Stadtallendorf

Infobox Ort in Deutschland
Art = Stadt
Wappen = Wappen Stadtallendorf.pnglat_deg = 50 |lat_min = 50
lon_deg = 09 |lon_min = 01
Lageplan = Marburg Biedenkopf Stadtall.pngBundesland = Hessen
Regierungsbezirk = Gießen
Landkreis = Marburg-Biedenkopf
Höhe = 256
Fläche = 78.29
Einwohner = 21540
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 35260
Vorwahl = 06428
Kfz = MR
Gemeindeschlüssel = 06 5 34 018
Straße = Bahnhofstraße 2
Website = [http://www.stadtallendorf.de www.stadtallendorf.de]
Bürgermeister = Manfred Vollmer

Stadtallendorf is a town in Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany, which lies about 18 km east of Marburg.

Geography

Location

Under the German system of "Naturräume", Stadtallendorf lies in the West Hesse Depression Zone ("westhessische Senkenzone") which is divided into basins and ridges. With respect to these, the town lies on the Upper Hesse Ridge which separates the Amöneburg Basin in the west from the "Schwalmbecken" (another basin) in the east. On this ridge may also be found the "Neustädter Sattel" ("Neustadt Saddle"), abutted by the town's northeast edge. This upland is part of the divide between the Rhine and Weser watersheds.

Neighbouring communities

Stadtallendorf borders in the north on the town of Rauschenberg (Marburg-Biedenkopf) and the community of Gilserberg (Schwalm-Eder-Kreis), in the east on the town of Neustadt, in the southeast on the town of Kirtorf, in the south on the town of Homberg (Ohm) (both in the Vogelsbergkreis), and in the west on the towns of Amöneburg and Kirchhain (both in Marburg-Biedenkopf).

Constituent communities ("Ortsteile")

* Niederklein
* Schweinsberg (an der Ohm)
* Erksdorf – This village of 1,000 inhabitants was amalgamated in the 1970s; the name comes from a long-ago settler named Eric von Erkersdorp.
* Hatzbach
* Wolferode

History

Stadtallendorf was given town rights in 1960; it had been known until then as Allendorf.

During the Second World War, Stadtallendorf was a secret munitions centre. The armament firms WASAG AG and DAG produced munitions and explosives. At the time, it was the greatest of all munitions production centres in Europe. Even today, some neighbourhoods in Stadtallendorf are still named after munitions businesses. The munitions centre got through the war without ever being detected by the Allies. The 6 square kilometre premises where the wartime arms works were built were said to be one of Germany's biggest contaminated former industrial sites, in parts with high concentrations of chemical contaminants on residential properties. Since 1991, the premises have undergone a far-reaching cleanup; in March 2006, the job was officially declared done. According to information from the Hesse Environment Ministry, the cleanup cost €167,000,000. One hundred and fifty-four tonnes of contaminants were dug out of the ground, 697 tonnes were dug out of a dump, and 3 tonnes of TNT – still capable of exploding – were unearthed.

Politics

Town council

As of the last municipal elections held on 26 March 2006, town council seats are apportioned thus:

Coat of arms

Stadtallendorf's civic coat of arms might be described thus: In azure, dexter a bear rampant sinister Or armed gules and langued Or, sinister a lion rampant striped per fess nine times in gules and argent (the Lion of Hesse), langued gules and armed Or, both holding a six-spoked wheel argent (the Wheel of Mainz).

The Hessian lion and the Wheel of Mainz stand for the town's old allegiances. Until secularization, Stadtallendorf belonged to the Archbishopric of Mainz, and thereafter to Hesse. The bear is a reference to an old name for the town, "Allendorf im Bärenschießen", once used to distinguish the town from other places called Allendorf, and now needless thanks to the town's newer name. The arms have been kept even as other communities have been amalgamated with the old Allendorf as part of Hesse's municipal reforms.

Town partnerships

Stadtallendorf maintains partnerships with the following towns:

*Flagicon|United Kingdom St Ives, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom since 1989
*Flagicon|Germany Coswig, Saxony-Anhalt since 1993

Economy

The town is economically successful, as large factories such as Ferrero oHG mbH (confectionery), Fritz Winter GmbH & Co. KG (engine foundry), Hoppe AG (grip manufacturing), and others have chosen to build here. The town's transport connections are by road to the Federal Highways ("Bundesstraßen") B 454 and B 62, and by rail to the railway station on the Main-Weser line. An extension to Bundesautobahn 49 is currently being discussed, but there have been ecological questions about the wisdom of such an undertaking: the "Herrenwald" (masters' woods) is home to the Great Crested Newt, which is on the list of protected species.

In an area of 78.3 km² live about 21,700 inhabitants, 16,900 of those in the main centre, whose population is about 25% foreign.

Population

(in each case as of 31 December)
*1998 – 21,587
*1999 – 21,.643
*2000 – 21,656
*2001 – 21,671
*2002 – 21,704
*2003 – 21,708
*2004 – 21,528

Pictures of Stadtallendorf and its outlying centres

References

External links

* [http://www.stadtallendorf.de/ Stadtallendorf's official website]
* [http://www.mein-stadtallendorf.de Town portal for Stadtallendorf and environs]
* [http://www.schweinsberg-ohm.de Schweinsberg]