The Odenwaldkreis is a Kreis (district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

) in the south of 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...

. Neighboring districts are Darmstadt-Dieburg

Darmstadt-Dieburg

Darmstadt-Dieburg is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Offenbach, Aschaffenburg, Miltenberg, Odenwaldkreis, Bergstraße, Groß-Gerau, and the district-free city of Darmstadt, which it surrounds.-History:...

, Miltenberg

Miltenberg (district)

Miltenberg is an administrative district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Aschaffenburg, the districts of Aschaffenburg and Main-Spessart, and the states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse .-History:During the Middle Ages there was continuous...

,
Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis

Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis

Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis is a district in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Main-Tauber-Kreis, Hohenlohe, Heilbronn, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Odenwaldkreis Hesse and Landkreis Miltenberg Bavaria...

, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis

Rhein-Neckar-Kreis

Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bergstraße, Odenwaldkreis, Neckar-Odenwald, Heilbronn, Karlsruhe, district-free Speyer, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and district-free Mannheim and Heidelberg.-History:The district was created in...

 and Kreis Bergstraße

Kreis Bergstraße

Bergstraße is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Groß-Gerau, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Odenwaldkreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, the urban district Mannheim, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and the urban district of Worms...

. Odenwaldkreis belongs to the Rhine Neckar Area

Rhine Neckar Area

The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region , often referred to as Rhein-Neckar-Triangle is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the North and the Stuttgart Region to the South-East.Rhine-Neckar has a population of some 2.4 million...

.

History

In 1822 the district was created under the name Erbach, subdivided into two Bezirke Breuberg and Erbach. The last of several modifications of the district was in 1972, when some municipalities from the Dieburg and Bergstraße district were added to the district. In 1972 the district also changed its name.

Geography

As the name of the district already suggests it is located in the Odenwald

Odenwald

The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...

 mountains.

Coat of arms

The oak Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...  tree of the coat of arms symbolize the forests of the district, which also gave the district its name (Wald = forest). The three stars were taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Erbach, who once ruled the area.

Towns and municipalities

Towns

Municipalities

Bad König Bad König Bad König is a town and resort in the central Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 29 km southeast of Darmstadt.- Neighbouring communities :... Beerfelden Beerfelden Beerfelden is a town in the Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km northeast of Heidelberg. The region around Beerfelden has for touristic reasons been dubbed the Beerfelder Land.-Location:... Breuberg Breuberg Breuberg is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km east of Darmstadt, and 20 km southwest of Aschaffenburg.- Neighbouring communities :... Erbach Erbach im Odenwald -Location:The town lies in the Odenwald at elevations between 200 and 560 m in the valley of the Mümling.-Neighbouring communities:Erbach borders in the north on the town of Michelstadt, in the east on the market town of Kirchzell , in the south on the community of Hesseneck and the town of... Michelstadt Michelstadt Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg.- Location :Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkreis and borders on the district seat of Erbach....

Brensbach Brensbach -Neighbouring communities:Brensbach borders in the north on the towns of Groß-Bieberau and Reinheim and the community of Otzberg , in the east on the community of Höchst and the town of Bad König, in the south on the communities of Brombachtal and Reichelsheim and in the west on the communities of... Brombachtal Brombachtal -Neighbouring communities:Brombachtal borders in the north and east on the town of Bad König, in the south on the town of Michelstadt and in the west on the communities of Reichelsheim and Brensbach.-Constituent communities:... Fränkisch-Crumbach Fränkisch-Crumbach Fränkisch-Crumbach is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Fränkisch-Crumbach lies in the middle Odenwald on the Gersprenz, which empties into the Main near Stockstadt.-Neighbouring communities:... Hesseneck Hesseneck Hesseneck is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany. With only just under 700 inhabitants, Hesseneck is Hesse’s smallest self-governing community.-Location:... Höchst im Odenwald Höchst im Odenwald Höchst im Odenwald is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Höchst lies 25 km east of Darmstadt, in the northern Odenwald at elevations between 175 and 400 m.... Lützelbach Lützelbach -Location:The community lies in the northern Odenwald on the Hesse-Bavaria boundary in a richly wooded setting.-Neighbouring communities:Lützelbach borders in the north on the town of Breuberg and the town of Obernburg, in the east on the towns of Wörth am Main and Klingenberg , in the south on the... Mossautal Mossautal Mossautal in the Odenwald is a community and a state-recognized health resort in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:The community lies at elevations of between 300 and 500 m above sea level.... Rothenberg Rothenberg Rothenberg is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Rothenberg lies at elevations between 200 and 500 m in the southern Odenwald in the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald, 7 km north of Hirschhorn on the Neckar... Reichelsheim Reichelsheim (Odenwald) Reichelsheim is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Reichelsheim lies in the middle Odenwald at elevations between 200 and 538 m in the middle of the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald.... Sensbachtal Sensbachtal -Location:Sensbachtal lies in the southern Odenwald and the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald at elevations of between 300 and 550 m, 10 km away from Eberbach on the Neckar.-Neighbouring communities:...

External links

• Official website