Meißner is a community in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis

Werra-Meißner-Kreis

Werra-Meißner is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Göttingen, Eichsfeld, Unstrut-Hainich, Wartburgkreis, district-free Eisenach, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Schwalm-Eder, Kassel.-History:...

 in Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Location

Meißner lies at the Krösselberg between the Hoher Meißner

Hoher Meißner

Hoher Meissner is a mountain massif with a height of 753.6 m and is located in the Meissner Kaufunger nature park in Hesse, Germany.-Geography:...

 and the Werra

Werra

The Werra is a river in central Germany, the right-source river of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After 293 km the Werra joins the river Fulda in the town of Hann. Münden, forming the Weser....

 valley in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park, some 40 km southeast of Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

 and 10 km west of Eschwege.

Neighbouring communities

Meißner borders in the north on the community of Berkatal

Berkatal

-Location:Berkatal lies in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park at the foot of the Hoher Meißner massif. The river Berka rises within community limits.-Neighbouring communities:...

, in the east on the town of Eschwege

Eschwege

Eschwege , the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany.- Location :The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Werra at the foot of the Leuchtberg northwest of the Schlierbachswald and east of the Hoher Meißner...

, in the south on the community of Wehretal

Wehretal

Wehretal is a community in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.-Location:Wehretal lies roughly 50 km southeast of the North Hesse city of Kassel...

 and the town of Waldkappel

Waldkappel

Waldkappel is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northern Hesse, Germany.-Location:Waldkappel lies between Hessisch Lichtenau in the west and Eschwege in the east, where the town is found in the North Hesse Upland between the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park neighbouring it to the north...

 and in the west on the town of Hessisch Lichtenau

Hessisch Lichtenau

Hessisch Lichtenau is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in eastern Hesse, Germany. It was the 2006 host of the 46th Hessentag.-Location:...

 (all in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Meißner’s seven Ortsteile are Abterode (administrative seat), Alberode, Germerode, Vockerode, Weidenhausen, Wellingerode and Wolfterode.

History

Alberode had its first documentary mention in 1276. In 1823, the current Evangelical

Evangelical Church in Germany

The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

 church was consecrated. The estate of Mönchhof belonging to Alberode was first mentioned in 876.

Germerode had its first documentary mention in 1186. The Germerode Monastery was first mentioned as early as 1454 or 1455. It was the house monastery to the Hessian lower nobility. The Premonstratensian

Premonstratensian

The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...

 double monastery

Double monastery

A double monastery is an institution combining a separate monastery for monks and an abbey for nuns. Examples include Coldingham Monastery in Scotland, and Einsiedeln Abbey and Fahr Abbey in Switzerland, controlled by the abbot of Einsiedeln...

 is one of the most important building works in North Hesse. The estate of Mönchhof was formerly an outlying piece of the monastery’s property.

An estate named Vockenrode was mentioned as early as 1074. Only beginning in the late 14th century did the village belong to the Landgraves of Hesse

Landgraviate of Hesse

The Landgraviate of Hesse was a Landgraviate of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a unity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided between the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.-History:...

. There was once mining in Vockenrode, as still witnessed by a number of galleries and a tailings

Tailings

Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore...

 heap.

Weidenhausen had its first documentary mention in 1301. There are still some wine cellars in the village. Until the early 19th century, there was a linen mill here.

The linear village

Linear village

In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....

 of Wellingerode had its first documentary mention in 1338.

Wolfterode came into being through clearing in the 10th century. The village had its first documentary mention in 1195. The church was built in 1334 and stands in the middle of the village. Within are found wall and ceiling paintings from before the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

.

The community of Meißner came into being in the course of municipal reform in Hesse in 1971 through the merger of the formerly self-administering communities of Abterode, Alberode, Germerode, Vockerode, Weidenhausen and Wellingerode. The village of Wolfterode followed in 1974.

Community council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Parties and voter communities		% 2006	Seats 2006	% 2001	Seats 2001
SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...	50.0	12	50.0	12
ÜWG	Überparteiliche Wählergemeinschaft Meißner	27.2	6	24.5	5
CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	22.8	5	25.5	6
Total		100.0	23	100.0	23
Voter turnout in %		69.5		72.8

Mayor

The mayor is chosen in a direct election for a term of six years. Since 2002, Friedhelm Junghans (SPD) has been Mayor of Meißner.

Regular events

Every year on the weekend after Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi (feast)

Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...

, a “Country-Festival” is held in the constituent community of Abterode.

On the first day of Advent

Advent

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...

, the Christmas Market is held around the church, and always draws many visitors.

External links

• Community’s official webpage