The community lies partly in the middle Werra valley, in the Berka-Gerstunger-Becken (basin) with its small side basins, the Obersuhler Becken and the Kleinenseer Bucht. This basin is surrounded by heights. In the southwest lies the Seulingswald, in the south the outliers of the Anterior Rhön, in the east the outliers of the Thuringian Forest and in the north the Richelsdorfer Hills, which belongs to the southern Werra Upland. The community lies partly in this last-named range.
The nearest major centres are Bad Hersfeld (some 25 km to the southwest) and Eisenach (some 25 km to the east). The lowest point in the community is In der Aue ("On the Floodplain") near Obersuhl at 208 m above sea level. The highest point is the Rotestock at 456 m above sea level.
Constituent communities
Bussenrode/Bosserode monument stone
The community's five Ortsteile are Obersuhl, Bosserode, Hönebach, Richelsdorf and Raßdorf.
Neighbouring communities
Wildeck borders in the north on the community of Nentershausen (in Hersfeld-Rotenburg) and the town of Sontra (in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis), in the east on the community of Gerstungen, in the southeast on the town of Berka/Werra, in the south on the communities of Dankmarshausen and Großensee (all four in Thuringia's Wartburgkreis) and the town of Heringen, in the southwest on the community of Friedewald and in the west on the community of Ronshausen (all three in Hersfeld-Rotenburg).
History
The community's name stems from the Amt of Wildeck, to which some of today's constituent communities belonged, and which in the Middle Ages was under the Fulda Abbey's rule. The Amt seat lay at Wildeck Castle, which stood on the Schloßberg near Raßdorf.
In 1277, Richelsdorf had its first documentary mention when the Fulda Abbey temporarily relinquished the community to build a convent at St. Nicholas's Monastery (Nikolaikloster) in Eisenach, which was, however, never built. In 1325, the brothers Friedrich and Hermann von Colmatsch were enfeoffed with the Amt, in exchange for which today's constituent communities of Eisenach and Hötzelsroda went to St. Nicholas's Monastery. The fief passed in 1539 to the Landgraves of Hesse. After the family von Colmatsch had died out in 1562, the community passed to Hesse.
The craggy state boundary in the south and east still bears witness to the disputes between the Landgraves of Hesse and Thuringia and the Fulda Abbey, which lasted throughout the Middle Ages and on into modern times.[3]
Coppermining in Wildeck was mentioned for the first time in 1460. At the Richelsdorf foundry, cobalt was also mined beginning in 1708, which raised the foundry's importance, as well as another's in Iba (nowadays an outlying centre of Bebra), causing the mining office of Sontra to move to Richelsdorf.
During the 18th century, the landgraves of Hesse-Rotenburg had their summer palace and gardens in Wildeck, Schloss Blumenstein.
Potash has been mined in the Wildeck region for over 100 years.[4]
Within the framework of municipal reform, the new community of Wildeck came into being on 31 December 1971 through the merger of the above-named communities.[3]
Population development
Data apply to community limits in each year named, and are in each case for 31 December[5]
Year
1971
1979
1984
1989
1994
1996
2001
2002
2004
2005
2006
Inhabitants
6314
5729
5809
5877
6095
6092
6046
6003
5247
5198
5136
By November 2020, the population had declined to 4,980.[6]
The community lies on Autobahn A 4 (Aachen–Görlitz), at interchanges 34 and 35. Furthermore, the community has at its disposal three halts (Obersuhl, Bosserode and Hönebach) on the Thüringer Bahn (railway) from Eisenach to Bebra.
Established businesses
alsecco Bauchemische Produkte GmbH & Co KG – construction chemistry products, and a successor business to the Richelsdorfer foundry
Betten Malsch GmbH – a leading German maker of medical care beds
Rhäden nature and bird conservation area with information centre in Obersuhl
There are also many hiking trails, especially by way of the Blumenstein ruins around the Wildeck valley, by which one crosses the Bellers Estate. Quite a few forests can be visited on these hikes, leading by the Franzoseneiche ("Frenchman's Oak").
