Hersfeld

Hersfeld grew around a Benedictine abbey founded by Lullus in 769. The monastery became an important imperial institution, and a market was recorded beside it in 1142. Lullus's remains were transferred to its basilica in 852, an occasion remembered by an annual festival. In time the town's interests came into conflict with those of the abbey, whose influence declined after the Great Interregnum.

From 1373 the landgraves of Hesse gained influence through defensive alliances. Martin Luther preached in the abbey church on his return from Worms in 1521, and the town and much of the abbey's territory soon became Protestant. After the Peasants' War, Hesse acquired much of the town and abbey lands; the Peace of Westphalia awarded the former imperial abbey to Hesse-Kassel in 1648. French troops burned the great abbey church during their retreat in 1761.