Amöneburg

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Amöneburg
	Image:Amöneburg-pt.png

Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Administrative region	Gießen
District	Marburg-Biedenkopf
Population	5,330 (30/06/2005)
Area	43.95 km²
Population density	121 /km²
Elevation	365 m
Coordinates	50°48′ N 8°55′ E
Postal code	35287
Area code	06422
Licence plate code	MR
Mayor	Michael Richter-Plettenberg (independent)
Website	Stadt Amöneburg

Amöneburg is a town in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany. It lies on a mountain and is built around the castle of the same name, Burg Amöneburg.

1 Geography
2 Coat of arms
3 History
- 3.1 Abandonments
4 Politics
- 4.1 Town council
5 Transport
6 Regular events
7 Museums
8 Personalities
9 Town partnerships
10 Reference
11 External links

[edit] Geography

[edit] Location

Amöneburg lies on a basalt cone that can be seen from a great distance, below which flows the river Ohm, a tributary to the Lahn. From the Vogelsberg massif in the southeast, Amöneburg is split by the Amöneburg Basin, a hollow suspected of being a meteorite crater. [1] In the southwest rise the Lahn Mountains.

[edit] Neighbouring communities

In the north, Amöneburg borders on the town of Kirchhain, in the east on the town of Stadtallendorf (both in Marburg-Biedenkopf), in the southeast on the town of Homberg (Vogelsbergkreis), and in the west on the community of Ebsdorfergrund (Marburg-Biedenkopf).

[edit] Communities within town

Erfurtshausen
Mardorf
Roßdorf
Rüdigheim

[edit] Coat of arms

Amöneburg's coat of arms depicts Saint Martin of Tours cutting off a piece of his cloak for a poor man. It is thus very similar in concept – although the colours are different – to Neustadt's coat of arms.

[edit] History

Findings from digs have suggested that the area was already settled in the New Stone Age. It is supposed that in Celtic times there was a town (or oppidum) here. In 721, Saint Boniface built a small monastery and a church below the castle.

At the beginning of the 12th century, much of Hesse belonged to Thuringia. The Thuringian lands, however, were so widely scattered that quite often they were interspersed with estates belonging to the Archbishopric of Mainz and its vassals. The parish of Amöneburg belonged to the archbishopric until 1803.

Amöneburg's rectangular market square was laid out in this shape in the 18th century. Also worth seeing is the Mainzer Hof with its barn and manor house at the Lindauer Tor (gate).

The adjoining church is a neo-Gothic basilica. On its north side stands the 14th-century church tower with its Baroque cupola.

Around the knoll that forms the townsite runs the town wall, still preserved to a great extent. A loop road offers good views of the surrounding countryside.

At the southeastern foot of the crags on which the town is built lies the Brückermühle, and old mill, with an old stone bridge (Ohmbrücke) across the river Ohm, which was an historically important crossing. It is known from the Hessians' and Brunswickers' fight against the French in 1762, recalled nowadays by a Baroque obelisk in the yard outside the Brückerwirtshaus (inn).

[edit] Abandonments

Around Amöneburg, the abandoned communities of Brück, Brunsfort, Gerende, Heuchelheim, Lindau, Radenhausen and Wanehusen may be found.

View of the town from the east

[edit] Politics

[edit] Town council

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

CDU	14 seats
SPD	7 seats
FWG (citizens' coalition)	6 seats
AWG (citizens' coalition)	4 seats

[edit] Transport

Somewhat north of Amöneburg runs Federal Highway B 62 (Biedenkopf - Alsfeld) with connections to B 454 to Schwalmstadt and B 3 towards Marburg. Rail connections are not to be had right in Amöneburg. One must instead travel 5 km north to Kirchhain.

[edit] Regular events

Kirchweihfest (Church dedication festival, yearly, last weekend in August, organized by local clubs)

[edit] Museums

Museum Amöneburg: Prehistory and early history of the Amöneburg Basin, agricultural history, mediaeval fortifications and finds from digs, models and dioramas with explanatory notices, and in the attic rooms a nature preservation information centre.