About the town » Witzenhausen, Regierungsbezirk Kassel, Hesse, Germany

Witzenhausen is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974, it was a district seat. The University of Kassel maintains a satellite campus in Witzenhausen at which is offered the ecological agricultural sciences programme, which is unique in the country. This also puts Witzenhausen among Germany’s smallest university towns. Furthermore, a teaching institute for environment and technology, agriculture, horticulture and landscaping. The town is also nationally known for the invention of the Biotonne – a biological refuse container – in 1983, and as an important cherry-growing area; it is said to be Europe’s biggest self-contained cherry-growing area. Cherries are traditional in Witzenhausen, which has led to the yearly Kesperkirmes, or “Cherry Fair” (Kesper is a regional name for the cherry; the standard German word is Kirsche), at which a Cherry Queen (Kirschenkönigin) is chosen.