Hatzfeld

This article is about the town in Germany. For the town in Romania, see Jimbolia. For the German noble family, see House of Hatzfeld.

Hatzfeld (Eder) is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany.

Hatzfeld
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Hatzfeld within Waldeck-Frankenberg district
Hatzfeld Hatzfeld
Coordinates: 51°0′N 8°33′E
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Kassel
District	Waldeck-Frankenberg
Subdivisions	6 Stadtbezirke
Government
• Mayor (2018–24)	Dirk Junker
Area
• Total	58.51 km2 (22.59 sq mi)
Highest elevation	430 m (1,410 ft)
Lowest elevation	330 m (1,080 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	2,963
• Density	51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	35116
Dialling codes	06467
Vehicle registration	KB
Website	www.hatzfeld-eder.de

Geography

Location

Hatzfeld lies in west Hesse 25 km northwest of Marburg and north of the Sackpfeife (674 m-high mountain) in the valley of the Eder.

Neighbouring communities

Hatzfeld borders in the north and east on the town of Battenberg (Waldeck-Frankenberg), in the south on the town of Biedenkopf (Marburg-Biedenkopf), and in the west on the town of Bad Berleburg (Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia).

Constituent communities

The town of Hatzfeld consists of the centres of Biebighausen, Eifa, Hatzfeld (main town), Holzhausen, Lindenhof and Reddighausen

History

Hatzfeld had its first documentary mention in 1138. In 1340, the community was granted town rights. After the Hatzfeld branch of the House of Hatzfeld died out in 1570, half the town, and later the whole, passed to the County of Hesse. In 1866, Hatzfeld passed to Prussia, and under Prussian law lost its town rights in 1885. After Prussia was dissolved, Hatzfeld once again became a town in 1950.

Reddighausen

Reddighausen, nowadays one of Hatzfeld's constituent communities, had its first documentary mention in 1278, at that time still under the name Redinchusen. Already by 1840 Reddighausen had 474 inhabitants; nowadays (as of 2000) there are roughly 900.

Lindenhof

Lindenhof is a hamlet and one of Hatzfeld's constituent communities. Its name, unlike what might be assumed, has nothing to do with linden trees, even though there is a "namesake" tree growing in the community ("Linden" is Linde – plural, Linden – in German), but rather with linen (Leinen), which in earlier times was woven here. In 1993, Lindenhof celebrated 300 years of existence, even though various sources point to a greater age.

What is known is that in 1693, a Hatzfeld townsman named Eckhardt went into the lovely dale here and acquired a newly built agricultural estate. In 1712, there were already six households in Lindenhof. In 1892, the hamlet got its own schoolteacher, who taught in a private house. In 1895, there were 77 people living in Lindenhof. In 1939, Lindenhof got its own school, which lasted until 1965 when its functions were transferred to a new central school in Hatzfeld.

By the beginning of the First World War, 21 residential buildings had appeared in the dale, although some of them were in the separate hamlet of Hof Roda.

In 1991-1992, what is arguably Hesse's smallest half-timbered church was consecrated in Lindenhof.

Photograph gallery

• 
  Hatzfeld summer 2006
• 
  View over Hatzfeld
• 
  View over the "Ahlefeld"
• 
  Lindenhof 2005
• 
  Old Lindenhof school ca. 1940
• 
  Lindenhof Church

Politics

Town council

The town council's 23 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006:

Bürgerliste Reddighausen	6 seats
SPD	4 seats
CDU	3 seats
Bürgerliste Holzhausen	3 seats
Bürgerliste Hatzfeld	3 seats
Bürgerliste Eifa	2 seats
FDP	2 seats

Note: The Bürgerlisten are "citizens' lists" rather than actual parties.

Coat of arms

The current civic coat of arms was conferred in 1950, but the charges shown within it date back to the 14th century, from which time an old town seal is known. The arms show a town wall with a gateway flanked by towers. Also in the arms above the gateway is an inescutcheon showing the arms of the Lords (later also Counts and Princes) of Hatzfeld, who died out in 1570. The size and shape of the various charges in the arms have changed over the ages.[1]

Town partnerships

Hatzfeld maintains partnership links with the following:

• Cloyes-sur-le-Loir, département of Eure-et-Loir, France since 1979

Sport and leisure

Tourism plays an important rôle in Reddighausen, which is a state-recognized resort with a comprehensive network of hiking trails. There is also a combination woodlore and bird-protection path in Hatzfeld (main town), and at the Sackpfeife are found a winter sport centre, and also a summer toboggan run.

In Lindenhof is a wildfowl haven run by the Naturschutzbund Deutschland, a non-governmental organization dedicated to nature conservation.[2]

Churches

• Evangelical-Lutheran Church

Literature

• H. Reimer: Historisches Ortslexikon für Kurhessen; Marburg: Elwert, 1974; ISBN 3-7708-0509-7; S.304

External links

• Reddighausen
• Verein für Burg- und Heimat- geschichte Hatzfeld e.V.