Vogelsberg villages shine: Storndorf and Metzlos among the best!

Vogelsberg villages shine: Storndorf and Metzlos among the best!

The ceremony for the 38th state competition “Our Village has a Future” took place in Wiesbaden on Friday, at which the best villages in Hesse were honored. In a celebratory ceremony led by Homeland Minister Ingmar Jung, 14 villages from all over Hesse received recognition for their commitment and development. The focus was particularly on the two villages from the Vogelsberg district that made it into the top five. Fulda newspaper reports that Storndorf took an excellent third place and received 5,500 euros in prize money. Metzlos, the smallest village in the competition, secured fourth place and shared it with the village of Vierbach from the Werra-Meißner district.

Storndorf was particularly able to convince the jury with its diverse structure of small and medium-sized companies as well as agricultural businesses. However, in Metzlos, with only 159 inhabitants, you can also find fascinating developments. The village has, among other things, 17 businesses, a village shop with a breakfast bistro and even a children's farm. The cohesion of the village community is reflected in the contributions made to the renovations and paving of sidewalks in Metzlos.

The commitment of the village communities

In his speech, Minister Jung highlighted the remarkable voluntary commitment of the village communities. During the applications, the participating villages showed that they are intensively dealing with the challenges of rural areas and developing creative solutions. A total of 82 villages applied for the award, which are now helping to make positive developments in rural regions visible. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture has been organizing this competition since 1961 under the patronage of the Federal President. The aim is to honor civic engagement and to create a platform for the exchange of good concepts.

The award-winning villages also show great diversity in their approaches. In addition to third and fourth place, five other villages were honored, and four projects also received special prizes. This year's first place winners, Roßbach and Oberseelbach, will represent Hesse in the national competition next year, which further increases the incentive to take part in the competition.

A look into the future

For the next round of the competition, which will be held nationwide, the villages have the opportunity to develop further and realize new ideas. The Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection is already calling for participation in the 28th nationwide competition, in which village communities with up to 3,000 residents can take part. Award criteria include social institutions, lively cultural offerings, economic aspects and ecological design.

With such great successes as in Storndorf and Metzlos, it shows that the rural regions in Hesse are lively and have great potential, which is promoted through cohesion and commitment. It will be interesting to see what innovative ideas the villages will come up with in the next competition!