Willingshausen

Infobox Ort in Deutschland
Wappen = Wappen_Willingshausen.pnglat_deg = 50 |lat_min = 51
lon_deg = 09 |lon_min = 12
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Hessen
Regierungsbezirk = Kassel
Landkreis = Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Höhe = 239
Fläche = 59.95
Einwohner = 5287
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 34628
Vorwahl = 06691 und 06697
Kfz = HR
Gemeindeschlüssel = 06 6 34 026
Straße = Loshäuser Weg 9
Website = [http://www.willingshausen.de/ www.willingshausen.de]
Bürgermeister = Heinrich Vesper
Partei = FDP

Willingshausen is a community in the Schwalm-Eder in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Location

The community of Willingshausen lies in the Schwalm area.

Neighbouring communities

Willingshausen borders in the north on the town of Schwalmstadt, in the northeast on the community of Frielendorf, in the east on the town of Neukirchen and the community of Schrecksbach (all in Schwalm-Eder), in the south on the town of Alsfeld and the community of Antrifttal (both in the Vogelsbergkreis), and in the west on the town of Neustadt (Marburg-Biedenkopf).

Constituent communities

Willingshausen consists of the ten centres of Gungelshausen, Leimbach, Loshausen, Merzhausen, Ransbach, Steina, Steinatal, Wasenberg (administrative seat), Willingshausen and Zella.

Politics

Municipal council

Willingshausen's municipal council is made up of 31 councillors.

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

Culture and sightseeing

"Willingshäuser Malerkolonie"

The Willingshausen Painters' Colony is Germany's oldest artists' association. It was founded by a man from Livonia named Gerhardt Wilhelm von Reutern after he had been badly wounded in the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1814 while serving as an officer in the Russian army; as a result, he had to have his right arm amputated. He came to convalesce with his brother's inlaws at the "Schwertzellsche Haus" in Willingshausen, where he met and got to know the lady whom in 1820 he would wed, Charlotte von Schwertzell. He settled down in Willingshausen and began to draw and paint. He procured an honorary stipend from the Russian Imperial Family, which afforded him financial independence.

In 1825 the Kassel painter Ludwig Emil Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's brother, came to Willingshausen to study landscapes. This is said to be the time when the colony was founded. Many painters worked – and still work today – at Willingshausen. The Museum "Malerstübchen" at the "Gerhardt-von-Reutern-Haus" documents the artists' work.

Regular events

Two music festivals take place each year in the constituent community of Loshausen, the " [http://www.world-music-festival.de World Music Festival] " on the first weekend of August, and "Rock im Park" in July.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Federal Highway ("Bundesstraße") B 254 (Homberg – Fulda) is about 6 km east of town. The Alsfeld-West interchange on Autobahn A 5 (Kassel – Frankfurt is about 15 km away.

The community belongs to the North Hesse Transport Network.

References

External links

* [http://www.willingshausen.de/ Willingshausen]
* [http://www.malerkolonie.de/ Painters' Colony in Willingshausen]