Wunsiedel

Infobox_German_Location
Art = Stadt
Wappen = Wappen Wunsiedel.pnglat_deg = 50 |lat_min = 1
lon_deg = 12 |lon_min = 1
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Bayern
Regierungsbezirk = Oberfranken
Landkreis = Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge
Höhe = 525
Fläche = 54.91
Einwohner = 9986
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 95632
Vorwahl = 09232
Kfz = WUN
Gemeindeschlüssel = 09 4 79 169
LOCODE = DE WUL
Straße = Marktplatz 6
Website = [http://www.wunsiedel.de/ www.wunsiedel.de]
Bürgermeister = Karl-Willi Beck
Partei = CSU

Wunsiedel is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Fichtelgebirge mountains, at the bottom of the Kösseine Plateau. Wunsiedel is the seat of the Wunsiedel district.

History

.

In the Middle Ages, Wunsiedel played an important role in tin mining and the production of tin plates. In 1613, it became capital of the "Sechsämterland" – an area comparable in size to the modern district Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge.

Wunsiedel was a part of the Margraviate of Ansbach-Bayreuth until 1791 when the last margrave abdicated and the region was placed under Prussian administration. In 1810, it became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Wunsiedel received its current appearance in a neoclassic style after a conflagration in 1834, destroying two-thirds of the city.

After World War II Wunsiedel was part of the American Zone and a Fluchtlingssuchstelle was installed at the Landratsamt at the Bezirksamtstrasse 8.

Wunsiedel and Rudolf Hess

In the late 1980s, the cemetery of Wunsiedel became rather infamous for bearing the grave of Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, who had died in a Berlin prison on August 17, 1987. In the following years, neonazi groups organized memorial marches on each August 17. The number of participants rose from 120 in 1988 to more than 1,100 in 1990. The gatherings faced strong protests both from the civil population and from the antifascist movement. In fear of open violence between the two groups, the marches were eventually banned in 1991.

.

In 2005, the memorial march was for the first time banned on the basis of article 130 of the German crime code, outlawing incitement of the people. A complaint against the banning was rejected by the Federal Constitutional Court. Nevertheless, more than 2,500 people met on August 20, 2005, to celebrate a "Day of Democracy" in Wunsiedel.

Law and government

1 seat. The remaining 3 seats went to a free voters' association.

Boroughs

The year of incorporation to Wunsiedel is in brackets.
*Schönbrunn (1975)
*Hildenbach (1978)
*Holenbrunn (1978)
*Bernstein (1978)

Twinnings

*flagicon|France Mende (Lozère), France since 1980
*flagicon|Germany Schwarzenberg/Erzgeb., Germany since 1990
*flagicon|Italy Volterra, Italy since 2006

Notable residents

* Jean Paul (1763-1825), author
* Dr. August Tuppert, (1883)
* Friedrich Meinel (1894)
* Hannsheinz Bauer (1909-2005), one of the "fathers" of the Basic Law, born on March 28, 1909 in Wunsiedel
* Dr. Heinrich Hohenner, professor of geodesy (1946)