Dreieich () is a town in the Offenbach district in the of

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and is located roughly south of downtown

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. With a population of more than 40,000 it is the district’s second largest town.

Geography

Location

Dreieich lies in the Offenbach district. Its northernmost constituent community of Sprendlingen lies some 10 km north of

. Between Dreieich-Götzenhain and Dietzenbach rises the river Bieber.

Neighbouring communities

Dreieich borders in the north on the town of

Neu-Isenburg Neu-Isenburg (, ) is a town in Germany, located in the Offenbach (district), Offenbach district of Hesse. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 38,204 (2020). The town i ...

, in the northeast on the district-free city of Offenbach, in the east on the towns of Heusenstamm, Dietzenbach and Rödermark, in the south on the community of Messel ( Darmstadt-Dieburg) and the district-free city of

and in the southwest on the town of Langen. To the west lies

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport ( ) , is Germany's busiest international airport by passenger numbers, located in Frankfurt, Germany's fifth-largest city. Its official name according to the German Aeronautical Information Publication is Frankfurt Main Airpor ...

Constituent communities

The town of Dreieich came into being on 1 January 1977 in the framework of municipal restructuring in the Offenbach district, bringing together five communities which until then had been self-administering. At the time of the merger, their population figures were as follows: * Sprendlingen 20.474 * Dreieichenhain 8.044 * Buchschlag 2.782 * Götzenhain 4.651 * Offenthal 5.142 Today
43.542
people live in Dreieich (main residences, 31 December 2019), including all five communities. Inhabitants here come from 117 different nations (as of 30 July 2007). In 1977, Dreieich hosted the 17th state festival.

History

The town’s name comes from a royal hunting forest – the – which had its first documentary mention as early as the 9th century. It was a forest whose hunting rights were exclusively the Emperor’s. This forest stretched along the lower Main from

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

to Rüsselsheim and from Vilbel to the Neunkircher Höhe (heights) in the Odenwald. The oaktrees in many communities’

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...

in this area point to this origin. In the middle of this royal hunting forest in the 11th century rose Dreieichenhain, when the Lords of Hagen built a tower castle in 1075.

Buchschlag

This community was founded in 1904 as a ('villa colony', a form of town planning once popular among the well-to-do in Germany) by the Frankfurt salesman Jakob Latscha in the wooded (a cadastral unit) of . The first mayor was Rudolf Bindung. By 1909, Buchschlag had grown 343 inhabitants. By the time it was merged with the other communities in 1977, the population had risen to 2,984. Buchschlag has largely managed to keep its character: many old

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

villas in the middle of the community are still preserved today and collectively are under heritage protection. The newer parts of Buchschlag likewise consist of fully detached houses. There are only scattered

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

s and on the main street, Buchschlager Allee, a few blocks of flats.

Dreieichenhain

In the 11th century, a tower castle (Burg Hayn) was built from which the Lords of Hagen, later Hagen-Münzenberg (1075–1255), administered the Imperial hunting forest of Dreieich. The settlement beside the castle was first mentioned as a town on 23 September 1256 ( in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, meaning 'citizens in Hagen'), allowing the town to celebrate 750 years of having town rights in 2006. The Falkensteins, who inherited the land from the Hagen-Münzenberg family, died out in 1418, and the Counts of Isenburg managed in time to acquire the lordship over Dreieichenhain. In 1549, the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

was introduced into the town. In 1816, the Isenburg-Birstein of Offenbach passed along with Dreieichenhain to Hesse. The placename Hain in der Dreieich was changed in 1840 to Dreieichenhain. In 1834 the town had 998 inhabitants, and at the time of the merger on 1 January 1977 about 8,000.

Götzenhain

After the Falkenstein family had died out, Götzenhain found itself under the ownership of the County of Isenburg in 1418, and in the 16th century, the Reformation was introduced. Count Johann Philipp of Isenburg-Birstein built the palatial castle Schloss Phillipseich in Götzenhain about 1715. The new estate was built as an archetypal Isenburg estate. Only in 1724 did Götzenhain become an independent parish. In 1816, Götzenhain passed together with the of Offenbach to Hesse. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

was opened in 1905 with a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in Götzenhain. In 1834, the community had 705 inhabitants, and by 1977 this had grown to 4,696.

Offenthal

In a Langen boundary description, was mentioned about 834, making Offenthal the oldest settlement in the Dreieich area after Sprendlingen. The Counts of Isenburg owned Offenthal as of 1489. As an important building monument, the Gothic church of Offenthal has been preserved. It was endowed about 1400 and thereby belongs among the Offenbach district’s oldest churches. After the Reformation’s introduction in 1528, the parish became

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. Beginning in 1596, attempts were made to introduce

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

. In 1816, Offenthal became Hessian. In 1834 the community had 441 inhabitants, and by 1977 this had grown to 5.142. Offenthal lies on the (German

Timber Framing Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

Road) and on the Hessian Apple Wine and Orchard Route. In the early 1990s arose the Borngarten and Tannenstumpf new development areas. The rural calm and the proximity to Frankfurt am Main saw to it that Offenthal grew quickly. Offenthal has a particularly wide choice of different clubs. The biggest clubs are the SUSGO, the FCO, the TTCO and the Offenthal Volunteer Fire Brigade (535 members as of 31 December 2007). Wappen Sprendlingen

Sprendlingen

In 880,

Louis the Younger Louis the Younger (830/835 – 20 January 882), sometimes called Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Hemma. He succeeded his father as the King of Eastern Francia on 28 August 876 and his ...

documented a donation by his father through the church in to the in Frankfurt ("with appurtenances"). The Counts of Isenburg acquired in 1486 from the Falkenstein inheritance the lordship over Sprendlingen. In 1528 the Reformation was introduced and in 1816 Sprendlingen passed to Hesse. In 1871, the Buchschlag-Sprendlingen station on the railway was opened, as was the to Ober-Roden in 1905. In 1834, Sprendlingen had 1,788 inhabitants, and by 1977 this had grown to 21,351.

Politics

Town council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results: The elections in 2016 showed the following results * SPD = 13 * CDU = 13 * Greens = 7 * FDP = 4 * AfD = 3 * FWG = 3 * LEFT = 2 * Total = 45

Foreigners’ advisory council

Dreieich has an – a foreigners’ advisory council – made up of 15 persons representing various nationalities with people from Turkey, Serbia, Italy, and Russia. As with town council itself, there is a foreigners’ advisory council session, which takes place a fortnight before the town council session. The current chairman is Tindaro Canciglia.

Mayor

*2006–2018: Dieter Zimmer (SPD) *2018–incumbent: Martin Burlon (independent)

Twin towns – sister cities

Dreieich is twinned with: *

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

, France * Lansingerland, Netherlands * Oisterwijk, Netherlands * La Porte-du-Der, France *

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

, England, United Kingdom

Culture and sightseeing

Dreieichenhain is above all known for the kermis at Whitsun, and it hosts a Christmas market, which thanks to Dreieichenhain’s lovely Old Town is famous countrywide. The is Southern Hesse’s biggest kermis and yearly draws 80,000 visitors. The highlights are the fireworks on Saturday evening and the traditional on the Monday. Furthermore there are the yearly castle festival games and (“Jazz at the Castle”). The is a castle ruin from the High

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The oldest part of the castle complex – the dwelling tower – was built in Salian times. It is one of the few secular architectural witnesses to Salian times in Germany. Cultural events at the castle are the nationally known (castle festival games) and the jazz festival . Within the framework of the regional park initiative, a sculpture designed by the landscape architects Ipach and Dreisbusch was built north of Dreieichenhain and is part of the regional park route. This work, called the (Post Pyramid), is made up of 450 bonded round wooden posts, each in diameter. The sculpture is built in two sections and is accessible on foot. It forms a sightline with the

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

and Frankfurt’s skyline. Buchschlag on Dreieich’s western outskirts has numerous buildings in the

style by such architects as Wilhelm Koban, Ludwig Bernoully and Alois Beck, which as a contiguous ensemble are under monumental protection. Götzenhain is home to , an old estate expanded with timber-frame buildings. These newer buildings also house a restaurant. Around the Neuhof, a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

has been established. Schloss Phillipseich, a palatial residence, lies between Götzenhain and Offenthal. It is closed to the public as it is privately owned. The

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

churches in Offenthal and Sprendlingen stand out for their fortresslike character. The church in Götzenhain is a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

building that dates to 1776.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Local public transport

Dreieich lies within the area covered by the

Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) is a List of German transport associations, transport association that covers the Public transport, public transport network of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area in Germany. Its head offi ...

. At Dreieich-Buchschlag station there are connections to

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

lines and . The Dreieichbahn (): Dieburg – Rödermark-Ober Roden – Dreieich-Offenthal – Dreieich-Götzenhain – Dreieich-Dreieichenhain – Dreieich-Weibelfeld – Dreieich-Sprendlingen – Dreieich-Buchschlag –

Frankfurt Central Station Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, also called Frankfurt Central Station and Frankfurt Main Station, is the busiest train station in the German state of Hesse. Due to its location near the middle of Germany and usage as a transport hub for long an ...

runs hourly through the entire town every day. From Monday to Friday there are additional trains between Rödermark-Ober Roden and

resulting in a half-hourly service on the common section. Furthermore, some buslines serve the town: # Dreieich-Sprendlingen – Dreieich-Buchschlag –

Terminal 1 (OF-64) # Dreieich-Buchschlag – Langener Waldsee – seasonal only from May to September if the weather forecast is showing at least 24 °C (OF-65) # Dreieich-Sprendlingen – Neu Isenburg (OF-67) # Langen – Dreieich-Sprendlingen – Neu-Isenburg – Offenbach Marktplatz (X83) # Langen – Dreieich-Sprendlingen – Neu-Isenburg (OF-91) # Dreieich-Offenthal – Dreieich-Sprendlingen – Neu-Isenburg (OF-92) # Langen – Dreieich-Offenthal – Dietzenbach – Heusenstamm (OF-96) # Langen – Dreieich – Dietzenbach – Rodgau – Seligenstadt (OF-99) # Nightbus: Frankfurt – Neu-Isenburg – Dreieich-Sprendlingen – Langen – Darmstadt (N71) (Runs every night) Updated: 2022 Timetable

Road transport

The Bundesautobahn 661 with its Dreieich interchange affords a road link to Frankfurt am Main. Moreover, the L 3262 state road links Dreieich to the A 5 (Hattenbach–

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

) to the west. Also, ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...

'' 486 runs through the constituent community of Offenthal and likewise runs to the A 5, by way of Langen. There has been a lengthy dispute over the Sprendlingen south bypass, which is to become part of '' Landesstraße'' 3262. It is meant to relieve downtown Sprendlingen of traffic. Through Sprendlingen runs the former ''Bundesstraße'' 3 – now part of Bundesautobahn 661 – which begins south of Hamburg ( Buxtehude) and ends at the border with Switzerland near Basel (Weil-Otterbach). Furthermore, ''Bundesstraße'' 46 to Offenbach begins in Sprendlingen.

Established businesses

Dreieich’s original focus lay in the field of textile manufacture and processing. In the last five or ten years, though, Dreieich has developed itself into a central agglomeration of the

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

service provision industry. Important businesses in that field established here are, among others: *

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

Data Systems * Pan Dacom Networking AG * Pan Dacom Direkt GmbH * Bell Micro Furthermore, the town is a regional hub for all kinds of shopping. Besides branches of OBI, Kaufland (formerly Real from 2006 until 2022 and Walmart until 2006) and Mann Mobilia (furniture chain), the biggest

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

dealership outside Munich can be found here. It is the Frankfurt location. Other important employers in Dreieich are: *

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

Zubehör GmbH (accessories, until autumn 2007 VOTEX GmbH), wholly owned daughter company of VW AG Wolfsburg *

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

* Wrangler * Biotest * ADTECH AG * ARROW Electronics (Spoerle) * Pall *

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

* CWS-boco Deutschland GmbH Hahn Air has its head office in Dreieich.Contact Us
." Hahn Air. Retrieved on 7 February 2011. "Head Office: Hahn Air Lines GmbH An der Trift 65 63303 Dreieich Germany."

Education

Primary schools

* Wingert-Schule in Dreieich-Offenthal * Karl-Nahrgang-Schule in Dreieich-Götzenhain * Ludwig-Erk-Schule in Dreieich-Dreieichenhain * Grundschule am Hengstbach (formerly Schillerschule) in Dreieich-Sprendlingen * Gerhardt-Hauptmann-Schule in Dreieich-Sprendlingen * Erich-Kästner-Schule in Dreieich-Sprendlingen * Selma-Lagerlöf-Schule in Dreieich-Buchschlag

Comprehensive schools

* Weibelfeldschule in Dreieich-Dreieichenhain * Heinrich-Heine-Schule in Dreieich-Sprendlingen

Gymnasien

* Ricarda-Huch-Schule in Dreieich-Sprendlingen

Vocational schools

* Max-Eyth-Schule in Dreieich-Sprendlingen (with mit Gymnasium upper level; currently being converted into a

lifelong learning Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of learning for either personal or professional reasons. Lifelong learning is important for an individual's competitiveness and employability, but also enhances social in ...

campus)

Special schools

* Georg-Büchner-Schule in Dreieich-Sprendlingen

Other schools

* Volkshochschule in Dreieich-Sprendlingen (

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

) * Musikschule der Stadt Dreieich
Strothoff International School

Other infrastructure

The town of Dreieich also has its own television transmitter, the Stadt-Fernsehen-Dreieich (SFD). This transmits from the Weibelfeldschule and can be received over the local cable television network. Dreieich’s town library maintains four branches in the centres of Sprendlingen, Dreieichenhain, Götzenhain and Offenthal.

Notable people

* was born on 22 April 1805 in the Kreuzmühle – the mill then belonged to the Götzenhain municipal area. He laid the groundwork here in 1849 for his later building company, the worldwide company Philipp Holzmann AG * Ludwig Erk (1807–1883), musical educator, folksong collector and researcher, spent his childhood (1813 to 1820) in Dreieichenhain in the timber-frame house at Schulgasse 4 (today Alte Schulgasse) * Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–1881), Belgian violinist and composer, was – when he lived with his family from 1855 to 1864 in Dreieichenhain – at the high point of his career as the "Travelling Violin Vituoso" * (or Jean Ruhl) (1877–1957) was born in Götzenhain and was in the early 1930s a Member of the Reichstag * Horst Ludwig Störmer (born 1949), In 1998 he was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

and in his youth lived in the constituent community of Sprendlingen *Tanja Höhne artist