Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hessen, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction. Hanau is famous for being the birthplace of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. In 1963, the town hosted the third Hessentag state festival. Until 2005, Hanau was the administrative centre of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis.
The historic core of Hanau is situated within a semicircle of the river Kinzig which flows into the river Main just west of the town. Today, after a substantial expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries it also extends to the river Main and after a restructuring of municipal borders within Hessen in the 1970s a couple of nearby villages and towns were incorporated. After this change, Hanau for the first time also extended to the south bank of the Main river.
The name is derived of "Hagenowe" which is a composition out of "Haag" (wood) and "Aue" (open land by 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 belonged to a noble family, calling themselves "of Hanau" since the 13th century. Starting from this castle a village developed and became a town in 1303. As a result of this history, the main church of Hanau stood outside its walls in the village of Kinzdorf. The villagers moved into the town, Kinzdorf became an abandoned village leaving only the church. Only in the 15th century was the status of the Hanau parish church transferred to the church of Mary Magdalene within the town walls.
FC Hanau 93 is a German association football club based in Hanau, Hesse.
Founded in 1893, the club is Hesse's oldest. In its first year, the club was winless in a half dozen matches, but the next season emerged as south German champion and earned an appearance in a national championship match. Hanau was one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association formed in 1900.
In those early days of German football Hanau laid a 23–1 drubbing on a hopelessly green Kickers Offenbach side. The club managed a series of unsuccessful appearances in the local league final between 1902 and 1905 and were "robbed" of a title through bureaucratic machinations in 1907, before finally taking the local title in 1909. It became a founding member of the Nordkreis-Liga in 1909, where it played until the outbreak of the war. After the First World War, the club played in the Kreisliga Nordmain without any real success. In 1926, Hanau found itself in a legal squabble with FSV Frankfurt and the league that led to its exclusion from play for a short time. Through the late 1920s and into the 30s the team played in the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen of the Süddeutschland Verband.
Wenn die bunten Fahnen wehen, geht die Fahrt wohl über's Meer.
Woll'n wir ferne Lande sehen, fällt der Abschied uns nicht schwer.
Leuchtet die Sonne, ziehen die Wolken,
klingen die Lieder weit über's Meer.
Sonnenschein ist unsere Wonne, wie er lacht am lichten Tag.
Doch es geht auch ohne Sonne, wenn sie mal nicht scheinen mag.
Blasen die Stürme, brausen die Wellen,
Hei, die wilden Wandervögel ziehen wieder durch die Nacht
singen ihre alten Lieder, daß die Welt vom Schlaf erwacht.
Kommt dann der Morgen, sind sie schon weiter,
über die Berge wer weiß wohin?
Wo die blauen Gipfel ragen, lockt so mancher steile Pfad,
immer vorwärts, ohne Zagen, bald sind wir dem Ziel genaht.
Schneefelder blinken, schimmern von ferne her,