In 1661, the lordship over Heusenstamm, to which also belonged the places of Obertshausen and Hausen, was sold to the Mainz Oberamtmann (chief local administrator) Philipp Erwein von Schönborn. When Emperor Franz I was living at Schloss Heusenstamm in 1764 on the occasion of his son's coronation (Goethe relates the event in his Dichtung und Wahrheit), an ostentatious tower was built in his honour, which stands to this day. In 1806, the Schönborn Amt of Heusenstamm with Obertshausen and Hausen was put under the Princes of Isenburg-Birstein. The Amt of Heusenstamm then passed to the Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1819, when the Biebermark was partitioned, Heusenstamm got its share of the forest. In 1896, the railway line from Offenbach by way of Heusenstamm to Dietzenbach, a branchline of the Rodgaubahn from Offenbach to Dieburg, was opened. On 26 May 1959, Heusenstamm was granted town rights, thereby sidestepping Offenbach's efforts to absorb the community. Instead, the new town itself expanded by absorbing one of its neighbours, Rembrücken, in 1977 in the course of municipal reform. In 1978, the town bought the estate of Patershausen, the Klosterwald and the Forst Patershausen (both wooded properties) as well as the Forst Heusenstamm (another wooded property) from Rudolf Graf von Schönborn (“Graf” being his noble title, “Count”). The castle the town likewise acquired in 1979 from the Counts of Schönborn, converting it in the year that followed into the Town Hall. Demographics Population growth In the late 16th century, Heusenstamm had roughly 250 inhabitants. Almost all of them, however, fell victim to the Thirty Years' War and the plague. Since then, the population has been rising almost continuously and only in recent times has a slight decrease been noted. * This was the year when town rights were granted. Religion There is a Roman Catholic majority among Heusenstamm's population. The parishes of St.Cäcilia and Maria Himmelskron belong, like the Parish of Mariä Opferung in Rembrücken, to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz. The state church Evangelical parish is part of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau whose seat is in Darmstadt. Moreover, since 1975 there has been the Free Evangelical parish (FeG), which belongs to the Association of Free Evangelical Parishes. Economy Heusenstamm benefits from its proximity to the Frankfurt am Main economic centre and the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region, as well as from the very good transport connections. Established businesses Most established firms and businesses