Freiensteinau

Freiensteinau
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Freiensteinau within Vogelsbergkreis district
Freiensteinau Show map of Germany Freiensteinau Show map of Hesse
Coordinates: 50°26′N 09°24′E
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Gießen
District	Vogelsbergkreis
Government
• Mayor (2020–26)	Sascha Spielberger[1]
Area
• Total	65.67 km^2 (25.36 sq mi)
Elevation	444 m (1,457 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	3,187
• Density	49/km^2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	36399
Dialling codes	06666
Vehicle registration	VB
Website	www.freiensteinau.de

Freiensteinau is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Location

Freiensteinau lies on the southern slopes of the Vogelsberg Mountains.

Neighbouring communities

Freiensteinau borders in the north on the community of Grebenhain, in the northeast on the community of Hosenfeld (Fulda district), in the east on the community of Neuhof (Fulda district), in the south on the town of Steinau an der Straße (Main-Kinzig-Kreis) and in the west on the community of Birstein (Main-Kinzig-Kreis).

Constituent communities

The community consists of the twelve centres of Freiensteinau (administrative seat), Holzmühl, Fleschenbach, Salz, Ober-Moos, Nieder-Moos, Gunzenau, Reichlos, Weidenau, Reinhards, Hessisch Radmühl and Preußisch Radmühl.

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Parties and voter coalitions		Share in %	Seats
CDU	Christian Democratic Union	25.1	5
SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	33.9	6
FW	Freie Wähler	41.0	8
total		100	19

Elections in March 2016[3]

• CDU = 2 seats
• SPD = 3 seats
• FW = 8 seats
• UBL = 4 seats
• Bündnis = 2 seats

Mayors

In July 2014 Sascha Spielberger was elected the new mayor, he started in office in December 2014, and was re-elected in 2020.

Former mayors:

• 1971–1991: Johannes Karl
• 1991–2014: Friedel Kopp

Partnerships

• Tourouvre, Normandy, France since 1977

Culture and sightseeing

Music

The organ at the Evangelical Church in Nieder-Moos was built in 1790-1791 by Johann-Markus Oestreich from Oberbimbach near Fulda. Every year, the Nieder-Mooser Sommerkonzerte (Nieder-Moos Summer Concerts) take place around the organ.

Freiensteinau Castle: gate

Sundry

A curious fact about the community's political history is that before Hesse's municipal reforms in the 1970s, the 12 constituent communities nowadays within Freiensteinau not only were not united, but even belonged to four different districts: Fulda, Gelnhausen, Lauterbach and Schlüchtern.

References

1. "Ergebnisse der letzten Direktwahl aller hessischen Landkreise und Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. 5 September 2022.
2. "Bevölkerung in Hessen am 31.12.2022 nach Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. June 2023.
3. "Ergebnis der Gemeindewahl am 6. März 2016". Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. April 2016.