Hungen
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Hungen within Gießen district
Hungen Show map of Germany Hungen Show map of Hesse
Coordinates: 50°28′N 08°54′E / 50.467°N 8.900°E / 50.467; 8.900
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Gießen
District	Gießen
Government
• Mayor (2017–23)	Rainer Wengorsch[1]
Area
• Total	86.75 km2 (33.49 sq mi)
Elevation	144 m (472 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	13,073
• Density	150/km2 (390/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	35410
Dialling codes	06402
Vehicle registration	GI
Website	www.hungen.de

Hungen (German pronunciation: [ˈhʊŋən] ^ⓘ) is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 20 km southeast of Gießen, and 18 km northeast of Friedberg. Surrounding towns are Laubach to the north, Nidda to the east, Wölfersheim to the south, and Münzenberg and Lich to the west.

The history of Hungen dates back to 782. In 1806 it came under the sovereignty of the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

Buildings of interest include the Hungen Castle, the Evangelical Church, parts of the medieval city wall and Hungen station.

Looted books depository

At the end of World War II American forces discovered almost 1.2 million looted books and prints at Hungen, among them the contents of the Rothschild Library at Frankfurt, which had been removed by the Nazis from Frankfurt because of Allied bombing raids.^[3][4]

Hungen in the media

Literature

Shmuel Spector, Geoffrey Wigoder, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust ISBN 0-8147-9356-8, New York University Press, 2001.

Film

My Opposition: the Diaries of Friedrich Kellner

The railroad station of Hungen can be seen in this 2007 Canadian documentary, which recounts the story of Robert Scott Kellner and his grandfather, Friedrich Kellner, chief justice inspector of Laubach who wrote the anti-Nazi diary, "My Opposition."