and businesses settling in town, among which the old Deutsche Reichsbahn was the biggest employer. Town rights were granted Bebra on 20 September 1935 by the Chief President (Oberpräsident) of the Province of Hesse-Nassau, Philipp, Prince of Hesse. The town's growth kept up – interrupted only by the Second World War – into the 1970s. Given the good transport connections, a large industrial area arose in town. During the time of the division of Germany, there was a border checkpoint in Bebra to handle both people and goods crossing between the postwar occupational zones and, later, between West and East Germany. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bebra was the largest border checkpoint for rail transportation across East German territory between West Germany and Berlin. As of the mid-1980s, Bebra was gradually losing importance as a railway junction, which led to a noticeable decline in goods traffic and thereby to fewer jobs at Deutsche Bahn. Religion In Bebra's main town and its outlying centres stand 12 Evangelical churches, one Catholic church, one Evangelical Methodist church and one Syriac Orthodox church, with Free Evangelical and State Church communities represented in town. Amalgamations All constituent communities named above were amalgamated with municipal reform in 1972. Population development (¹ after amalgamation of 11 outlying centres) Politics Town council The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results: The town executive (Magistrat) is made up of 8 councillors, with 5 seats allotted to the CDU and three to the SPD. Mayor 1995–2013: Horst Groß (CDU) 2013–2019: Uwe Hassl 2019–incumbent: Stefan Knoche Coat of arms The town's arms might be described thus: Gules a beaver rampant, in the base two bendlets, thereover two bendlets sinister, the whole argent. Bebra's arms symbolize the town's change from a village to an important railway junction. The tinctures recall the Hersfeld Abbey’s coat of arms, Bebra having belonged to the Abbey’s oldest holding. The crossed bendlets (thin diagonal bars, and more aptly described as such than as “a saltire voided”, given the way they are meant to be shown) are an heraldic way of representing a railway junction, which was the town's main function when the arms were conferred in 1930, and had been since the middle of the foregoing century. Town partnerships Friedrichroda, Thuringia since the early 1990s Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom since 1970 Culture and sightseeing Museums The railway museum in