Altenstadt, Hesse

Municipality in Hesse, Germany

Coat of arms

Location of Altenstadt within Wetteraukreis district

(2018–24) Norbert Syguda^[1] (SPD)Area

• Total30.08 km² (11.61 sq mi)Elevation

120 m (390 ft)Population

(2022-12-31)^[2]

• Total12,689 • Density420/km² (1,100/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)Postal codes

63674

Dialling codes06047Vehicle registrationFBWebsitewww.altenstadt.de

Altenstadt is a municipality in the district Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated in the Nidder valley, approx. 27 kilometers north-east of Frankfurt am Main.

History

Altenstadt was part of the limes, the former border of the Roman Empire, that passes through the town. According to excavations, Altenstadt was a Roman garrison in the first half of the second century.

The first documented mention of Altenstadt took place only in the year 767, which makes Altenstadt the oldest municipality of Upper Hesse.

Division of the municipality

The municipality consists of 8 districts:

Altenstadt
Heegheim
Höchst an der Nidder
Lindheim

Enzheim
Oberau
Rodenbach
Waldsiedlung

Notable persons

One of the inhabitants of Altenstadt was the justice inspector Friedrich Kellner, who alternated his work-week between Laubach and Altenstadt during World War II. Kellner recorded the misdeeds of the Nazis in a ten-volume diary which was on display in 2005 at the George Bush Presidential Library. A Canadian documentary, My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner, was produced in 2006.^[3]

The Lutheran missionary Georg Heinrich Schwarz was born in Höchst an der Nidder in 1868. He laboured in the Cape Bedford Mission, North Queensland, Australia, for 55 years. The anniversary of his arrival is still celebrated there each year in September and known as Muni Day.^[4]

On 5 September 2019, Stefan Jagsch from the extreme-right NPD was elected the Mayor of the Waldsiedlung unopposed, which led to irritation in other parties at national level.^[5]^[6]

References

^ "Ergebnisse der letzten Direktwahl aller hessischen Landkreise und Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. 5 September 2022.
^ "Bevölkerung in Hessen am 31.12.2022 nach Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. June 2023.
^ Altenstadt Bürgernah, pp 10-11^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Schwarz, Georg Heinrich (1868-1959)
^ "Far-Right Politician's Election as Town Council Head Shocks Germany's Mainstream Parties". 7 September 2019.
^ "Germany: Merkel party colleagues elect far-right extremist to local council | DW | 07.09.2019".

External links

Official site (in German)
Website of Lindheim (in German)
Website of Enzheim (in German)
Der Weltkrieg war vor deiner Tür Altenstadt and the former Airfield Altenstadt in World War II (in German)