Gelnhausen

Gelnhausen is a city and the capital of the Main Kinzig Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located about forty kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, among the Vogel berg Mountains and the Spessart range on the river Kinzig. It is one of the 11 cities’ urban municipalities inside the district. Gelnhausen has round 22,000 populations. Gelnhausen changed into founded with the aid of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1170; its miles consequently nicknamed "Barbarossastadt". The region changed into selected because it become at the intersection of the Via Regia imperial road among Frankfurt and Leipzig and numerous other principal exchange routes.

Frederick had 3 villages linked by way of streets and surrounded via a wall. At the same time, Gelnhausen acquired town privileges and a Kaiserpfalz turned into erected on an island of the Kinzig River. The emperor additionally granted change privileges like the staple proper which forced travelling merchants to provide their goods within the metropolis for three days. Hence Gelnhausen to begin with turned into a thriving trade city and head of a league of 16 cities of the Wetterau area. However prosperity got here to a cease already in 1326 whilst Emperor Louis IV gave the metropolis in pawn to the counts of Hanau, redeemed rapidly afterwards.