Espenau is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, 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 hist ...

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 ...

. It is composed of two districts the Espenau-Hohenkirchen, and the Espenau-

Mönchehof Mönchehof is part of the municipality of Espenau in Hessen in Germany. Mönchehof belongs to the Kassel district, not far from Vellmar and the city of Kassel. It was the site of a post World War II American sector displaced person camp. Espenau ...

both are situated 9 kilometers north of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. As of December 2019, Espenau has 5,158 inhabitants. It covers a total area of 13.59 km².

Geography

Espenau is bordered by the municipalities of

Immenhausen Immenhausen () is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km north of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. The town has 7,098 inhabitants as of July 2020, including the northern village of Mariendorf and east ...

to the north,

Fuldatal Fuldatal is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated along the Fulda River, 5 km northeast of Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern ...

to the east,

Vellmar Vellmar is a town in the Kassel (district), Kassel district, in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the Ahne river. History Vellmar gained city rights on August 30, 1975, to mark its 1200th anniversary, becoming, together with Baunatal, the youngest ...

to the south, and

Calden Calden is a municipality in the district of Kassel in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km northwest of the city of Kassel, and the Kassel Airport is situated near Calden. Schloss Wilhelmsthal Schloss Wilhelmsthal is a Baroque château ...

and

Grebenstein Grebenstein (; ) is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 16 km northwest of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. In 1762 it was the scene of a skirmish between British and French troops during the Seven Year ...

to the west. A pond at the northern edge of Hohenkirchen is the source of the Esse river. The Espe river, a tributary of the

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

, starts in the western portion of Espenau and flows through the town, and gives the town its name. Espenau is about 6 kilometers from the

rococo style Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

Wilhelmsthal Castle.

History

Hohenkirchen's earliest mention is in a certificate dating back to 1285. In 1216, the Hardehausen Monastery built a farm in the area of Mönchehof, likely given its name in 1500 because of the two monks that operated the farm. As part of a larger series of local government reorganization in Hesse, the villages of Hohenkirchen and Mönchehof were combined into the same municipality of Espenau in October 1970.

Coat of Arms

The coat of arms depicts four

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

tree leaves against red and white quadrants, a reference to the town's name of Espenau (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: Espe).

Transportation

Espenau-Mönchehof has a stop on the

Kassel–Warburg railway The Kassel–Warburg Railway is a line that connects Kassel in the north of the German state of Hesse with Warburg in eastern Westphalia. The line was opened in 1848 and is one of the List of the first German railways to 1870, oldest railways in G ...

. It is connected by the

Kassel RegioTram The Kassel RegioTram is a tram-train light rail system in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. Kassel's tram-train system follows the Karlsruhe model, and has been in full operation since 2007. With special RegioTram tramcars, continuous trips between the ...

Line 1 to

Kassel Hauptbahnhof Kassel Hauptbahnhof is a Deutsche Bahn railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. Situated in the central borough of Mitte, it is the city's second important railway station after the opening of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe in ...

. It is also connected via bus to Immenhausen Vellmar, Calden, and the nearby

Kassel Airport Kassel Airport (formerly ''Kassel-Calden Airport'', German ''Flughafen Kassel'') is a minor international airport serving the German city of Kassel in the state of Hesse. It is located west of Calden, northwest of Kassel and is mainly used for b ...

Notable people

Bernd Herrmann Bernd Herrmann (born 22 November 1951) was a West German athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. He competed for West Germany at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he won the bronze medal in the men's 4 × 400 ...

(*1951)- West German athlete who primarily competed in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

References

{{Authority control Kassel (district)