Hohenroda

Hohenroda

Coat of arms
Hohenroda

Coordinates: 50°48′28″N 9°55′22″E / 50.80778°N 9.92278°E / 50.80778; 9.92278Coordinates: 50°48′28″N 9°55′22″E / 50.80778°N 9.92278°E / 50.80778; 9.92278
Country Germany
State Hesse
Admin. region Kassel
District Hersfeld-Rotenburg
Government
  Mayor Andre Stenda (Ind.)
Area
  Total 35.74 km2 (13.80 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
  Total 3,114
  Density 87/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 36284
Dialling codes 06676
Vehicle registration HEF
Website www.hohenroda.de

Hohenroda is a municipality in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany lying right on the boundary with Thuringia.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies between the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest (ranges) in the so-called Kuppen Rhön. The highest elevation in the Hessian Skittles (a range of volcanic mountains), the Soisberg, stands at the western municipal limits.

The nearest major centres are Bad Hersfeld (some 20 km to the northwest) and Fulda (some 32 km to the southwest).

Neighbouring municipalities

Hohenroda borders in the north on the municipality of Philippsthal (in Hersfeld-Rotenburg), in the east on the municipality of Unterbreizbach, in the southeast on the municipality of Buttlar (both in Thuringia’s Wartburgkreis), in the south on the municipality of Eiterfeld (in Fulda district), in the west on the municipality of Schenklengsfeld and in the northwest on the municipality of Friedewald (both in Hersfeld-Rotenburg).

Constituent communities

Hohenroda’s districts are Ausbach, Glaam, Mansbach, Oberbreitzbach, Ransbach and Soislieden.

History

The church in Mansbach

In 1232, Mansbach had its first documentary mention and is believed to have been bound to the Buchonian knightly order of Mansbach since its founding. Ransbach followed with its first documentary mention in 1254 as a village of the Amt of Landeck.

The Lords of Mansbach built up a half-independent lesser lordly house in which they could take advantage of relations with the neighbouring Hersfeld and Fulda Abbeys and the Landgraves of Hesse.

Mansbach Castle was destroyed by Abbot Bertho IV of Fulda between 1274 and 1286. After it had been built up once again, it was at times in the 14th and 15th centuries a fief or an allodial holding. In 1364, the Mansbachs acquired jurisdiction over the community. In 1662, the Lords of Geyso bought lands from the Mansbachs and built a palatial residence here. Until Mediatization in 1806, the village was claimed by the Fulda Abbey as a territory without Imperial immediacy, although in practice, it consisted of three knightly estates that did have Imperial immediacy.

In the early 20th century, the manufacturer Adolf Hupertz (then also owner of Rieneck Castle) became owner of 1,700 morgen of land between Mansbach, Glaam and Oberbreitzbach. He made a farming estate out of it and named it Hohenroda, which for ever thereafter belonged to the community of Oberbreitzbach. Between 1907 and 1909, Hupertz had himself a manor house with parkland built on the estate. This he called Schloss Hohenroda. When the greater community was founded on 1 February 1972, the estate’s and manor house’s name was also applied to it. Since 1988, the community’s administrative seat has been housed at the old manor house.

Amalgamations

With municipal reform, the new community of Hohenroda came into being in 1971 and 1972 through the merger of the communities of Ausbach, Mansbach and Ransbach.

In the leadup to this, Glaam was amalgamated with Ransbach in 1968, while Oberbreitzbach and Soislieden were amalgamated with Mansbach in 1970.

Politics

Community 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 21.3 5 22.6 5
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 65.6 15 68.9 16
FDP Free Democratic Party 13.1 3 8.5 2
Total 100.0 23 100.0 23
Voter turnout in % 55.2 66.6

Mayor

Mayor Andre Stenda (independent) was elected to office on 12 May 2013 with 70.7% of the vote.[2]

Coat of arms

On the left, the von Mansbach family’s arms

The community’s Coat of arms might be described thus: Gyronny of six gules and argent, six leaves conjoined at the fess point counterchanged.

The six leaves symbolize the merger of the six former communities into the greater community. They are appletree leaves (which is not mentioned in the German blazon), referring to a variety of apple named after the centre of Ausbach, the Ausbacher Roter, which is often still found growing on orchard meadows. The tinctures silver and red come from the arms borne by the Lords of Mansbach, Electorate of Hesse and the community of Ransbach. The gyronny parting – the pattern of parting lines radiating from the escutcheon’s centre – likewise comes from the von Mansbach family’s arms.

Culture and sightseeing

Museums

The Renaissance palace (Geyso Schloss) in Mansbach

Buildings

Sonnenuhrgebäude (Renaissance castle, fortified.

References

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