Raunheim is a town in Groß-Gerau district 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 Da ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and a part of the Frankfurt Urban Region as well as the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region.

Geography

Location

Raunheim lies in the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region between Frankfurt am Main (24 km southwest of downtown) and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

on the south bank of the Main, 3 km northeast of Rüsselsheim.

Neighbouring communities

Raunheim borders in the north on the towns of Hattersheim am Main (

Main-Taunus-Kreis Main-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the middle of Hessen, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region as well as the Frankfurt urban area. Neighboring districts are Hochtaunuskreis, district-free Frankfurt, Groß-Gerau, ...

) and Kelsterbach, in the east on the

district-free city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Frankfurt am Main, in the south on the town of Rüsselsheim, and in the west on the town of Flörsheim am Main (Main-Taunus-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Raunheim consists of only one constituent community.

History

In 1425 Count John IV. of

Katzenelnbogen Katzenelnbogen () is the name of a castle and small town in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Aar-Einrich. History Katzenelnboge ...

bought the villages Seilfurt und Raunheim for 5000 florin from the Lords of Eppstein.

Population development

* 1852: 644 * 1875: 700 * 1895: 1.005 * 1910: 1.931 * 1939: 3.151 * 1946: 3.688 * 1961: 6.140 * 1967: 12.388 * 2015: 15.636 In 2011 more than half of Raunheim's inhabitants were migrants. According to census data from that year Raunheim and Dietzenbach also had the highest shares of Muslim migrants in

and Germany.

Politics

Town council

The town council for Raunheim consists of 31 councillors. Elections in 2016: *SPD = 16 *CDU = 7 *GRÜNE = 4 *FDP = 3 *FNR = 1

Mayors since 1947

* 1947 Heinrich Schneiker (SPD) * 1949 Adam Wildmeister (CDU) * 1955 Erwin Lang (SPD), * 1969 Günther Diehl (SPD), * 1988 Herbert Haas (SPD) * since 2000 Thomas Jühe (SPD)

Coat of arms

Raunheim's civic

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

have no clear meaning. The charge in the arms is first known from a document dating from 1625. The seal used on the document likely dates back further. The ringlike charge is also seen on 18th-century town limit markers. The arms were granted in 192

Town partnerships

Raunheim maintains partnership links with the following towns: * Le Teil, ''département'' of Ardèche,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

* Trofarello near

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Economy and infrastructure

The town's advantageous location on the Main and near the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

and Autobahn led to quick growth after the Second World War (1945 population: 3,600) and to its becoming an important industrial location. Several thousand jobs are set to arise soon on the former Caltex refinery's old lands. The aerospace division of the multinational corporation Honeywell is based in Raunheim.

Transport

The interchange on Autobahn A 3 is about 2 km away.

Frankfurt International Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres. ...

lies 8 km away. Raunheim also has S-Bahn connections to Frankfurt, Mainz and Wiesbaden. Being near the airport is not an advantage in every way, since Raunheim lies on the airport approach. With certain wind conditions (officially: operational direction 07), the approaching aircraft fly about 300 m over the town, reaching a noise level of 70 dB, peaking at 90 dB, making Raunheim the airport area community most strongly affected by aircraft noise. This has led the town to develop a noise reduction plan. A citizen initiative is fighting against airport expansion.