Willingen

Willingen
Coat of arms
Willingen
Location of Willingen within Waldeck-Frankenberg district
Coordinates: 51°17′42″N 08°36′29″E / 51.29500°N 8.60806°E / 51.29500; 8.60806Coordinates: 51°17′42″N 08°36′29″E / 51.29500°N 8.60806°E / 51.29500; 8.60806
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Kassel
District	Waldeck-Frankenberg
Government
• Mayor	Thomas Trachte
Area
• Total	80.19 km2 (30.96 sq mi)
Elevation	584 m (1,916 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	6,070
• Density	76/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	34508
Dialling codes	05632
Vehicle registration	KB
Website	www.gemeinde-willingen.de

Willingen is a community in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany, some 80 km west of Kassel.

Willingen is regularly advertised as Willingen Hochsauerland and Willingen (Upland).

Willingen is found in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in the Upland (a German name, not the English word). Its main town stretches between two river valleys, the Hoppecke in the west and the Itter in the east. The ski resort Skigebiet Willingen is near. It is located 60 km west of Kassel.

Willingen borders in the north on the community of Diemelsee, in the east on the town of Korbach, in the south on the community of Medebach, and in the west on the towns of Winterberg, Olsberg and Brilon (all three in the Hochsauerlandkreis in North Rhine-Westphalia).

Willingen consists of the following centres:

Willingen was founded in 1874 in the second municipal reform by uniting the villages of Bömighausen, Eimelrod, Hemmighausen, Neerdar, Rattlar, Schwalefeld, Welleringhausen and the climatic spas of Usseln and Willingen. Until 1929, Willingen belonged to the Free State of Waldeck, after which it passed to Prussia.

Willingen's council is made up of 31 councillors, with seats apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 6 March 2016:

Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.

The field is parted horizontally, below the middle, by a row of interlocking arrows between the gold above and the green below. It is meant, of course, to look like treetops, and refers to the Upland's extensive woods. There are two charges, one inside the other. The eight-pointed black star is the ubiquitous – in terms of the local civic heraldry – Star of Waldeck, borne centuries ago by the Counts of Waldeck when they held sway over the area. The snowflake is included as a charge within the star and is representative of the community's status as a winter resort.