Wetter, Hesse
Encyclopedia
Wetter is a small town in Hesse, Germany
. The rather unusual designation Wetter (Hessen-Nassau) stems from a time when the town belonged to the Prussia
n province of the same name, and nowadays is only used by the railway – even today, the railway station in town bears this name.
.
district, in the east on the town of Rauschenberg
and the community of Cölbe
, in the south on the community of Lahntal
, in the southwest on the community of Dautphetal
, and in the southwest on the town of Biedenkopf
and the community of Münchhausen am Christenberg
, all in Marburg-Biedenkopf district.
by way of Korbach
and Frankenberg
and on to Göttingen (in the community of Lahntal
). To divert heavy traffic away from places in the Wetschaft valley, a bypass road
is planned.
The Burgwaldbahn railway line connects the town with Marburg and Frankenberg. The Kurhessenbahn which runs the line means to reopen the extension between Frankenberg and Korbach.
might be described thus: In Or on a three-knolled hill vert a fleur-de-lis twig vert with three blossoms argent flanked by two inescutcheons, dexter in azure the Hessian Lion rampant gules and argent sinister; sinister in gules the wheel of Mainz argent.
The two inescutcheons (smaller shields within the main one) hark back to the time when the Hessian Landgrave
s held sway (the Hessian Lion), and to the Archbishops of Mainz
(the wheel of Mainz).
Houses at the following addresses are worth singling out:
, Austria
Oostrozebeke
, Belgium
Reinsdorf, Saxony-Anhalt
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...
. The rather unusual designation Wetter (Hessen-Nassau) stems from a time when the town belonged to the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n province of the same name, and nowadays is only used by the railway – even today, the railway station in town bears this name.
Geography
Wetter lies in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district on the western edge of the Burgwald, a low mountain range, in the Wetschaft valley and neighbouring places about 14 km north of MarburgMarburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
.
Neighbouring communities
In the north, Wetter borders on the town of Rosenthal in Waldeck-FrankenbergWaldeck-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 the east on the town of Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg, Hesse
-Location:Rauschenberg lies at the southern edge of the Burgwald, a low mountain range, near Marburg and Kirchhain.-Neighbouring communities:Rauschenberg borders in the north on the town of Rosenthal as well as on the communities of Wohratal and Gilserberg , in the east on the town of...
and the community of Cölbe
Cölbe
Cölbe is a community in Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Cölbe's municipal area lies on the southern edge of the Burgwald, a low mountain range and part of the Hessisches Bergland , and borders directly on the university city of Marburg to the south...
, in the south on the community of Lahntal
Lahntal
The community of Lahntal is found in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district in northwest Middle Hesse, Germany.-Geography:Lahntal lies on the upper Lahn about 83 km north of Frankfurt am Main and about 7 km northwest of Marburg...
, in the southwest on the community of Dautphetal
Dautphetal
Dautphetal is a community in Hesse, Germany, and is among the six larger communities of the 22 in Marburg-Biedenkopf district.-Geography:The community lies in the western part of the district about 37 km east of Siegen and about 15 km west of Marburg in the upper Lahn valley. It is...
, and in the southwest on the town of Biedenkopf
Biedenkopf
Biedenkopf is a spa town in western Hessen, Germany with a population of 13,271.- Location :The town of Biedenkopf lies in the west of Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Ringed by mountains reaching up to 674 m above sea level – the Sackpfeife in the Rothaargebirge reaches this height – the town...
and the community of Münchhausen am Christenberg
Münchhausen am Christenberg
The community of Münchhausen is found north of Marburg on the northern edge of Marburg-Biedenkopf district. It has 3,605 inhabitants and has had its current boundaries since 1974. The community's area is roughly 41 km².-Location:...
, all in Marburg-Biedenkopf district.
Transport
North to south through the town's municipal area runs the Federal Highway (Bundesstraße) B 252 from eastern 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"...
by way of Korbach
Korbach
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 :...
and 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...
and on to Göttingen (in the community of Lahntal
Lahntal
The community of Lahntal is found in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district in northwest Middle Hesse, Germany.-Geography:Lahntal lies on the upper Lahn about 83 km north of Frankfurt am Main and about 7 km northwest of Marburg...
). To divert heavy traffic away from places in the Wetschaft valley, a bypass road
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....
is planned.
The Burgwaldbahn railway line connects the town with Marburg and Frankenberg. The Kurhessenbahn which runs the line means to reopen the extension between Frankenberg and Korbach.
History
Wetter was already being mentioned in documents in the 8th and 9th centuries; it was mentioned in one such document under the same name that it still has today in 1108, and the "Weistum of Wetter" was already making its town rights plain to see even in 1239.Town council
As of municipal elections held on 26 March 2006, the seats on Wetter Town Council are apportioned thus:| 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... |
12 seats |
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
12 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... |
3 seats |
| Greens Alliance '90/The 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... |
3 seats |
| Left Party Left Party (Germany) The Party of Democratic Socialism was a democratic socialist political party active in Germany from 1989 to 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party , which ruled the German Democratic Republic until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing... |
1 seat |
Coat of arms
Wetter's civic coat of armsCoat of arms
A 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...
might be described thus: In Or on a three-knolled hill vert a fleur-de-lis twig vert with three blossoms argent flanked by two inescutcheons, dexter in azure the Hessian Lion rampant gules and argent sinister; sinister in gules the wheel of Mainz argent.
The two inescutcheons (smaller shields within the main one) hark back to the time when the Hessian 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...
s held sway (the Hessian Lion), and to the Archbishops of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
(the wheel of Mainz).
Constituent communities
- Niederwetter
- Unterrosphe
- Oberrosphe
- Mellnau
- Todenhausen
- Amönau
- Oberndorf
- Warzenbach
- Treisbach
Buildings
- The GothicGothic architectureGothic 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....
monastery church (13th century). - Town Hall – in the upper floors slated half-timberingTimber framingTimber 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...
with a spire light, built about 1680. Ground floor is massive. Recently expanded. - Former synagogueSynagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
– (once a storeroom, since renovated and turned into an event room). Two-floor square half-timbered building with polygonal ridge turretRidge turretA ridge turret is a turret build on the peak of a roof....
, late 19th century. - Houses – The compact and picturesque townscape is formed first and foremost of half-timbered houses with forward-facing gables, most of which have slateSlateSlate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roofs or plasterPlasterPlaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
work. After several town fires, only a few buildings from before 1629 are still preserved. Some houses exhibit Classicist doors. - Remains of the mediaeval town wall with two towers.
Houses at the following addresses are worth singling out:
- Markt 7 – Three-floor house with forward-facing gable and a corner oriel windowOriel windowOriel windows are a form of bay window commonly found in Gothic architecture, which project from the main wall of the building but do not reach to the ground. Corbels or brackets are often used to support this kind of window. They are seen in combination with the Tudor arch. This type of window was...
. On the stone ground floor a pretty RenaissanceRenaissanceThe 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...
portal, marked 1570. - Markt 8 – 17th century.
- Markt 9 – Three-floor house with forward-facing gable, presumably from the first third of the 16th century, second upper floor added about 1700.
- Markt 14 – BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
half-timbered building with ornamental carvings, presumably from the late 17th century. - Krämergasse 14 – House with side gables with carved infilling boards, marked 1671.
- Krämergasse 10 – Two-floor half-timbered building, possibly from first fourth of the 16th century.
Regular events
Every seven years, the town holds its Grenzgangfest, recalling a time when patrolling the town's boundaries was necessary to prevent neighbourly encroachment. The next Grenzgangfest is in 2015.Sons and daughters of the town
- Hermann Vultejus, German jurist (1555–1634)
- Dr. Claudia Kuhnhen, awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz on ribbonBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
on 21 November 2005
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Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...