RoÃÂdorf () is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of 12,619 (as of 2020). It is situated 8 km east of Darmstadt.
RoÃÂdorf borders in the north and east on the municipality of GroÃÂ-Zimmern, in the southeast on the town of Reinheim, in the south on the town of Ober-Ramstadt, and in the west on the city of Darmstadt.
The Municipality of RoÃÂdorf is divided into two parts: Gundernhausen and RoÃÂdorf.
The first official mention of RoÃÂdorf is in the year 1250. At this time, Abbot Heinrich vested Counts Diether and Eberhardt I of Katzenelnbogen with the villages of RoÃÂdorf and Gundernhausen. In 1479, the family line died out and the inheritance went to Landgrave Heinrich III of Hesse.
In 1621, Bavarian soldiers took up quarters in RoÃÂdorf and plundered the town. In addition, witch-hunts took place, during which the inhabitants were accused of witchcraft. The worst period for RoÃÂdorf was in the years 1634/35, during the Thirty Years' War. The forces of the Holy Roman Empire and Sweden opposed each other in the region, each in turn laying waste to and scavenging the entire countryside and heavily decimating the population. In the summer of 1635, the plague broke out, reducing the number of inhabitants to 50. In 1672, during the Franco-Dutch War, Louis XIV's troops took up quarters. In 1814, Russian soldiers passed through on their way to France.
In 1852, RoÃÂdorf was incorporated into the district of Darmstadt. Since 1977, amalgamated with its neighbour Gundernhausen, it has belonged to the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg.
The communal election of 26 March 2006 returned the following result (compared to the result from 2001):
The coat of arms consists of a shield with blue background. At the centre is a silver moon, over which a golden horseshoe hangs. Underneath these, there is a silver rose, the centre of which is blue. The remaining free space is taken up by seven golden stars (five in the upper area, two in the lower area). The coat of arms was approved by the president of the regional government in 1952.
The coat of arms is based on the seal of the combined village court of RoÃÂdorf and Gundernhausen. An imprint of this seal can be found on the so-called "Mansfeld Catalogue of Damages" from 1625, which is kept in the National Archive in Darmstadt. This Catalogue lists the losses suffered by the subjects of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen during the Thirty Years' War. In the 1950s, a face was added to the moon on the coat of arms, a move which has been criticised by many of RoÃÂdorf's inhabitants.
RoÃÂdorf is famous for horse breeding and in recent years has produced several prize-winning riders.
The largest club in RoÃÂdorf is the Sport and Cultural Association (Sport- und Kulturgemeinde - SKG - RoÃÂdorf 1877 e.V.)
RoÃÂdorf is also the headquarters of the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP; "Society for the Scientific Investigation of Parasciences"), the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO) and the Center for Inquiry-Europe.
RoÃÂdorf is connected to the BundesstraÃÂe B 26 by three motorway exits. The B 26 has interchanges in Darmstadt with the Autobahns A 5 and A 67 and in Aschaffenburg with the A 3. RoÃÂdorf is also the starting point of the B 38.
In addition, a number of bus routes serve RoÃÂdorf:
The railway line "Darmstadt Ost â GroÃÂ-Zimmern" served RoÃÂdorf and neighboring towns until passenger service was discontinued in June 1966. The track between the train stops Darmstadt Ost and Bessunger Forsthaus still exists and was occasionally used for historical train rides until 2016, while the rest of the line between Darmstadt and GroÃÂ-Zimmern has been dismantled.
Mein Dorf, Heinz Friedrich, Munich 1996, , (available only in German language)