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Wunsiedel

2021-03-18T16:22:28.800Z


Wunsiedel lies in the heart of the Fichtelgebirge. The city offers numerous sights and organizes nationally well-known festivals every year.


Wunsiedel lies in the heart of the Fichtelgebirge.

The city offers numerous sights and organizes nationally well-known festivals every year.

  • Before the

    city ​​of Wunsiedel became

    part of the newly founded Kingdom of Bavaria in the 19th century, it was under the rule of the Hohenzollerns for a long time.

  • With the

    rock labyrinth,

    Wunsiedel has

    a

    landmark

    that is known far beyond the region

    .

  • The poet

    Jean Paul

    is the most famous son of the city of Wunsiedel.

Wunsiedel - On September 6, 1933, Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess was appointed honorary citizen of the city of Wunsiedel.

The Nazi-sized family had lived in the Upper Franconian city since the 18th century.

Although Rudolf Hess had never lived here himself, he was buried in the family grave in Wunsiedel after his death in 1987.

In the following decades there were repeated meetings of neo-Nazis at this tomb.

These Nazi rallies ended with the dissolution of the tomb in July 2011.

Wunsiedel: location and geography

Due to its location in the middle of the Fichtelgebirge, the urban area of ​​Wunsiedel has great differences in altitude: The individual districts are at heights between 500 and over 900 meters.

At 939 meters, the Kosseine mountain is the highest point in Wunsiedel.

The second highest mountain is the Katharinenberg at 618 meters.

The nature reserve Hochmoor Zeitelmoos lies in the north of the urban area.

The city extends over an area of ​​almost 55 square kilometers.

Together with the neighboring town of Marktredwitz, the district town forms the regional center of Marktredwitz-Wunsiedel.

Bayreuth and Hof an der Saale are the nearest larger cities, each around 50 kilometers away.

Wunsiedel: The story from the beginning to the 16th century

The first documentary mention of Wunsiedel took place in 1163, at that time the place was part of the "Regio Egers".

At the end of the 13th century, King Rudolf I of the Habsburgs transferred control of the Wunsiedel fief, including the castle of the same name, to the Nuremberg burgrave Friedrich III.

Wunsiedel received town charter as early as 1328, earlier than many other Franconian places.

Burgrave Friedrich IV granted the city this privilege, and Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian confirmed it afterwards.

In the centuries that followed, Wunsiedel advanced to become an important mining center in the region.

In the 15th century there were several attacks by Hussites - rebellious Bohemian reformers - on Wunsiedel.

In 1430 Hans von Kotzau was able to destroy the attackers in the battle of the Katharinenberg.

However, the repeated armed conflicts led to a long-lasting decline in the economy.

The 16th century was marked by peasant wars and the Reformation.

During this epoch of the Wunsiedler history, the ruling margraves promoted education, for example by founding a Latin school.

As a result, the economy recovered and the poverty of the population decreased.

Wunsiedel: The history of the city from the 17th to the 19th century

In 1613, under the rule of the Hohenzollerns, Wunsiedel rose to become the capital of the Sechsämterland, to which it had already belonged for over a hundred years.

As a result, the city developed into an important administrative center.

The affiliation of Wunsiedel to the Hohenzollern Empire or the Hohenzollern Principality of Bayreuth ended in 1792. After that, the city came under Prussian administration and was then occupied by French-Napoleonic troops.

The incorporation into the recently founded Kingdom of Bavaria takes place in 1810. At first Wunsiedel belonged to the Obermainkreis, then from 1837 to Upper Franconia.

Wunsiedel was one of the first regions in Bavaria to systematically expand tourism.

For this reason, the now world-famous rock labyrinth was opened up at the end of the 18th century.

These are bizarrely shaped, huge rock formations that are located on the Luisenburg, a district of Wunsiedel.

There have been numerous major fires throughout history, with devastating consequences for the city.

The last one destroyed large parts of the historic old town in 1834, which were then rebuilt in the classical style.

Wunsiedel: The history from the late 19th century to the present

In Wunsiedel, industrialization began at the end of the 19th century and therefore very late in comparison to many other Bavarian regions.

Here, above all, industrial porcelain and textile production as well as stone processing developed into important branches of the economy.

As a result, the population increased from just under 3,800 around 1890 to just under 6,000 before the outbreak of the First World War.

The First World War led to a famine in Wunsiedel, which was not least caused by the stay of many summer guests.

The local population then drove away the tourists.

The post-war years were also marked by great economic hardship and political unrest.

In the 1920s, the situation improved, mainly due to the renewed tourism.

In the Third Reich, Wunsiedel developed into a Nazi stronghold, mainly because the family of one of the most important representatives of the regime, Rudolf Hess, had lived in the city for a long time.

There was no major destruction in the city during World War II.

In the post-war years, Wunsiedel belonged to the American zone of occupation.

The district and town of Wunsiedel received their current form through the great Bavarian regional reform, which resulted in a local reorganization of the communities in the 1970s.

Wunsiedel: administration and residents

The urban area of ​​Wunsiedel is divided into 30 districts, including the following districts:

  • Amber

  • Breitenbrunn

  • Furthammer

  • Göringsreuth

  • Hildenbach

  • Hildenmühle

  • Johanneszech

  • Schönlind

  • Schönbrunn

  • Tunnel mill

  • Fulling Mill

  • Wintersberg

  • Brickworks

9,295 people live in the district town of Wunsiedel, 72,655 people live in the district of Wunsiedel in the Fichtel Mountains.

The population density in the district town is 169 and in the district 120 inhabitants per square kilometer.

(As of December 31, 2019)

Wunsiedel: Politics and Economy

As in many other rural regions of Bavaria, the CSU party has had a formative influence on local politics in Wunsiedel for decades.

In the 2020 local elections, she won eight of the 20 seats on the city council.

As the second strongest force, the SPD and the Association of Active Citizens emerged from the elections, each with three seats.

Nicolas Lahovnik from the CSU has been the First Mayor of Wunsiedel since 2020.

The Wunsiedel economy is characterized by medium-sized companies.

Mainly companies in the following sectors are based in the city:

  • Porcelain and glass production

  • Textile

  • Chemistry or paint production

  • Packaging industry

  • Stone processing

  • construction

  • Environmental technology

Traditionally, breweries and the production of the well-known herbal liqueur “Sechsämtertropfen” also play an important role.

The same is true of tourism.

Wunsiedel: culture and sights

The rock labyrinth on the Luisenburg is by far the most important sight in the city of Wunsiedel. The spectacular rock formations attract countless visitors from home and abroad every year.

The "Luisen Festival" has been taking place in summer on a natural open-air stage in the rock labyrinth since 1890.

The number of visitors is regularly more than 150,000 people.

In addition to operas and plays, operettas and concerts are also performed.

The "Wunsiedler Brunnenfest" takes place year after year on the last Saturday before June 24th and is protected by UNESCO as an intangible world cultural heritage.

Since 2009, the "Collis Clamat", a medieval festival, has also been held on the Katharinenberg in August.

Wunsiedel: Further sights

With the Fichtelgebirgs Museum and the German Natural Stone Archive, Wunsiedel presents two important natural history collections.

The city's many attractions also include:

  • the house where Jean Paul was born

  • the St. Maria Hospital Church

  • Bernstein Castle

  • the town hall from the 19th century

A visit to the Katharinenberg bird of prey park is also worthwhile.

Here, guests can observe the life of native birds of prey in their natural environment and learn about the history of the scavenger hunt.

The falconry belonging to the park regularly organizes flight demonstrations.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-03-18

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