Melsungen (German pronunciation:[ˈmɛlzʊŋən]ⓘ) is a small climatic spa town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany. In 1987, the town hosted the 27th Hessentag state festival.
Geography
Melsungen lies on the river Fulda in the North Hesse Highlands. The streams Pfieffe and Kehrenbach, flow into the Fulda in the town. A few kilometres downstream, the river Eder flows into the Fulda.
Location
The nearest large towns are Kassel (downstream, about 22km to the north) and Bad Hersfeld (upstream, about 32km to the southeast).
Constituent communities
Melsungen consists of several smaller communities. Besides the main community, there are seven other communities: Adelshausen, Günsterode, Kehrenbach, Kirchhof, Obermelsungen, Röhrenfurth, and Schwarzenberg.
History
Historical records of the town date from 802, but it was likely settled much earlier, during the Hallstatt period (9th to 4th Centuries BCE).
Middle Ages
Melsungen had developed into a small town (burgus) by 1189. The town's coat of arms also originated at this time.
In the course of its history, Melsungen often changed hands. The fiercest fighting over the town was between the Archbishops of Mainz and the Landgraves of Hesse and Thuringia.
Melsungen gained significance due to its location at the intersection of three medieval trade routes: the Sälzerweg, which runs east–west; the Nürnberger Straße, which runs north–south; and Durch die langen Hessen (roughly translated as "Through the Long Hessians").
Modern Age
Sculpture Bartenwetzer
In 1554, a fire destroyed parts of the heart of town. In 1637, during the Thirty Years' War, the constituent community of Günsterode was laid waste.
From 1821 to 1974, Melsungen served as an administrative center and independent district seat, until the Melsungen district merged with the neighboring Fritzlar-Homberg and Ziegenhain districts.
The town's approximately 14,000 residents refer to themselves as Bartenwetzer ("Axe whetters").
Coat of arms
The origins of the old seal and the current civic coat of arms date back to the late 12th century. Heraldically, the arms can be described as follows: on a blue background, a town gate and tower in silver with a red roof topped by two gold finials, flanked by silver crenellated town walls.
The official description of the town's blazon specifies the roof as "tile-red" rather than "gules" (red). The arms have been in use since 1577.
Politics
Town council consists of 37 members. Following the municipal elections held on 14 March 2021, the seats were apportioned thus:
Ahle Wurst (or Aahle Worscht), a kind of Hessian hard porksausage. Its name is a dialectal form of alte Wurst – "old sausage".
Transportation
The town lies on AutobahnA 7. Federal Highway (Bundesstraße) B83 runs through Melsungen and Bundesstraßen B253 and B487 both begin (or end) here.
Melsungen lies on the Kassel—Bebra—Fulda railway line and belongs to the North Hesse Transport Network. In May 2006 the RegioTram line RT5 (Kassel-Melsungen) began. It directly connects Melsungen with downtown Kassel. The line ends at present where the Melsungen-Süd return loop is still not finished. Further stations are being built at Melsungen-Schwarzenberg und Melsungen-Bartenwetzerbrücke.
Economy
Melsungen is home to the firm of B. Braun Melsungen, which has a €9,100,000,000 yearly turnover, and about 64,000 employees worldwide (as of 2024).
Notable people
Johannes Rhenanus (c.1528 in Melsungen–1589) salinist, theologian, alchemist, printer and author.
Arnold Grimme (1868–1958) veterinarian and naturalist, district veterinarian in Melsungen (1895–1910)
