Bad Soden-Salmünster

For Bad Soden am Taunus see Bad Soden.
For Bad Sooden in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis see Bad Sooden-Allendorf.
Bad Soden-Salmünster

Salmünster with Saints Peter and Paul Church

Coat of arms
Bad Soden-Salmünster

Coordinates: 50°16′N 09°22′E / 50.267°N 9.367°E / 50.267; 9.367Coordinates: 50°16′N 09°22′E / 50.267°N 9.367°E / 50.267; 9.367
Country Germany
State Hesse
Admin. region Darmstadt
District Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Government
  Mayor Lothar Büttner
Area
  Total 58.62 km2 (22.63 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 13,351
  Density 230/km2 (590/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 63628
Dialling codes 06056
Vehicle registration MKK
Website www.badsoden-salmuenster.de

Bad Soden-Salmünster is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, between Fulda and Hanau. It has a population of around 13,000.

Geography

Location

The municipality is located on both sides of the Kinzig river in the Main-Kinzig district of Hesse. Its territory extends into the hills of the Vogelsberg to the north and into the Spessart to the south.

The two main population centres, Bad Soden and Salmünster, are both situated in the Kinzig valley.

Subdivisions

The Stadt (town) Bad Soden-Salmünster today consists of the following 11 Stadtteile (boroughs): Ahl, Alsberg, Bad Soden, Hausen, Eckardroth, Katholisch-Willenroth, Kerbersdorf, Mernes, Romsthal, Salmünster and Wahlert.

Bad Soden and Salmünster are the two Kernstadtteile (core boroughs). The current municipality was created in the Gebietsreform of 1970, 1972 and 1974.[2]

Neighbouring communities

From the north, clockwise, the neighbouring municipalities are: Birstein, Steinau an der Straße, Gutsbezirk Spessart (an unincorporated area surrounding the Stadtteil of Alfeld), Bad Orb, Wächtersbach and Brachttal. The Stadtteil Mernes is separated from the rest of the municipal territory by the Gutsbezirk Spessart. It also borders on Forst Aura (another unincorporated wooded area and part of the Main-Spessart district of Bavaria) and Jossgrund.

History

The Stadtteil Bad Soden from the southeast

Soden has been a Heilbad (spa) and therefore called "Bad Soden" since 1928.[3]

Creation of the current town

The current town was created only on 1 July 1974 when the towns of Salmünster and Bad Soden bei Salmünster merged. During earlier Gebietsreformen, as of 1 December 1970 Wahlert had become a part of Bad Soden. Ahl and Eckardroth followed on 1 April 1972. Alsberg and Hausen were merged with Salmünster on 1 January 1970 followed by Kerbersdorf and Romsthal on 1 December 1970 and Katholisch-Willenroth on 1 July 1972.[4]

Since 1974, the town has been part of the Main-Kinzig district, it was previously part of the Schlüchtern district.[4]

Government

The mayor is Lothar Büttner.

Notable buildings

The Stadtteil of Alsberg, a hill village (Höhendorf) from the northwest; the Wallfahrtskirche Heilig Kreuz on the right

Infrastructure

Transportation

The town has direct access to the Autobahn 66 from Frankfurt to Fulda. It is linked to the rail network by the Bad Soden-Salmünster station (located in the Stadtteil of Salmünster).

Utilities

At Ahl, the Kinzig is dammed by the Kinzigtalsperre, which serves both to control floods and to generate hydroelectric power.

A view of Salmünster with the wind farms located in the neighbouring Wächtersbach municipality

Like in other communities in the area, such as Biebergemünd, Flörsbachtal, Bad Orb and Jossgrund, there is currently controversy over plans to build additional towering wind farms on the wooded peaks. A number of these have already been built in the neighbouring town of Wächtersbach very close to the municipal boundary. Environmentalists and many locals reject these plans due to the destruction of forests and animal habitats, possible health risks to residents, as well as threats to local property values and, in particular, to the tourism business as a result of a declining attractiveness of the region to visitors. It is also questioned whether local winds are strong and constant enough to allow economical operation of the wind farms.[9]

Notable residents

References

  1. "Die Bevölkerung der hessischen Gemeinden". Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt (in German). September 2014.
  2. Statistisches Bundesamt (1983). Historisches Gemeindeverzeichnis für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Namens-, Grenz- und Schlüsselnummernänderungen bei Gemeinden, Kreisen und Regierungsbezirken vom 27. 5. 1970 bis 31. 12. 1982. W. Kohlhammer GmbH, Stuttgart und Mainz. pp. 376–7. ISBN 3-17-003263-1.
  3. "Bad Soden bei Salmünster, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in: Historisches Ortslexikon (German)". Hessisches Landesamt für geschichtliche Landeskunde. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Historisches Ortslexikon: Bad Soden-Salmünster(German)". Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  5. "Historisches Ortslexikon: Burg Stolzenberg(German)". Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Sehenswürdigkeiten (German)". Gemeinde Bad Soden-Salmünster. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  7. "Hausen (German)". Gemeinde Bad Soden-Salmünster. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  8. Seipel, Regine (21 January 2014). "Ungeliebter Schatz(German)". Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  9. "Pressespiegel (List of various newspaper articles, German)". Bürgerinitiative Windkraft im Spessart e.V. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
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