Lichtenfels, Hesse
Encyclopedia
Lichtenfels is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg
district in northwest Hesse
, Germany
.
, some 80 km (49.7 mi) southwest of Kassel
. It is not far from the western end of the Edersee
in the southwest of the Waldecker Land. Bordering on the west is the Medebacher Bucht, or Medebach Bight, although this is not a bight
in the conventional sense, being dry land. Bordering on the south is the Breite Struth (hills).
The municipal area, across which the town's outlying centres are broadly scattered, is crossed by the rivers Orke and Aar. In the northeast, it borders on the Itter Valley, in the east on the Eder
Valley, beyond which rises the Kellerwald
range, and in the south on the Nuhne Valley.
, in the east on the community of Vöhl
, in the south on the town of Frankenberg
(all in Waldeck-Frankenberg), and in the west on the towns of Hallenberg
and Medebach
(both in the Hochsauerlandkreis in North Rhine-Westphalia
).
s found there were merged into the village of Dalwigksthal.
However, there is tell of a valley community in this place in the Middle Ages
named Eisenbeck from the 14th century to the late 18th century. In 1598, this is recorded as Ensenbecke. The Castle Lichtenfels was built in 1189 by the Abbot of Corvey. Shortly thereafter, it was destroyed, but built anew between 1223 and 1230. On 21 July 1267, Corvey pledged to Count Adolf of Waldeck, among other things, Schloss Lichtenfels (the castle). After fierce feuds, Corvey had to pass entitlement to the castle's ownership to Count Otto of Waldeck for good in 1297.
The Archbishop of Cologne
, as Duke of Westphalia
, raised claim to the places Münden, Neukirchen and Rhadern in the Amt
of Lichtenfels, which in the 16th and 17th centuries led to protracted trials and battles. In the course of these disagreements, the castle is assumed to have once again been destroyed early in the 17th century. A partial reconstruction was done in 1631, with a broader plan carried out between 1908 and 1914. In the late 1980s, an entrepreneurial family bought the castle, which by then was once again falling into disrepair and gave it a comprehensive makeover. Dalwigksthal's church, which for ages had belonged to the parish of Münden, is now part of the parish of Sachsenberg. Once, the chapel was a burying ground for the von Dalwigk family. Not much remains of the mediaeval chapel; only the Gothic
quire
is still preserved, likely built early in the 14th century. The current nave was newly built in 1620.
Lichtenfels's smallest constituent community has roughly 200 inhabitants.
(dam) by road. The district seat of Korbach is roughly 10 km away. In 1988, Goddelsheim celebrated the village's 1100th anniversary of documentary mention. From one of King Arnulf's documents from 888 comes the first mention of Goddelsheim, but presumably, its history goes much further back. Witness to this is the discovery of some forgotten graves in the area that date back much earlier than the 9th century.
Things have not always been as peaceful in Goddelsheim as they are today. For instance, in 1548 and 1627, the Electors of Cologne tried to introduce the Catholic
faith into the Evangelical
village by force. Thanks to the resistance of the Schaaken Monastery, which held the patronage rights to Goddelsheim, the Electors' plans fell through.
Of the formerly three noble estates in the village, the last was divided up in 1904. Nevertheless, agriculture
still plays a rôle. Furthermore there are shops, handicraft businesses, a bank
and a savings bank. Many people who live in Goddelsheim do not actually work there, but commute to jobs in Korbach or Frankenberg. Eleven clubs offer a variety of leisure activities. Goddelsheim is not only the biggest constituent community but also the seat of the town's administration. It has a church kindergarten
, a primary school and Lichtenfels's central school (Mittelpunktschule).
. There are documents beginning in 1028. Over the ages the place has had many names, with its original name being recorded as Yraminchusen, followed by a succession of other forms: Ymmichusen (about 1190), Immyngchusen (about 1200), Ymenchusen (1336), Imminchusen (about 1350), Immickhusen (1422), Imminckhausen (1537) and Immeckusen (1541). History records that in 1028 a farm at Imminghusen was transferred by the Abbot of Corvey, at Emperor Conrad's
behest, to the dowager Alvered's son. In 1189 the place was a Corvey fief under the Counts of Waldeck. The church at Immighausen was first mentioned in 1223 as being a chapel among the Schaaken Monastery's estates. The church has a square tower and a single nave. Immighausen is shaped by agriculture, but there is industry. The oldest club is the 110-year-old men's singing club "Liedertafel". Furthermore, there are the women's choir, the Landfrauen, the sport club with its subgroup the "Klostermönche" ("Monastery Monks") and the fire brigade. The Lichtenfels regional group of the Waldeck History Club (Waldeckischer Geschichtsverein) also has its seat in Immighausen. In the village live 402 people.
for his daughter, it was called Rodern. Later names for it were Raderen (about 1350), Radehausen (1420) and Rädern (1738). In 1473, when Rhadern had its first documentary mention, the village was deserted. It was at this time that the von Dalwigk family were granted the forsaken hamlet along with the rest of the Amt of Lichtenfels as a fief. As of this time, Rhadern belonged to the Amt and the von Dalwigk Freistuhl
of Lichtenfels. The chapel lying on the way out of the village towards Fürstenberg was separated from its mother church in 1260 and raised to a parish
in its own right. Owing to the church's destruction, the community was parochially united with Fürstenberg in the 15th century. Rhadern parishioners even had their own entrance to the church there, and their own pews. About 1700, the community was parochially united with Münden. Once the chapel had been built anew in 1755, Rhadern once again had its own church, which was expanded in the 1970s. The centre of the small chapel is a winged altar
. The villagers are kept busy as members of various clubs, there being, besides the fire brigade and the Lichtenfels sporting community a music club with various subgroups, the "Discoteam" and the Landfrauen ("Country Women") with a dance group.
The first part of what is today Neukirchen arose as a scattered village – one with an irregular layout – and nowadays forms the upper village. It was purely a farming community, and by all indications arose from a lordly estate. By and by arose also the lower village as a thorpe, or linear village
. It harboured day labourers, workers and craftsmen. The schoolhouse was built in 1785. After the Second World War, a bigger school was built, which was closed in 1976. In this village, shaped by agriculture, live 488 people. Many of them are active in the five clubs.
had given the dowager Alvered the estate at Gimundia for her lifelong use, thereby giving Münden its first documentary mention. Late in the 13th century, Corvey Abbey pledged the Amt of Münden to Count Otto of Waldeck. In a disagreement between Corvey and the Counts of Waldeck, Münden was awarded to the Counts in 1321 through arbitration. Münden, too, was included in Count Heinrich IV's pledge to Count Johann of Nassau as part of the former's daughter Elisabeth's dowry (see also Rhadern and Neukirchen above). As of 1473, Münden, which until then had been seat of a Corvey and later Waldeck Amt, belonged to the von Dalwigk Amt of Lichtenfels. In the disputes between the Electors of Cologne and Waldeck, Cologne also claimed Münden. However, as with Neukirchen, the Electors forwent their claim in 1663.
Today, Münden, lying between Dalwigksthal and Medebach in Westphalia, belongs to Lichtenfels as a constituent community. Earlier names for the village besides Gimundia were Gemundi (1120), Gimunden (1125), Munden (1298), Gemonden (1321), Gemunden (1336, 1473) and Dreckmünden (1679). The village lies about 1 500 m from North Rhine-Westphalia
and is home to about 420 people.
kept Count Heinrich of Waldeck from coming a cropper when his horse shied before it. To this day, the Igelfest (Hedgehog Festival) is still celebrated in Fürstenberg on the Monday before Whitsun.
Note: The last two named are citizens' coalitions.
Waldeck-Frankenberg
Waldeck-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 northwest 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...
.
Location
Lichtenfels lies at the northeast foot of the RothaargebirgeRothaargebirge
The Rothaargebirge is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany....
, some 80 km (49.7 mi) southwest of 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 :...
. It is not far from the western end of the Edersee
Edersee
The 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...
in the southwest of the Waldecker Land. Bordering on the west is the Medebacher Bucht, or Medebach Bight, although this is not a bight
Bight (geography)
In geography, bight has two meanings. A bight can be simply a bend or curve in any geographical feature—usually a bend or curve in the line between land and water....
in the conventional sense, being dry land. Bordering on the south is the Breite Struth (hills).
The municipal area, across which the town's outlying centres are broadly scattered, is crossed by the rivers Orke and Aar. In the northeast, it borders on the Itter Valley, in the east on the Eder
Eder
The Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....
Valley, beyond which rises the Kellerwald
Kellerwald
The 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...
range, and in the south on the Nuhne Valley.
Extent of municipal area
With its area of nearly 100 km², almost 40% of which is wooded, Lichtenfels is among the largest and most wooded municipalities in the district.Neighbouring communities
Lichtenfels borders in the north on the town of KorbachKorbach
Korbach 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 :...
, in the east on the community of Vöhl
Vöhl
Vöhl 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:...
, in the south on the town of Frankenberg
Frankenberg, Hesse
Frankenberg an der Eder is a town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany.The mountain at a ford over the Eder north of the Burgwald range was for a long time a fortified place, playing an especially important rôle under the Franks in the Saxon Wars...
(all in Waldeck-Frankenberg), and in the west on the towns of Hallenberg
Hallenberg
Hallenberg is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Hallenberg is situated approx. 15 km southeast of Winterberg and 35 km north of Marburg.- Neighbouring Places :* Allendorf* Bad Berleburg...
and Medebach
Medebach
Medebach is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Medebach is situated approx. 15 km east of Winterberg, 17 km south-west of Korbach and 45 km north of Marburg.- Neighbouring municipalities:...
(both in the Hochsauerlandkreis in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
).
Constituent communities
The town of Lichtenfels was made up from six communities and two towns: Dalwigksthal, Fürstenberg, Goddelsheim, Immighausen, Münden, Neukirchen, Rhadern and Sachsenberg.History
In 1971, as part of municipal reforms, the eight formerly independent municipalities joined together to form a new, greater municipality, choosing the name Lichtenfels after the castle, the oldest noble seat in Waldeck.Dalwigksthal
For a long time after the Castle Lichtenfels was built high above the Orke about 800 years ago, almost nobody gave Dalwigksthal any thought. Lichtenfels's newest constituent community celebrated 150 years of existence in 2001. As a result of the Waldeck Law of 24 January 1851, the estates of Kampf, Sand and Lichtenfels as well as the settlements and millGristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
s found there were merged into the village of Dalwigksthal.
However, there is tell of a valley community in this place in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The 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...
named Eisenbeck from the 14th century to the late 18th century. In 1598, this is recorded as Ensenbecke. The Castle Lichtenfels was built in 1189 by the Abbot of Corvey. Shortly thereafter, it was destroyed, but built anew between 1223 and 1230. On 21 July 1267, Corvey pledged to Count Adolf of Waldeck, among other things, Schloss Lichtenfels (the castle). After fierce feuds, Corvey had to pass entitlement to the castle's ownership to Count Otto of Waldeck for good in 1297.
The Archbishop of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne 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...
, as Duke of Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
, raised claim to the places Münden, Neukirchen and Rhadern in the Amt
Amt (subnational entity)
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only found in Germany, but formerly also common in northern European countries. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to a U.S...
of Lichtenfels, which in the 16th and 17th centuries led to protracted trials and battles. In the course of these disagreements, the castle is assumed to have once again been destroyed early in the 17th century. A partial reconstruction was done in 1631, with a broader plan carried out between 1908 and 1914. In the late 1980s, an entrepreneurial family bought the castle, which by then was once again falling into disrepair and gave it a comprehensive makeover. Dalwigksthal's church, which for ages had belonged to the parish of Münden, is now part of the parish of Sachsenberg. Once, the chapel was a burying ground for the von Dalwigk family. Not much remains of the mediaeval chapel; only the Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
quire
Quire (architecture)
Architecturally, the choir is the area of a church or cathedral, usually in the western part of the chancel between the nave and the sanctuary . The choir is occasionally located in the eastern part of the nave...
is still preserved, likely built early in the 14th century. The current nave was newly built in 1620.
Lichtenfels's smallest constituent community has roughly 200 inhabitants.
Goddelsheim
Goddelsheim with its roughly 1,450 inhabitants is the biggest of Lichtenfels's constituent communities. The village lies 70 km southwest of Kassel. It is about 25 km east to the EderseeEdersee
The 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...
(dam) by road. The district seat of Korbach is roughly 10 km away. In 1988, Goddelsheim celebrated the village's 1100th anniversary of documentary mention. From one of King Arnulf's documents from 888 comes the first mention of Goddelsheim, but presumably, its history goes much further back. Witness to this is the discovery of some forgotten graves in the area that date back much earlier than the 9th century.
Things have not always been as peaceful in Goddelsheim as they are today. For instance, in 1548 and 1627, the Electors of Cologne tried to introduce the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith into the Evangelical
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
village by force. Thanks to the resistance of the Schaaken Monastery, which held the patronage rights to Goddelsheim, the Electors' plans fell through.
Of the formerly three noble estates in the village, the last was divided up in 1904. Nevertheless, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
still plays a rôle. Furthermore there are shops, handicraft businesses, a bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
and a savings bank. Many people who live in Goddelsheim do not actually work there, but commute to jobs in Korbach or Frankenberg. Eleven clubs offer a variety of leisure activities. Goddelsheim is not only the biggest constituent community but also the seat of the town's administration. It has a church kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, a primary school and Lichtenfels's central school (Mittelpunktschule).
Immighausen
The place that is now Lichtenfels's constituent community of Immighausen first came to history's attention about 850 when Countess Ida transferred her goods near Ymminchusen to Corvey AbbeyCorvey Abbey
The Imperial Abbey of Corvey was a Benedictine monastery on the River Weser, 2 km northeast of Höxter, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
. There are documents beginning in 1028. Over the ages the place has had many names, with its original name being recorded as Yraminchusen, followed by a succession of other forms: Ymmichusen (about 1190), Immyngchusen (about 1200), Ymenchusen (1336), Imminchusen (about 1350), Immickhusen (1422), Imminckhausen (1537) and Immeckusen (1541). History records that in 1028 a farm at Imminghusen was transferred by the Abbot of Corvey, at Emperor Conrad's
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...
behest, to the dowager Alvered's son. In 1189 the place was a Corvey fief under the Counts of Waldeck. The church at Immighausen was first mentioned in 1223 as being a chapel among the Schaaken Monastery's estates. The church has a square tower and a single nave. Immighausen is shaped by agriculture, but there is industry. The oldest club is the 110-year-old men's singing club "Liedertafel". Furthermore, there are the women's choir, the Landfrauen, the sport club with its subgroup the "Klostermönche" ("Monastery Monks") and the fire brigade. The Lichtenfels regional group of the Waldeck History Club (Waldeckischer Geschichtsverein) also has its seat in Immighausen. In the village live 402 people.
Rhadern
With roughly 370 inhabitants, Rhadern is the smallest of Lichtenfels's constituent communities. Its first documentary mention came in 1473, though already about 830, history mentions something about a place called Ryadra. Over the ages, Rhadern has had a number of different names. About 1020 the village was called Radirinhusen, about 1125, Rotheren. In 1336 when Count Heinrich of Waldeck pledged, among other things, this village to Count Johann of Nassau as a dowryDowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
for his daughter, it was called Rodern. Later names for it were Raderen (about 1350), Radehausen (1420) and Rädern (1738). In 1473, when Rhadern had its first documentary mention, the village was deserted. It was at this time that the von Dalwigk family were granted the forsaken hamlet along with the rest of the Amt of Lichtenfels as a fief. As of this time, Rhadern belonged to the Amt and the von Dalwigk Freistuhl
League of the Holy Court
The 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...
of Lichtenfels. The chapel lying on the way out of the village towards Fürstenberg was separated from its mother church in 1260 and raised to a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
in its own right. Owing to the church's destruction, the community was parochially united with Fürstenberg in the 15th century. Rhadern parishioners even had their own entrance to the church there, and their own pews. About 1700, the community was parochially united with Münden. Once the chapel had been built anew in 1755, Rhadern once again had its own church, which was expanded in the 1970s. The centre of the small chapel is a winged altar
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...
. The villagers are kept busy as members of various clubs, there being, besides the fire brigade and the Lichtenfels sporting community a music club with various subgroups, the "Discoteam" and the Landfrauen ("Country Women") with a dance group.
Neukirchen
Up the Nuhne at the boundary with Rengershausen was a village or farm called "Aweshausen" or "Auweshausen". The field names in the area, "Auf der Aue" and "Auf der Junkernaue" recall the former centre. In 1336, Count Heinrich IV of Waldeck pledged, among other things, the village of Nuwenkyrchen to Count Johann of Nassau as a dowry for his daughter (see also Rhadern above), which also gave Neukirchen its first documentary mention. Already by 1301, though, history records a Ditmar von Nuwenkyrchen, Juryman at Sachsenberg, proof that there had already been a settlement there for some time before the Count's daughter's wedding. In the disputes between the Electors of Cologne and Waldeck, which had begun in 1533, the Elector of Cologne claimed, among other properties, Neukirchen. By 1663, however, Cologne had forgone its claim to the village, thus also bringing an end to the Electors' attempts to reintroduce the Catholic faith into the community. Neukirchen was a branch of the parish of Münden and in the 18th century temporarily a parish in its own right. Today it belongs to the parish of Sachsenberg. The church with its rectangular nave was newly built in 1864 by the master mason Gülich from Sachsenberg where an older forerunner church had once stood which had to be torn down. How the church looked before the new building was put up is not known with any certainty, as there are no reliable indications. The first new church, which was the village's namesake (Neukirchen ≈ new church), must have been built sometime before 1336 – the time of Neukirchen's first documentary mention – but a more precise indication of its building date is not possible.The first part of what is today Neukirchen arose as a scattered village – one with an irregular layout – and nowadays forms the upper village. It was purely a farming community, and by all indications arose from a lordly estate. By and by arose also the lower village as a thorpe, or linear village
Linear village
In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....
. It harboured day labourers, workers and craftsmen. The schoolhouse was built in 1785. After the Second World War, a bigger school was built, which was closed in 1976. In this village, shaped by agriculture, live 488 people. Many of them are active in the five clubs.
Münden
In 1028, Emperor Konrad acknowledged that the Abbot of Corvey AbbeyCorvey Abbey
The Imperial Abbey of Corvey was a Benedictine monastery on the River Weser, 2 km northeast of Höxter, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
had given the dowager Alvered the estate at Gimundia for her lifelong use, thereby giving Münden its first documentary mention. Late in the 13th century, Corvey Abbey pledged the Amt of Münden to Count Otto of Waldeck. In a disagreement between Corvey and the Counts of Waldeck, Münden was awarded to the Counts in 1321 through arbitration. Münden, too, was included in Count Heinrich IV's pledge to Count Johann of Nassau as part of the former's daughter Elisabeth's dowry (see also Rhadern and Neukirchen above). As of 1473, Münden, which until then had been seat of a Corvey and later Waldeck Amt, belonged to the von Dalwigk Amt of Lichtenfels. In the disputes between the Electors of Cologne and Waldeck, Cologne also claimed Münden. However, as with Neukirchen, the Electors forwent their claim in 1663.
Today, Münden, lying between Dalwigksthal and Medebach in Westphalia, belongs to Lichtenfels as a constituent community. Earlier names for the village besides Gimundia were Gemundi (1120), Gimunden (1125), Munden (1298), Gemonden (1321), Gemunden (1336, 1473) and Dreckmünden (1679). The village lies about 1 500 m from North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
and is home to about 420 people.
Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg, once Waldeck's and Hesse's smallest town, was first mentioned as a town in 1254. Remains of the old town wall can still be seen in the historic town core. This little town in the Waldecker Land is wrapped in many stories and sagas. One of them is the Hedgehog Saga (Igelsage) which has also given the town the name "Igelstadt". It says that a hedgehogHedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
kept Count Heinrich of Waldeck from coming a cropper when his horse shied before it. To this day, the Igelfest (Hedgehog Festival) is still celebrated in Fürstenberg on the Monday before Whitsun.
Town council
The town council's 23 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006:| CDU Christian Democratic Union (Germany) 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... |
8 seats |
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
7 seats |
| FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) 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... |
4 seats |
| WGL | 3 seats |
| Unabhängig Pro Lichtenfels | 1 seat |
Note: The last two named are citizens' coalitions.
Culture and sightseeing
- Castle Lichtenfels
- Schloss Reckenberg (stately home)
- Schaaken Monastery ruins
Fürstenberg
- Village shop
- Nordic walking school
- "Nordic walking paradise"
- Nature study diorama
- KneippSebastian KneippSebastian Kneipp was a Bavarian priest and one of the founders of the Naturopathic medicine movement...
centre