Bad Zwesten

Municipality in Hesse, Germany

Coat of arms

Location of Bad Zwesten within Schwalm-Eder-Kreis district

(2023–29) Achim Siebert^[1]Area

• Total39.45 km² (15.23 sq mi)Elevation

210 m (690 ft)Population

(2022-12-31)^[2]

• Total3,832 • Density97/km² (250/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)Postal codes

34596

Dialling codes05626Vehicle registrationHRWebsitewww.badzwesten.de

Bad Zwesten is a municipality in the Schwalm-Eder district of Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Location

Bad Zwesten lies about 8 km southeast of Bad Wildungen on the river Schwalm, which belongs to the Eder watershed. North of the community begins the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park.

Constituent communities

Betzigerode
Niederurff
Oberurff-Schiffelborn
Wenzigerode
Zwesten (administrative seat)

History

Zwesten had its first documentary mention about the year 800. In 1913 came the discovery of a mineral spring, which in 1960 was officially declared a recognized Heilquelle (≈health spring).

Within the framework of municipal reform in Hesse, the formerly independent communities of Betzigerode, Niederurff, Oberurff-Schiffelborn, Wenzigerode and Zwesten were amalgamated into the new, united community of Zwesten in 1972. In 1992, the community was granted official recognition as a spa, allowing it to prefix the designation Bad – German for "bath" – to its name.

Politics

Municipal council

Municipal representation consists of 23 members.

CDU 6 seats
SPD 10 seats
Greens 3 seats
FWG (citizens' coalition) 2 seats
Bürgerliste (citizens' coalition) 2 seats

(as of municipal elections on 26 March 2006)

Economy

The spa of Bad Zwesten bases its burgeoning prosperity on its Löwensprudel ("Lion's Fizzy Water"). In this spa town, two clinics are to be found, Hardtwald Clinics I and II with about 650 beds.

Transport

Bad Zwesten lies at the crossroads of Federal Highways (Bundesstraßen) B 3 and B 485. About 5 km from the community is the Borken/Bad Zwesten interchange with Autobahn A 49 (Kassel – Fritzlar – Marburg).

The community belongs to the North Hesse Transport Network (Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund) which, among other things, runs a hailed shared taxi to Borken railway station on the Main-Weser Railway.

Literature

Martin Opfer: Zwesten : Betzigerode, Niederurff, Oberurff, Schiffelborn und Wenzigerode ; Bilder und Texte erzählen, wie es damals war, Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 1989, ISBN 3-925277-31-5

References

^ "Ergebnisse der jeweils letzten Direktwahl von Landrätinnen und Landräte sowie (Ober-)Bürgermeisterinnen und (Ober-)Bürgermeister in Hessen, Stand 13.04.2023" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt.
^ "Bevölkerung in Hessen am 31.12.2022 nach Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. June 2023.