Wehretal

Wehretal
Coat of arms
Wehretal
Location of Wehretal within Werra-Meißner-Kreis district
Coordinates: 51°09′N 10°00′E / 51.150°N 10.000°E / 51.150; 10.000Coordinates: 51°09′N 10°00′E / 51.150°N 10.000°E / 51.150; 10.000
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Kassel
District	Werra-Meißner-Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Jochen Kistner
Area
• Total	39.20 km2 (15.14 sq mi)
Elevation	179 m (587 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	5,015
• Density	130/km2 (330/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	37287
Dialling codes	05658, 05651
Vehicle registration	ESW
Website	www.wehretal.de

Wehretal is a community in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.

Wehretal lies roughly 50 km southeast of the North Hesse city of Kassel. It is found between Eschwege in the north and Sontra in the south.

Towards the north, the community’s area falls in the river Wehre’s course – after which river the community is named – down to its mouth on the river Werra near Eschwege. In the east lies the Schlierbachswald and in the southeast lies the Ringgau (ranges). To the southwest, another range, the Stölzinger Gebirge, is to be found. To the west stands the Hoher Meißner.

Wehretal borders in the north on the town of Eschwege, in the east on the community of Weißenborn, in the south on the community of Ringgau and the town of Sontra, in the west on the town of Waldkappel and in the far northwest on the community of Meißner (all in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).

Wehretal’s five Ortsteile are Reichensachsen, Langenhain, Hoheneiche, Oetmannshausen and Vierbach.

In 1577, a deformed child who became widely known was born in Hoheneiche. The Renaissance artist Dietmar Merluan carved a wooden figurine of the child.

The community of Wehretal, containing 3 920 ha, came into being in 1971 and 1972 through the merger of the communities of Hoheneiche, Langenhain, Vierbach and Oetmannshausen into the administrative centre, the community of Reichensachsen. In the course of this municipal reform, the new, greater community adopted the name Wehretal. Unlike many other communities in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, Wehretal’s population is actually rising.

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

The last mayoral elections on 12 November 2006 yielded the following results:

Jochen Kistner (SPD) took office on 1 April 2007 as the new mayor for a term in office of six years. He is the fourth in an unbroken series of SPD mayors elected here since 1952.