Großalmerode

Großalmerode (or Grossalmerode) is a town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.

Großalmerode
Coat of arms
Location of Großalmerode within Werra-Meißner-Kreis district
Großalmerode
Großalmerode
Coordinates: 51°15′27″N 9°47′04″E
CountryGermany
StateHesse
Admin. regionKassel
DistrictWerra-Meißner-Kreis
Government
  MayorAndreas Nickel
Area
  Total37.62 km2 (14.53 sq mi)
Highest elevation
643 m (2,110 ft)
Lowest elevation
421 m (1,381 ft)
Population
 (2019-12-31)[1]
  Total6,408
  Density170/km2 (440/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
37247
Dialling codes05604
Vehicle registrationESW
Websitewww.grossalmerode.de

Geography

Location

The small town, which has had town rights since 1775, lies 21 km east of Kassel in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park on the river Gelster. Here the constituent community of Laudenbach can also be found, in the Kaufunger Wald (range) between the Steinberg or Bilstein in the northwest and the Hirschberg in the southwest. Not far to the southeast stands the highest mountain in northeast Hesse, the Hoher Meißner.

Neighbouring communities

These are Witzenhausen, Hessisch Lichtenau, Helsa, Bad Sooden-Allendorf and Berkatal.

Constituent communities

Großalmerode’s Teilorte are Weißenbach, Trubenhausen, Uengsterode, Rommerode, Laudenbach and Epterode. Also within town limits are Bransrode, Gut Giesenhagen and Faulbach, although these are not outlying centres, but rather officially parts of the main town.

History

View of Großalmerode towards the northwest

In 1386, today’s Großalmerode had its first documentary mention as Almerode. Town rights, though, only came in 1775.

Ceramics manufacture in mediaeval Großalmerode was very advanced. The products were exported worldwide for their high resistance to heat (1 100 to 1 200 °C).[2][3]

At a gathering of the Christian Gemeinschaftsbewegung (“Fellowship Movement”) in 1907 there were ecstatic phenomena, the condemnation of which led to a rift between the Gemeinschaftsbewegung and the Pentecostal movement in 1909, through the so-called Berlin Declaration.

Politics

Town 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 25.5 8 28.7 9
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 60.2 19 62.6 19
WG Wählergemeinschaft Großalmerode 14.3 4 8.6 3
Total 100.0 31 100.0 31
Voter turnout in % 48.9 53.5

Mayor

Since 2000, Andreas Nickel (SPD) has been the town’s mayor.

Coat of arms

The town’s arms might be described thus: Argent a mound vert, thereon three crucibles gules, one on top of the others, between two piles of Üller azure.

Üller which are made of Almerode clay, like the crucibles, are somewhat like marbles, but often much bigger.

Town partnerships

Culture and sightseeing

Bilsteinturm

Museums

  • Glass and Ceramics Museum

Buildings

  • Bilsteinturm (tower) on the Bilstein
  • The Evangelical parish church represents an architectural mixture of Baroque Revival, Gothic Revival and later style elements. The nave was added in 1913 and 1914 to a Late Gothic quire.

Sport

With regard to sport, Großalmerode is well known for the 58 km-long mountain bike trail running across the Kaufunger Wald. Each year, with a few variations on the course, the so-called Bilstein Bike Marathon is held here, which draws mountain bikers from all over Germany and the Benelux countries to town. On the Schwarzenberg lies the TC Großalmerode tennis complex, with four courts.

Furthermore, the active members of the Turngemeinde 1863 Großalmerode e.V. (gymnastics club) and the FC Großalmerode 1920 Bezirksoberliga footballers have made names for themselves in past years. Between the main town and the outlying centre of Epterode lies the Männerspielplatz (“men’s playground”), where unusual sporting activities are on offer, such as digger driving, jeep driving and quad driving.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Through the main town runs Bundesstraße 451, which leads to Bundesstraße 7 near Helsa and Bundesstraße 27 near Witzenhausen.

The railway line from Walburg to the Großalmerode Ost end-of-line station was opened on 15 December 1915. Passenger service was ended on 2 June 1973. After conversion, the trains ran farther along the Gelstertalbahn to Witzenhausen Süd and Eichenberg.

There was one other railway line that branched off at Velmeden from this line; it led to the Großalmerode West end-of-line station.

Famous people

  • Wilhelm Grimm, one of the Brothers Grimm, was confirmed on 13 April 1800 in Großalmerode.
  • Heinrich Pforr was a painter. He was born on 26 October 1880 in Laudenbach. A street in Laudenbach has been named after him, on which his house still stands today.
  • The poet Wilhelm Speck is an honorary citizen of the town and Wilhelm-Speck-Platz was named after him.

References

  1. "Bevölkerungsstand am 31.12.2019". Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt (in German). July 2020.
  2. Martinón-Torres, M., Rehren, T., and Freestone, I. “Mullite and the mystery of Hessian wares”, Nature 444, 437-438 (23 November 2006)
  3. MITTELALTER-HIGHTECH http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,450242,00.html SPIEGEL ONLINE - 23. November 2006, 14:32
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.