Rasdorf
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Rasdorf is a municipality in the district of
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 ...
, 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 ...
.


Geography

Rasdorf is situated within the ''Kuppenrhön''-part of the Rhön hills, at the border of Hesse and
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 ...
.


Neighbouring communities

Rasdorf borders in the north on the community of Eiterfeld (district of Fulda), in the east on the community of Buttlar, the town of Geisa and the community of Rockenstuhl (all three in the Thuringian Wartburg district), in the south on the community of Nüsttal, and in the west on the town of Hünfeld (both in the district of Fulda).


Administration

The districts of Rasdorf, Setzelbach and Grüsselbach form the municipality of Rasdorf.


History

The Fulda monastery and the Rasdorf secondary monastery owe their existence to the missionary work of the Carolingians. Abbot
Baugulf Baugulf (died 8 July 815) was a prominent Benedictine abbot in the Carolingian church. He was the second abbot of the Abbey of Fulda in present-day Germany. He served from 779 to 802 CE and was succeeded by Ratgar. Despite his contemporary prom ...
(779-802) received in return 781 "Haunfeld" (Hünfeld) as well as the village Rasdorf with all its corridors. The village Rasdorf must have existed before 781. A secondary monastery Rasdorf is mentioned in 815. 32 to 34 monks and about 20 monastery students are documented in the 9th century in the secondary monastery Rasdorf. In the year 845 the abbot Rabanus from Fulda and King Ludwig the German met for reconciliation in Rasdorf. Rabanus had been on the "wrong" side in the dispute between King Lothar and his brothers Ludwig and Karl, namely on the Lothars side. When Ludwig became lord over the Eastern France, Rabanus withdrew and laid down his abbot's dignity. Thanks to the Rasdorf reconciliation, which took place on the king's initiative, Rabanus was appointed Archbishop of Mainz in 847. Rabanus stipulated that the word of God was to be preached in German, according to a provision of Charlemagne, "that the word of God is to be proclaimed to the people in their mother tongue. The secondary monastery Rasdorf was converted into a collegiate monastery around 877. On May 21, 977, Otto II visited the monastery in Fulda and received a delegation from the collegiate monastery in Rasdorf under the leadership of his chancellor Egbert. The collegiate church in Rasdorf is considered one of the most architecturally significant village churches in Hesse. Rasdorf attained significance due to its location on the historic trade route Via Regia (Frankfurt am Main - Eisenach - Leipzig). Today's community of Rasdorf came into being in the course of the regional reform in Hesse on April 1, 1972, when the previously independent communities of Grüsselbach, Rasdorf and Setzelbach merged. The Hessian Ministry of the Interior and Sport awarded it the designation Point-Alpha-Community with a certificate dated July 24, 2015


Sights

* The memorial '' Point Alpha'' is located at the border of Hesse and Thuringia, which was the
Inner German border The inner German border ( or ''deutsch–deutsche Grenze''; initially also , zonal boundary) was the frontier between the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the West Germany, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West ...
until 1990. For decades, an observation post of the US army was located here. Today, the "Point Alpha Foundation" strives to maintain a section of the inner German border fortifications and the American observation post as a memorial. The intention is to remind visitors of the division of Germany and the confrontation between
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
and
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
forces. * The Rasdorf collegiate church was built in 831 by Rabanus Maurus, abbot of the Fulda monastery. In 1274 the church was rebuilt. In the process, a new church with a Gothic appearance was built, retaining the ground plan and using old Romanesque components. The Gothic columns are valuable in terms of art history. The eight columns with their capitals are the main sights in the collegiate church. Art historians suspect that these columns and capitals, which are highly significant in terms of art history, go back to Byzantine influence. Six columns in Greek style divide the basilica (nave and two side aisles). Two stocky columns (Romanesque) with rare animal capitals in the western part of the basilica are among the oldest parts of the church. The Romanesque baptismal font (12th century) reminds in its form of a representation of St. Boniface at a pagan baptism. * A complex of a military cemetery (around 1200), which has been preserved until today, is surrounded by a high wall in an irregular square, the sides of which are between 55 and 67 m long and between 4 and 6 m high, with a thickness of about 0.80 m. It also has four corner towers with pointed hoods and embrasures, which provided protection for the population of Rasdorf in uncertain times. There is also a gatehouse and a covered battlement. Until 1827, the cruciform Romanesque parish church of St. Michael stood in the center. It was demolished after a sale. The cemetery cross is from the year 1751. * Northwest of Rasdorf is the pilgrimage chapel "St. Maria und Vierzehn Nothelfer" on the Gehilfersberg. It was built around 1625 in place of a predecessor chapel, which was already mentioned in 1586, first to worship a miraculous cult image (St. Gehülf), then the 14 Nothelfer. In the 17th and 18th century the Gehilfersberg was the most important place of pilgrimage of the Hochstift Fulda. The chapel has a baroque interior decoration. After an arson in 1996 the chapel was completely destroyed, but was rebuilt true to the original and consecrated in May 1997. Seven wayside shrines from around 1750 lead up to the chapel, each of which shows two emergency helpers.


See also

*
Gehilfersberg The Gehilfersberg is a hill in the ''Landkreis Fulda'', Hesse, Germany. It is part of the Rhön hills and lies northwest of the village of Rasdorf. The basalt peak is located close to the range known as " Hessian Skittles" (''Hessisches Kegelsp ...


References


External links


www.rasdorf.de

Point Alpha, official website
{{Authority control Fulda (district)