Baunatal
Fantastic things:
Located at the foot of the Habichtswald Mountains, the current town of Baunatal was founded in our time. The first documented mention as ‘Rittahe' dates from 775 A.D., but modern-day Baunatal is actually a merger of the formerly independent communities of Altenbauna, Altenritte, Kirchbauna, Großenritte, Hertingshausen, Rengershausen and Guntershausen in consequence of the founding of a new Volkswagen plant facility in 1957.
These villages have a century-old history. The town chronicle reports about the early settlement of the fertile Bauna Valley in prehistoric and ancient historic times. Located in the community of Grossenritte, the ‘Hünstein', a 2-m tall upstanding ancient monolith (menhir), is the oldest cultural monument in Baunatal and a clear testimony of ancient historic times.
Today, Baunatal is a modern town with a population of 28,000 and numerous facilities for sports and cultural activities offering its citizens a living space of high residential and recreational quality.
Due to its central location in the middle of Germany, the town of Baunatal with its state-of-the-art technology, comprehensive services and extensive gastronomic choices offers perfect conditions for events of all kinds.
The 50 ha City Park located in the community of Altenbauna provides facilities for a variety of sports and leisure activities. It includes the ‘Aqua-Park' athletic and recreational pool, jogging, tennis, a skating rink, inline skating, soccer, open-air chess and much more.
People interested in the arts will enjoy a walk through the city park along the ‘sculpture trail'. Along the Bauna River, they will find numerous sculptures of modern art that were created for the first sculptors' symposium in 1986. Other interesting sculptures can be found in the other Baunatal communities as well; they were created for the second symposium in 1989 and during the art workshops held in 1998-2000.
The town museum presenting the town's history of origins under the title ‘The industrialisation of the Bauna Valley' is located in the community of Altenritte. In the residential quarters above the ‘Old Blacksmith's Shop', the ‘Hessian Living Room' shows the typical living conditions of the citizens between 1850 and 1900. Besides items of clothing and furniture, tools for work in house and field give us a sense of village life at that time.
The railroad bridge in the community of Guntershausen was erected in its current form between 1950 and 1952. Originally, it was built in the middle of the 19th century to connect the large commercial centres and trade fair cities of Leipzig and Frankfurt/Main. Thus, Guntershausen turned into an important traffic junction. The bridge over the Fulda River was almost completely destroyed in WW II and rebuilt in the 1950s. The historic train station of Guntershausen dates from 1855; with its aristocratic waiting room, restaurant, ticket and luggage rooms including residential quarters and workshops - thus combining both representational qualities and functionality - it was a building intended for the upper classes rather than for the citizens of Guntershausen.
Enchanting places:
The ‘Knallhütte' in Rengershausen, nowadays the location of the Hütt Brewery, is the birthplace of storyteller Dorothea Viehmann. In the good old days, when the waggoners on their heavy horse-drawn carriages approached Knallhütter Mountain, they needed the help of an additional horse team in front to make it over the mountain. They made their presence known by cracking their whips to summon help. This is the origin of the word ‘Knallhütte' - ‘crack cabin'.
Katharina Dorothea Pierson was born there on 08 November, 1755. In her father's inn, she heard many stories, tales and legends from travelling merchants, journeymen and waggoners. Wilhelm Grimm wrote about her: "...it was a fortunate coincidence that we met a peasant woman in the village of Niederzwehren near Kassel... Mrs. Viehmännin was not much over 50 years old and bearing her age well... She kept the old legends firmly in her memory..." This storyteller told the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm over 40 fairy tales and variations of at least 36 Grimm fairy tales. They were published in 1815, the year Dorothea Viehmann died, in the second volume of ‘Children's and Household Tales' by the Brothers Grimm.
More information on the Knallhütte at www.huett.de
Brewery Pub Knallhütte - enchantingly hospitable
In the fall of 2001, the birthplace of storyteller Dorothea Viehmann, nowadays the Brewery Pub Knallhütte, was reopened after extensive renovations. A tasteful combination of traditional and modern elements, it makes an ‘enchantingly hospitable' impression on the guests. The Brewery Pub Knallhütte offers an extensive menu with seasonal specials and regional specialties. Open daily 11 am to 10 pm, Fridays and Saturdays until 11 pm.
We make customised offers for your special events. For a tour of the brewery with a subsequent cold or warm buffet, dining á la carte, a grill night or our fantastic fairytale meal - we have special offers for every event.
This year, we offer a special fairytale hour with the ‘old Viehmännin woman' every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month through June, from July on every Saturday, at 5:30 pm, free of charge. A truly enchanting experience for young and old. For more information, call +49 (0)561/492076 or visit our website at www.brauhaus-knallhuette.de
By bicycle, on foot or by car, our brewery pub is easily accessible to everyone.
Looking forward to welcoming you,
your Brewer Pub Knallhütte team
The ‘Fairy Tale Fountain' at the centre of Baunatal City commemorates the famous woman storyteller.
The Fairytale Country Path offers hikers a combined nature and cultural experience. With its well-maintained bicycle routes and hiking trails, it provides perfect conditions for recreation and relaxation. 
It runs through Rengershausen, past the Knallhütte Brewery and on towards Altenbauna through the 50 ha city park. It continues to Altenritte to the ‘Hessian Living Room' and the town museum that presents life in the 19th century and the history of the town's origins.
The Fairytale Country Path now extends over a distance of 350 km and runs through many towns and communities of Kassel County.
Phone: 0561-4992210
Fax: 0561-4992180
eMail: verkehrsverein@baunatal.de
www.baunatal.de
