Alsfeld devastated!Destruction of Alsfeld in the Hessian War

During the Thirty Years’ War, and especially during the so-called “Hessian War,” the city of Alsfeld experienced the darkest hours of its history. From September 30 to October 5, 1646, the city was besieged and shelled. Finally, with no ammunition left and the enemy having breached the city walls to enter the town, it was forced to surrender.

The military conflicts claimed 76 residential houses and 54 barns, all of which burned down; furthermore, 150 residential houses and 26 barns were torn down. This means that with a total of 306 (another source even cites 400) destroyed buildings, about half of the entire housing stock had been annihilated. At the last census in 1574, nearly 3,000 inhabitants lived in Alsfeld; in 1648, after the war, only 1,120 remained.

The once-significant medieval city on the “Kurze Hessen” trade route would never truly recover from these losses. It lost its prominence and became an insignificant small town of farming citizens (“Ackerbürgerstädtchen”), only reaching its former population level again after more than 150 years; in 1803, the number of inhabitants exceeded 3,000 (3,019) for the first time since the war. (MNic)