Waldkappel
Encyclopedia
Waldkappel is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis
in northern Hesse
, Germany
.
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 the Stölzinger Gebirge (range) in the south, in the Wehre valley.
, in the east on the community of Wehretal
, in the south on the town of Sontra
(all three in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis), in the southwest on the community of Cornberg
and the town of Rotenburg an der Fulda
(both in Hersfeld-Rotenburg
) and in the west on the towns of Spangenberg
(in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
) and Hessisch Lichtenau
(in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).
In 1226, Waldkappel had its first documentary mention, and it was granted town rights in 1414.
The town experienced its economic heyday in the Late Middle Ages
from lying on the old trade road durch die langen Hessen, which ran from the Wetterau
to Thuringia
and on to Leipzig
. Bearing witness to the town’s earlier, wealthier times is a Late Gothic
church standing in the middle of the community.
The Thirty Years' War
put an abrupt end to Waldkappel’s prosperity; the town could never again reach its former importance.
In the course of municipal reform, the communities of Waldkappel, Bischhausen, Burghofen, Friemen, Gehau, Kirchhosbach, Mäckelsdorf, Rechtebach, Rodebach and Schemmern from the former Eschwege district merged. They were joined by Harmuthsachsen and Hasselbach from the former Witzenhausen district, as well as by Stolzhausen from the Melsungen district. In 1974, the greater community reached its full extent with the amalgamation of Eltmannsee and Hetzerode.
, France
Rijnwoude
, South Holland
, Netherlands
7. The Autobahn A 44
(Kassel
–Eisenach
) is under construction.
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 northern 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
Waldkappel lies between Hessisch LichtenauHessisch 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:...
in the west and 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 east, where the town is found in the North Hesse Upland between the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park neighbouring it to the north and the Stölzinger Gebirge (range) in the south, in the Wehre valley.
Neighbouring communities
Waldkappel borders in the north on the community of MeißnerMeißner, Hesse
Meißner is a community in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Meißner lies at the Krösselberg between the Hoher Meißner and the Werra valley in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park, some 40 km southeast of Kassel and 10 km west of Eschwege.-Neighbouring...
, in the east 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...
, in the south on the town of Sontra
Sontra
Sontra is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.The air spa of Sontra is known as Berg- und Hänselstadt, with Bergstadt referring to the time when there was bituminous shale mining in town, and Hänselstadt to the town’s former membership in the Hanse...
(all three in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis), in the southwest on the community of Cornberg
Cornberg
Cornberg is a community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It is the district’s smallest municipality.- Location :The community lies between the towns of Bad Hersfeld to the south and Eschwege to the north, each 27 km away...
and the town of Rotenburg an der Fulda
Rotenburg an der Fulda
Rotenburg an der Fulda is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda.- Geography :- Location :...
(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:...
) and in the west on the towns of Spangenberg
Spangenberg
- Geography :Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some 35 km southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographical centrepoint of Germany.- History :...
(in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Schwalm-Eder is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kassel, Werra-Meißner, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Vogelsbergkreis, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Waldeck-Frankenberg.-History:...
) and 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:...
(in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).
Constituent communities
Waldkappel’s Stadtteile, besides the main town, also called Waldkappel, are Bischhausen, Burghofen, Eltmannsee, Friemen, Gehau, Harmuthsachsen, Hasselbach, Hetzerode, Kirchhosbach, Mäckelsdorf, Rechtebach, Rodebach, Schemmern and Stolzhausen.History
The town experienced its economic heyday in the Late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
from lying on the old trade road durch die langen Hessen, which ran from the Wetterau
Wetterau
The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains....
to Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
and on to Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Bearing witness to the town’s earlier, wealthier times is a Late Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
church standing in the middle of the community.
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....
put an abrupt end to Waldkappel’s prosperity; the town could never again reach its former importance.
In the course of municipal reform, the communities of Waldkappel, Bischhausen, Burghofen, Friemen, Gehau, Kirchhosbach, Mäckelsdorf, Rechtebach, Rodebach and Schemmern from the former Eschwege district merged. They were joined by Harmuthsachsen and Hasselbach from the former Witzenhausen district, as well as by Stolzhausen from the Melsungen district. In 1974, the greater community reached its full extent with the amalgamation of Eltmannsee and Hetzerode.
Town council
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:| Parties and voter communities | % 2006 |
Seats 2006 |
% 2001 |
Seats 2001 |
|
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | 32.2 | 7 | 24.9 | 8 |
| 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... |
51.4 | 12 | 49.7 | 15 |
| ÜWG | Überparteiliche Wählergemeinschaft | 11.9 | 3 | 18.6 | 6 |
| GAL | Grün-Alternative-Liste Waldkappel | 4.5 | 1 | – | – |
| GREENS | Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | – | – | 6.8 | 2 |
| Total | 100.0 | 23 | 100.0 | 31 | |
| Voter turnout in % | 58.1 | 63.4 | |||
Town partnerships
Carhaix, FinistèreFinistère
Finistère is a département of France, in the extreme west of Brittany.-History:The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, and may be compared with Land's End on the opposite side of the English Channel...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Rijnwoude
Rijnwoude
Rijnwoude is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 57.85 km² of which 1.17 km² is water....
, South Holland
South Holland
South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Transport
Through Waldkappel runs BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
7. The Autobahn A 44
Bundesautobahn 44
is a German Autobahn. It consists of three main-parts and a few smaller parts. It begins in Aachen at the German-Belgian border and ends near Kassel. Before the German unification it was an unimportant provincial-motorway but after this event it became an integral part of the German highway-system...
(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 :...
–Eisenach
Eisenach
Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...
) is under construction.
Famous people
- Peter Griess (1829–1888), industrial chemist, born in Kirchhosbach
- Christian Schütz (1526–1592), EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe 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...
theologian