| Gelnhausen | |
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Gelnhausen
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Location of the town of Gelnhausen within Main-Kinzig-Kreis district
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| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Hesse |
| Admin. region | Darmstadt |
| District | Main-Kinzig-Kreis |
| Town subdivisions | 6 districts |
| Mayor | Thorsten Stolz [1] (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 45.18 km2 (17.44 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 180 - 312 m |
| Population | 21,510 (31 December 2010)[2] |
| - Density | 476 /km2 (1,233 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | MKK |
| Postal code | 63571 |
| Area code | 06051 |
| Website | www.gelnhausen.de |
Gelnhausen is a town and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. According to the Institut Géographique National since 1 January 2007 the geographic centre of the European Union is exactly located on a wheat field outside the town at .
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Gelnhausen was founded by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1170, it is therefore nicknamed "Barbarossastadt". The place was chosen because it was at the intersection of the Via Regia imperial road between Frankfurt and Leipzig and several other major trade routes. Frederick had three villages united connected by streets and surrounded by a wall. At the same time Gelnhausen received town privileges and a Kaiserpfalz was erected on an island of the Kinzig river. The emperor also granted trade privileges like the staple right which forced traveling merchants to offer their goods in the town for three days.
Hence Gelnhausen initially was a thriving trade city and head of a league of 16 towns of the Wetterau region. However prosperity came to an end already in 1326 when Emperor Louis IV gave the town in pawn to the counts of Hanau. In 1349 Count Günther von Schwarzburg received Gelnhausen from Emperor Charles IV for renouncing his claims as elected King of the Romans. In 1435 it was acquired by Elector Palatine Louis III.
Continued plundering in the Thirty Years War as depicted by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen in his novel Simplicius Simplicissimus made it nearly uninhabitable. Varying lordships made continued attempts to challenge Gelnhausen's imperial immediacy, it however formally remained a Reichsstadt. During the German Mediatisation of 1803 it became a part of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, which after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 was annexed by Prussia. At this time Gelnhausen had completely recovered and with the Gründerzeit economic boom became a centre of the German rubber industry.
From the 1930s Gelnhausen was a garrison town of the German Wehrmacht and, after World War II, of the United States Army. The US Army closed Coleman Kaserne in 1992.
Gelnhausen lies directly along the German autobahn A66. Gelnhausen station is also on the Kinzig Valley Railway a major line between Frankfurt and Fulda. Regional services from Frankfurt to Fulda or Wächtersbach stops in Gelnhausen.
Barbarossa erected one castle here. There is still a medieval town center with its famous church that exhibits both romanesque and gothic architecture.
As a direct imperial palatinate town, Gelnhausen had a castle. It was erected at the time of Gelnhausen's foundation southeast of the town on an island in the Kinzig River. The groundwork is stabilized by 12,000 logs.
Today it is the best preserved palatinate castle from this era, with remarkable masonry.
The church's origin lies in the early 13th Century. Rich citizens of Gelnhausen planned to erect a church within the town, causing a conflict with the Selbold monastery that owned the clerical patronage for Gelnhausen. This conflict was escalated up to Pope Gregory IX who decided in favour of the monastery.
From the 13th to the 15th Century the church was used for weddings, baptisms, and funerals.
After the Reformation the building became property of the town. It subsequently decayed and was sold in 1830 to a local merchant. After the demolition of the second tower, a cigar factory was built in it.
In 1920, the Catholic community of Gelnhausen bought the church and partly restored it over an 18-year period. A complete restoration took place during 1982-83.
Gelnhausen is twinned with:
Like many American soldiers, in 1959 Colin Powell, then lieutenant of the 3rd Armored Division, served at Coleman Kaserne. A street was named after him. During the Second Gulf War there was some discussion about renaming the street because of Germany's stance on the war. The mayor of Gelnhausen strongly objected. (Before and after Fotos of General-Colin-Powell-Street at bottom of display: http://www.1-33rdar.org/genpowell.htm )
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