Gelnhausen

Gelnhausen
Town
View of Gelnhausen with theMarienkirche
Coat of arms
Location of Gelnhausen within Main-Kinzig-Kreis district
Gelnhausen Gelnhausen
Coordinates:50°12′N09°10′E
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
District	Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Subdivisions	6 districts
Government
•Mayor(2017–23)	Daniel Christian Glöckner
Area
• Total	45.18 km2(17.44 sq mi)
Highest elevation	312 m (1,024 ft)
Lowest elevation	180 m (590 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	23,679
• Density	520/km2(1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal codes	63571
Dialling codes	06051
Vehicle registration	MKK, GN, SLÜ
Website	www.gelnhausen.de

Gelnhausen(German pronunciation:[ɡɛlnˈhaʊ̯zn̩]) is a town, and the capital of theMain-Kinzig-Kreis,inHesse,Germany.It is located approximately 40 kilometers east ofFrankfurt am Main,between theVogelsberg mountainsand theSpessartrange at the riverKinzig.It is one of the eleven towns (urban municipalities) in the district. Gelnhausen has around 22,000 inhabitants.

Geography

Location

Constituent communities

According to theInstitut Géographique Nationalfrom 1 January 2007 until July 2013 thegeographic centre of the European Unionwas located on a wheat field outside the town.

Gelnhausen is located on theGerman Fairy Tale Route,a tourist route.

History

Imperial City of Gelnhausen Reichsstadt Gelnhausen
1170–1803
Status	Free Imperial City
Capital	Gelnhausen
Government	Republic
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Founded byFrederick Barbarossa	1170
• Pledged toLd Hanau	1349–? 1170
• Pledged to counties ofSchwarzburgandHohnstein	26 May 1349
• Hohnstein share to Schwarzburg	22 July 1431
• Schwarzburg sold toHanauand thePalatinate	26 May 1435
• Hanau extinct; share toLgvt Hesse-Kassel	28 March 1736
• Palatinate share to Hesse-Kassel	1746 1803
• Hesse-Kassel raised to electorate	1803
Preceded by Succeeded by Lordship of Hanau Lordship of Hanau County of Schwarzburg County of Hohnstein

Obermarkt

Monument toPhilip Reis,an early telephone inventor

Gelnhausen was founded byEmperor Frederick Barbarossain 1170, it is therefore nicknamed "Barbarossastadt".The place was chosen because it was at the intersection of theVia Regiaimperial road betweenFrankfurtandLeipzigand several other major trade routes. Frederick had three villages connected by streets and surrounded by a wall. At the same time, Gelnhausen receivedtown privilegesand aKaiserpfalzwas erected on an island of the Kinzig river. The emperor also grantedtrade privilegeslike thestaple rightwhich forced traveling merchants to offer their goods in the town for three days.

Hence Gelnhausen initially was a thriving trade town and head of a league of 16 towns of theWetterauregion. However prosperity came to an end already in 1326 whenEmperor Louis IVgave the town in pawn to the counts ofHanau,redeemed shortly afterwards. In 1349 CountGünther von Schwarzburgreceived Gelnhausen fromEmperor Charles IVfor renouncing his claims as electedKing of the Romans,incondominiumwith thecounts of Hohnstein,who sold their share to Schwarzburg in 1431. Schwarzburg was acquired in 1435 byElector Palatine Louis IIIand theHanau,since raised to a county.

Repeated plundering in theThirty Years' Waras depicted byHans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausenin his novelSimplicius Simplicissimusmade it nearly uninhabitable. In 1736, the extinction of the comital line of Hanau meant the condominium share was inherited by theLandgraviate of Hesse-Kassel,who acquired the Palatinate's share ten years later.

The varying lords made continued attempts to challenge Gelnhausen'simperial immediacy,it however formally remained aReichsstadt.During theGerman Mediatisationof 1803 the city became a part of theLandgraviate of Hesse-Kassel,which was raised to an electorate and, after theAustro-Prussian Warof 1866, was annexed byPrussia.At this time Gelnhausen had completely recovered, and with theGründerzeiteconomic boom it became a centre of the German rubber industry.

The Holocaust

During the Nazi era, Gelnhausen was reportedjudenfreion November 1, 1938, by propaganda newspaperKinzigwachtafter itssynagoguewas closed and remaining local Jews forced to leave the town.

From the 1930s Gelnhausen was a garrison town of the GermanWehrmachtand, afterWorld War II,of theUnited States Army.The US Army closedColeman Kasernein 2007.

In 1996, the town hosted the 36thHessentagstate festival.

Arts and culture

Attractions

Sights include:

• Medieval town center with historic buildings like theRomanisches Haus(ca. 1180), theGotisches Haus(1351/52).
• TheKaiserpfalz Gelnhausen.The castle was erected 1160-80 at the time of Gelnhausen's foundation southeast of the town on an island in the Kinzig river. The groundwork is stabilized by 12,000 logs, driven into the earth. Today it is the best preservedKaiserpfalzfrom this era.
• TheMarienkirche,the most recognizable landmark of Gelnhausen. It shows bothRomanesque(like the six-storey west tower) andGothic architecture(the octagonal crossing tower and the east towers) elements. The church was built from localbunterbetween 1170 and 1250 by Selbold Abbey, replacing a simple chapel from ca. 1100 of which some traces remain. In 1543, Gelnhausenturned Protestantand the church became the Protestant parish church.
• The Catholic church ofSaint Peter.Its origins lie in the early 13th century; rich citizens of Gelnhausen planned to erect a church within the town, causing a conflict with the Selbold Abbey that owned the clerical patronage for Gelnhausen. This conflict was escalated up toPope Gregory IXwho decided in favour of the abbey. From the 13th to the 15th century the church was used for weddings, baptisms, and funerals. After theReformation,the building became the property of the town. It subsequently fell into ruin and was sold in 1830 to a local merchant. After the demolition of the second tower, a cigar factory was built in it. In 1920, the Catholic community of Gelnhausen bought the church and partly restored it over an 18-year period. A complete restoration took place in 1982–3.

Governance

Town twinning

See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Gelnhausen istwinnedwith:

• Clamecy,France
• Marling,Italy

Infrastructure

Transport

Gelnhausen lies directly on the GermanautobahnA66.Gelnhausen stationis located on theKinzig Valley Railway,a major line betweenFrankfurtandFulda.Regional services from Frankfurt to Fulda orWächtersbachstop in Gelnhausen.

Notable people

• August Brey(1864–1937), politician, member of theWeimar National Assembly,born inRonnenberg
• Johann Heinrich Cassebeer(1784–1850), naturalist and mayor of Gelnhausen
• Hans Fischinger(born 1909), film director, brother of Oskar
• Oskar Fischinger(1900–1967), film director
• Hans Joachim Fröhlich(died 2008), forestry scientist and conservationist, born at Meerholz, Gelnhausen
• Jost Hoen(c. 1500–1569), teacher, pedagogue and statesman
• TiaandTamera Mowry(born 1978), actresses
• Klaus Ploghaus(born 1956), athlete (hammer throw, 3rd place in the1984 Summer Olympics)
• Johann Philipp Reis(1834–1874), inventor of one of the first telephones
• Friedrich Armand Strubberg(1806–1889), merchant, physician, colonist in North America, who claimed to be a direct descendant ofFrederick I of Sweden.Buried in Gelnhausen
• Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen(c. 1622–1676), writer; In his workSimplicissimus,the sacking of Gelnhausen during theThirty Years' Waris graphically described
• Wolfram Weimer(born 1964), chief editor of theCiceromagazine

Like many American soldiers, in 1959Colin Powell,then lieutenant of the3rd Armored Division,served atColeman Kaserne.A street was named after him. During theSecond Gulf War,there was some discussion about renaming the street because of Germany's stance on the war. The mayor of Gelnhausen strongly objected.

See also

• Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen

External links

• Official municipal site
• Large aerial from town centre looking NorthWest
• Stolpersteine in Gelnhausen