Geisa

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Geisa

Coat of arms
Geisa
Coordinates: 50°43′N 09°58′E / 50.717°N 9.967°E / 50.717; 9.967Coordinates: 50°43′N 09°58′E / 50.717°N 9.967°E / 50.717; 9.967
Country Germany
State Thuringia
District Wartburgkreis
Government
 • Mayor Martin Henkel (CDU)
Area
 • Total 71.75 km2 (27.70 sq mi)
Elevation 318 m (1,043 ft)
Population (2012-12-31)[1]
 • Total 4,675
 • Density 65/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 36419
Dialling codes 036967
Vehicle registration WAK
Website www.geisa.de

Geisa is a town in the Wartburgkreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Rhön Mountains, 26 km northeast of Fulda. The near border with Hesse was the border between West Germany and the GDR during the Cold War. Thus, Geisa was in the East German border restriction area of the former inner German border, which meant that until reunification access to the town was limited.

Geography

Geisa is a town in the north of the Rhön Mountains in Thuringia. It is located on the Ulster River. The region is also referred to by the old name of Buchonia. The closest city is Fulda.

Suburbs

Suburbs and their population:

  • Town overall: 3390
    • City of Geisa (approx. 2260)
    • Suburb Borsch (approx. 690)
    • Suburb Bremen (approx. 320)
    • Suburb Geblar (approx. 60)
    • Suburb Otzbach (approx. 140)
    • Suburb Wiesenfeld (approx. 180)

History

Geisa's oldest area of settlement is located on Gangolfiberg, which is also the highest point of the little town and the only surviving medieval place of jurisdiction in Thuringia, the so-called Zentgericht - dating from the 11th century. The deed of town ordinances and privileges was lost, the first notation as civitas is from 1302. As an administration centre of the Benedictine abbey of Fulda, Geisa was a Catholic-dominated region. Athanasius Kircher was born on May 2 in either 1601 or 1602 in Geisa.

Because of wars and fires in the past, only a modicum of historic buildings is present. In the heart of the town is the Catholic Parish Church (Stadtpfarrkirche) of St Philip and St James, which was built between 1489 and 1504. It is the only surviving Gothic church in the Geisa region. A rarity is the carillon, a special kind of 49 bronze bells on the church tower.

Above the marketplace is the listed Geisa castle ensemble. The Schlossplatz, the square in front of the castle, is framed by the local courthouse (1540), a former prison, the Stadtschloss (1700–1714) - a building by Johann Dientzenhofer, a number of commercial buildings, and the Protestant church (1860).

Until 1990, the inner German border was between Geisa and Rasdorf (Hesse). Geisa was thus in a restriction zone the East German authorities maintained on their side of the border and which limited access to the region. There is now a memorial site (Haus auf der Grenze) with an exhibition on the history of the border. Just across the border, in what was previously West Germany, lies a former US observation camp - in military notation Point Alpha - that had been one of the hottest spots in the Cold War[citation needed]. It was located in a very exposed position in the so-called Fulda gap, right in the path of a possible attack by the forces of the Warsaw Pact. Today the camp offers an exhibit on the presence of US armed forces and a memorial.

Since 2008, the headquarters of the Point Alpha foundation have been located in the castle in Geisa, in addition to the municipal museum.

Sights

  • Schlossplatz
  • "Point Alpha" is the name of a memorial place at the former inner German border.
  • A well-preserved and picturesquely situated Jewish cemetery is on the outskirts of Geisa.

People

References

  1. ↑ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden, erfüllenden Gemeinden und Verwaltungsgemeinschaften nach Geschlecht in Thüringen". Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik (in German). 13 July 2013. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geisa.
Towns and municipalities in Wartburgkreis
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