Welda
Encyclopedia
Welda is a village and constituent community (stadtteil) of the town of Warburg
, in the district of Höxter
in the east of the federal state
of North Rhine-Westphalia
, Germany
. Welda has historically been known by the names of Wellede, Welde and Kerkwellede.
Welda has an area of 9.22 km² and a population of 863.
) near North Rhine-Westphalia's border with the Waldeck-Frankenberg
district of the federal state of Hessen. It lies between the towns of Warburg
and Volkmarsen
on a line between the cities of Paderborn
(40 km) and Kassel
(35 km). It adjoins the Warburg communities of Calenberg, Germete and Wormeln.
Welda lies in the valley of the river Twiste
which runs north into the river Diemel
.
, Waldeck
and Hesse
, has yielded forth archaeological evidence of a Celt
ic presence.
In 1856 Welda was visited by Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, who went on to become the "Ninety-Nine-Day Emperor", Kaiser Friedrich III
. He presented the church with a Communion
chalice
.
In World War II
Welda was liberated by U.S. forces in April 1945. In the fields east of the railway station there was an American internment camp holding up to 80,000 German prisoners of war
.
Welda was in the British zone of occupation from 1945, then from 1949, following the political division of occupied Germany, Welda became part of the Federal Republic of West Germany until German reunification in 1990.
opened with a station in the village. The railway line was closed in 1982 and converted in 1989 into a bicycle lane (R 51), part of an inter-regional cycle network. The station building was sold and is now used as a private residence.
Welda's nearest links to the national rail network are located in Warburg and Volkmarsen.
The autobahn A44
(E331) from Dortmund
to Kassel
runs to the north-west of Welda.
The closest regional airports are KSF Kassel-Calden
(27 km) and PAD Paderborn-Lippstadt
(46 km).
Warburg
Warburg is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in Höxter district and Detmold region...
, in the district of Höxter
Höxter (district)
Höxter is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Holzminden, Northeim, Kassel, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Hochsauerland, Paderborn, and Lippe.-History:...
in the east of the federal state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of 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...
, 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...
. Welda has historically been known by the names of Wellede, Welde and Kerkwellede.
Welda has an area of 9.22 km² and a population of 863.
Geography
The village of Welda is the southernmost point of Kreis Höxter (within the administrative region of DetmoldDetmold (region)
The Regierungsbezirk Detmold is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the north-east of the state...
) near North Rhine-Westphalia's border with the Waldeck-Frankenberg
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 of the federal state of Hessen. It lies between the towns of Warburg
Warburg
Warburg is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in Höxter district and Detmold region...
and Volkmarsen
Volkmarsen
Volkmarsen is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in northern Hesse, Germany.-Location:Volkmarsen lies on the northern edge of the Waldecker Tafel where it flattens out into the Diemel Valley, some 28 km northwest of Kassel and 7 km northeast of Bad Arolsen.-Neighbouring...
on a line between the cities of Paderborn
Paderborn
Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
(40 km) and 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 :...
(35 km). It adjoins the Warburg communities of Calenberg, Germete and Wormeln.
Welda lies in the valley of the river Twiste
Twiste (Diemel)
Twiste is a river of Hesse, Germany....
which runs north into the river Diemel
Diemel
The Diemel is a river in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, left tributary of the Weser. Its source is near Willingen, in Sauerland. The Diemel flows generally northeast through the towns Marsberg, Warburg and Trendelburg. It flows into the Weser in Bad Karlshafen. The total length of the...
.
History
The land around Welda, once a border village between WestphaliaWestphalia
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"...
, Waldeck
Waldeck (state)
Waldeck 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, ....
and 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...
, has yielded forth archaeological evidence of a Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic presence.
In 1856 Welda was visited by Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, who went on to become the "Ninety-Nine-Day Emperor", Kaiser Friedrich III
Frederick III, German Emperor
Frederick III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days in 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl known informally as Fritz, was the only son of Emperor William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service...
. He presented the church with a Communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
chalice
Chalice (cup)
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
.
In 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...
Welda was liberated by U.S. forces in April 1945. In the fields east of the railway station there was an American internment camp holding up to 80,000 German prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
.
Welda was in the British zone of occupation from 1945, then from 1949, following the political division of occupied Germany, Welda became part of the Federal Republic of West Germany until German reunification in 1990.
Places of interest
- The Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint KilianSaint KilianSaint Kilian, also spelled Killian , was an Irish missionary bishop and the apostle of Franconia , where he began his labours towards the end of the 7th century.-Background:...
was founded in 1220. - Schloss Welda was built between 1734 and 1736 by the architect Justus Wehmer who was also the architect of HildesheimHildesheimHildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
cathedral and of Schloss Vinsebeck; the architectural history and construction of the two houses are closely linked together. The Kassel baroque sculptor and artist Johann Georg Kotschau was also involved. The historic baroque park and landscape garden of Schloss Welda was created from 1738 to 1758 by the landscape architect Carl Hatzel. The garden includes an orangeryOrangeryAn orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
which was built from 1756 to 1763. In the north part of the garden is a baroque wall that is partly fallen down. The access road from the south has an avenue of lime trees which leads to a carriage turn in front of the Schloss. Today the house is used as a registry office, for wedding receptions, and for concerts. - The oldest existing village house (a timber-frame building) was built in 1747.
- The old mill houses a museum of village life.
Transport
In 1890, a section of the railway line from Warburg to Bad ArolsenBad Arolsen
Bad 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...
opened with a station in the village. The railway line was closed in 1982 and converted in 1989 into a bicycle lane (R 51), part of an inter-regional cycle network. The station building was sold and is now used as a private residence.
Welda's nearest links to the national rail network are located in Warburg and Volkmarsen.
The autobahn A44
Bundesautobahn 44
is a German Autobahn. It consists of three main-parts and a few smaller parts. It begins in Aachen at the German-Belgian border and ends near Kassel. Before the German unification it was an unimportant provincial-motorway but after this event it became an integral part of the German highway-system...
(E331) from Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
to 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 :...
runs to the north-west of Welda.
The closest regional airports are KSF Kassel-Calden
Kassel Calden Airport
Kassel Calden Airport located west of Calden, lies , as the crow flies, northwest of the German city of Kassel. Built on farmland, ASL lying NNE of the Hoher Dörnberg, the airport was opened on 11 July 1970. The airport has a single asphalt runway, 04/22 , which is . There is a parallel grass...
(27 km) and PAD Paderborn-Lippstadt
Paderborn Lippstadt Airport
-Facilities:The terminal offers several facilities for travelers. There are mainly travel agencies in the airport. A Restaurant is available, too. There are also shops and car rentals at the airport....
(46 km).
Further reading
- Bruno Hake (1994): Welda. Ein Dorf zwischen Adel und Kirche, Warburg: Hermes Verlag, ISBN 3-922032-29-X (= Warburger Schriften 13).
- Bruno Hake, Ortssippenbuch, 2 Bände, Teil 1 1693-1775, Teil II 1776-1875, Selbstverlag, Welda, 1988, 1989
- Helga Bültmann et al. (2006): Tagungsexkursion zu Kalkmagerrasen und Schwermetallfluren in ostwestfälischen Naturschutzgebieten, in: Helga Bültmann, Thilo Hasse und Mirja Dörsing: Trockenrasen auf verschiedenen Betrachtungsebenen, Münster: Institut für Landschaftsökologie, S.155-171.
- Exkursionsprotokoll des Bochumer Botanischen Vereins nach Welda am 19. Mai 2007, URL: http://www.botanik-bochum.de