Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction. It is famous for being the birthplace of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. In 1963, the town hosted the third Hessentag state festival.
The historic core of Hanau is situated within a semicircle of River Kinzig which flows into the River Main just west of it. Today, after a vast expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries it also borders the River Main and after a restructure of municipal borders within Hesse in the 1970s a couple of villages and towns in the neighbourhood were incorporated. This for the first time extended Hanau also to the south bank of River Main.
The name derived of „Hagenowe“ which is a composition out of „Haag“ (wood) and „Aue“ (open land at the side of a river).
As a place of settlement Hanau was first mentioned in 1143. Then it was the site of a castle which used the waters of the River Kinzig as a defense. The castle…