Bad Hersfeld

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Bad Hersfeld
Image:Wappen Bad Hersfeld.png	Image:Karte bad hersfeld in deutschland.png

Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Administrative region	Kassel
District	Hersfeld-Rotenburg
Population	30,490 (2004)
Area	73.82 km²
Population density	413 /km²
Elevation	212 m
Coordinates	50°52′ N 9°42′ E
Postal code	36251
Area code	06621
Licence plate code	HEF
Mayor	Hartmut H. Boehmer
Website	bad-hersfeld.de

Bad Hersfeld is a spa town in the north-eastern region of Hesse in Germany. It is located on the Fulda River and it is capital of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district. Surrounding towns are Kassel in the north, Fulda in the south and Eisenach in the east.

Position: 50°52' north, 9°42' east. Elevation: 200 to 408 m. Area: 73.82 km². Population: about 30650.

Town districts: Bad Hersfeld (the old town), Eichhof, Asbach, Heenes, Hohe Luft, Johannesberg, Beiershausen, Allmershausen, Kathus, Sorga, Kohlhausen and Petersberg.

The town is well known for the Bad Hersfeld Festival which takes place every summer in the ruined church of the Benedictine abbey. Further on there are famous mineral springs.

Since German reunification the town has been situated in the center of Germany. For this reason the town and the district have become a focal point for logistic and distribution companies.

Transportation: Autobahn A 4, A5 and A 7.

Image:Hersfeld altstadt tageberg.jpg

[edit] History

see main article Hersfeld Abbey

Saint Sturm established a small monastic community here in 736, but this moved to Fulda. It was re-settled here in 769 by Saint Lullus. Thus both Sturm and Lullus are regarded as the founders of Hersfeld Abbey, and consequently of the town which grew up round it, the present Bad Hersfeld. Lullus was born in Wessex and became monk at Malmesbury Abbey. He was a disciple of Saint Boniface and his successor as the archbishop of Mainz. He died in 786 in Bad Hersfeld and was buried in the abbey church, which he himself had built.

The monastery was enlarged between 831 and 850 and Lullus' remains were moved in 852 to another grave in the new basilica. During this ceremony his canonisation was announced by Rabanus Maurus. Since 852, the "Lullusfest", the oldest folk festival in Germany, has been celebrated in the week of Saint Lullus' day, 16 October (his day of death).

Martin Luther visited the monastery, on his way back from the Diet of Worms in 1521 and held a sermon in the abbey church on 1 May. About two years later, the town and the territory of the abbey was generally protestant.

During the Seven Years' War the French army used the former abbey church as a supply and food depot. During their retreat in 1761 they destroyed their supplies by setting fire to the building, thus also destroying one of the largest churches in Germany. Since 1951, the Bad Hersfeld Festival has taken place in the ruins of the Romanesque church.

In 1949 the town was officially acknowledged as a spa, and to indicate this its name was changed to Bad Hersfeld. The waters of the Lullus and Vitalis wells are recommended as helpful for people suffering from liver, bilious and stomach complaints or from enteritis.