9th century: first records of settlement 13thC: Laasphe acquires town status; the oldest still-existing buildings and foundations are built 14thC: a town wall is built (now demolished) 18thC: the first houses are built outside the town wall 19thC: a train station is built one kilometre west of the old town; the old town loses its importance as town centre 20thC: amalgamation of 24 villages into the township of Bad Laasphe today: the township has 14,300 citizens (about half of them live in Bad Laasphe itself) and six schools, students from as far as 20km away
village dreams Bad Laasphe’s Altstadtfest
festivals | civic transformations by lisa dietrich
chance dreams hopes
plans place
Bad Laasphe is a small town in the mid-west of Germany, a several hours’ drive away from Frankfurt and Cologne. Laasphe is the Kernstadt, the nucleus town for 23 villages such as Banfe, Hesselbach, Niederlaasphe, Laaspherhütte, amalgamated in the 1970s. Though these villages have their own churches and schools and in the most part are not even that close, they are considered part of the town and share the same postal code. Laasphe (at that time still missing the Bad which was added in the 1980s) was the only ‘town’ of the group and as such gave the agglomeration of villages its name. Laasphe proper is also where the municipal goverment is located. The nearest town featuring a sizeable movie theatre and bars where one would have the chance to see a few unfamiliar faces, is about 45 minutes away. The word Bad in German means bath , implying it is a spa town. However, mean or evil sometimes seems suitable as well – especially if you are a teenager who happens to be trapped in this small town without a driver’s licence (obtainable at the age of 18) and with nothing more exciting to do on weekends than hang out at the 24-hour gas station (where beer can be purchased legally at 16).
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View of downtown Bad Laasphe. The steepled church, the oldest building in Bad Laasphe, dates back to 1230. The brewery is in the foreground.
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