Hanau

Hanau
City
Goldsmiths' House (Hanau old town hall) Hanau-Steinheim [de] old town Schloss Steinheim [de] Schloss Philippsruhe [de]
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Hanau within Main-Kinzig-Kreis district
Hanau Show map of Germany Hanau Show map of Hesse
Coordinates: 50°07′58″N 08°55′01″E / 50.13278°N 8.91694°E / 50.13278; 8.91694
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Darmstadt
District	Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Government
• Lord mayor (2021–27)	Claus Kaminsky[1] (SPD)
Area
• Total	76.49 km2 (29.53 sq mi)
Elevation	104 m (341 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	101,364
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	63450, 63452, 63454 63456, 63457
Dialling codes	06181
Vehicle registration	HU
Website	www.hanau.de

Hanau (German pronunciation: [ˈhaːnaʊ̯]) is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway station is a major junction and it has a port on the river Main, making it an important transport centre. The city is known for being the birthplace of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm and Franciscus Sylvius. Since the 16th century it was a centre of precious metal working, with many goldsmiths. It is home to Heraeus, one of Germany's largest family-owned companies.

Once the seat of the Counts of Hanau, Hanau lost much of its architectural heritage in World War II, such as its City Palace. A British air raid in 1945 created a firestorm, killing a sixth of the remaining population and destroying 98% of the old city and 80% of the city overall. The outer parts of the city have old timbered towns like Hanau-Steinheim [de] and castles like Schloss Philippsruhe [de].

In 1963, Hanau hosted the third Hessentag state festival. Until 2005, Hanau was the administrative centre of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis. On 19 February 2020, a gunman attacked two bars and a kiosk in Hanau, murdering nine people with roots outside Germany, before shooting his mother and himself.