Berkatal

Berkatal
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Berkatal within Werra-Meißner-Kreis district <imagemap>File: Berkatal ESW.svg | 240x240px poly 598 1430 1076 1271 1180 1370 1110 1424 1260 1620 1155 1795 1040 1758 1094 1650 874 1566 717 1552 714 1509 Sontra poly 597 1428 941 1292 991 1211 969 1147 675 992 472 1172 463 1409 Waldkappel poly 469 1169 668 991 700 926 678 813 650 803 628 879 489 822 468 879 350 771 228 762 60 964 92 1000 235 997 247 1065 388 1162 Hessisch Lichtenau poly 112 575 166 503 374 555 471 496 480 443 620 523 558 608 642 616 597 703 471 665 431 702 240 676 Gutsbezirk Kaufunger Wald poly 346 772 473 664 593 708 633 650 717 689 693 838 654 812 629 870 496 828 471 879 Großalmerode poly 690 855 1007 850 1044 817 962 746 892 765 882 736 796 719 752 805 757 833 696 815 Berkatal poly 698 850 666 987 739 1025 861 1079 921 1024 961 1046 1079 957 1052 847 Meißner poly 695 68 859 59 932 191 899 328 851 349 750 235 Neu-Eichenberg poly 273 263 564 179 549 93 666 99 751 240 841 347 899 333 941 485 822 494 712 681 565 599 619 505 486 441 481 366 392 443 Witzenhausen poly 1227 1572 1512 1548 1689 1682 1594 1795 1186 1729 Herleshausen poly 1073 1263 1097 1232 1276 1242 1282 1294 1361 1310 1396 1293 1474 1309 1426 1346 1547 1391 1503 1575 1210 1571 1121 1416 1200 1344 1142 1350 Ringgau poly 848 1077 914 1026 1349 1251 1280 1302 1273 1244 1088 1228 1065 1277 940 1293 1001 1204 976 1147 Wehretal poly 1300 1276 1442 1207 1581 1303 1547 1387 1429 1346 1479 1309 1384 1292 1366 1316 Weißenborn poly 970 1047 1348 1239 1458 1185 1411 1020 1111 898 1136 818 1010 794 990 840 1063 853 1078 965 Eschwege poly 1404 1027 1487 1006 1522 934 1753 1034 1668 1319 1575 1164 1459 1183 Wanfried poly 1095 885 1234 728 1526 924 1480 1017 1404 1019 Meinhard poly 690 908 715 775 716 675 824 493 938 494 1263 654 1237 731 1129 822 800 725 751 825 713 826 Bad Sooden-Allendorf poly 469 380 469 509 349 550 150 492 3 406 6 120 125 47 111 4 1191 5 937 177 863 54 706 63 742 231 697 235 652 100 576 80 546 102 553 183 286 261 379 454 Lower Saxony poly 1813 13 1328 5 1196 11 919 191 962 465 954 536 1033 552 1048 623 1266 652 1302 794 1308 856 1748 1031 1733 1081 1667 1169 1680 1210 1690 1294 1641 1315 1572 1161 1437 1207 1528 1296 1580 1302 1587 1339 1551 1359 1505 1429 1514 1557 1695 1679 1608 1788 1406 1737 1183 1735 1165 1834 1834 1837 Thuringia poly 1166 1836 1144 1795 1045 1760 1094 1659 881 1553 861 1579 715 1552 722 1510 604 1468 587 1413 475 1422 394 1481 252 1431 52 1545 55 1622 1 1648 1 1834 Hersfeld-Rotenburg poly 5 1641 60 1627 58 1534 254 1428 398 1488 468 1424 465 1148 361 1167 243 1065 245 1025 227 991 43 1012 15 1055 2 1057 Schwalm-Eder-Kreis poly 4 1044 21 1046 50 1012 77 991 63 957 242 764 406 751 435 692 234 679 115 563 162 501 3 413 Kassel (district) desc bottom-right </imagemap>
Berkatal Berkatal
Coordinates: 51°14′N 09°55′E
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Kassel
District	Werra-Meißner-Kreis
Subdivisions	3 districts
Government
• Mayor (2023–29)	Lutz Bergner (CDU)
Area
• Total	19.56 km2 (7.55 sq mi)
Elevation	234 m (768 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	1,508
• Density	77/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	37297
Dialling codes	05657
Vehicle registration	ESW
Website	www.berkatal.de

Berkatal is a municipality in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Location

Berkatal lies in the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park at the foot of the Hoher Meißner massif. The river Berka rises within community limits.

Neighbouring communities

Berkatal borders in the west and north on the town of Bad Sooden-Allendorf, in the east on the town of Eschwege, in the south on the community of Meißner and in the southwest on the towns of Hessisch Lichtenau and Großalmerode (all in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Berkatal's three Ortsteile are Frankenhain, Frankershausen (administrative seat) and Hitzerode. The nearest major town is the district seat of Eschwege. Berkatal lies roughly 40 km south of Göttingen and 45 km east of Kassel.

History

Frankershausen

The constituent community of Frankershausen, having had its first documentary mention in 876, is one of the region's oldest settlements. At first, Frankershausen was within the lands held by the Counts of Bilstein, who sold the village in 1301 to the Landgraves of Hesse. The Landgraves enfeoffed various noble families with the rights to Frankershausen over the course of its history. Originally, the village core stretched around the village church, which was expanded in the Classicist style. With the beginning of the salt trade in the 16th century, the valley was settled alongside the Berka. In time arose great estates with stately houses with cellars in which was kept wine from the Rhineland meant for sale. Still bearing witness today to the Frankershausen salt and wine dealers’ wealth are the preserved houses from the late 18th century along the Berkastraße and Am Wasser (“At the Water”). In business in Frankershausen today are many craft businesses and trade operations, along with a small metal-processing business. In 1976, the community's 1,200-year jubilee was celebrated.

Frankenhain

The constituent community of Frankenhain, having had its first documentary mention in 1360, is the community's third oldest place. The community acquired economic ascendancy during the boom in the salt and wine trades, to which the dwellers of the whole Meißnervorland dedicated themselves beginning in the 16th century. The resident wagon drivers built along what is today the Meißnerstraße extensive estates with the typical great cellars for keeping wine. In the 19th century, mining and melting pot making became the main sources of livelihood for Frankenhain's inhabitants. Even today, there is still a business in Frankenhain that produces melting pots, which sells its products worldwide.

Hitzerode

The constituent community of Hitzerode had its first documentary mention in 1195 in a document from Pope Celestine III, in which he confirmed the Germerode Monastery's lordship. About 1300, Hitzerode passed to the Landgraves of Hesse. In 1498, one half belonged to the Landgraviate of Hesse and the other half was enfeoffed to the Lords of Völkershausen, and later to the Apel Appe zu Aue and the Lords of Eschwege. The village's history was shaped, as in the community's other centres by the salt and wine trade. Early in the village's history, building was confined to the Kirchberg (“Church Hill”) and the course of the Albunger Straße (road). So, when the salt trade was beginning, the Lange Straße (“Long Road”), was also built up. This ran from Dohlsbach towards Frankershausen, across the Meißner to Spangenberg. Here arose the merchants’ representative estates which still characterize the settlement today. In 1995, the settlement's 800-year jubilee was marked.

Amalgamation

In 1971, by merging the centres of Frankenhain and Frankershausen, the community was founded. One year later, Hitzerode was also amalgamated. As it was unclear until then whether Hitzerode would be amalgamated with Bad Sooden-Allendorf, it still has the telephone area code 05652 (Bad Sooden-Allendorf) today, whereas the other two centres both have the area code 05657 (Meißner).

Politics

Community council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Parties and voter communities		% 2006	Seats 2006	% 2001	Seats 2001
CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	26.8	4	23.2	3
SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	40.2	6	39.7	6
ÜWG	Überparteiliche Wählergemeinschaft	30.0	5	30.0	5
BLB	Bürgerliste Berkatal	3.0	0	7.1	1
Total		100	15	100	15
Voter turnout in %		66.1		71.9

Mayors

Since 1997 the community's mayor has been Friedel Lenze (SPD). His predecessors were Willi Hildebrandt (SPD) from 1971 to 1979, Ferdinand Nieland (CDU) from 1979 to 1991 and Hansjörg Haas (CDU) from 1991 to 1996.

Community executive

As laid down in Hessian law, the community of Berkatal has an executive (Gemeindevorstand) as the community's collective leadership board. On this board, besides Mayor Friedel Lenze are two members each of the CDU, the SPD and the ÜWG. The ranking member, and thereby the deputy mayor, is Lutz Bergner (CDU). The executive's chairman is Manfred Zindel (ÜWG).

The executive has two committees, each with five members: a main, financial and social committee and a building and planning committee. The former's chairman is Bernd Fink (ÜWG) and the latter's Wolfgang Friederich (CDU).

The three parties or voter communities represented on the executive have each joined together into a faction, with Matthias Dix as the CDU faction's chairman, Reinhard Philipp as the SPD faction's and Thomas Schill as the ÜWG faction's.

Coat of arms

The community's arms might be described thus: Gules a bend sinister wavy argent between a cross moline and a wagon wheel of six spokes Or.

The wavy bend sinister represents the community's namesake, the Berka. The cross is the Frankenkreuz, a reference to the names Frankershausen and Frankenhain. The wagon wheel stands for the wagon drivers who were once widespread here.

Culture and sightseeing

• Bilstein Castle

The castle of the Counts of Wigger – named after Wigger I – was built by Count Rugger II beginning in 1120, and was completed no later than 1145. Only wall remnants remain today, in particular parts of the ringwall, remains of a well in the bailey and a cistern on the motte. In the area of the castle ruins are found three redoubts, the High Redoubt, the Redoubt over the Bilstein and the Schnepfenburg, which are likewise castle constructions in the wider sense. According to legend, the last Count of Bilstein, along with his family, is said to have set off a rockfall in a coach at the slope on the occasion of a siege, after which the besieging forces discovered a secret passage leading between the castle and the Höllenmühle (mill) down in the valley through which the castle had been being supplied.

• Evangelical parish church of Hitzerode

The church in Hitzerode was built in an exposed spot in the old village core. Building, in its four phases, lasted almost two centuries. The massive lower part of the choir tower was built in the early years of the 16th century. The timber-frame floors above were put in place in 1687. The finishing touch, the cupola, was put on in 1738. The nave, built in 1793, is still preserved in its original form today. The organ has a Baroque prospect. Furthermore, this Evangelical parish church houses a baptismal font dated to 1603.

• Frankenhain church with frescoes

The Evangelical parish church in Frankenhain is built in an exposed, elevated spot in the village core. The oldest preserved part of the complex is the quire tower whose basic style is Early Gothic, to which a Classicist transept was added in 1838. The church houses a preserved baptismal font from the 16th century and an organ from 1843.

• Frau-Holle-Teich

The “Mother Hulda Pond” lies in a hollow on the Meißner. Stories handed down have it that Mother Hulda’s home was on the Meißner. The name Frau-Holle-Teich has been shown to have existed for at least 300 years.

• Kripplöcher and Hielöcher

The Kripplöcher and Hielöcher are to be found near Frankershausen. The whole area is a nature conservation area characterized by karst geology with both small and big, flat and deep holes formed by collapses. Through the Hielöcher runs a learning path. The Kripplöcher, however, may not be entered without a guide. In 1958 a whole team of cows sank into a new earthfall. Earthfalls are brought about when gypsum and salt deposits are washed away.

• Dolmen

In the north of Hitzerode stand some five to seven dolmens. These come from the time around 2000 BC. In 1880, the first one was opened, and in late August 1881, under scientific guidance, so was the second one. This was the biggest, with a diameter of roughly 16 m, and the excavation lasted three days. At the time, two round walls made of loose, layered stones under the earth were found. Inside lay some human bones and bits of coal.

• Roman camp

North of Hitzerode on the north slope of the Ihringsberg lies the so-called Römerlager, or “Roman camp”. It is, in fact, a square wall complex, rounded at the corners, ringed by a ditch, of early mediaeval, Germanic origin. The walls measure some 85 m from east to west and from north to south some 75 m in length. On average, they are about 2 to 3 m in height. There was a small, open room with heavy fortification here.

• Fortress church in Frankershausen

The fortress church in Frankershausen, which was expanded in the Classicist style, is an Evangelical parish church with an Early Gothic core which has come to form the heart of the village. The outside is dominated by the quire tower.

External links

• Community’s official webpage (in German)