Großalmerode Explained

Type:Stadt
Großalmerode
Image Coa:Wappen Grossalmerode.png
Coordinates:51.2575°N 9.7844°W
Image Plan:Großalmerode ESW.svg
State:Hesse
Region:Kassel
District:Werra-Meißner-Kreis
Elevation:421 - 643
Area:37.62
Postal Code:37247
Area Code:05604
Licence:ESW
Gemeindeschlüssel:06 6 36 004
Website:www.grossalmerode.de
Mayor:Finn Thomsen[1]
Leader Term:2023 - 29

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

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 Ortsteile 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

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 (Hessian crucible) 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
CDUChristian Democratic Union of Germany25.5828.79
SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany60.21962.619
WGWählergemeinschaft Großalmerode14.348.63
Total100.031100.031
Voter turnout in %48.953.5

Mayor

From 2000 to 2017, Andreas Nickel (SPD) has been the town’s mayor. In 2017 Finn Thomsen was elected 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

Museums

Buildings

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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ergebnisse der jeweils letzten Direktwahl von Landrätinnen und Landräte sowie (Ober-)Bürgermeisterinnen und (Ober-)Bürgermeister in Hessen. de. 21 May 2024. Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. XLS.
  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