Stadtallendorf

Coordinates: 50°50′N 09°01′E / 50.833°N 9.017°E / 50.833; 9.017
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Stadtallendorf
Town
Aerial view
Aerial view
Coat of arms of Stadtallendorf
Coat of arms
Location of Stadtallendorf within Marburg-Biedenkopf district
MünchhausenBiedenkopfBreidenbachSteffenbergAngelburgBad EndbachDautphetalGladenbachLohraFronhausenWetterLahntalRauschenbergWohratalCölbeWeimarMarburgEbsdorfergrundNeustadtKirchhainAmöneburgStadtallendorfNorth Rhine-WestphaliaWaldeck-FrankenbergSchwalm-Eder-KreisLahn-Dill-KreisGießen (district)Vogelsbergkreis
Gießen
DistrictMarburg-Biedenkopf
Government
 • Mayor (2017–23) Christian Somogyi[1] (SPD)
Area
 • Total78.29 km2 (30.23 sq mi)
Elevation
256 m (840 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[2]
 • Total21,552
 • Density280/km2 (710/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
35260
Dialling codes06428
Vehicle registrationMR
Websitewww.stadtallendorf.de

Stadtallendorf is a town in the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf, Hesse, Germany. It lies about 18 km (11 miles) east of Marburg. In 2010, the town hosted the 50th Hessentag state festival.

Geography

Location

Under the German system of Naturräume, Stadtallendorf lies in the

divide between the Rhine and Weser watersheds
.

Neighbouring communities

Stadtallendorf borders in the north on the town of Rauschenberg (Marburg-Biedenkopf) and the community of Gilserberg (Schwalm-Eder-Kreis), in the east on the town of Neustadt, in the southeast on the town of Kirtorf, in the south on the town of Homberg (Ohm) (both in the Vogelsbergkreis), and in the west on the towns of Amöneburg and Kirchhain (both in Marburg-Biedenkopf).

Constituent communities (Ortsteile)

  • Niederklein
  • Schweinsberg (an der Ohm)
  • Erksdorf – This village of 1,000 inhabitants was amalgamated in the 1970s; the name comes from a long-ago settler named Eric von Erkersdorp.
  • Hatzbach
  • Wolferode

History

Memorial of the camp „KZ-Außenlager Münchmühle“

Stadtallendorf was given city rights in 1960; it had been known until then simply as Allendorf.

During

munitions centre. The armament firms WASAG (Westfälisch-Anhaltische Sprengstoff Actien-Gesellschaft, "Westphalian & Anhaltish Explosives A.G.") and DAG produced munitions and explosives in two separate large facilities located in the woods nearby. At the time, it was one of the largest of all munitions production centres in Europe. The Munition centre continued throughout the war without being detected by the Allies.[3]
Labor was provided by both German and foreign forced laborers, including prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates, housed in about a dozen camps in the surrounding area.

The 6 square kilometre premises where the wartime arms works were built were said to be one of Germany's biggest contaminated former industrial sites, in parts with high concentrations of chemical contaminants on residential properties. Since 1991, the premises have undergone a far-reaching cleanup; in March 2006, the job was officially declared done. According to information from the Hesse Environment Ministry, the cleanup cost

TNT
– still capable of exploding – were unearthed.

Steinlager Allendorf

Steinlager Allendorf was a primitive American prison near the University of Marburg.[1] where Nazi Germany general and staff officers (more than 200) such as Franz Halder and Heinz Guderian[4] and scientists such as Wilhelm Schaefer were interrogated after World War II.

Politics

Mayors

  • Since 2012: Christian Somogyi (SPD)[5]

Town council

As of the last municipal elections held on 27 March 2011, town council seats are apportioned thus:

Parties and voting blocks %
2011 		Seats
2011 		%
2006 		Seats
2006
CDU
Christian Democratic Union
 45.1 17 47.4 18
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 32.9 12 32.4 12
GRÜNE
Alliance '90/The Greens
 10.2 4 – –
FDP Free Democratic Party 6.3 2 – –
REP The Republicans 5.6 2 7.1 3
AGS Association for municipal politics – – 6.7 2
BB-F.D.P. Local block - F.D.P. – – 6.4 2
Total 100 37 100 37
Voter turnout in % 41.6 41.9

Coat of arms

Stadtallendorf's civic coat of arms might be described thus: In azure, dexter a bear rampant sinister Or armed gules and langued Or, sinister a lion rampant striped per fess nine times in gules and argent (the Lion of Hesse), langued gules and armed Or, both holding a six-spoked wheel argent (the Wheel of Mainz).

The Hessian lion and the Wheel of Mainz stand for the town's old allegiances. Until secularization, Stadtallendorf belonged to the

Archbishopric of Mainz, and thereafter to Hesse
. The bear is a reference to an old name for the town, Allendorf im Bärenschießen, once used to distinguish the town from other places called Allendorf, and now needless thanks to the town's newer name. The arms have been kept even as other communities have been amalgamated with the old Allendorf as part of Hesse's municipal reforms.

Town partnerships

Stadtallendorf maintains partnerships with the following towns:

Transport

Stadtallendorf station is served at hourly intervals by the Mittelhessen-Express (SE 30).

Economy

The town is economically successful, as large factories such as

Great Crested Newt
, which is on the list of protected species.

In an area of 78.3 km2 live approx. 21,600 inhabitants, 16,900 of those in the main centre, whose population is about 25% foreign.

Population

(in each case as of 31 December)

  • 1998 – 21,587
  • 1999 – 21,643
  • 2000 – 21,656
  • 2001 – 21,671
  • 2002 – 21,704
  • 2003 – 21,708
  • 2004 – 21,528
  • 2006 – 21,540
  • 2009 – 21,146

Pictures of Stadtallendorf and its outlying centres

  • Schweinsberg (Town)
    Schweinsberg (Town)
  • Erksdorf
    Erksdorf
  • Hatzbach
    Hatzbach
  • Wolferode
    Wolferode

Notable people

  • Johann Georg Estor (1699–1773), lawyer and genealogist, born in Schweinsberg district
  • Eike Immel (born 1960), formerly a football goalkeeper

Personalities who lived or worked in Stadtallendorf

  • Margot Käßmann (born 1958), Protestant theologian and former bishop, grew up in Stadtallendorf

References

  1. Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt
    . 5 September 2022.
  2. Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt
    . June 2023.
  3. ^ This, however, contradicts the statement by former French political prisoner and Nazi slave labourer Agnes Humbert in her book Resistance (Dutch version, p. 239, footnote:"After my liberation, I heard that the camp of Allendorf was totally evacuated and destroyed by air-bombardments. A former female guard whom I interrogated, assured me that there were no gas-chambers nor ovens there, but she admitted that the (nazi-)administration was horrible in all respects." note by drs. Carles Wolterman, Amstelveen, the Netherlands)
  4. ISBN 9780806125817. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help
    )
  5. ^ Ergebnisse der Bürgermeisterwahlen 2005 und 2011, Stadt Stadtallendorf. Accessed March 2, 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stadtallendorf.
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