- Felsberg, Germany
Infobox Ort in Deutschland
Art = Stadt
Name = Felsberg
Wappen = Wappen-Felsberg-Hessen.png
lat_deg = 51 |lat_min = 8
lon_deg = 9 |lon_min = 25
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Hessen
Regierungsbezirk = Kassel
Landkreis = Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Höhe = 162
Fläche = 83.27
Einwohner = 10940
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 34587
Vorwahl = 05662
Kfz = HR
Gemeindeschlüssel = 06 6 34 003
LOCODE = DE FSB
Adresse = Vernouillet-Allee 1
34587 Felsberg
Website = [http://www.felsberg.de/ www.felsberg.de]
Bürgermeister = Klaus Stiegel
Partei = SPDFelsberg is a town in the Schwalm-Eder district about 20 km south of
Kassel .Geography
The landscape around Felsberg is marked by hills and small lakes, as well as the remains of
gravel quarry ing. As part of the West Hesse Basin, it lies in a sunken area formed by volcanic activity in the Tertiary subera. The change from partlybasalt ic hills to smooth river valleys is striking. While the river valleys are covered in fluvial sediments, higher up can be found fertileloess beds. The riverEder flows through Felsberg's municipal area. Near Gensungen lies the Heiligenberg ("Saint's Mountain") with the ruins of Heiligenberg Castle.Constituent communities
The town consists of 15 communities: Altenbrunslar, Altenburg, Beuern, Böddiger, Gensungen, Helmshausen, Hesserode, Heßlar, Hilgershausen, Lohre, Melgershausen, Neuenbrunslar, Niedervorschütz, Rhünda and Wolfershausen together with the historic Felsberg, to which the other, formerly independent communities were amalgamated on
1 January 1974 .History
That there were settlers in the Felsberg region as long ago as the last
ice age is witnessed by the find of the 12,000-year-old so-called Rhünda Skull. In thefirst century , the Felsberg area was inhabited by theChatti , a Germanic people. The only mention of the area from this time is a report about one ofGermanicus 's campaigns, when in the year 15 he destroyed Mattium (nowadays Maden), the Chatti's capital.In the
8th century , the Felsberg region was part of theFrankish Empire , and this is when the town had its first documentary mention. It was also in this time that Christianmissionary work was being done in the area bySaint Boniface , who in 723 felledThor's Oak nearFritzlar , about 15 km west of Felsberg, thereby starting theChristianization of the peoples of northern Germany.Within the town's municipal area lie the ruins of three
castle s, the Felsburg, the Altenburg in the constituent community of the same name, and the Burg Heiligenberg above the constituent community of Gensungen on the riverEder 's opposite bank. The town is thus sometimes known as the "Drei-Burgen-Stadt" ("Three-Castle-Town"). The castles were built for their strategic location in theMiddle Ages between theArchbishopric of Mainz and theLandgraviate of Thuringia , orHesse . The Heiligenburg belonged to Mainz. Both the Felsburg and the Altenburg 2 km away are distinguished by their "butter churn" towers. The "Salzstraße" ("Salt Road") ran through Felsberg from the riverWerra , where thesalt was mined, to theRhineland .In 1090, Felsberg was mentioned in a Mainz document under the name "Velisberc", and again under the same name in 1209 in a goods directory from the Petrus Estate in Fritzlar. Felsberg's first documentary mention as a town came in 1286. The historic town core was once surrounded by an 830-m-long town wall, only parts of which are preserved today
In 1526, Felsberg became Evangelical under Philip the Magnanimous after a resolution by the Homberg Synod.
The
Thirty Years' War brought widespread destruction to Felsberg.In the
Second World War , Felsberg was heavily damaged by aerial bombardment and the destruction of the Edertal Dam.Politics
The town council has 37 members. The distribution of seats after the last municipal election on
26 March 2006 is as follows:The town executive ("Magistrat") consists of 14 councillors and the
mayor . Of those, 8 seats are held by the SPD, 3 by the CDU and one seat each by the Greens, the FDP and the FWG.The mayor, Klaus Stiegel (SPD) was elected on
28 October 2001 with an 85.2% share of the vote.Coat of arms
The town's civic
coat of arms has been known since 1570, when it was displayed at the Schloss Rotenburg (a stately home inRotenburg an der Fulda , built by Landgrave Ludwig II in 1540). It was also published in the "Hessisches Wappenbuch" ("Hessian Arms Book") byWilhelm Wessel in 1633.Heraldically, the arms might be described thus: Party per pale gules and argent, thereover a bend sinister vert, therein three trefoils argent.
Town partnerships
Felsberg maintains town partnerships with the following towns:
* Vernouillet,France
*Cheddar ,United Kingdom It also has friendship agreements with these places:
* Felsberg, a constituent community ofÜberherrn ,Saarland
* Felsberg,Graubünden ,Switzerland
*Dingelstädt ,Thuringia Personalities
*
Klaus von Urbach , alchemist
*Egbert Hayessen , resistance fighter against theThird Reich
*Johann George Theodor Coch , economist
*Heinrich Clobes , inventor
*Leopold Fleischhacker , sculptor
*Johannes Crombach , philosopher and theologian
*Euricius Cordus , poetReferences
External links
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