Erzhausen

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Erzhausen
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Erzhausen
Erzhausen (Germany)
Erzhausen
Administration
Country Flag of Germany Germany
State Hesse
Admin. region Darmstadt
District Darmstadt-Dieburg
Mayor Hans-Dieter Karl (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area 7.4 km² (2.9 sq mi)
Elevation 112 m  (367 ft)
Population 7,379  (31/12/2006)
 - Density 997 /km² (2,583 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate DA
Postal code 64390
Area code 06150
Website www.erzhausen.de

Coordinates: 49°57′00″N 08°38′00″E / 49.95, 8.633333

Erzhausen train station building, now a public library (the railway station itself is still active).
Erzhausen train station building, now a public library (the railway station itself is still active).
Fields south of Erzhausen, showing a typical South-Hesse countryside during autumn.
Fields south of Erzhausen, showing a typical South-Hesse countryside during autumn.

Erzhausen is a village in southern Hesse, Germany. It is part of the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg. It has about 7.000 inhabitants.

[edit] History

Settlement in the area dates back to about 1500 B.C., as shown by several cairn burial sites found some kilometres west of the town.

The settlement itself is mentioned in documents from 900 A.D. onward under various names like 'Erardishusen', 'Erhartzhausen', 'Ebrichshusen' or 'Erndeshusen'. The oldest document of the Codex Aureus of Lorsch names it as 'Erhartshausen' ('Houses of Erhart').

After remaining a mostly unimportant farming village until the early 20th century, it grew strongly after the railway line from Frankfurt to Darmstadt was built several kilometers to the east of it. The habitation spread out towards it, and workers employed in the nearby cities (which could now be reached a lot easier) settled here.

Today, it is still mostly a residential village, with some commerce and office activities. There is a small seminary of the German Pentecostalism movement situated in the town.[citation needed]