Baunatal

Baunatal
Coat of arms
Baunatal
Location of Baunatal within Kassel district
Coordinates: 51°15′32″N 09°25′06″E / 51.25889°N 9.41833°E / 51.25889; 9.41833Coordinates: 51°15′32″N 09°25′06″E / 51.25889°N 9.41833°E / 51.25889; 9.41833
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Kassel
District	Kassel
Government
• Mayor	Manfred Schaub (SPD)
Area
• Total	38.27 km2 (14.78 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	27,617
• Density	720/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	34225
Dialling codes	0561, 05601, 05665
Vehicle registration	KS
Website	www.baunatal.de

Baunatal is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is a comparatively young town which arose from fusion of the formerly independent municipalities Altenbauna, Altenritte, Großenritte, Guntershausen, Hertingshausen, Kirchbauna and Rengershausen in 1966.

In 1999, the town hosted the 39th Hessentag state festival.

Baunatal directly borders on the south of Kassel and is located to the west of the valley of the Fulda river. West and northwest the town borders on the Habichtswald with the Baunsberg (413,4 m above sea level) in the north. Baunatal got its name from the Bauna river, which traverses the town from the northwest to the southeast until it flows into the Fulda near Guntershausen.

Baunatal borders in the north on the municipality of Schauenburg and the urban district of Kassel, in the east on the municipality of Fuldabrück, in the southeast on the municipality of Guxhagen, in the south on the municipality of Edermünde and in the west on the town of Niedenstein.

The Volkswagenwerk Kassel was built in 1957 on the former premises of the Henschel & Son company in Altenbauna. In 1960, just one year after start of production, the number of employees exceeded 6,000. Due to this rapid development the residential area and housing demands were rising. As a consequence of this the three municipalities Altenbauna, Altenritte and Kirchbauna fused into Baunatal on 1 January 1964.

On 1 July 1966 with incorporation of Großenritte, Baunatal received town privileges by the Government of Hesse. First mayor of the new founded town was Horst Werner. At this time the number of inhabitants was 11,705 and the number of employees of the Volkswagen factory was about 13,400.