It is located 38 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Hanau at the foot of the Vogelsberg, one of the largest inactive volcanoes in Europe.

The town council consists of the mayor, Stefan Betz (independent), and the aldermen Klaus Hein, Walter Lutz and Barbara Gundlach (CDU), Klaus Bechthold and Andreas Steder (SPD), Reinhold Landmann and Irmtraud Köhler (FWG) and Willi Herbst (Bürgerliste Gedern).

During a genealogical research, they figured out that most of the 156 people who emigrated from Gedern in the 19th century, found a new home in the area of Columbia.

In April 1992 the representatives of both cities signed a treaty of friendship during a visit of a Columbian delegation in Gedern.

Retail, manual labor, and trade work that make up the core of the economic activities are done on a very small scale.