Freiensteinau
Municipality in Hesse, Germany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Freiensteinau (German: [ˌfʁaɪənˈʃtaɪnaʊ])[3] is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany.
Freiensteinau | |
|---|---|
|
Coat of arms | |
Location of Freiensteinau
within Vogelsbergkreis district  | |
 Location of Freiensteinau | |
  Freiensteinau  Freiensteinau | |
| 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 | 65.66 km2 (25.35 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 444 m (1,457 ft) |
| Population (2024-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 2,967 |
| • Density | 45.19/km2 (117.0/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 |
Geography
Location
Freiensteinau lies on the southern slopes of the Vogelsberg Mountains.
Neighbouring municipalities
Freiensteinau borders in the north on the municipality of Grebenhain, in the northeast on the municipality of Hosenfeld (Fulda district), in the east on the municipality of Neuhof (Fulda district), in the south on the town of Steinau an der Straße (Main-Kinzig-Kreis) and in the west on the municipality of Birstein (Main-Kinzig-Kreis).
Constituent municipalities
The municipality 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[4]
- 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
Culture and sightseeing
Sundry
A curious fact about the municipality's political history is that before Hesse's municipal reforms in the 1970s, the 12 constituent municipalities nowadays within Freiensteinau not only were not united, but even belonged to four different districts: Fulda, Gelnhausen, Lauterbach and Schlüchtern.
