Fladungen

Fladungen is a town in the Rhön-Grabfeld district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the Rhön Mountains, 11 km northwest of Ostheim, 20 km west of Meiningen, and 33 km east of Fulda. The northernmost town in Bavaria, it borders Hesse to the northwest and Thuringia to the northeast.Fladungen lies at the southern edge of the Rhön Mountains, and the Rhön Biosphere Reserve begins a few kilometers outside of town. It is at the head of the river Streu, which flows southeast to join the Franconian Saale near Bad Neustadt. The region around the town is popular for hiking and cycling, especially in the summer and early autumn.The town is a service center for the surrounding agricultural region. There are also some small industries, including a cement factory. The 2009 population was estimated at just over 2,100.HistoryFladungen first appears in a public record in 789 AD; the town was granted "Stadtrechte" by Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1335. It passed under Bavarian control after the Treaty of Paris in 1814. From the 18th to the mid-20th century, Fladungen was the primary market town for the Franconian Rhön, a relatively rural and underpopulated region whose economy was dominated by agriculture, sheep-herding and timber. During the Cold War, the border with East Germany ran through the hills around Fladungen, and the town was cut off from much of its traditional hinterland. Nevertheless, the town grew rapidly after the Second World War, nearly doubling its population between 1945 and 1990.