Gelnhausen was founded by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1170, it is therefore nicknamed "Barbarossastadt". The place was chosen because it was at the intersection of the Via Regia imperial road between Frankfurt and Leipzig and several other major trade routes. Frederick had three villages connected by streets and surrounded by a wall. At the same time, Gelnhausen received town privileges and a Kaiserpfalz was erected on an island of the Kinzig river. The emperor also granted trade privileges like the staple right which forced traveling merchants to offer their goods in the town for three days. Hence Gelnhausen initially was a thriving trade town and head of a league of 16 towns of the Wetterau region. However prosperity came to an end already in 1326 when Emperor Louis IV gave the town in pawn to the counts of Hanau, redeemed shortly afterwards. In 1349 Count Günther von Schwarzburg received Gelnhausen from Emperor Charles IV for renouncing his claims as elected King of the Romans, in condominium with the counts of Hohnstein, who sold their share to Schwarzburg in 1431. Schwarzburg was acquired in 1435 by Elector Palatine Louis III and the Hanau, since raised to a county. Repeated plundering in the Thirty Years' War as depicted by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen in his novel Simplicius Simplicissimus made it nearly uninhabitable. In 1736, the extinction of the comital line of Hanau meant the condominium share was inherited by the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, who acquired the Palatinate's share ten years later. The varying lords made continued attempts to challenge Gelnhausen's imperial immediacy, it however formally remained a Reichsstadt. During the German Mediatisation of 1803 the city became a part of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, which was raised to an electorate and, after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, was annexed by Prussia. At this time Gelnhausen had completely recovered, and with the Gründerzeit economic boom it became a centre of the German rubber industry.
The Holocaust
During the Nazi era, Gelnhausen was reported judenfrei on November 1, 1938, by propaganda newspaper Kinzigwacht after its synagogue was closed and remaining local Jews forced to leave the town. From the 1930s Gelnhausen was a garrison town of the German Wehrmacht and, after World War II, of the United States Army. The US Army closed Coleman Kaserne in 2007. In 1996, the town hosted the 36th Hessentag state festival.
Arts and culture
Attractions
Sights include:
Medieval town center with historic buildings like the ' and the '
The Kaiserpfalz Gelnhausen. The castle was erected at the time of Gelnhausen's foundation southeast of the town on an island in the Kinzig river. The groundwork is stabilized by 12,000 logs, driven into the earth. Today it is the best preserved Kaiserpfalz from this era.
The , the most recognizable landmark of Gelnhausen. It shows both Romanesque and Gothic architecture elements. The church was built from local bunter between 1170 and 1250 by Selbold Abbey, replacing a simple chapel from ca. 1100 of which some traces remain. In 1543, Gelnhausen turned Protestant and the church became the Protestant parish church.
The Catholic church of. Its origins lie in the early 13th century; rich citizens of Gelnhausen planned to erect a church within the town, causing a conflict with the Selbold Abbey that owned the clerical patronage for Gelnhausen. This conflict was escalated up to Pope Gregory IX who decided in favour of the abbey. From the 13th to the 15th century the church was used for weddings, baptisms, and funerals. After the Reformation, the building became the property of the town. It subsequently fell into ruin and was sold in 1830 to a local merchant. After the demolition of the second tower, a cigar factory was built in it. In 1920, the Catholic community of Gelnhausen bought the church and partly restored it over an 18-year period. A complete restoration took place in 1982–3.
Friedrich Armand Strubberg Merchant, physician, colonist in North America. Direct descendant of Frederick I of Sweden. Buried in Gelnhausen.
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, writer, born about 1622 in Gelnhausen, died 17 August 1676 in Renchen. In his work Simplicissimus, the sacking of Gelnhausen during the Thirty Years' War is graphically described.
, chief editor of the Cicero magazine, born 1964 at Gelnhausen
Like many American soldiers, in 1959 Colin Powell, then lieutenant of the 3rd Armored Division, served at Coleman Kaserne. A street was later named after him. During the Second Gulf War there was some discussion about renaming the street because of Germany's stance on the war. The mayor of Gelnhausen strongly objected.
