Melsungen

Melsungen
Coat of arms
Melsungen
Location of Melsungen within Schwalm-Eder-Kreis district
Coordinates: 51°08′N 09°33′E / 51.133°N 9.550°E / 51.133; 9.550Coordinates: 51°08′N 09°33′E / 51.133°N 9.550°E / 51.133; 9.550
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Kassel
District	Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Markus Boucsein (Ind.)
Area
• Total	63.1 km2 (24.4 sq mi)
Elevation	160-460 m (−1,300 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	13,381
• Density	210/km2 (550/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	34212
Dialling codes	05661
Vehicle registration	HR
Website	www.melsungen.de

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.

Melsungen lies on the river Fulda in the North Hesse Highlands. The streams, Pfieffe and Kehrenbach, flow into the River Fulda in the town. A few kilometres downstream, the river Eder confluences into the Fulda.

The nearest large towns are Kassel (downstream, about 22 km to the north) and Bad Hersfeld (upstream, about 32 km to the southeast).

Melsungen comprises several smaller communities. In addition to the main community, which is also called Melsungen, there are seven communities named Adelshausen, Günsterode, Kehrenbach, Kirchhof, Obermelsungen, Röhrenfurth and Schwarzenberg.

Historical records of the town date from 802, but it was likely settled much earlier, during the Hallstatt period (9th to 4th Centuries BCE).

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 achieved its importance from its location at the crossroads of three mediaeval trade routes, the Sälzerweg, running east-west; the Nürnberger Straße, running north-south; and Durch die langen Hessen (roughly translated "Through the Long Hesse").

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 was an administrative centre and an independent district seat, until the Melsungen district was combined with the neighbouring Fritzlar-Homberg and Ziegenhain districts.