Kirchhain

Coordinates: 50°49′N 8°55′E / 50.817°N 8.917°E / 50.817; 8.917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kirchhain
Kirchhain's Town Hall.
Kirchhain's Town Hall.
Coat of arms of Kirchhain
Location of Kirchhain within Marburg-Biedenkopf district
MünchhausenBiedenkopfBreidenbachSteffenbergAngelburgBad EndbachDautphetalGladenbachLohraFronhausenWetterLahntalRauschenbergWohratalCölbeWeimarMarburgEbsdorfergrundNeustadtKirchhainAmöneburgStadtallendorfNorth Rhine-WestphaliaWaldeck-FrankenbergSchwalm-Eder-KreisLahn-Dill-KreisGießen (district)Vogelsbergkreis
Gießen
DistrictMarburg-Biedenkopf
Subdivisions13 Stadtbezirke
Government
 • Mayor (2022–28) Olaf Hausmann[1] (SPD)
Area
 • Total90.92 km2 (35.10 sq mi)
Elevation
208 m (682 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[2]
 • Total16,462
 • Density180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
35274
Dialling codes06422
Vehicle registrationMR
Websitewww.kirchhain.de

Kirchhain (German: [ˈkɪʁçˌhaɪ̯n] ) is a town in Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Kirchhain is located in the heart of the state of

Ohm
and Wohra.

Neighbouring communities

In the north, Kirchhain borders on the town of Rauschenberg, in the east on the town of Stadtallendorf, in the south on the town of Amöneburg and the community of Cölbe.

Town divisions

Besides the main centre of Kirchhain with about 8,300 inhabitants, 12 further constituent communities share another 8,900 people:

  • Anzefahr
  • Betziesdorf
  • Burgholz
  • Emsdorf
  • Großseelheim
  • Himmelsberg
  • Kleinseelheim
  • Langenstein
  • Niederwald
  • Schönbach
  • Sindersfeld
  • Stausebach, first mentioned in 1268 as Stuzenbach.

History

In

Archbishops of Mainz. Time and again, the Hessians and Mainzers came to blows over who had ascendancy over these lands. As of the 13th century, the landgraves
of Hesse further upgraded Kirchhain as a Hessian bulwark against Mainz's centre of Amöneburg so that they could control the region. Kirchhain then developed into the economic centre of the Amöneburg Basin. Kirchhain was presumably given town rights before 1348, but without any earlier documentary proof, the year 1352 has come to be seen as the official year of the town's founding.

From the 15th century, the important Lange Hessen and Cologne-Leipzig trade roads made of Kirchhain a road hub and thereby spurred on the town's further economic development. Its good traffic connections, however, led to Kirchhain's being occupied a few times during the Thirty Years' War, becoming for a time the headquarters of various armies, and thereby having to suffer as troops were billeted in the town. In 1636, about 12,000 to 14,000 soldiers were being housed in and around the town. For the 1,000 or so townsfolk at that time, this was a tremendous burden.

Kirchhain likewise had to put up with such troubles in the Seven Years' War as its good traffic connections once again led troops to the town.

From 1821 on, Kirchhain was the district seat (Kreisstadt) of the newly created Kirchhain administrative district, until this was combined with the Marburg district in 1932.

Politics

Town council

As of municipal elections held on 26 March 2006, seats on town council are apportioned thus:

CDU
15 seats
SPD 15 seats
Greens
4 seats
FDP 2 seats
UWG (citizens' coalition) 1 seat

Elections in March 2016:

  • CDU: 13 seats
  • SPD: 17 seats
  • Greens: 3 seats
  • The LEFT: 2 seats
  • FDP: 2 seats
  • Total: 37 seats

[3]

Transportation

Kirchhain has a train station and lies on the

Main-Weser Railway
.

Town partnerships

Buildings

Notable people

Leo Strauss, Political Philosopher

Personalities

Personalities born in Kirchhain

Benedict Stilling 1901

Personalities who have lived or worked in Kirchhain

  • Ludwig Vogel (1920-2014), Roman Catholic priest, chaplain in Kirchhain-Anzefahr
  • Friedrich Bohl (born 1945), politician (CDU), from 1991 to 1998 Federal Minister for special tasks Head of the Federal Chancellery, living in Kirchhain
  • Gabriela Lesch (born 1964), medium-haul, living in Kirchhain

References

  1. Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt
    . 5 September 2022.
  2. Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt
    . June 2023.
  3. ^ "Wahlen".

External links