Willingshausen

Willingshausen is a community in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse, Germany.GeographyLocationThe community of Willingshausen lies in the Schwalm area.Neighbouring communitiesWillingshausen borders in the north on the town of Schwalmstadt, in the northeast on the community of Frielendorf, in the east on the town of Neukirchen and the community of Schrecksbach (all in Schwalm-Eder), in the south on the town of Alsfeld and the community of Antrifttal (both in the Vogelsbergkreis), and in the west on the town of Neustadt (Marburg-Biedenkopf).Constituent communitiesWillingshausen consists of the ten centres of Gungelshausen, Leimbach, Loshausen, Merzhausen, Ransbach, Steina, Steinatal, Wasenberg, Willingshausen and Zella.PoliticsMunicipal councilWillingshausen's municipal council is made up of 31 councillors.As of the last municipal elections held on 26 March 2006, the council seats are apportioned thus:Culture and sightseeingWillingshäuser MalerkolonieThe Willingshausen Painters' Colony is Germany's oldest artists' association. It was founded by a man from Livonia named Gerhardt Wilhelm von Reutern after he had been badly wounded in the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1814 while serving as an officer in the Russian army; as a result, he had to have his right arm amputated. He came to convalesce with his brother's inlaws at the Schwertzellsche Haus in Willingshausen, where he met and got to know the lady whom in 1820 he would wed, Charlotte von Schwertzell. He settled down in Willingshausen and began to draw and paint. He procured an honorary stipend from the Russian Imperial Family, which afforded him financial independence.