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Schlitz (Hesse)
Encyclopedia
Location
The town of Schlitz lies at the outlet of the small river Schlitz on the FuldaFulda River
The Fulda is a river in Hesse, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser . The Fulda is 218 km in length....
.
Neighbouring communities
Schlitz borders in the north on the communities of BreitenbachBreitenbach am Herzberg
Breitenbach am Herzberg is a community in southwesternmost Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany.-Location:...
and Niederaula
Niederaula
Niederaula is a market community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, 59 km south of Kassel.-Location:The community lies on the Fulda between the outliers of the Rhön, the Vogelsberg and the Knüllgebirge...
(both in Hersfeld-Rotenburg
Hersfeld-Rotenburg
Hersfeld-Rotenburg is a Kreis in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Werra-Meißner, Wartburgkreis, Fulda, Vogelsbergkreis, Schwalm-Eder.-History:...
), in the east on the communities of Haunetal
Haunetal
Haunetal is a community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany. Haunetal is the district’s southernmost municipality.-Location:...
(Hersfeld-Rotenburg) and Burghaun
Burghaun
Burghaun is a municipality in the district of Fulda in the state of Hesse in Germany.Burghaun itself is a small town with about 3,800 residents...
and the town of Hünfeld
Hünfeld
Hünfeld is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Fulda.-Notable people:* Wilm Hosenfeld *Johann Leonhard Pfaff , bishop of Fulda* Konrad Zuse -Transport:...
(both in Fulda
Fulda (district)
Fulda is a Kreis in the north-east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Wartburgkreis, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Rhön-Grabfeld, Bad Kissingen, Main-Kinzig, Vogelsbergkreis.-History:...
district), in the southeast on the city of Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
(Fulda district), in the south on the communities of Großenlüder
Großenlüder
Großenlüder is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany....
and Bad Salzschlirf
Bad Salzschlirf
Bad Salzschlirf is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany....
(both in Fulda district), in the southwest on the community of Wartenberg
Wartenberg, Hesse
-Location:The community lies in the eastern Vogelsberg Mountains. Through the community flows the river Lauter, which empties into the Altefeld in Bad Salzschlirf, itself a tributary to the Schlitz.-Neighbouring communities:...
, and in the west on the town of Lauterbach
Lauterbach, Hesse
Lauterbach is a town in the Vogelsbergkreis district of the federal state of Hesse in central Germany.-History:Lauterbach was founded between 400 and 800 AD. In 812 the town was mentioned for the first time in a document of the church in Schlitz. In the Middle Ages, Lauterbach belonged to the...
.
Constituent communities
Schlitz is divided into the following communities: Bernshausen, Fraurombach, Hartershausen, Hemmen, Hutzdorf, Nieder-Stoll, Ober-Wegfurth, Pfordt, Queck, Rimbach, Sandlofs, Schlitz, Üllershausen, Ützhausen, Unter-Schwarz, Unter-Wegfurth and Willofs.History
The name Schlitz had its first documentary mention in 812. For the town's five castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s, Schlitz is known throughout Hesse and is therefore also called the Romantische Burgenstadt Schlitz – the Romantic Castle Town of Schlitz.
One peculiarity about the town is its so-called Burgenring, or Castle Ring, with the town built on a hill with its accumulated castles, towers, lords' houses, the town church and many half-timbered
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
houses presenting a well preserved, compact, historic Old Town. For the Castle Ring's splendour and the town's outstanding location, Schlitz was sometimes called in earlier times the "Hessian Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken , the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany, well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City...
"
The Lords of Schlitz had built up their mastery in an autonomous fief from the Fulda Abbey. As of 1404 they were calling themselves Schlitz von Görtz (in documents also Gurz or Görz). After 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...
came in 1563, and as a result of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, however, they broke away from Fulda. In 1677, they became Imperial Barons and, in 1726, Imperial Counts. In 1806, the area passed to Hesse-Darmstadt
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
.
Schlitz was granted town rights
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
in the early 15th century.
Since 1951, the Fluß-Station Schlitz ("Schlitz River Station") has been in Schlitz. This working group from the Max Planck Institute for Limnology is researching the ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
of the river Breitenbach in the neighbouring Breitecke Nature Preserve, making the Breitenbach, through many studies and publications, one of the world's best researched and documented streams. In 2006, this research station, with the current scientific leader's retirement, is to be closed by the Max Planck Society
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....
.
Coat of arms
Schlitz's civic coat of arms might heraldically be described thus: In argent a fess sable, within, an inescutcheon, in argent bendlets sinister embattled three points each sable.The oldest town seal dates only from the 17th century. The current arms were conferred in 1919. The embattled bendlets in the inescutcheon stand for the town's castles.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/s/schlitz.htm
Transport
Schlitz can be reached by long-distance travel by Autobahn A 7 (Hünfeld/Schlitz interchange). Nearby lie the towns of FuldaFulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
and Lauterbach
Lauterbach, Hesse
Lauterbach is a town in the Vogelsbergkreis district of the federal state of Hesse in central Germany.-History:Lauterbach was founded between 400 and 800 AD. In 812 the town was mentioned for the first time in a document of the church in Schlitz. In the Middle Ages, Lauterbach belonged to the...
.
Educational institutions
Schlitz is home to the Hessische Akademie für musisch-kulturelle Bildung GmbH ("Hessian Academy for Artistic-Cultural Education, Limited"), the state musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
academy, at Schloss Hallenburg.
Regular events
- Schlitzerländer Trachtenfest ("Schlitz-Land Costume Festival"), takes place in odd-numberedEven and odd numbersIn mathematics, the parity of an object states whether it is even or odd.This concept begins with integers. An even number is an integer that is "evenly divisible" by 2, i.e., divisible by 2 without remainder; an odd number is an integer that is not evenly divisible by 2...
years on the second weekend in July.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Gudrun PausewangGudrun PausewangGudrun Pausewang is a German writer for children and teens. She is also noted in science fiction for Young-Adult novels like The Last Children of Schewenborn....
(1928– ), writer, who has lived in town for many years - Florian Illies (1971– ), writer, who grew up in Schlitz
- Georg Christian DieffenbachGeorg Christian DieffenbachGeorg Christian Dieffenbach was a German poet and theologian. He was educated at Giessen and was made chief pastor in Schlitz in 1871. His poems for children are still very popular in Germany. He also wrote many liturgical, devotional, homiletic and poetical works, which attained a great degree of...
(1822–1901), clergyman and poet - Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlitz (1647–1728), privy councillor and President of the Chamber
- Cyriacus SpangenbergCyriacus SpangenbergCyriacus Spangenberg was a German theologian and historian, son of the Südharz' reformator Johannes Spangenberg .Cyriacus was born in Nordhausen...
(1528–1604), pastor in Schlitz for ten years after losing his position at Mansfeld.
In fiction
The fictional town of Schewenborn, where the plot of the 1983 novel The Last Children of SchewenbornThe Last Children of Schewenborn
The Last Children of Schewenborn is a 1983 novel by Gudrun Pausewang, depicting life in Germany in the aftermath of a nuclear war....
takes place (depicting life in Germany in the aftermath of a nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
) is modeled on Schlitz, as specifically stated by the writer Gudrun Pausewang
Gudrun Pausewang
Gudrun Pausewang is a German writer for children and teens. She is also noted in science fiction for Young-Adult novels like The Last Children of Schewenborn....
, herself an inhabitant of the town.