Hanau
Encyclopedia
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Main-Kinzig is a Kreis in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Wetteraukreis, Vogelsbergkreis, Fulda, Bad Kissingen, Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg, Offenbach and the district-free cities of Offenbach and Frankfurt.-History:...

, in Hesse
Hesse
Hesse 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...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , 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...

. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt
Frankfurt 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...

. Its station
Hanau Hauptbahnhof
is the central station for Hanau, Germany and a major rail junction east of Frankfurt am Main.The first Hanau station was built on the Frankfurt-Hanau Railway at the location of the current Hanau West station, close to Hanau city centre....

 is a major railway junction.

Geography

The historic core of Hanau is situated within a semicircle of River Kinzig
Kinzig (Main)
The Kinzig is a river in southern Hesse, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Main. It is 82 km long. Its source is in the Spessart hills, near Schlüchtern. The Kinzig flows into the Main in Hanau. The Main-Kinzig-Kreis was named after the river...

 which flows into the River Main just west of it. Today, after a vast expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries it also borders the River Main and after a restructure of municipal borders within Hesse
Hesse
Hesse 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...

 in the 1970s a couple of villages and towns in the neighbourhood were incorporated. This for the first time extended Hanau also to the south bank of River Main.

Districts

  • Town center
  • Lamboy
  • Kesselstadt
  • Großauheim
    Großauheim
    Großauheim is the largest district of Hanau, Hesse, Germany, on the north bank of the Main. It was first mentioned in 806 under the name "Ewichheim". It was a farming village until the end of the 19th century but during the 20th century, numerous branches of industry settled there. The Hanau Port...

  • Klein-Auheim
  • Mittelbuchen
  • Steinheim
  • Wolfgang
  • Hohe Tanne
  • Wilhelmsbad

  • Name

    The name derived of "Hagenowe" which is a composition out of "Haag" (wood) and "Aue" (open land at the side of a river).

    History

    The old town of Hanau

    As a place of settlement Hanau was first mentioned in 1143. Then it was the site of a castle which used the waters of the River Kinzig as a defense. The castle belonged to a noble family, calling themselves as "of Hanau" since the 13th century. Starting from this castle a village developed and became a town in 1303. Due to this development was the fact, that the main church of this town stood outside its walls in the village of Kinzdorf. The villagers moving into the town, Kinzdorf became an abandoned village leaving only the church. Only in the 15th century the status of the Hanau parish church
    Parish church
    A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

     was transferred to the church of Mary Magdalene
    Mary Magdalene
    Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...

     within the walls of Hanau.

    Shortly after the first town walls were built in the beginning of the 14th century the town outgrow this limit. Outside the wall, along the street heading for Frankfurt am Main a settlement developed (the “Vorstadt”) which was properly included in the fortifications of Hanau only when during the first half of the 16th century Hanau received totally new fortifications in Renaissance
    Renaissance
    The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

    -style. These new Fortifications included three elements: The mediaeval castle, the mediaeval town of Hanau and the “Vorstadt”.

    The new town of Hanau

    At the end of the 16th century, Count Philipp Ludwig II
    Philip Louis II of Hanau-Münzenberg
    Philip Louis II of Hanau-Münzenberg , was one of the most notable counts of Hanau of the early modern period, his policies bringing about sweeping changes....

     attracted Protestant refugees from the Netherlands
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

     and France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

     to found their own settlement south of Hanau. This was of high economic interest for him because these Walloons
    Walloons
    Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...

     brought high-class trade, their knowledge of jewellery and other production of luxury items and therefore taxes to his county. Out of this tradition goldsmith
    Goldsmith
    A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...

    s are still educated in Hanau. And in Hanau opened the first workshop to produce Faience
    Faience
    Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...

     within Germany
    Germany
    Germany , 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...

    . These new citizens were granted privilege
    Privilege
    A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...

    s and they formed their own community, church and administration for the “new town of Hanau” (Neustadt Hanau) totally separate from the existing community. It took more than 200 years to amalgamate both. The new town – larger than the old one – was protected by a (then) very modern fortification in Baroque
    Baroque
    The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

    -style which proved a big asset only a few years later in the Thirty Years' War
    Thirty Years' War
    The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

    . The town survived a siege in 1637 with only minor damage.

    The new citizens formed the mayor economic and political power within the County of Hanau and in 1642 played a leading role in the succession of Count Fredrik Casimir of Hanau Lichtenberg into the county of Hanau-Münzenberg of which the town of Hanau was capital.

    In 1736 Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg
    Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg
    Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg was the last of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg. He reigned from 1680 to 1736...

    , the last of the Counts of Hanau, died. Those parts of his county belonging to the county of Hanau-Münzenberg, which included Hanau, were inherited by the Landgrave
    Landgrave
    Landgrave was a title used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...

     of Hesse-Kassel
    Hesse-Kassel
    The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a state in the Holy Roman Empire under Imperial immediacy that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...

    . Due to dynastic troubles within this family the county of Hanau-Münzenberg was created a separate state from the Landgraviate until 1786. So Hanau stayed capital for another 50 years. Even after that it became – after Kassel
    Kassel
    Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

     – the town second in importance within Hesse-Kassel.

    19th Century

    During the Napoleonic Wars
    Napoleonic Wars
    The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

     the Emperor
    Napoleon I
    Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

     himself ordered the fortifications of Hanau to be destroyed. This opened a big chance for the towns to expand over their traditional limits. During the 1820th the administrations of both towns of Hanau were merged. The first common Mayor
    Mayor
    In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

    , who became Lord Mayor
    Lord Mayor
    The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...

     (Oberbürgermeister) became Bernhard Eberhard, later the Prime minister and minister of the interior of Kurhessen after the Revolution of 1848
    Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
    The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...

    .

    With its pre-industrial workshops Hanau became a nucleus of a heavy industrialisation
    Industrialisation
    Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...

     during the 19th century: From within the city (e.g.: Heraeus
    Heraeus
    Heraeus Holding GmbH is an engineering group based in Hanau, Germany. Its core areas of business are precious metals, special metals, dental materials, medical technology, quartz glass, sensors and specialised light sources...

    ) as well as from outside (e.g. Degussa, Dunlop
    Dunlop Rubber
    Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...

    ). This was heavily promoted by its development as an important railway interchange of six railway lines, most of them main lines:
    • 1848: Frankfurt-Hanau Railway
    • 1854: Main–Spessart Railway
    • 1867: Frankfurt–Bebra Railway, eastern direction
    • 1873: Frankfurt–Bebra Railway, western direction
    • 1879/1881: Friedberg–Hanau Railway
    • 1882: Odenwald Railway


    In the 19th century, Hanau was a centre of the German democratic movement and contributed significantly both in 1830 and in the Revolution of 1848
    Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
    The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...

    . As part of this movement the German Gymnastic League (Deutscher Turnerbund) was founded here in 1848.

    In the late 19th century Hanau became a major garrison. Due to its interchange of railway lines a large detachment of Military railway-engineers as well as other military units were stationed here.

    20th Century

    During World War II
    World War II
    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

    , Hanau was for the most part destroyed by British airstrikes in March 1945 a few days before it was taken by the US Army. It housed a large US Army garrison until 2008.

    In 2010 they started a huge building project to completely redesign the inner city. Those are the biggest workings in the city after the reconstruction of World War II.

    At present, many inhabitants work in the technological industry (VAC
    VAC
    VAC or Vac may refer to:In arts and entertainment* Velvet Acid Christ, an industrial band* Video Appeals Committee in the United Kingdom, responsible for hearing appeals against decisions by the British Board of Film Classification...

    , Heraeus
    Heraeus
    Heraeus Holding GmbH is an engineering group based in Hanau, Germany. Its core areas of business are precious metals, special metals, dental materials, medical technology, quartz glass, sensors and specialised light sources...

    ) or commute to Frankfurt. Frankfurt International Airport
    Frankfurt International Airport
    Frankfurt am Main Airport , or simply Frankfurt Airport, known in German as Flughafen Frankfurt am Main or Rhein-Main-Flughafen, is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, Germany, southwest of the city centre....

     is only 30 km away.

    Population

    • Hanau is the 6th largest town in Hesse. Having recently lost its status as administrative centre of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis (Main-Kinzig district) to Gelnhausen
      Gelnhausen
      Gelnhausen is a town and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig...

      , proposals have been made, that Hanau should form its own administrative district.
    • More than 20% of the inhabitants are foreign nationals, mostly Turkish workers.

    International relations

    Hanau is twinned
    Town twinning
    Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

     with 5 other towns: Dartford, United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

     Tottori
    Tottori, Tottori
    is the capital city of Tottori Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.As of 2006, the city has an estimated population of 200,974 and a density of 262.48 persons per km². The total area is 765.66 km²....

    , Japan
    Japan
    Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

     Yaroslavl
    Yaroslavl
    Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...

    , Russia
    Russia
    Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

     Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
    Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
    Conflans-Sainte-Honorine is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris from the center....

    , France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

     Francheville, Rhône
    Francheville, Rhône
    Francheville is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.-Boundaries:*In the canton of Lyon:**Lyon*In the canton of Tassin-la-Demi-Lune:**Tassin-la-Demi-Lune*In the canton of Vaugneray:**Brindas and Craponne...

    , France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...


    (Doorn
    Doorn
    Doorn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. On 1 January 2008 the town had 10,052 inhabitants.-History:...

    , Netherlands
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

     terminated in January 2009.)

    In addition it is associated with two other towns: Waltershausen
    Waltershausen
    Waltershausen is a city in the district of Gotha, Thuringia, Germany.The town has a population of 11475 .-Sister cities: Bruay-sur-l'Escaut, France Korbach, Germany Wolbrom, Poland Hanau, Germany -External links:*...

    , Thuringia
    Thuringia
    The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

    , Germany
    Germany
    Germany , 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...

     Pays de Hanau, France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...


    Sights

    • The German House of Goldsmiths (Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus)
    • Philippsruhe Castle
    • Health Establishment at Hanau-Wilhelmsbad
    • St Mary's Church (Marienkirche)
    • Walloon-Dutch Church (Wallonisch-Niederländische Kirche)

    Famous residents

    • The Brothers Grimm
      Brothers Grimm
      The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...

       (Brüder Grimm) collected many German fairy tales and started work on the German Glossary.
    • Ludwig Emil Grimm
      Ludwig Emil Grimm
      Ludwig Emil Grimm was a painter and engraver.He was born in Hanau, the younger brother of Brothers Grimm: Jacob and Wilhelm, who took care of him after their parents died in 1798 and supported his education. He went to Munich where he met with the engraver Karl Hess, and learned how to use the...

      , painter, younger brother of Jacob
      Jacob Grimm
      Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...

       and Wilhelm
      Wilhelm Grimm
      Wilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm.-Life and work:...

    • Paul Hindemith
      Paul Hindemith
      Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...

      , composer
    • Alois Kottmann
      Alois Kottmann
      Alois Kottmann is a German violinist, music pedagogue, university professor and patron.- Background :Alois Kottmann was raised as one of three children of a silversmith. His mother was very much interested in music so she made every possible effort for a musical education of her children...

      , (*1929) violinist, was born in Großauheim
      Großauheim
      Großauheim is the largest district of Hanau, Hesse, Germany, on the north bank of the Main. It was first mentioned in 806 under the name "Ewichheim". It was a farming village until the end of the 19th century but during the 20th century, numerous branches of industry settled there. The Hanau Port...

    • Rudi Völler
      Rudi Völler
      Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...

      , football/soccer world champion 1990 and coach of the German national team, when it was runner-up in 2002.
    • Wilhelm Wagenfeld
      Wilhelm Wagenfeld
      Wilhelm Wagenfeld was an important German industrial designer of the 20th Century, disciple of Bauhaus. He designed glass and metal works for the Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen., the Vereinigte Lausitzer Glaswerke in Weißwasser, Rosenthal, Braun GmbH and WMF...

      , Designer (1900–1990)
    • J. C. C. Devaranne was born in Hanau on March 8, 1784.
    • Karl Storck
      Karl Storck
      -External links: -Further reading:*Marin Mihalache, Sculptorii Storck , Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1975, LCCN: 75409215, LC: NB933.S83 M54...

      , Romanian sculptor, born in Hanau on March 30, 1887.
    • Louis Appia
      Louis Appia
      Louis Paul Amédée Appia was a Swiss surgeon with special merit in the area of military medicine. In 1863 he became a member of the Geneva "Committee of Five", which was the precursor to the International Committee of the Red Cross...

      , surgeon, member of the Geneva "Committee of Five" (precursor to the International Committee of the Red Cross
      International Committee of the Red Cross
      The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...

      )
    • Moritz Daniel Oppenheim
      Moritz Daniel Oppenheim
      Moritz Daniel Oppenheim was a German painter who is often regarded as the first Jewish painter of the modern era. His work was informed by his cultural and religious roots at a time when many of his German Jewish contemporaries chose to convert...

      , painter, often regarded as the first Jewish painter of the modern era.
    • Mike Minnix, United States Air Force, Aviation
    • Hans Daniel Hassenpflug, German statesman

    Sports

    • Turngemeinde 1837 Hanau a.V. (TGH), one of the oldest of Germany's sports clubs
    • Hanauer Rudergesellschaft 1879 e.V. (HRG), one of Germany's oldest rowing clubs
    • 1.Hanauer FC 1893 e.V. (Hanau '93), Hesse's oldest football/soccer club

    External links

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