Waldkappel

Waldkappel
Coat of arms
Waldkappel
Location of Waldkappel within Werra-Meißner-Kreis district
Coordinates: 51°09′N 09°53′E / 51.150°N 9.883°E / 51.150; 9.883Coordinates: 51°09′N 09°53′E / 51.150°N 9.883°E / 51.150; 9.883
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Kassel
District	Werra-Meißner-Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Peter Hillebrandt
Area
• Total	96.48 km2 (37.25 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	4,411
• Density	46/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	37284
Dialling codes	05656
Vehicle registration	ESW
Website	www.waldkappel.de

Waldkappel is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northern Hesse, Germany.

Waldkappel lies between Hessisch Lichtenau in the west and Eschwege in the east, where the town is found in the North Hesse Upland between the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park neighbouring it to the north and the Stölzinger Gebirge (range) in the south, in the Wehre valley.

Waldkappel borders in the north on the community of Meißner, in the east on the community of Wehretal, in the south on the town of Sontra (all three in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis), in the southwest on the community of Cornberg and the town of Rotenburg an der Fulda (both in Hersfeld-Rotenburg) and in the west on the towns of Spangenberg (in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis) and Hessisch Lichtenau (in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis).

Waldkappel’s Stadtteile, besides the main town, also called Waldkappel, are Bischhausen, Burghofen, Eltmannsee, Friemen, Gehau, Harmuthsachsen, Hasselbach, Hetzerode, Kirchhosbach, Mäckelsdorf, Rechtebach, Rodebach, Schemmern and Stolzhausen.

In 1226, Waldkappel had its first documentary mention, and it was granted town rights in 1414.

The town experienced its economic heyday in the Late Middle Ages from lying on the old trade road durch die langen Hessen, which ran from the Wetterau to Thuringia and on to Leipzig. Bearing witness to the town’s earlier, wealthier times is a Late Gothic church standing in the middle of the community.