Karben is a town in the

Wetteraukreis The Wetteraukreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Landkreis Gießen, Vogelsbergkreis, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, district-free Stadt Frankfurt, Hochtaunuskreis and Lahn-Dill-Kreis. History The distri ...

, in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is situated on the banks of the river Nidda in the Rhein-Main-Gebiet (Rhine-Main area), approximately north of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Division of the town

Karben as a unified town was founded in 1970, comprising some smaller villages (Klein-Karben, Gross-Karben, Okarben, Kloppenheim, Rendel, Burg-Gräfenrode, and Petterweil).

Infrastructure

Karben has two railway stations ( Groß Karben and Okarben) on the

Main–Weser Railway , native_name = Main-Weser-Bahn , native_name_lang = de , image = Bahnhof Niederweimar.jpg , caption = Main-Weser-Bahn at Niederweimar , type = Heavy rail, Passenger/freight rail Intercity rail, Regional rail, Commuter rail , s ...

and is served by line S6 of the

Rhine-Main S-Bahn The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter train system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt. The network compris ...

. It has access to the A 661 autobahn and federal highway B3. The town hall is located in a newer district of Gross-Karben, as is a public swimming pool. The industrial district west of Gross- and Klein-Karben hosts several companies of national and international stature.

History

Karben is rich in history. The village of Okarben was once location of a Roman military castellum, forming a part of the limes, the Roman imperial border defence network and Karben’s mineral springs have been used by the Romans some 2000 years ago. Rendel, Karben’s oldest borough, was mentioned first in 774 in a deed of donation to the monastery of Lorch. Kloppenheim once belonged to an installation of the “Deutschen Orden” (Teutonic Knights Order), who maintained a small palace there. Gross-Karben hosts two more manors which were inhabited by local landlords. The “Degenfeld’sche Schloss” contains today Karben’s Museum on agriculture and local history. Gross-Karben, Klein-Karben, Okarben, Burg-Graefenrode and Rendel still have churches dating back from the Baroque period. Okarben experienced a face-change in the 19th century, when it started hosting workers for the newly established Main-Weser Railroad between Frankfurt and Kassel. The city has transformed itself from a bundle of independent villages living mostly of farming the rich soils of the

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. Bettina von Arnim writes of ...

to a slowly integrating city providing housing for a growing population of commuters and space for several small and mid-sized enterprises, while maintaining much of its original rural charm.

Twin towns – sister cities

Karben is twinned with: *

Ramonville-Saint-Agne Ramonville-Saint-Agne (; Lengadocian: ), commonly known as Ramonville, is a commune in the suburbs of Toulouse, located in the French department of Haute-Garonne, administrative region of Occitanie, France. Population The inhabitants of the c ...

, France *

Saint-Égrève Saint-Égrève (; frp, Sant-Ègrèvo) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration). Population Twin towns - sister cities Saint-Égrève is twinned with: * Karben, Germ ...

, France (1974) * Luisenthal, Germany (1992) *

Krnov Krnov (; german: Jägerndorf, pl, Karniów or ''Krnów'') is a town in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts The town is made up of town parts of Pod Bezr ...

, Czech Republic (1993)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Wetteraukreis