Alsfeld

Alsfeld lies on the upper Schwalm in central Hesse, between the Vogelsberg and the Knüll mountains. Its position on the Kurze Hessen trade route helped crafts and commerce flourish. In 1429 the Korebrief gave the guilds a role in municipal politics and established a constitution that lasted into the nineteenth century.

The town's prosperity found expression in the timber-framed town hall, built from 1512 to 1516, and other buildings around the market square. Alsfeld passed to Hesse-Marburg in 1567. The Thirty Years' War brought plunder, famine and plague; in 1646 fighting and destruction left many houses and barns in ruins.