Heusenstamm, dating back to the early 13th century, was a small town and of its 250 residents in the early 17th century, most succumbed to the Thirty Years’ War and the Plague. The town was also once run by mayors from the Nazi Party from 1933 to 1945.
Now, with a population of ~18,000 and its close proximity to Frankfurt am Main, it’s seen a great deal more population and economic growth.
There’s great shopping to be done on Frankfurter Straße, the main shopping street. But for a modern town it still looks like something straight out of a storybook, right down to its very castle and half-timbered houses.
Heusenstamm has a Catholic majority and there are two beautiful churches to see here, as well as an Evangelical church. Maria Himmelskron, the Catholic Parish Church built in 1956, is quite a bit younger than St. Cecilia’s Church built in 1739 with its wonderful ceiling frescoes. The town’s Evangelical church is the Gustav Adolf Kirche that was built in 1923 with its onion dome, costing an estimated 73 trillion Marks to build.
There’s plenty more places of interest to visit in this town. The Heimatmuseum (Homeland Museum); the Old Town and the Old Town Hall; the Old Jewish Graveyard in the woods; and the Torbau, an 18th century arched gatehouse.
By the way, Heusenstamm is known as the Stadt im Grünen, the town in the green. A visit to the nature conservation areas of See am Goldberg and Nachweide von Patershausen is home to rare plants and animals.
Heusenstamm is hosting an annual Bahnhofsfest (Railway Station Festival). The Kultursommer has been held yearly since 1987 at the Hinteres Schlösschen (Little Castle in the Back) and the Weinfest (Wine festival) has been held yearly since 1996. Try not to drink too much, though, as there’s more to see here.
