Schmitten im Taunus (until 25 August 2021 Schmitten) is a municipality in the Hochtaunuskreis in Hessen, Germany. Geography Schmitten is the highest community in the Taunus, approximately 24km north of Frankfurt am Main, within which is the Großer Feldberg (881m). Neighbouring communities Schmitten borders in the north on the community of Weilrod and the town of Usingen, in the east on the towns of Neu-Anspach and Bad Homburg, in the south on the towns of Oberursel and Königstein, and in the west on the communities of Glashütten and Waldems (Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis). Constituent communities The greater community has nine centres (until municipal reform in 1972, all independent communities) named Arnoldshain, Brombach, Dorfweil, Hunoldstal, Niederreifenberg, Oberreifenberg, Schmitten, Seelenberg and Treisberg. History Schmitten had its first documented mention in 1399 as Waldschmidt. The name comes from a nail-making smith in the woods nearby (Wald is German for "forest"; Schmidt has the same root as Schmiede – smith) which were attached to Hattstein Castle(mentioned in 1215). The Hattstein Knights ("Hazechenstein") were akin to the Reifenbergers ("Riffinberg"), possibly even the same. These families' origins were either in the Westerwald area north of the Lahn or the Limburg area. In the Walsdorfer Gründungsurkunde ("Walsdorf Founding Document") of 1156, a "Guntramus de Hazechenstein" is named. The Hattstein Knights, whose castle was destroyed several times, had property in Bad Camberg, Usingen ("Hattsteiner Weiher"), Stockheim, Weilbach, Aschaffenburg, Mainaschaff, Königstein and Frankfurt am Main. The Hattsteiners also participated in the founding of Münzenberg Castle in the Wetterau. The noble family von Hattstein was throughout the Middle Ages one of Hesse's most influential families. Baron Marquard von Hattstein was Bishop of Speyer (1560–1581). Together with the Knights of Kronberg, the Hattsteiners and Reiffenbergers declared the so-called "Kronberg Feud" in 1389. When on 13 May a great force from Frankfurt swept to Kronberg Castle, Hanau and Electorate of the Palatinate troops rushed to help those being beset, driving the Frankfurt forces off on 14 May in the Battle of Eschborn and taking 620 prisoners, among them the mayor, a few noble council members and all the town's bakers, butchers, locksmiths and shoemakers. Only a ransom payment of 73,000 golden guilders ended the fight with Frankfurt and laid the groundwork for the Frankfurter Landwehr fortifications and Frankfurt's four watchtowers. The noble family of the Hattstein Knights, which was inseparably bound with Schmitten's history, came to an end with Johann Constantin Philipp von Hattstein's death