Gudensberg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gudensberg () is a small town in northern Hesse,
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 ...
. Since the municipal reform in 1974, the nearby villages of Deute, Dissen, Dorla, Gleichen, Maden and Obervorschütz have become parts of the municipality.


Geography

Gudensberg is situated in the district of
Schwalm-Eder-Kreis Schwalm-Eder-Kreis is a ''Kreis'' (Districts of Germany, district) in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Kassel (district), Kassel, Werra-Meißner, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Vogelsbergkreis, Vogelsberg, Marburg-Biedenkopf, and Wald ...
,
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 ...
, at the southeasternmost edge of the Habichtswald Nature Park, about south 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 ...
and northeast of
Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. high ...
. The town's municipal area borders to the north and northeast on Edermünde, to the east on constituent communities of Felsberg which lie along the lower reaches of the river Eder. South and southeast of the river Ems lie further parts of Felsberg. To the south, southwest, and west are constituent communities of Fritzlar. To the northwest, Gudensberg's community of Gleichen abuts Niedenstein; in this direction, behind the Odenberg (elevation = ), rise the ''Langenberge'', (a low mountain range), that belong to the Habichtswald Nature Park.


History


Gudensberg

In the area around Gudensberg, many
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
and early historic finds have shown that the area was inhabited by people now known as the
Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis'') river. They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in ...
. On the Lamsberg, finds from the Rössen culture have been unearthed. In 1938, between the Odenberg and Gudensberg, a
Linear Pottery culture The Linear Pottery culture (LBK) is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic period, flourishing . Derived from the German ''Linearbandkeramik'', it is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Incis ...
settlement from about 4000 BC and an
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
settlement were discovered. At the ''Kassler Kreuz'', a graveyard with cremated remains from about 1000 BC was discovered when a railway was built in 1899. In the 10th century, the ''Hof Wodensberg'', a farm in Gudensberg, was run using three-field
crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the pro ...
. Gudensberg itself had its first mention in documents in 1121. The town's name is presumably derived from an older form, Wotansberg, after the god Wōdanaz, who was worshiped as the highest god by the Chatti in Old Germanic times. In the
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 ...
, a castle was built on the hill and was named the Obernburg. It was the seat of Hessian regional counts (''Gaugrafen''). From 1122 to 1247, Gudensberg belonged to the Landgraves of
Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...
, and the place experienced its heyday, with its first town wall built between 1170 and 1180, and its first mention as a town in 1254 with a town constitution at the turn of the 13th century. With the partition of Thuringia, Gudensberg fell to the Landgraviate of Hesse, and in 1277, Henry I was proclaimed the first Landgrave of Hesse on the Mader Heide (heath) near Gudensberg. In 1300, Landgrave Henry I moved his residence from Gudensberg to
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 ...
and Gudensberg lost its political and administrative importance. In 1324, however, Gudensberg was still being mentioned as the "Capital of Nyderlandt". In 1365, the
Hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
''Heiliger Geist'' (Holy Ghost Hospital) for lepers was founded. In the many feuds between the Archbishopric of Mainz and the Landgraviate of Hesse, Gudensberg was one of Hesse's main bases and repeatedly suffered damage as a result. In 1387, Gudensberg and the Wenigenburg (castle) —– but not the Obernburg —– were sacked by troops from Mainz. Fiery catastrophes befell the town a number of times. In 1587, the town was laid waste through carelessness. In 1640, during the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
, the town was sacked by Imperial troops; in this plundering, the philosopher and theologian Daniel Angelocrater lost all his belongings. Tilly convened a ''
Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...
'' of Hessian towns in Gudensberg in 1626. In 1709, Landgrave Karl of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) organized excavations in the ''Mader Heide'' which brought to light remnants of Iron Age settlements. In the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
, the still partly preserved Obernburg was heavily damaged by bombardment in 1761 by
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
troops under John Manners's leadership. In 1806, French troops plundered and thoroughly destroyed what was left of the Obernburg. The town gates were torn down because they were a traffic hazard in 1823.


Deute

Deute's first mention in documents goes back to 1314. A house dating from 1665 is still standing today. In the 18th century, there was a working
brown coal Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, Combustion, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered ...
mine in Deute.


Dissen

Dissen's first mention in documents goes back to 1061.


Dorla

Dorla, which lies on the Ems, had its first mention in documents in 1040. The village church was consecrated in 1718.


Maden

At the time when the
Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis'') river. They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in ...
lived in the area, Maden was a main town, and at the Mader Stein they held their things. Maden's first mention as ''Mathanon in pago Hassorum'' comes from about 800 in the ''Bresiarium Lulli'', making Maden one of Hesse's oldest villages (at least by the measure of documentary mention) and in 2000 it celebrated 1225 years of existence. In 1046, Maden was mentioned as ''Madanum'', in 1061 as ''Madena'' and in 1295 as ''major Maden''. Emperor Otto I, the Great, awarded Maden to the Archbishop of Mainz. Count Werner IV of Maden founded the Benedictine Monastery of Breitenau near Guxhagen in 1113. After Werner's death in 1121, rule and ownership rights passed to Count Giso IV from the ''Burg Hollende''. Lower jurisdiction was held as of the 14th century by ''Alb. Lugelin'', ''Gerlach von Linne'' and the ''von Holzsadel'' family. Maden was the Seat of the County of Hesse. In 1325 it was called: "County and state court of Hesse, that one calls the court of Maden". The Wodanstein in Maden was first mentioned in 1408. Between Maden and Gudensberg lies the historically important ''Mader Heide'' (heath).


Obervorschütz

The find of a stone axe in the area bears witness to a very early culture settling in the Obervorschütz area about 3000 BC. A late-Roman era metalwork find was a Roman belt mount bearing Germanic imagery indicating a skilled artisan in the area. However, the village's first documentary mention, under the name ''Burrisuzze'', did not come until 1074. It was later mentioned in 1275 as ''villa superior Vorskutheund'' and in 1357 as ''Obirm Vorschütz''.


Politics


Town Council

The Town Council consists of 31 representatives:


Culture and sightseeing


Buildings

Above the town, on the Schlossberg, lie the ruins of the old
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
, the Obernburg. On a
saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...
below the Obernburg, a tower that was part of the town's old defences still stands. From the high hill there is an outstanding view across the heath, to the Mader Stein, to the Nenkel and to the Odenberg (and other mountains). Various historic buildings are to be found in the town core, mostly
half-timbered 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 ...
houses, among them the old ''Amtshaus'' with its
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
porch, the rectory from 1642, the ''Renthof'' built in 1643, and the town's oldest building, the ''Ackerbürgerhaus'', built in 1596. 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 ...
church ''St. Margarete'' is a Gothic structure from the 14th century, with additions and renovations dating to the 15th and 16th centuries. On Kasseler Strasse, at the corner of Fritzlarer Strasse, is the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, founded in 1365 for lepers, but renovated many times up until the 18th century. Also in the Old Town is the Old Cemetery with historic gravestones from the 18th and 19th centuries. The
Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
town hall dates from 1839. The handsome synagogue built between 1840 and 1843 was closed in 1937 and gradually fell into disrepair until it was bought by the city in 1991, thoroughly renovated, and inaugurated as a cultural center in 1995. Of interest is a
horse hoof A horse hoof is the lower extremity of each leg of a horse, the part that makes contact with the ground and carries the weight of the animal. It is both hard and flexible. It is a complex structure surrounding the distal Phalanx bones, phalanx o ...
print on a stone in the churchyard wall. It is said that
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
's horse made this mark when it stamped on this stone in the now-abandoned village of Karlskirchen, after his rider had just fought a battle there. The legend has it that the horse created the
Glisborn The Glisborn, or Glißborn, is a small, short () stream that rises from a spring of the same name. The spring is located close to the Odenberg hill near Gudensberg in the Hesse, northern Hessian district of Schwalm-Eder-Kreis. The spring is connec ...
in doing so, or though previous legends exist as well.


Natural monuments

Dissen's most notable landmark is a
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
knoll, the Scharfenstein, which attracts a lot of climbers because of the difficult and varied climbs available. There is also a gallery grave. Less notable, but legendary, is the
Glisborn The Glisborn, or Glißborn, is a small, short () stream that rises from a spring of the same name. The spring is located close to the Odenberg hill near Gudensberg in the Hesse, northern Hessian district of Schwalm-Eder-Kreis. The spring is connec ...
(or sometimes called ''Glißborn''), a spring north of the Scharfenstein that was a holy place to the
Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis'') river. They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in ...
, who believed it had healing powers, and that it was of godly origins. In the Gudensberg Town Forest lies the Lautarius Grave, an archaeological site from the New Stone Age, built by the Wartberg culture. Scenic mountaintops near Gudensberg include the Mader Stein at the edge of the Maden Heath (Mader Heide), the Odenberg, the Nenkel and the Wartberg.


Economy and infrastructure


Transport

Gudensberg lies on Autobahn A 49. An express busline joins Gudensberg with
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 ...
and
Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. high ...
, and at times with
Bad Wildungen Bad Wildungen () is a state-run spa and a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Location Bad Wildungen lies in the eastern foothills of the Kellerwald range in the ...
and Frankenberg.


''Grifte-Gudensberger Kleinbahn''

The ''Kleinbahn'' was a "small"
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 ...
, small in the operational sense; the track was
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
and the trains full-sized. Work on it began in 1898, and the long line, with four stations was opened on 15 July 1899. The service ran as follows: * Grifte, 0.00 km * Haldorf, 2.58 km * Dissen, 4.25 km * Gudensberg, 7.72 km Passenger services on the line were terminated on 31 December 1954. Thereafter, only a packaging machine manufacturer from Gudensberg used the line to ship his wares, and even then only weekly. The tracks were removed in 1980, and the railway embankment is nowadays used as a cycling and hiking path.


Established businesses

Dupon Biscuits, GTS Stanztechnik, Weber Netze, DPD Lager 34, Stolle.


Education

The town has three
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
s, two
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
s (one of which is in Obervorschütz), one
comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
with a school
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
, a special school and a media centre.


Sons and daughters of the town

* Matthias Beller, chemist * Matthias Botthof, IFBB Pro * Regiane Da Silva, IFBB Pro * Hugo Brunner, librarian and historian * Daniel Angelocrater, theologian * Ulrich Sonnemann, philosopher * Conrad Mel, theologian and
pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
* Helmut Reitze, journalist * Thomas Freudenstein, footballer * Otto Kastl, footballer * Heinrich Reuter (1905–1984), painter * Bernd Siebert (politician), politician and Member of the German Bundestag and Landtag of Hesse


Literature

* Eduard Brauns: ''Wander- und Reiseführer durch Nordhessen und Waldeck'', A. Bernecker Verlag, Melsungen 1971, S.303. * Eckhart G. Franz: ''Chronik von Hessen.'' Chronik-Verlag, Dortmund 1991. .


References


External links


Gudensberg

Regional portal for Gudensberg Edermünde Niedenstein

Gudensberg school observatory

Fire brigades
{{Authority control Chatti Schwalm-Eder-Kreis