Hünfeld

Hünfeld developed within the lands of Fulda, above the Haune River. Its origins lay in Charlemagne's donation of Campus Unofelt to Fulda monastery in 781 and the religious community established there. By around the year 1000 the settlement had two churches. The grant of Gelnhausen town rights in 1310 gave another impulse to its development.

The town's livelihood was closely connected to movement. The old Antsanvia military and trading road, followed by the Frankfurt–Leipzig commercial route, brought merchants needing accommodation, craft services and additional teams to pull their wagons. The same location became a liability during warfare, when passing armies demanded quarters and supplies or plundered the town. Napoleon passed through Hünfeld repeatedly on his campaigns. Goethe also stopped there and left a poem reflecting the effects of the Napoleonic wars. Hünfeld's history thus connects its ecclesiastical origins and municipal rights with the practical fortunes of a small road town.