Bad Zwesten

Bad Zwesten is a municipality in the Schwalm-Eder district of Hesse, Germany.

Location
Bad Zwesten lies about 8 km southeast of Bad Wildungen on the river Schwalm, which belongs to the Eder watershed. North of the community begins the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park.

Constituent communities

 * Betzigerode
 * Niederurff
 * Oberurff-Schiffelborn
 * Wenzigerode
 * Zwesten (administrative seat)

History
Zwesten had its first documentary mention about the year 800. In 1913 came the discovery of a mineral spring, which in 1960 was officially declared a recognized Heilquelle (≈health spring).

Within the framework of municipal reform in Hesse, the formerly independent communities of Betzigerode, Niederurff, Oberurff-Schiffelborn, Wenzigerode, and Zwesten were amalgamated into the new, united community of Zwesten in 1972. In 1992, the community was granted official recognition as a spa, allowing it to prefix the designation Bad – German for "bath" – to its name.

Municipal council
Municipal representation consists of 23 members. (as of municipal elections on 26 March 2006)
 * CDU 6 seats
 * SPD 10 seats
 * Greens 3 seats
 * FWG (citizens' coalition) 2 seats
 * Bürgerliste (citizens' coalition) 2 seats

Economy


The spa of Bad Zwesten bases its burgeoning prosperity on its Löwensprudel ("Lion's Fizzy Water"). In this spa town, two clinics are to be found, Hardtwald Clinics I and II with about 650 beds.

Transport
Bad Zwesten lies at the crossroads of Federal Highways (Bundesstraßen) B 3 and B 485. About 5 km from the community is the Borken/Bad Zwesten interchange with Autobahn A 49 (Kassel – Fritzlar – Marburg).

The community belongs to the North Hesse Transport Network (Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund) which, among other things, runs a hailed shared taxi to Borken railway station on the Main-Weser Railway.

Literature

 * Martin Opfer: Zwesten : Betzigerode, Niederurff, Oberurff, Schiffelborn und Wenzigerode ; Bilder und Texte erzählen, wie es damals war, Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 1989, ISBN 3-925277-31-5