
Address of the ; municipal administration:	Schulstrasse 8 ; 34320 Söhrewald
Website :	www.soehrewald.eu
Mayor :	Michael Steisel ( SPD )
Location of the municipality of Söhrewald in the Kassel district

Söhrewald is a municipality in the northern Hessian district of Kassel .

The community was re-formed on December 1, 1970 through the merger of the formerly independent communities Eiterhagen , Wattenbach and Wellerode as part of the regional reform . Its name was chosen because of its location in the Söhre low mountain range . Söhrewald is one of the residential communities in Northern Hesse and has hardly any industry. In the past, the Söhrewald villages were characterized by agriculture.

geography

location

Söhrewald is located in the southeast part of the Kassel district on average around 13 km (as the crow flies ) southeast of Kassel in the middle of the forest-covered mountain ranges of the Hessian low mountain range Söhre . Its districts are traversed by the Fulda tributaries, including Fahrenbach and Mülmisch . The district of Wellerode on the Fahrenbach lies north of the wooded ridge of Hambühlskopf ( 445.2 m above sea level ) in the west and Brandt ( 441.6 m above sea level ) in the east, south of this ridge is in the valley of the Mülmisch tributary Wattenbach the district of Wattenbach and further downstream in this direction at the confluence with the Mülmisch is the district of Eiterhagen .

Neighboring places

Söhrewald borders in the north on the municipality of Lohfelden , in the northeast on the municipalities of Kaufungen and Helsa (all three in the Kassel district), in the east on the city of Hessisch Lichtenau ( Werra-Meißner district ), in the south on the city of Melsungen , in the southwest the municipality of Körle , and in the west to the municipalities of Guxhagen (all three in the Schwalm-Eder district ) and Fuldabrück (in the Kassel district).

structure

Söhrewald mayor's office in the Wellerode district

The municipality of Söhrewald consists of the districts Eiterhagen , Wattenbach and Wellerode . The municipality's administrative seat is Wellerode.

history

The community was created on December 1, 1970 in the course of the regional reform in Hesse through the voluntary merger of the communities Eiterhagen , Wattenbach and Wellerode .

The forest-covered mountain range of the Söhre, which gave the new municipality its name, extends from the east bank of the Fulda to the Stiftswald.

The Söhre is an old settlement area. Its name is derived from "thrush" or "sör" and means "dry". The first settlers often lacked water on the extensive plateaus, and they were soon forced to give up clearing. One of these abandoned settlements has been called Stückkirchen since the 19th century . The settlement of Hessenhain or Hessenhagen was probably abandoned between 1347 and 1352 after the epidemic, the "Black Death". Only the ruins of the "Hessenhainer Kirche" are a visible sign of the old settlement and with the "Glockenborn" is still a hiking destination for many excursionists.

Wellerode, Wattenbach and Eiterhagen, located in the valleys of the Fahrenbach, the Wattenbach and the Mülmisch, offered their residents enough water. Otherwise, the people there only found a meager livelihood because the fields of the small, sloping clearing markings are not very fertile. So one was forced to use the forest for a living. For a long time these residents had the right to hat in him. The forest also offered them wood, berries and mushrooms. Women and children provided modest additional income. The district of Wellerode alone had 3560 hectares of forest and only 461 hectares of fields. Many residents of the Söhredörfer found their livelihood as forest workers and "culture women".

However, they were not allowed to exercise their hunting rights. At that time, this was reserved for aristocratic lords. The forests, rich in game, were often the scene of splendid driven hunts by Hessian landgraves. Jerome, the "King Lustik", probably came to the Söhre once to hunt. The three Söhredörfer had something in common in the past. Their first documentary evidence can be established around the turn of the 13th to the 14th century.

A written loan from 1351 is the basis for the more than 600-year history of the village of Wellerode.

All three Söhregemeinden were subject to the "Office" of Oberkaufungen. Many residents had to march "on shoemaker's pony" over the "official path" through the forests of the Söhre and the Stiftswald to the high authorities.

The development of the Söhredörfer suffered from their seclusion. The poor traffic conditions left them at the level of small settler villages. The barren agriculture and the forest remained the livelihood of their inhabitants for centuries.

The major upheaval only began with the construction of the Söhrebahn in 1911/1912. With its commissioning, the workplaces in Kassel could be reached faster and more conveniently. The residents of Söhredörfer were thus offered better training and more career opportunities. Modest wealth came into the families. Quite a few were able to fulfill their wish for their own house.

Now it was also possible to develop the local basalt and lignite deposits better and to use them more intensively, as the Söhrebahn ensured smooth transport. This also increased the number of jobs in the local area. Above all, Wattenbach with the Stellberg colliery became a miners' village. The mining tradition is maintained to this day. At local events you can admire miners in their forms. The work in the basalt quarries of the Söhre was of equal importance to lignite mining . In 1927, 350 workers were employed in the various quarries in the Söhre. These jobs no longer exist today. Small and medium-sized commercial and handicraft businesses still exist, but the vast majority of those in employment in Söhrewald work in Kassel or in the surrounding area.

The Söhrebahn was discontinued in 1966. The bus traffic on the street has taken over its task. But most of the working people from Söhrewald, like the other residents of the surrounding area of Kassel, drive to work in their own car.

Söhrewald has become a community of residence for workers. Your capital is the intact forest landscape. The extraordinary scenic beauties of the diverse mixed forests with quiet valleys and idyllic water areas offer excellent conditions for local recreation and tourism. New residential areas have emerged around the old town centers with their elegant half-timbered houses. The number of citizens has now grown to 5,300. Söhrewald is a place with a future. The development towards an attractive community with a high standard of living and quality of life continues.

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 : 16 US : 7	Parties and constituencies		% 2016	Seats 2016	% 2011	Seats 2011	% 2006	Seats 2006	% 2001	Seats 2001
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	71.1	16	63.4	15th	68.4	21st	68.4	21st
	US	Independent and new for Söhrewald	28.9	7th	-	-	-	-	-	-
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	-	-	15.3	3	19.4	6th	17.2	5
	Green	Alliance 90 / The Greens	-	-	12.6	3	5.9	2	8.5	3
	FDP	Free Democratic Party	-	-	8.7	2	6.2	2	5.9	2
	total		100.0	23	100.0	23	100.0	31	100.0	31
	Voter turnout in%		55.8		51.6		50.9		59.7

mayor

After the Hessian municipal constitution is the Mayor Chairman of the Municipal Board , the six volunteers in the community Söhrewald next to the Mayor Councilor belong. Michael Steisel (SPD) has been mayor since September 1, 2004. His predecessors were

December 1, 1970-30. June 1971: Nikolaus Mendel (SPD)
July 1, 1971 – February 1979: Ernst Apel (SPD; removed from service and then voted out)
March 6, 1979-9. July 1979: Friedrich Kuhnert (State Commissioner)
July 10, 1979-31. March 1990: Manfred Heller (SPD)
April 1, 1990 - June 1992: Günter Burghardt (SPD)
August 19, 1992-31. August 2004: Horst Bachmann (SPD)

coat of arms

Söhrewald coat of arms

For a long time it was not customary for rural communities to have coats of arms. After Gensungen, now in Felsberg in the Schwalm-Eder district (1947), and Bad Salzschlirf in the Fulda district (1948), Wellerode was the third rural community in the Kassel administrative district with a coat of arms. Nowadays all cities and municipalities in Hessen have a coat of arms. The impetus for the award of the coat of arms was also in this case the Welleröder 600th anniversary celebration in 1951. For this reason, the Hessian Minister of the Interior announced on January 8, 1951 in the state gazette of the State of Hesse that the municipality of Wellerode was entitled to use a coat of arms . At that time it was not yet customary to print the description of the coat of arms in the state gazette, this was made up for in the approval mentioned below in 1973. However, the coat of arms was only presented to the citizens in the summer of 1951 during a solemn act within the 600th anniversary celebration.

This coat of arms was adopted by the unanimous decision of the Söhrewald municipal council on October 18, 1972 as the coat of arms of the Söhrewald municipality formed in 1971 and then approved by the Hessian Minister of the Interior with a decree of January 31, 1973.

The basis of the coat of arms was the coat of arms of the once influential Lower Hessian noble family von Elben , which can also be seen in the form of a seal on the document from 1351 in which Wellerode is first mentioned.

The description of the coat of arms reads: In red a silver deer pole, the ends of which end in lilies . Silver means white in the language of the heraldry . Heraldry uses only six colors, namely gold (yellow), silver (white), red, blue, green and black, i.e. the two brightest colors gold and silver, which heraldists call 'metals', but which reproduce yellow and white , and the other four, darker colors, for which only full hues are used (hues or mixtures of colors, such as pink or purple and brown, are not used in good coats of arms).

Sports & Freetime

Forest swimming pool in the district of Wattenbach. Heated outdoor pool, operated since 2014 by the Friends of Waldschwimmbad Wattenbach eV
Söhrekampfbahn in Wellerode

education

Elementary school in Wellerode

literature

Julius Boehmer: Parish Eiterhagen including Söhre and other borders - A contribution to Hessian church history and local history , Verlag Pfarramt Eiterhagen, Eiterhagen 1939.
Max Beyer: Wellerode - Heimatland - A compilation on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Wellerode 1351–1951 , Wellerode 1951.
Friedrich Hartau: Heart of Homeland - Festival for the 600th anniversary of the community of Wellerode near Kassel, Wellerode July 1951.
August Straub: Die Söhre , in Raiffeisen-Bildpost, Vol. 82 (1977), 5, p. 14.15.
Roland Schäfer: Söhredörfer: Bergshausen, Vollmarshausen, Lohfelden, Wellerode, Eiterhagen, Wattenbach [student work at the comprehensive school Söhre in Lohfelden], Lohfelden 1978.
Helmut Bernet: Jakob Hoffmeister [son of pastor Karl Friedrich H., who was pastor in Eiterhagen between 1801-1817] , an almost forgotten genealogist and numismatist, and his family , in: Genealogie, ISSN 0016-6383 , Vol. 28, 1979 , Pp. 669-681.
Karl Lungershausen: The Via regia Lusatia in the Söhre , in: Hessischer Gebirgsbote, Vol. 81 (1980), 3, pp. 89-90.
Eduard Brauns: The Lobesrode desert and the ruin of Stückkirchen in the Söhre , in: Hessischer Gebirgsbote, Vol. 82 (1981), 4, p. 4; also in: Heimatverein Dorothea Viehmann [Kassel]: Heimatbrief ISSN 0936-854X , Vol. 24 (1980) 4, p. 135
Gerhard Hochhuth: The white turnip from Wattenbach - A comedy for the 200th anniversary of the church in Wattenbach , without place and year [1982].
Working group Söhrewaldbuch (ed.): With contributions by 30 foreign and local authors as well as photos and reproductions by Günter Heß et al. Söhrewald 1984 , Söhrewald 1983 (out of print).
Heinrich Riebeling: Two atonement finds in the district of Kassel (near Söhrewald-Wellerode and Grebenstein), in: Hessischer Gebirgsbote 1982, pp. 133-134.
Dietmar Peter: The atonement cross in the Steinbach near Wellerode , in: Yearbook of the district of Kassel 1983, pp. 115–116.
Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: Der Christteich (near Wellerode), in: Yearbook of the district of Kassel 1984, p. 105.
Astrid Wehrle: You can argue about taste - Eating & Drinking in Söhrewald , Empirical Planning Research Working Group, GhK Kassel, December 1985.
Maili Hochhuth: School days in the country - Conversations and studies over the years 1933–1945 in Wattenbach , Verlag Gesamtthochschulbibliothek, Kassel 1985.
Bernhard Freund, Gudrun Jaeckel, Iris Reuter, Bernd Ries, Urta Steinhäuser, Hildegard Trust: Aspects of village development planning using the example of Wattenbach , project work at the Kassel University, Faculty 13 - Urban Planning and Landscape Planning, supervised by Martina Hennings / Detlev Ipsen , WS 1985 / 86, SS 86.

Fritz Schütze: Report on the work of Pastor Gerhard Hochhuth in the parish Eiterhagen , published by the parish councils Eiterhagen and Wattenbach 1986.

Dietmar Peter: Diary of the country mail carrier Ludwig Werner in Wellerode , in: Hessische Postgeschichte (1987) 32, pp. 21-26.

Walter Ulwer: From Eintracht 1871 to the choir association 1871/96 in TSG 1896 Wellerode - history and activities of the oldest association in Söhrewald , Wellerode October 1987.

Günter Boller: On quiet paths through the Söhre - observations in a north Hessian forest landscape , in: Jahrbuch des Landkreis Kassel (1987), pp. 65–70.

Dietmar Peter: The Post in Wellerode , in: Hessische Postgeschichte, (1988) 33, pp. 74-78.

Hans Uwe Schultze + Wolfgang Schultze in cooperation with the planning group City and Country Kassel: Village development plan Söhrewald-Eiterhagen , Kassel 1988 (changes 1989).

Rev. Werner Pausch: Report on the convention in Wellerode on February 28/29 , 1988, Söhrewald-Wellerode February 1988.

Wilhelm Steckhan: The lignite agreement in Stellberg near Kassel , Thiele & Schwarz, Kassel 1988.

Anna Riedl: Söhrewald want to fight for drinking water - planned lignite mining threatens supply - also warn nature conservationists , in: Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurt am Main, S edition, Vol. 44 (1988), 191, from August 18, 1988, p. 18th

Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: Söhrewald from A – Z. , Volume 1: A – F, Söhrewald 1990.

Günter Boller: Söhre - die endangered forest landscape , in: Yearbook of the district of Kassel (1992), pp. 141–144.

Jörg Adrian Huber, Michael Schupmann, Rolf Wagner: Söhrewald , Wartberg Verlag Peter Wieden, Gudensberg 1992.

Ralf Bokermann: Small-scale development of direct marketing on the initiative of consumers , in: Project planning for rural areas in Hessen, 1990, pp. 58–72.

Klaus Sippel: Early modern glassworks in the Eiterhagen district , in Kaufunger Wald, ISSN 1436-7343 . 1993, pp. 5-17.

Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: Söhrewald from A – Z. , Volume 2: G – Q, Söhrewald 1993.

Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: Söhrewald from A – Z. , Volume 3: R – Z, Söhrewald 1995.

Dietmar Peter: Witnesses and Testimonials - Contributions to the Past of Wellerode , Söhrewald 1995.

Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: Chronica of Johann Caspar Jacob from Wellerode 1740–1789 , Söhrewald 1997.

Ute Döbel: Sources in the southeast of the district of Kassel , in: Yearbook of the district of Kassel 1997, pp. 52–56.

Konrad Mendel with the assistance of Dietmar Peter: Report on the demonstration of a Tiger tank in front of Adolf Hitler in the Wolfsschanze, in: Wolfschanze - Memories of Contemporary Witnesses, published by Jerzy Szynkowski Kengraf-Verlag, Ketrzyn, ul.Dworcowa 6, Rastenburg / Ketrzyn 1997 , Pp. 46-48.

Municipality of Söhrewald (editor): With contributions by Klaus Sippel (Lohfelden), Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz, Helge Nödler, Dietmar Peter, 650 years of Wellerode 1351–2001 , Söhrewald 2001.

Pupils in grades 4a, 4b and 4c of the Söhrewald primary school: School before , Söhrewald August 2001.

Dankwart Pankow-Horstmann: 7 Söhre-Balladen , Verl. Wortwechsel, Kaufungen 2001.

The church council of the Protestant parish Wellerode (ed.): House of God and Human Work - 100 Years of Wellerode Church. With contributions by Rev. Werner Pausch, Dietmar Peter and Hans-Ulrich Werner, 167 pages + CD-ROM, Perkunas-Verlag, Söhrewald 2002. ISBN 3-9808444-0-4

Franz Marquet: 170 years of lignite mining in the Söhre . In: Jahrbuch des Landkreis Kassel (2002), pp. 132–133.

Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: Village in the Söhre - everyday life in the Lower Hessian community of Wellerode between 1898 and 1951. Söhrewald 2003.

Claus-Marco Dieterich: Memorial of uselessness: the lonely motorway bridge in the Söhrewald , in: Hessen Forget - Places of Remembrance, 2003.

Rolf Nagel: Kassel Lilienthalstrasse 150. History of an industrial site 1940–1950 (= Junkers Flugzeug- und -Motorenwerke AG, engine construction plant Kassel). Wolfhagen 2007. Wellerode is mentioned on pp. 17, 24, 44 and 71–72.

Lothar Rolwes: Basalt mining in Söhrewald . Publisher: Söhrewald history circle. Issue 1. [Söhrewald 2008].

Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: The plane crash in the Riedforst near Eiterhagen , in: Yearbook 2010, published by the district committee of the district of Kassel, pp. 110-114;

Frank Laska, "Ferdinand Müller's glass painting in Quedlinburg from its founding until 1914", Letterado Verlag, Quedlinburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-938579-20-6 , pp. 191–192 and attachment on CD: Catalog raisonné for sacred buildings in Inland, Part A 1 (chronological) No. 733 and Part A 2 (topographical) No. 1903.

Th. Hans-Dieter Scholz: A look back at Wellerode 2001-2010. Söhrewald 2011.

Festschriften:

Festschrift for the 600th anniversary 1351 Wellerode 1951.
40 years of the Wellerode Volunteer Fire Brigade combined with the District Fire Brigade Association Day on May 31 and June 1, 1976.
80 years of the Wellerode volunteer fire brigade, 24. – 26. August 1984.
100 years of TSG Wellerode 1896–1996.
100 years of choral singing, 75 years of gymnastics in Wellerode 10, 11 and 12 July 1971.
Gauturnfest 1976/80 years of gymnastics in Wellerode, June 9, 10, 11, 1976.
80th anniversary of the gymnastics department in TSG 1896 Wellerode, June 12th and 13th 1976 Gauturnfest Turngau Nordhessen - Söhrekampfbahn.
90 years gymnastics department in TSG 1896 Wellerode 5. – 7. September 1986 - invitation.
Big football tournament and selection game for the senior men’s team, Saturday, June 11, 1971, start: 5 p.m. City selection Kassel - Söhreauswahl, prelude: youth game, start: 4 p.m.; Sunday, June 12, 1977, start: 12 noon, old men’s tournament.
Football Association, TSG - Wellerode, 1990/91 season.
1919–1994 75 years of football in Wellerode.
25 years of the minstrel and music parade in Wellerode, September 7th, 8th and 9th 1979.
25 years of sport shooters TSG 1896 Wellerode from 3rd to 5th September 2004.
100 years of the SPD Wellerode, May 26-28, 2006.
50 years of the German Red Cross local association Söhrewald, festive event on July 8th and 9th 1978 on the Söhrekampfbahn.
10 years TC Söhrewald e. V. 1978-1988.
50 years TSV Germania Wattenbach 1907 (on) June 8, 9 and 10, 1957.
Wattenbach 650 years 1323–1973.
Festive program for the anniversary celebration on June 18-21, 1978 75 years of Knappen u. 90 years of singing at TSG "Glück-Auf" Wattenbach, Dept. Singing and Knappen.
50 years of the Söhrewald-Wattenbach volunteer fire brigade from 8-10 August 1981.
Festschrift for the parish festival of Eiterhagen on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the church in Wattenbach on 20. – 22. August 1982.
75 years TSV Germania 07 Wattenbach, sports week from September 4 to 11, 1982.
25 years of table tennis in Wattenbach 1967–1992.
100 years of men and women choir Concordia 1897 Eiterhagen 1879–1979.
700 years of Eiterhagen (1989).

Web links

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

Wikivoyage: Söhrewald - travel guide

Website of the municipality of Söhrewald
"Söhrewald, District of Kassel". Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
Link catalog on the subject of Söhrewald at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )

Individual evidence

↑ 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 ).
↑ Merger of the communities Eiterhagen, Wattenbach and Wellerode in the Kassel district to form the new community "Söhrewald" on November 12, 1970 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1970 No. 48 , p. 2252 , item 2243 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 5.6 MB ]).
^ 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 .
↑ Klaus Sippel shows in "Wüstungen around Wellerode", in: 650 Jahr Wellerode 1351-2001, published by the municipality of Söhrewald, 2001, pp. 1-16, that the Lobesrode desert was located elsewhere
^ Result of the municipal election on March 6, 2016. Hessian State Statistical Office, accessed in April 2016 .