Waldeck is a small town in
Waldeck-FrankenbergWaldeck-Frankenberg is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Höxter, Kassel, Schwalm-Eder, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Hochsauerland.-History:...
district in northwestern
HesseHesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Location
Waldeck lies on the
EderseeThe Edersee Dam is a hydroelectric dam constructed between 1908 to 1914 across the Eder river, near the small town of Waldeck in northern Hesse, Germany, it lies at the northern edge of the Kellerwald...
, a man-made lake. Waldeck's constituent communities stretch from the shore of the Edersee into the Langer Wald ("Long Forest").
Neighbouring communities
Waldeck borders in the north on the community of
TwistetalTwistetal is a community in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northwest Hesse, Germany, southwest of Bad Arolsen.-Location:The community lies on the river Twiste, a tributary to the Diemel, itself a tributary to the Weser...
, in the northeast on the town of
Bad ArolsenBad Arolsen is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and then until 1929 as the capital of the Waldeck Free State...
(both in Waldeck-Frankenberg), in the east on the towns of
WolfhagenWolfhagen is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km southeast of Bad Arolsen, and 23 km west of Kassel on the German Framework Road.-External links:*...
and
NaumburgNaumburg is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km southwest of Kassel on the German Framework Road.-External links:*...
(both in the
district of KasselKassel is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Northeim, Göttingen, Werra-Meißner, Schwalm-Eder, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Höxter...
), in the south on the community of
Edertal-Location:Edertal lies roughly 30 km in a straight line southwest of Kassel. It is on the north and northwest edges of the Kellerwald range and stretches to the south shore of the Edersee and south and southwest of its dam...
, and in the west on the community of
VöhlVöhl is a community in Waldeck-Frankenberg in Hesse, Germany not far southwest of Kassel.-Location:Vöhl lies in the northern part of the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park on the Edersee, a man-made lake.-Neighbouring communities:...
and the town of
KorbachKorbach is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and a former Hanseatic town. It is located on the German Framework Road.- Geography and geology :...
(all three in Waldeck-Frankenberg).
Constituent communities
The town of Waldeck consists of the centres of Alraft, Dehringhausen, Freienhagen, Höringhausen, Netze, Nieder-Werbe, Ober-Werbe, Sachsenhausen, Selbach and Waldeck.
History
The first evidence of settlement at Waldeck comes from the year 1232 when a document from the Netze
MonasteryMonastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
mentioned the
universitas civitatis de waldeke. Until 1254, the town was also called Rode, possibly because there was a clearing there. The town's first seal was acquired in 1266, and the town had its first historically verifiable mayor in 1311. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Waldeck's population barely exceeded 400.
Waldeck was the residence of the
CountA count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
s of Waldeck who, beginning around 1200, gradually gathered a
sizeable realmWaldeck was a sovereign principality in the German Empire and German Confederation and, until 1929, a constituent state of the Weimar Republic. It comprised territories in present-day Hesse and Lower Saxony, ....
under their control and, having added the county of
Pyrmont-External links:* * -Multimedia:*...
to their holdings through inheritance, were elevated to Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont in 1712. In 1655, the residence was transferred to
ArolsenBad Arolsen is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and then until 1929 as the capital of the Waldeck Free State...
, and Waldeck lost its importance.
The Edersee, Germany's third largest reservoir, was created by the construction of the Eder
damA dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
in 1914. The dam, designed to help regulate water levels for
shippingShipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
on the Weser and to generate
hydroelectricityHydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
, was destroyed by the
RAFThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
on 17 May 1943 (see
Operation ChastiseOperation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
), causing massive
floodA flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing and loss of life downstream, but was rebuilt.
Freienhagen
Until municipal reforms in 1974, Freienhagen was a town in its own right. It already had town rights when history first mentioned the town in 1253; it is believed that they were granted in 1231. On the
Hünenburg, a 472 m-high mountain in the Freienhagen Municipal Forest, traces of a prehistoric settlement have been found.
In the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Freienhagen had a complete ring of walls with two town gates through which led the old trade road from
CologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
to
LeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Likewise historically interesting is the Freienhagen
Free CourtThe Vehmic courts, Vehmgericht, holy vehme, or just the Vehm, also spelt Feme, are names given to a "proto-vigilante" tribunal system of Westphalia active during the later Middle Ages, based on a fraternal organisation of lay judges called “free judges” . The principal seat of the courts was in...
(
Freienhagener Freigericht), which sat at first at the
Schiebenscheid and later under the linden tree at the
Steinborn. Under the Free Counts (
Freigrafen – chairmen of the court) Sigmund Manegold (1435–1455) and Johann Manhoff (1438–1458), the court reached its greatest importance: the
Teutonic KnightsThe Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
, and the cities of
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and Cologne, were referred to Freienhagen.
Amalgamations
As part of municipal reforms, the greater town of Waldeck was formed out of the formerly independent communities of Alraft, Höringhausen, Netze, Nieder-Werbe, Selbach, Sachsenhausen and Waldeck. In 1974, Dehringhausen, Freienhagen and Ober-Werbe also joined the town.
Town council
The town council's 31 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006:
SPDThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
|
12 seats |
| CDU The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
|
10 seats |
| FWG |
6 seats |
| FDP The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
|
2 seats |
| Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
|
1 seat |
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
The town's executive consists of 7 councillors. Three of these seats are held by the SPD, 2 by the CDU, and one seat each by the FWG and the FDP.
At the mayoral election on 22 October 2000, the SDP's Peter Brandenburg was elected Waldeck's mayor with an 80.9% share of the vote.
Coat of arms
The official blazon roughly translates thus: In Or a six-pointed star sable.
This simply describes a black six-pointed star on a gold background, with no mention at all of the fleur-de-lys. Furthermore, Waldeck's official
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
presence does not contain any text about the civic
coat of armsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
, although it does display the version with the lily. At least one source, however, shows arms for Waldeck matching the blazon.
http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/w/waldeck2.htm
According to this same source, the star was originally eight-pointed, as commonly appears in many civic arms in the Waldeck region. It is an heraldic charge once borne by the Counts of Waldeck in the Middle Ages. The number of points was changed in the 19th century to distinguish the town's arms from the district's.
Buildings
- Schloss Waldeck, stately home, and the town's landmark
- Netze monastery church with an altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
from the 14th century
- Sachsenhäuser Warte (watchtower in Sachsenhausen)
- Edertalsperre (dam)
- Romanesque
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
"fortress church" with onion domeAn onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles the onion, after which they are named. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the drum upon which they are set, and their height usually exceeds their width...
s in Freienhagen
- half-timbered
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
houses in Freienhagen
- Old mills near Freienhagen
Transport
Through the town run the Federal Highways (
Bundesstraßen) B 251 and B 485.
Operations on the stretch of the Ederseebahn railway line between
Bad WildungenBad Wildungen is a state-run spa and a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Framework Road.-Geography:-Location:...
and
KorbachKorbach is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and a former Hanseatic town. It is located on the German Framework Road.- Geography and geology :...
, on which lies Waldeck, ceased on 27 May 1995.
There is a
cablewayAn aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...
to the
EderseeThe Edersee Dam is a hydroelectric dam constructed between 1908 to 1914 across the Eder river, near the small town of Waldeck in northern Hesse, Germany, it lies at the northern edge of the Kellerwald...
and well built
hikingHiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
trails in the
KellerwaldThe Kellerwald is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 675 m in the western part of northern Hesse, Germany.Its assets include Germany's largest contiguous beech woodland and it contains Hesse's only national park, the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park.- Geography :The Kellerwald lies in...
-Edersee National Park.
External links