Hanau

Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Hanau was first mentioned in 1143 and became a city in 1303. At the end of the 16th century, Count Philipp Ludwig II allowed Protestant refugees from the Netherlands to found their own settlement near Hanau, to which these Walloons brought their knowledge of jewellery production. For this reason goldsmiths are still educated there. In the 1... more

Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Hanau was first mentioned in 1143 and became a city in 1303. At the end of the 16th century, Count Philipp Ludwig II allowed Protestant refugees from the Netherlands to found their own settlement near Hanau, to which these Walloons brought their knowledge of jewellery production. For this reason goldsmiths are still educated there. In the 19th century the Neustadt (New Town), as it was called, was merged with Hanau. In the 19th century Hanau was a centre of the German democratic movement and contributed significantly both in 1830 and in the Revolution of 1848. Also in 1848 the German Gymnastic League (Turnerbund) was founded here. During World War II Hanau was for the most part destroyed by British airstrikes in March 1945 a few days before it was taken by the US Army. It remained a large US Army garrison until 2008. Nowadays many inhabitants work in the technological industry ... less