Waldkappel

Waldkappel

Coat of arms
Waldkappel

Coordinates: 51°09′N 09°53′E / 51.150°N 9.883°E / 51.150; 9.883Coordinates: 51°09′N 09°53′E / 51.150°N 9.883°E / 51.150; 9.883
Country Germany
State Hesse
Admin. region Kassel
District Werra-Meißner-Kreis
Government
  Mayor Peter Hillebrandt
Area
  Total 96.48 km2 (37.25 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 4,482
  Density 46/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 37284
Dialling codes 05656
Vehicle registration ESW
Website www.waldkappel.de

Waldkappel is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northern Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Location

Waldkappel lies between Hessisch Lichtenau in the west and Eschwege in the east, where the town is found in the North Hesse Upland between the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park neighbouring it to the north and the Stölzinger Gebirge (range) in the south, in the Wehre valley.

Neighbouring communities

Waldkappel borders in the north on the community of Meißner, in the east on the community of Wehretal, in the south on the town of Sontra (all three in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis), in the southwest on the community of Cornberg and the town of Rotenburg an der Fulda (both in Hersfeld-Rotenburg) and in the west on the towns of Spangenberg (in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis) and Hessisch Lichtenau (in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Waldkappel’s Stadtteile, besides the main town, also called Waldkappel, are Bischhausen, Burghofen, Eltmannsee, Friemen, Gehau, Harmuthsachsen, Hasselbach, Hetzerode, Kirchhosbach, Mäckelsdorf, Rechtebach, Rodebach, Schemmern and Stolzhausen.

History

Waldkappel – extract from the Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian 1655

In 1226, Waldkappel had its first documentary mention, and it was granted town rights in 1414.

The town experienced its economic heyday in the Late Middle Ages from lying on the old trade road durch die langen Hessen, which ran from the Wetterau to Thuringia and on to Leipzig. Bearing witness to the town’s earlier, wealthier times is a Late Gothic church standing in the middle of the community.

The Thirty Years' War put an abrupt end to Waldkappel’s prosperity; the town could never again reach its former importance.

In the course of municipal reform, the communities of Waldkappel, Bischhausen, Burghofen, Friemen, Gehau, Kirchhosbach, Mäckelsdorf, Rechtebach, Rodebach and Schemmern from the former Eschwege district merged. They were joined by Harmuthsachsen and Hasselbach from the former Witzenhausen district, as well as by Stolzhausen from the Melsungen district. In 1974, the greater community reached its full extent with the amalgamation of Eltmannsee and Hetzerode.

Politics

Town council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Parties and voter communities %
2006
Seats
2006
%
2001
Seats
2001
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 32.2 7 24.9 8
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 51.4 12 49.7 15
ÜWG Überparteiliche Wählergemeinschaft 11.9 3 18.6 6
GAL Grün-Alternative-Liste Waldkappel 4.5 1
GREENS Bündnis 90/Die Grünen 6.8 2
Total 100.0 23 100.0 31
Voter turnout in % 58.1 63.4

Town partnerships

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Through Waldkappel runs Bundesstraße 7. The Autobahn A 44 (KasselEisenach) is under construction.

Famous people

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waldkappel.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, June 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.