Sontra is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. The air spa of Sontra is known as Berg- und Hänselstadt, with Bergstadt referring to the time when there was bituminous shale mining (“mining” is Bergbau in German) in town, and Hänselstadt to the town's former membership in the Hanse. In the town, whose area covers 111.29 km², live 8,568 inhabitants. Geography Location Sontra lies between Bad Hersfeld (some 30 km to the southwest), Kassel (some 45 km to the northwest) and Eisenach (some 35 km to the east), east of the Stölzinger Gebirge, north of the Richelsdorfer Gebirge and west of the Ringgau (ranges), and also 16 km southwest of Eschwege. Flowing through town are the river Sontra, which near Wehretal empties into the Wehre, and the river Ulfe, which empties into the Sontra near the outlying centre of Wichmannshausen. Neighbouring communities Sontra borders in the north on the town of Waldkappel and the community of Wehretal, in the east on the communities of Ringgau and Herleshausen (all in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis), in the southeast on the community of Gerstungen (in Thuringia’s Wartburgkreis), in the south on the communities of Wildeck and Nentershausen and in the southwest on the community of Cornberg (all three in Hersfeld-Rotenburg). Constituent communities Sontra’s 15 Ortsteile, besides the main town, also called Sontra, are Berneburg, Blankenbach, Breitau, Diemerode, Heyerode, Hornel, Krauthausen, Lindenau, Mitterode, Stadthosbach, [Thurnhosbach] :de:Thurnhosbach, Ulfen, Weißenborn, Wichmannshausen and Wölfterode. History In 775, Sontra’s outlying centre of Ulfen had its first documentary mention. In the 8th century, Sontra itself was also mentioned for the first time. In 1232, a Kunigunde de Suntraha was named, who on a visit to Saint Elizabeth’s grave in Marburg experienced healing. Town rights were granted Sontra in 1368. There was bituminous shale mining in Sontra beginning no later than 1499, and it continued right through to the 1950s. In the centre of Donnershag, which is part of Sontra, the settlement society known as Freiland-Freigeld was resident in the 1920s. Politics Town council The municipal election held on 6 March 2016 yielded the following results: in comparison the elections in 2011: Executive The town's executive (Magistrat) is made up of nine councillors, with four seats allotted to the SPD, three to the CDU and one each to the FWG and the FDP. Mayors Thomas Eckhardt (SPD) was elected mayor in 2014, and re-elected in 2020. Previous mayors were: