 Rosenthal borders in the north on the community of Burgwald, in the east on the town of Gemünden (both in Waldeck-Frankenberg), in the southeast on the community of Wohratal, in the south on the towns of Rauschenberg and Wetter, and in the west on the community of Münchhausen (all in Marburg-Biedenkopf).Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole, the town of Rosenthal consists of the centres of Roda and Willershausen.Rosenthal was founded in 1327 as a Mainz town and outpost in the dispute over the Hessian fief, but nevertheless passed to the Landgraviate of Hesse in 1464.