Gudensberg

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Gudensberg
Town
View of Gudensburg from above
Coat of arms
Location of Gudensberg within Schwalm-Eder-Kreis district
Stadtteile
Government
• Mayor (2021–27)	Sina Best[1]
Area
• Total	46.5 km2 (18.0 sq mi)
Elevation	228 m (748 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	9,983
• Density	210/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	34281
Dialling codes	05603
Vehicle registration	HR, FZ, MEG, ZIG
Website	www.gudensberg.de

Gudensberg (German pronunciation: [ˈguːdn̩sˌbɛʁk] ^ⓘ) is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany. Since the municipal reform in 1974, the nearby villages of Deute, Dissen, Dorla, Gleichen, Maden and Obervorschütz have become parts of the municipality.

Geography

Gudensberg is situated in the district of Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Hesse, Germany, at the southeasternmost edge of the Habichtswald Nature Park, about 20 km (12 mi) south of Kassel and 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Fritzlar.^[3]

The town's municipal area borders to the north and northeast on

With the partition of Thuringia, Gudensberg fell to the Landgraviate of Hesse, and in 1277, Henry I was proclaimed the first Landgrave of Hesse on the Mader Heide (heath) near Gudensberg. In 1300, Landgrave Henry I moved his residence from Gudensberg to Kassel and Gudensberg lost its political and administrative importance. In 1324, however, Gudensberg was still being mentioned as the "Capital of Nyderlandt". In 1365, the Hospital Heiliger Geist (Holy Ghost Hospital) for lepers was founded.

In the many feuds between the

Count Werner IV of Maden founded the Benedictine Monastery of Breitenau near Guxhagen in 1113. After Werner's death in 1121, rule and ownership rights passed to Count Giso IV from the Burg Hollende. Lower jurisdiction was held as of the 14th century by Alb. Lugelin, Gerlach von Linne and the von Holzsadel family.

Maden was the Seat of the County of Hesse. In 1325 it was called: "County and state court of Hesse, that one calls the court of Maden". The Wodanstein in Maden was first mentioned in 1408.

Between Maden and Gudensberg lies the historically important Mader Heide (heath).

Obervorschütz

The find of a stone axe in the area bears witness to a very early culture settling in the Obervorschütz area about 3000 BC. A late-Roman era metalwork find was a Roman belt mount bearing Germanic imagery indicating a skilled artisan in the area.^[4] However, the village's first documentary mention, under the name Burrisuzze, did not come until 1074. It was later mentioned in 1275 as villa superior Vorskutheund and in 1357 as Obirm Vorschütz.

Politics

Town Council

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2021)

The Town Council consists of 31 representatives:

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

Above the town, on the Schlossberg, lie the ruins of the old castle, the Obernburg.^[5] On a saddle below the Obernburg, a tower that was part of the town's old defences still stands. From the 306 m (1,004 ft) high hill there is an outstanding view across the heath, to the Mader Stein, to the Nenkel and to the Odenberg (and other mountains).

Various historic buildings are to be found in the town core, mostly half-timbered houses, among them the old Amtshaus with its Renaissance porch, the rectory from 1642, the Renthof built in 1643, and the town's oldest building, the Ackerbürgerhaus, built in 1596. The Evangelical church St. Margarete is a Gothic structure from the 14th century, with additions and renovations in the 15th and 16th centuries. On Kasseler Straße, at the corner of Fritzlarer Straße, is the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, founded in 1365 for lepers, but renovated many times up until the 18th century. The Classicist town hall dates from 1839. Also in the Old Town is the Old Cemetery with historic gravestones from the 18th and 19th centuries. Of interest is a horse hoof print on a stone in the churchyard wall. It is said that Charlemagne's horse made this mark when it stamped on this stone in the now-abandoned village of Karlskirchen, after his rider had just fought a battle there. The legend has it that the horse created the Glisborn in doing so, or though previous legends exist as well.

Natural monuments

Dissen's most notable landmark is a

Scenic mountaintops near Gudensberg include the Mader Stein at the edge of the Maden Heath (Mader Heide), the Odenberg, the Nenkel and the Wartberg.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Gudensberg lies on Autobahn A 49. An express busline joins Gudensberg with Kassel and Fritzlar, and at times with Bad Wildungen and Frankenberg.

Grifte-Gudensberger Kleinbahn

The Kleinbahn was a "small"

• Grifte, 0.00 km
• Haldorf, 2.58 km
• Dissen, 4.25 km
• Gudensberg, 7.72 km

Passenger services on the line were terminated on 31 December 1954. Thereafter, only a packaging machine manufacturer from Gudensberg used the line to ship his wares, and even then only weekly. The tracks were removed in 1980, and the railway embankment is nowadays used as a cycling and hiking path.

Established businesses

Dupon Biscuits, GTS Stanztechnik, Weber Netze, DPD Lager 34, Stolle.

Education

The town has three kindergartens, two primary schools (one of which is in Obervorschütz), one comprehensive school with a school observatory, a special school and a media centre.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Matthias Beller, chemist
• Matthias Botthof, IFBB Pro
• Regiane Da Silva, IFBB Pro
• Hugo Brunner, librarian and historian
• Daniel Angelocrater, theologian
• Ulrich Sonnemann, philosopher
• Conrad Mel, theologian and pedagogue
• Helmut Reitze, journalist
• Thomas Freudenstein, footballer
• Otto Kastl, footballer
• Heinrich Reuter (1905–1984), painter
• Bernd Siebert (politician), politician and Member of the German Bundestag and Landtag of Hesse

Literature

• Eduard Brauns: Wander- und Reiseführer durch Nordhessen und Waldeck, A. Bernecker Verlag, Melsungen 1971, S.303.
• Eckhart G. Franz: Chronik von Hessen. Chronik-Verlag, Dortmund 1991.
  ISBN 3-611-00192-9
  .