Lichtenfels is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in northwest Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Lichtenfels lies at the northeast foot of the Rothaargebirge, some southwest of Kassel. It is not far from the western end of the Edersee in the southwest of the Waldecker Land. Bordering on the west is the Medebacher Bucht, or Medebach Bight, although this is not a bight in the conventional sense, being dry land. Bordering on the south is the Breite Struth (hills). The municipal area, across which the town's outlying centres are broadly scattered, is crossed by the rivers Orke and Aar. In the northeast, it borders on the Itter Valley, in the east on the Eder Valley, beyond which rises the Kellerwald range, and in the south on the Nuhne Valley. Extent of municipal area With its area of nearly 100 km², almost 40% of which is wooded, Lichtenfels is among the largest and most wooded municipalities in the district. Neighbouring communities Lichtenfels borders in the north on the town of Korbach, in the east on the community of Vöhl, in the south on the town of Frankenberg (all in Waldeck-Frankenberg), and in the west on the towns of Hallenberg and Medebach (both in the Hochsauerlandkreis in North Rhine-Westphalia). Constituent communities The town of Lichtenfels was made up from six communities and two towns: Dalwigksthal, Fürstenberg, Goddelsheim, Immighausen, Münden, Neukirchen, Rhadern and Sachsenberg. History In 1971, as part of municipal reforms, the eight formerly independent municipalities joined together to form a new, greater municipality, choosing the name Lichtenfels after the castle, the oldest noble seat in Waldeck. Dalwigksthal For a long time after the Castle Lichtenfels was built high above the Orke about 800 years ago, almost nobody gave Dalwigksthal any thought. Lichtenfels's newest constituent community celebrated 150 years of existence in 2001. As a result of the Waldeck Law of 24 January 1851, the estates of Kampf, Sand and Lichtenfels as well as the settlements and mills found there were merged into the village of Dalwigksthal. However, there is tell of a valley community in this place in the Middle Ages named Eisenbeck from the 14th century to the late 18th century. In 1598, this is recorded as Ensenbecke. The Castle Lichtenfels was built in 1189 by the Abbot of Corvey. Shortly thereafter, it was destroyed, but built anew between 1223 and 1230. On 21 July 1267, Corvey pledged to Count Adolf