Fulda, Hesse, Germany

🇩🇪 Fulda is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district. In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.

Before 1802 Fulda had a central function for the small manageable territory of the Hochstift at the time of the Holy Roman Empire. Economic life was at the time characterized by the rigid guild constitution. Fulda was the upper centre of the surrounding rural areas with the management of prince-bishop's properties; the city was characterized by craftsmanship, such as the tanners in Löherstraße, worsted yarn spinneries, cotton weavings, damask and sack wall production (Fuldaer Leinwand), plush, felt cloth, wax light production, wool An important economic factor was the situation on the old trade route Frankfurt-Leipzig.

Before 1850 With the Napoleonic Wars and the associated secularization, a new era began from 1802. The beginning of democratization and liberalization was initially characterized by the loss of the residence function and changing political affiliations. The position as provincial capital with the influx of senior officials could be achieved in the first half of the 19th century. century do not solve the economic problems after the loss of residence. The city's economy produced practically only for local needs with an oversupply of goods and services. For the population, which increased only moderately from about 7,000 in 1802 to 8,900 fifty years later, 130 shoemakers and 53 master tailors produced in 1847.

20th century From 1938 to 1943, Fulda was the location of a Nazi forced labour camp for Romani people.

Fulda lends its name to the Fulda Gap, a traditional east–west invasion route used by Napoleon I and others. During the Cold War, it was presumed to be an invasion route for any conventional war between NATO and Soviet forces. Downs Barracks in Fulda was the headquarters of the American 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment, later replaced by the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. The cavalry had as many as 3,000 soldiers from the end of World War II until 1993. Not all those soldiers were in Fulda proper, but scattered over observation posts and in the cities of Bad Kissingen and Bad Hersfeld. The strategic importance of this region, along the border between East and West Germany, led to a large United States and Soviet military presence.

End of the war until reunification After the liberation from National Socialism, in Fulda in the first days of April 1945 with the invasion of the United States Army, the infrastructure had to be repaired first. In addition to 200,000 cubic meters of debris to be removed, the repair of gas and electrical supply was a priority. In order to integrate displaced persons and refugees, housing and school construction was a priority until the 1950s.

In 1946, 70 industrial entrepreneurs were registered in the Fulda Commercial Register with a total of 331 companies. In 1947, 16,000 employees were employed in the 1442 registered companies. In 324 of these, only the owner himself was employed and in another 780 only one to five other employees. Of 33 large companies with more than 50 employees, Mehler was the leader with almost 1,200. The Bellinger company had only 480 left, while the rubber plants completely destroyed in the war had already been rebuilt to such an extent that 630 people worked there.

The next few decades were also influenced by the location of Fulda in the zone edge area, which significantly worsened the traffic situation while on the other hand companies resettled due to the zone edge promotion. Some entrepreneurs expelled from the Soviet occupation zone founded successor companies in Fulda, including the companies Juchheim, Wagner & Co Fahrzeugteile, Reform Maschinenfabrik and Rabenseifner. In 1948, the Magdeburg Fire Insurance Company moved its headquarters to Fulda.

The increasing economic growth in post-war Germany also led to some business start-ups in Fulda. These include Dura Tufting GmbH 1955, where 861 people worked in 1967, and the Adolf Jass paper factory, which produced here at a second location from 1970. The Fuldamobil microcar was also developed and partially produced in Fulda. Numerous companies founded branches in Fulda, including, in 1950, the civil engineering and civil engineering company Straussing Bau-GmbH, which was headquartered in Bad Orb. The effects of the growth phase on the labor market were those of practical full employment. In 1968, there were 427 unemployed in the city, including the district of Fulda, with 928 registered vacancies.

The oil price crisis in 1973 with the associated economic crisis led to the cessation of production of many traditional companies in Fulda, especially in the textile sector. The switch to new production processes or the change to new products led to the closure of many medium-sized, mostly low-capital companies during the 1970s and 1980s, which could not follow the constantly accelerating pressure to adapt.

After reunification After reunification, Fulda is again in the middle of Germany with excellent transport connections. This offered the opportunity of new markets and the risks of greater competition, especially from the comparatively close Eastern European countries. The structural change for the manufacturing industry is reflected in the decrease in employees from 21,700 in 1971 to only 19,044 (2003), although the number of companies increased from 166 to 171 in the same period. During the same period, only 1,900 people were recently employed in the textile industry instead of the previously more than 9,000 people.

Employees in the field of mechanical engineering, the food industry (e.g. B. Milupa), chemical industry, vehicle construction (e.g. B. Edag) and electrical engineering (e.g. B. R+S solutions Holding). It is also worth mentioning the increasing importance of both the service sector and, in particular, that of Fulda as a conference venue. 60]

The proximity to the Rhine-Main area favours Fulda. The connection through the ICE trains as well as regional trains shows the importance of the Rhine-Main area for Fulda. Fulda commuters work in significant numbers in the Rhine-Main area, but also in Würzburg in Franconia, although there is less orientation towards Kassel.

Resident companies Various companies in the textile industry are located in Fulda, including Mehler AG and the Wirth Group, which includes, among others, the Filzfabrik Fulda as a felt manufacturer and Dura Tufting as carpet manufacturer.

Another important employer in the region and a nationally well-known manufacturing company is Fulda Reifen (formerly Gummiwerke Fulda). Fulda is also the headquarters of the food retail company Tegut and Papierfabrik Adolf Jass GmbH & Co. KG; JUMO GmbH & Co. KG is active in measurement and control technology, Edag GmbH & Co. KGaA develops automotive bodies and production lines (e.g. B. Development of the smart).

In the healthcare industry, Fresenius SE & Co. Helios Kliniken GmbH, which belongs to KGaA. She had her registered office in Fulda, but moved it to Berlin at the beginning of 2007. The German headquarters of the personnel service provider Adecco was also moved from Fulda to Düsseldorf in December 2006.

The largest energy supplier and regional transport company is RhönEnergie Fulda, formerly Überlandwerk Fulda AG (ÜWAG) and Gas and Water Supply Fulda GmbH (GWV).

Hospitals The Fulda Hospital was founded in its current form on the 23rd. February 1976, although in 1805 the first secular ruler of Fulda, Friedrich Wilhelm of Orange-Nassau, gave the starting signal for the construction of a modern hospital with the signing of the foundation certificate. It is one of the academic teaching hospitals of the Philipps University of Marburg and Fulda University of Applied Sciences. Today, the clinic comprises 28 institutes and clinics with a catchment area with about 500,000 people and 2,500 employees. Since January 2004, Klinikum Fulda has been managed as a non-profit joint stock company (gAG) of the city of Fulda. In addition, the helicopter "Christoph 28" of the ADAC air rescue in Fulda began its service in 1984.

• Heart-Jesu Hospital Fulda, largest general hospital, north of Fulda city center • Neuro-Spine-Center Dr. Al-Hami, Special Clinic for Neck and Spine Surgery • St. Elisabeth Clinic • Dalberg Clinic.

Swimming pools • Outdoor pools: In the Fuldaauen there is the Sportbad Rosenau (popularly also called "Rosenbad"), next to it the outdoor pool in the outskirts of Petersberg.

• Indoor pools: Public indoor pools are available, among others, in the Sportbad Ziehers, in the Stadtbad at the Hotel Esperanto and in the Seven Worlds (ehm. Rhön Therme) in the outskirts of Künzell.

Transport Fulda station is a transport hub and interchange point between local and long-distance traffic of the German railway network, and is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is on the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway; the North–South line (Nord-Süd-Strecke), comprising the Bebra–Fulda line north of Fulda, and the Kinzig Valley Railway and Fulda–Main Railway to the south; the Vogelsberg Railway, which connects to the hills of the Vogelsberg in the west; and the Fulda–Gersfeld Railway (Rhön Railway) to Gersfeld in the Rhön Mountains to the east.

Fulda is on the Bundesautobahn 7 (BAB 7). Bundesautobahn 66 starts at the interchange with the BAB 7, heading south towards Frankfurt. Fulda is also on the Bundesstraße 27.