Königstein im Taunus

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Coordinates: 50°11′N 8°28′E

Königstein im Taunus (Königstein)
Coat of arms of Königstein im Taunus Location of Königstein im Taunus in Germany
Country Germany
State Hesse
Administrative region Darmstadt
District Hochtaunuskreis
Population 15,825 (31/12/2004)
Area 25.1 km²
Population density 631 /km²
Elevation 200-410 m
Coordinates 50°11′ N 8°28′ E
Postal code 61462
Area code 06174
06173 Mammolshain
Licence plate code HG
Mayor Leonhard Helm (independent but a CDU member)
Website Stadt Königstein im Taunus

Königstein im Taunus is a climatic spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus. Owing to its advantageous location for both scenery and transport on the edge of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region, Königstein is a favourite residential town. Neighbouring places are Kronberg im Taunus, Glashütten, Bad Soden am Taunus and Kelkheim.

Contents

[edit] Geography

[edit] Neighbouring communities

Königstein borders in the north on the community of Schmitten and the town of Oberursel, in the east on the towns of Kronberg and Schwalbach, in the south on the towns of Bad Soden and Kelkheim (all three in the Main-Taunus-Kreis), and in the west on the community of Glashütten.

[edit] Constituent communities

Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole, Königstein has three outlying centres: Falkenstein, Mammolshain and Schneidhain. Since 2001, Falkenstein has borne the designation Heilklimatischer Kurort – climatic spa – independently of the town's status as such.

[edit] History

Shrouded in legend, the town's founding date is unknown. The best known legend says that it was the Merovingian King Chlodwig (466-511), who had a castle built on a mountain and a chapel in a neighbouring dale, who also founded the town in thanks for a prophecy that came his way there from a maiden who promised him victory over the Alemanni – which did indeed come true.

Königstein had its first documentary mention in 1215, making it likelier that the castle was built around the 12th century for the town's – and the Frankfurt-Cologne commercial road's – security.

Also in that time came the town's first lords, the Counts of Nürings, but they were supplanted in 1239 by the Lords of Hagen-Münzenberg into whose ownership the castle went as an Imperial fief. The Lords of Hagen-Münzenberg were in turn followed by the Lords of Bolanden-Falkenstein from 1255 to 1418, under whose rule Königstein was granted town rights in 1313. The Lords of Bolanden-Falkenstein were succeeded by the Lords of Eppstein, who were themselves followed by the Counts of Stolberg in 1535. It was they who introduced the Reformation to the area.

By 1581, Königstein belonged to the Electorate of Mainz, which had incorporated the old County by force. Early in the 17th century, in connection with the Counterreformation, the castle was remodelled into a mighty fortress, but this newer military stronghold met its end in the French Revolutionary Wars when the French blew it up in 1796, although this may have been unintentional. (Local legend has it that that gunpowder was hid in the castle's well, and a spark from a careless French soldier's pipe started the explosion).

In 1803, Königstein passed to the Principality of Nassau-Usingen, which itself later merged with Nassau-Weilburg to form the Duchy of Nassau. By 1866 it was in Prussian hands, and since 1945, it has been part of Hesse. The three constituent communities mentioned herein were amalgamated with Königstein as part of Hesse's municipal reforms in 1972.

Königstein enjoyed an economic upswing from less wealthy times when the coldwater spa first opened in 1851. It reached its high point just before the First World War broke out. The designation Heilklimatischer Kurort was granted in 1935, and is still borne by the town, and now also independently by the constituent community of Falkenstein.[1]

[edit] Politics

Represented on town council are the CDU, the SPD, the FDP and the Greens, as well as the ALK (Aktionsgemeinschaft Lebenswertes Königstein), a citizens' coalition. At the moment, Königstein is governed by a CDU/FDP coalition.

[edit] Coat of arms

Königstein's civic coat of arms was conferred in 1907. It is based on a town seal from 1535. The towers stand for the old Imperial Castle (Reichsburg). The Lords of Bolanden-Falkenstein are remembered in the red and gold field in the upper right (upper left heraldically speaking), as are the Counts of Nürings in the black lion, and indeed the Lords of Eppstein in the three chevrons.[2]

[edit] Economy

[edit] Buying power

Königstein dwellers have at their disposal a far greater than average level of buying power. In 1997-1998, their buying power index was on the order of 235.9% (compared to the national average of 100%), the highest in Hesse.

[edit] Transport

Königstein is advantageously placed for driving. By way of Federal Highways (Bundesstraßen) B8 and B455, which meet in town at a roundabout, Autobahnen A 66 (Frankfurt-Höchst interchange), A 661 (Oberursel interchange) and A 3 (Niedernhausen interchange) can be reached in a matter of minutes. Königstein's advantageous placement, however, brings problems, too. Rush hour traffic, both in the morning and evening, regularly results in heavy traffic jams on the way into the roundabout. The roundabout is therefore being changed with the installation of traffic lights and other improvements to efficiency. The work is expected to last until October 2006.

The nearest airport is Frankfurt International Airport.

By way of the Frankfurt-Königstein Railway (Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn – FKE) and buslines connecting the towns to the S-Bahn stations at Bad Soden (S3) and Kronberg (S4), Königstein is connected to Frankfurt's main railway station and the whole railway network run by the Rhine-Main Transport Network (Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund – RMV), and it has at its disposal stations in Königstein (main town) and Schneidhain. The Frankfurt-Königstein Railway accepts the Bahncard 100 as fare as far as Königstein im Taunus station, but the RMV only accepts it for fare area 5000 (Frankfurt am Main without the airport).

[edit] Established businesses

Königstein im Taunus is an attractive place for business. The citizens' above-average buying power is a boon to local retail businesses, the range of which is correspondingly great. Furthermore there are quite a few independent business and personnel consultants, often former managers from industry. Through the takeover of the well known German personnel consultancy Hofmann Herbold & Partner, Königstein was for years headquarters to the biggest international executive search firm Korn/Ferry. Several spinoffs brought into being by former Korn/Ferry employees are still in business in town now.

The Dresdner Bank maintains a large training and conference centre at the edge of town, which is also available to third parties. The Deutsche Bank also has one between Falkenstein and Kronberg.

[edit] Town partnerships

Königstein im Taunus maintains partnerships with the following towns:

There is also a friendship agreement with:

[edit] Culture and sightseeing

Königstein in the late 19th century
Königstein in the late 19th century

[edit] Regular events

The greatest folk festival in Königstein is the yearly Burgfest, or Castle Festival, at the Königstein Castle ruins. Moreover, early in the year, and in the summer, further events also take place there: Ritterturnier ("Knights' Tournament"), Theater auf der Burg ("Theatre at the Castle"), as well as various musical and film events. Since 2005, the club Stadtwache e.V. has been dabbling in a series of concerts called Mittelalter rockt die Burg ("Middle Ages rock the castle").

As a new open-air highlight, from 2006, the Burgfestspiele Königstein ("Königstein Castle Festival Games") will be held, bringing to the stage a multi-faceted cultural programme in the unique atmosphere of the ruins: ambitious concerts and operatic and musical productions with large casts under the open sky. As well, business in the outlying communities is shaped by many festivals and activities.

[edit] Clubs

Hotel Kempinski in Königstein-Falkenstein
Hotel Kempinski in Königstein-Falkenstein

The Ritter von Königstein ("Knights of Königstein") have committed themselves to the Middle Ages and since 1998 have been staging a yearly Knights' Tournament with a mediaeval market at Königstein's picturesque castle ruins. The local young people who do this are supported in this endeavour by the club Stadtwache e.V. ("Town Watch").

Furthermore, each of Königstein's constituent communities has its own sport or football club. The biggest in the whole town is TSG Falkenstein, offering volleyball, gymnastics, athletics, Gardetanz (a kind of dancing popular in Germany involving dancers in old, often 18th-century, military uniforms), and football, and having more than 700 members. The most successful football club is the 1. FC-TSG Königstein (a fusion of 1. FC Königstein and TSG Falkenstein), whose first team has been plying for years in the top of the Regional Upper League (Bezirksoberliga). Moreover, the club has at its disposal 12 youth teams. Also, the SG (Spielgemeinschaft or "playing community") Schneidhain and FC Mammolshain Fußball play in Königstein, both, however, at lower levels.

From 5 to 16 June 2006, on the occasion of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Brazilian National Team made its home at the Kempinski Hotel in Falkenstein, a five-star hotel originally built as an officers' retreat for Kaiser Wilhelm. The team trained at the "Altkönigblick" sport ground, 1. FC-TSG Königstein's usual facility.

The Königstein Fanfare Corps (Fanfarencorps Königstein) won the Europa Musikfestival in Rödemis in 2005 and the Solothurner Marching Parade, in which the Königstein Fanfare Corps was the first foreign club to participate.

Königstein also has, from singing clubs to a mandolin club, a karate and tennis club, and a volunteer fire brigade in every constituent community, more than 100 clubs.

[edit] Buildings

View from Königstein castle ruins over the town
View from Königstein castle ruins over the town

Besides the town's landmark, the Königstein Castle ruins, other buildings are worth seeing, such as the historic Old Town with its Old Town Hall, and Falkenstein Castle, and the Old Town also found there. Also of interest is the Villa Andreae built in the 1890s and Jürgen Schneider's headquarters from 1987 until his multi-billion-Deutsche-Mark bankruptcy in 1994, as well as Duke Adolph von Nassau's former stately home. It is now known as the Luxemburgisches Schloss.

Architecturally important in its time was the Haus der Begegnung ("Meeting House") built in the 1950s. Controversial at the time, in 1977 when the baths were being built, was the blue-orange colour scheme.

At the foot of the Burgberg ("Castle Mountain"), surrounded by a park through which flows the Woogbach and adjoining which is the Woogbach Valley is found Saint Angela's Ursuline Convent (Ursulinenkloster St. Angela), founded in 1884, and owning a like-named state-recognized private school.

Königstein is likewise well known for its idyllic Old Town. Its exclusive residential areas (also in Falkenstein) are mainly marked by Art Nouveau and its Heimatstil-influenced offshoots as well as 1960s Chic (bungalows). Lot sizes, however, are not comparable to those in other towns owing to new town planning and the building plans following therefrom.

[edit] Museums

The Castle and Town Museum (Burg- und Stadtmuseum) is found at the historic Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus)

[edit] Education

[edit] Schools

There are in Königstein various schools, among them three Gymnasien: the state Taunusgymnasium (formerly Taunusschule), the private St. Angela Schule and the private Bischof-Neumann-Schule.

[edit] Primary schools

  • Grundschule Königstein
  • Grundschule Falkenstein
  • Grundschule Mammolshain
  • Grundschule Schneidhain

[edit] Secondary schools

  • Taunusgymnasium Königstein, Gymnasium
  • Friedrich-Stoltze-Schule, Hauptschule and Realschule
  • Bischof-Neumann-Schule, private school, state-recognized
  • St.-Angela-Schule, private school, state-recognized

[edit] Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Königstein (1949 - 1978)

On 29 April 1949, a Königstein Philosophical-Theological College was founded in Königstein as a self-standing Catholic university, and acknowledged by the Hessian state government.

Bishop Maximilian Kaller – who was the first bishop with special authority over ethnic Germans who had been driven out of lost German territories at the end of the Second World War – appointed philosophy professor Erich Kleineidam to the new institution in late May 1947 as a Professor. In 1948, he also became head of the seminary, and in 1949 Rector of the Königstein Philosophical-Theological College. Besides Kleineidam, others who taught at the ecclesiastical university were Anton Janko, Philipp Schäfer and Leo Scheffczyk. Among well known graduates were Karl Gabriel, Johannes Gründel and Gerhard Pieschl.

The college produced 417 priests. It was dissolved on 15 February 1978.

[edit] Literature

For three years, from 1970 until his death in 1973, the writer and journalist Herbert Kranz (born 4 October 1891 in Nordhausen; died 30 August 1973 in Braunschweig) lived here.

The book Königstein im Taunus: Geschichte und Kunst ("Königstein im Taunus: History and Art") by Beate Großmann-Hofmann and Hans-Curt Köster (appeared in 1998, Verlag Langewiesche [publisher]) offers a detailed outline of the town's history, its castle and its outlying communities. It also includes a detailed catalogue of many buildings and objects worthy of protection.

Also of importance is the book Juden in Königstein ("Jews in Königstein") by Heinz Sturm-Godramstein (ISBN 3980079309). The former town archivist's documentation first appeared in 1983 and was reissued in 1998 almost unchanged.

[edit] Sundry

[edit] Health

There is in Königstein a comprehensive offering of health services. Besides the baths, there are various clinics, among them a migraine clinic, a special clinic for psychosomatic illnesses, a heart clinic and a neurological clinic. The two spas of Königstein and Falkenstein have recently formed the entrance portal to Germany's first climatic healing park (Heilklimapark).

[edit] Famous Personalities

[edit] Reference

This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.

History and Coat of arms have their own sources.

[edit] External links

Wappen des Landkreises Hochtaunuskreis
Towns and municipalities in Hochtaunuskreis

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe | Friedrichsdorf | Glashütten | Grävenwiesbach | Königstein im Taunus | Kronberg im Taunus | Neu-Anspach | Oberursel | Schmitten | Steinbach | Usingen | Wehrheim | Weilrod

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