The mountain at a ford over the Eder north of the Burgwald range was for a long time a fortified place, playing an especially important rôle under the Franks in the Saxon Wars. The current town was built in 1233-1234 by the Thuringian Landgrave and quickly earned economic importance for its location at the junction of two trade routes. The downtown core consists of the renovated Old Town and the likewise renovated New Town with many half-timbered houses.