Rosenthal, Hesse
town in Landkreis Waldeck-Frankenberg in Hesse, Germany

Rosenthal (German pronunciation: [ˈʁoːzn̩taːl] ) is a small town in southeast Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Rosenthal lies in the Burgwald range 11 km southeast of Frankenberg and 18 km northeast of Marburg.
Neighbouring municipalities
Rosenthal borders in the north on the municipality of Burgwald, in the east on the town of Gemünden (both in Waldeck-Frankenberg), in the southeast on the municipality of Wohratal, in the south on the towns of Rauschenberg and Wetter, and in the west on the municipality of Münchhausen (all in Marburg-Biedenkopf).
Constituent municipalities
Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole, the town of Rosenthal consists of the centres of Roda and Willershausen.
History
Rosenthal was founded in 1327 as a Mainz town and outpost in the dispute over the Hessian fief, but nevertheless passed to the Landgraviate of Hesse in 1464.
In 1688, the town achieved dubious fame by being the scene of Hesse's last witch burnings.
In 1866, Rosenthal passed, along with the rest of the Electorate of Hesse, to Prussia.
Amalgamations
As part of Hesse's municipal reforms in the early 1970s, the heretofore independent municipalities of Roda and Willershausen were amalgamated with Rosenthal.
Politics
Town council
The town council's 15 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006:
Note: Bürgerliste Roda is a citizens' coalition.
Mayor
At the mayoral election on 26 September 2021, Stefan Jakob was elected Rosenthal's mayor with an 82% share of the vote.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Rosenthal, Hesse” as town in Landkreis Waldeck-Frankenberg in Hesse, Germany. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as town in Landkreis Waldeck-Frankenberg in Hesse, Germany. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q624787. VIAF identifies the subject as 312610215. Authority coordinates are 50.967, 8.867. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1327, 1464, 1688 and 1866.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Rosenthal, Hesse”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Rosenthal, Hesse primary sources, Rosenthal, Hesse archive and Rosenthal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rosenthal, Hesse”?
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Rosenthal, Hesse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.