Battenberg, Hesse
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| Battenberg | |
| Coat of arms | Location |
 |
  |
| Administration | |
| Country |  Germany |
|---|---|
| State | Hesse |
| Admin. region | Kassel |
| District | Waldeck-Frankenberg |
| Town subdivisions | 4 Ortsteile |
| Mayor | Heinfried Horsel (Ind.) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 64.73 km² (25 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 340 m (1116 ft) |
| Population | 5,622 (31/12/2006) |
| - Density | 87 /km² (225 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | KB |
| Postal code | 35088 |
| Area code | 06452 |
| Website | www.battenberg-eder.de |
Battenberg is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
[edit] Location
The middle centre (in terms of Walter Christaller's Central Place Theory) of Battenberg lies in the Ederbergland, or Eder Highland, to which the Burgwald abutting the town to the east also belongs, on the southern edge of the Sauerland and the Rothaargebirge. Lying between 320 and 650 m above sea level, the town is also crossed by the river Eder.
[edit] Neighbouring communities
Battenberg borders in the north on the community of Bromskirchen, in the northeast on the community of Allendorf, in the southeast on the community of Burgwald (all three in Waldeck-Frankenberg), in the south on the community of Münchhausen am Christenberg (Marburg-Biedenkopf), and in the west on the towns of Hatzfeld (Waldeck-Frankenberg) and Bad Berleburg (Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia).
[edit] Constituent communities
Battenberg includes the following centres:
- Berghofen
- Dodenau
- Frohnhausen
- Laisa
[edit] History
In 778 there was fighting near Laisa and Battenfeld as part of Charlemagne's Saxon Wars. A branch of the Wittgenstein noble family began calling themselves the "Counts of Battenberg" in 1214. In 1232, Battenberg had its first documentary mention, and two years later it was granted town rights. The early-Gothic church dates from 1249. In 1297, the town's ownership was transferred to the Archbishops of Mainz. In 1464, the Amt of Battenberg passed to Hesse. In 1932, Battenberg became part of the Frankenberg/Eder district. As part of municipal reform in 1974, the districts of Frankenberg (containing Battenberg) and Waldeck were united to form the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg.
The dynasty of the counts of Battenberg ceased to exist in 1314, their castle was demolished throughout the following centuries. When Prince Alexander von Hessen-Darmstadt, the brother of the grand duke of Hesse, married Julia von Hauke, the orphaned daughter of the former Polish ministry of war, their liaison was not considered befitting his rank. Therefore her brother-in-law promoted her to countess of Battenberg in 1851 and later on to duchess of Battenberg in 1858. With her husband, who agreed to carry the same title and name, she lived near Seeheim-Jugenheim at "Schloss Heiligenberg" , a remodelled manor. Her sons Ludwig Alexander and Heinrich Moritz both served the British empire, their families anglicized their name to Mountbatten (Berg means "mountain" in German) in 1917.
[edit] Population development
| 31 December 1988 | : 5,099 inhabitants |
| 31 December 1991 | : 5,602 inhabitants |
| 31 December 1995 | : 5,693 inhabitants |
| 31 December 2000 | : 5,752 inhabitants |
| 31 December 2004 | : 5,701 inhabitants |
[edit] Politics
[edit] Town council
The town council's 31 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006:
| CDU | 8 seats |
| SPD | 7 seats |
| Bürgerliste Stadt Battenberg | 5 seats |
| Bürgerliste der Stadtteile Laisa, Frohnhausen und Berghofen | 5 seats |
| Bürgerliste Dodenau | 4 seats |
| FDP | 2 seats |
Note: Bürgerlisten are "citizens' lists", not actual political parties.
[edit] Coat of arms
Battenberg's civic coat of arms might heraldically be described thus: Party per pale sable and argent.
The colours are taken from the arms borne by the town's old overlords, the Counts of Battenberg, who were a branch of the Counts of Wittgenstein. Battenberg's arms have their roots in the 13th century, putting them among Hesse's oldest municipal coats of arms.
Various other charges have appeared in the arms over the centuries, however. Sometimes it was a tower, the Count of Battenberg and the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop by himself, or the wheel of Mainz. One version even showed the same simple composition seen here, but with red instead of black. This would have made the arms identical to those currently borne by Buchloe in Bavaria.[1]
[edit] Town partnerships
Senonches, France
Romsey, United Kingdom
Litvínov, Czech Republic- Horní Jiřetín, Czech Republic
Loon op Zand, Netherlands
[edit] Adoption
- In 1954, Battenberg "adopted" Sudeten Germans who had been driven out of the community of Obergeorgenthal (Horní Jiřetín) in the Brüx district.
[edit] References
This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.
[edit] External links
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