Schwanenberg

Schwanenberg City of Erkelenz
Coordinates: 51 ° 6 ′ 0 ″  N , 6 ° 16 ′ 0 ″  E
Height :	83 m
Area :	5.9 km²
Residents :	1640  (December 31, 2016)
Population density :	278 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation :	January 1, 1972
Postal code :	41812
Area code :	02431
Location of Schwanenberg in North Rhine-Westphalia

Schwanenberg is a district of the city of Erkelenz ( district of Heinsberg , formerly district of Erkelenz ) in the Lower Rhine plain, near the city of Mönchengladbach . Until the municipal reorganization in 1972, Schwanenberg was an independent municipality that included the districts of Lentholt , Grambusch , Genhof and Genfeld - only half of the latter village. These neighboring villages are also shown here. The village of Schwanenberg has 1613 inhabitants with Grambusch and Lentholt. (As of February 28, 2010)

Protestant parish church Schwanenberg

geography

Map section "Mairie de Schwanenberg", around 1806

Schwanenberg is located on the northern edge of the Erkelenzer Börde , at the transition to the Schwalm-Nette-Platte, a part of the Lower Rhine lowlands .

The Schwalm is said to have originated in Schwanenberg in the past, as a watercourse led from the pastorate to the current beginning of the stream at Geneiken (Gendyk).

Neighboring villages

Lentholt

Jewish cemetery in Lentholt

Lentholt ( 51 ° 6 ′  N , 6 ° 16 ′  E ) is located south of Schwanenberg. The development of the localities merges seamlessly into one another. In 1312 Lenthout was mentioned in a document, in 1473 the place name was written down as Lentholt . Like Schwanenberg, Lentholt belonged to the imperial rule of Wickrath. The village was in the Schwanenberg parish and also accepted the Reformation.

A memorial stone reminds of the Jewish cemetery Schwanenberg in Lentholt . It is the fourth stop on the route against oblivion .

In the place name is the word Lint (= linden tree ). contain. Holt means wood, forest.

Genhof

Genhof ( 51 ° 6 ′  N , 6 ° 15 ′  E ) is located west of Lentholt. The Genhof windmill was located between the towns. The place has 241 inhabitants (as of February 28, 2010).

In 1467 geyn Have was first mentioned in a document. In 1568 the place appears as the Hoven .

From today's perspective, the precarious living conditions in Genhof in the middle of the 18th century are described in an interesting article by Peter Gotzes in 1959.

The prefix Gen in the place name is a remainder of a preposition and an article (an gen = an dem, den).

Gene field

Genfeld ( 51 ° 6 '  N , 6 ° 15'  O ) is displayed 1560 in a document as Uff the veldt (= on the field ). The place has 99 inhabitants (as of February 28, 2010).

The village was partly in the imperial rule of Wickrath and partly in the Duchy of Jülich. This division remained under French rule from 1794 to 1814 and also initially in the Prussian period. At that time it belonged partly to the Schwanenberg mayor and partly to the Wegberg mayor. At the beginning of the 19th century the population was almost completely reformed and belonged to the Protestant community of Schwanenberg. Until the reorganization in 1972, the village remained technically divided. This resulted in some curiosities: The telephone area codes differed within the town and the children of the village attended two different schools - the "Schwanenbergers" went to the Schwanenberg elementary school, the "Wegberger" to the Geneikener. "The schools enjoyed very different levels of prestige:" The Schwanenbergers were the smart ones, the genieikers the stupid, "explains Angelika Zohren. Background: The school in Geneiken was very radically single - grades one to eight were gathered in a single class."

history

Finds from the Stone Age and the Roman Age can be found in the Schwanenberg area .

Place name

The name has its origin in the name of the brook , which originated here earlier - the Schwalm . When it was first mentioned in a document in 1312, the place was called Schwalenbricht . In 1427 the village was called Swalenbergh , this name can also be found on a church bell from 1754, which has the inscription Schwalenbergae .

The basic word -berg can have two meanings, one is actually mountain , even slight elevations can be called that in this flat landscape. The word could also mean castle . The epithet Schwalm comes from the Middle High German word swal , source, swelling water.

The evangelical community

Before the occupation of the Rhineland by Napoleon was Schwanberg part of Quadt 'rule Reichsfreiherr rule Wickrath and thus a Protestant enclave with reformed confession in an otherwise Catholic surroundings. To date, the majority of the population Swan Mountain to the Protestant denomination confesses and the history of the town of Schwanberg is closely linked to the history of the Protestant parish Schwanberg, which for example, the naming of a street in the new area "An der Schlei" in "August Wirtz Square" in memory of the pastor of the Protestant parish Schwanenberg (until 1969). However, the parish has always been larger than the Schwanenberg community and also included the villages of Kehrbusch , Flassenberg , Isengraben , Rath-Anhoven (only to a small extent), Hoven, Golkrath , Gerderhahn , Geneiken . In the Napoleonic period, Schwanenberg was an independent municipality ( Maire ) in the department of Roer ( Rur ). After the defeat of Napoleon and the subsequent annexation to the Kingdom of Prussia .

The Schwanenberg church in the center of the village has a foundation stone from 1547 on the south side.

The beginnings of the Protestant school in Schwanenberg, which still exists today (today: Evangelical Community Primary School Schwanenberg) date back to 1600, the earliest news is from 1607. The school building also fell victim to the village fire in 1777, but was rebuilt that same year. The expansion of the school, proposed in 1792, did not take place until 1821. During the French occupation there is said to have been a temporary small school in Genhof in addition to the school in Grambusch. To finance the school expansion, a plot of land at the "Judenkirchhof" (!) In Lentholt was cleared and the proceeds from the sale of wood were used for the cultivation. Because of the persistently high number of students, another school was built in Geneiken in 1858 for part of Genfeld and for Geneiken. The school in Grambusch had existed since 1787. A new schoolhouse was built in 1821, which, however, was replaced thirty years later (1851) by a stately house between the two village streets and which still exists today on "Schulgasse" (In Grambusch 19).

Paul Gerhard Aring was the parish priest from February 1, 1970 to December 31, 1978.

The Jewish community

From the 17th century to 1938 Schwanenberg also housed a Jewish community that had a synagogue on Lindches Weg and a cemetery in the Lentholt district. No school building of its own yet, but "Jewish lessons" had existed in the form of private lessons since at least 1821. The Jewish community belonged to the Krefeld Consistory from 1808 to 1847 . From 1860 onwards there were considerations to establish an Israeli school in Schwanenberg. From 1870 there was a cantor and religion teacher for the Geilenkirchen-Heinsberg-Erkelenz synagogue community, who taught at least 40 children ("Jüdische Religionsschule Erkelenz-Schwanenberg"). Twenty years later, around 20 children were still being taught. At the end of the 19th century, the Jewish population began to emigrate to cities and towns. Around 1900, 8 out of 118 pupils were taught in the Schwanenberg School of the Jewish faith. Around 1930 only a few Jews lived in Schwanenberg.

During the November pogroms in 1938 , the interior of the synagogue was destroyed and desecrated by the Hitler Youth Schwanenberg and NSDAP members from Erkelenz. The wood in the interior was used by the population as firewood, and the whole building was gradually demolished. All gravestones in the Jewish cemetery were destroyed, stolen and used by farmers to fortify their driveways. The Jewish citizens were expelled or deported .

Initiatives of the Protestant pastor Dr. Paul Gerhard Aring (1926–2003) during his term of office 1970–1979 on dealing with his own past and with the Christian-Jewish dialogue in general were noted by the population with great reservations and many accusations. Only a careful theological foundation of questions about Judaism and injustice by Aring's successor, Pastor Erich Walter Fuchs (1932-2007), laid the basis for more intensive work within the Protestant parish since the 1990s.

In 2003, a plaque was placed on the memorial at the Evangelical Church to commemorate the Jewish community, and a plaque was placed on Lindches Weg at the former location of the synagogue . The Jewish cemetery is in the Lentholt district. Since 2010 there has been a plaque of the Erkelenz route against oblivion .

The district committee and presbytery agreed in mid-2005 that in connection with the next building area to be developed in the Schwanenberg area, a street would be named after the Jewish Leyens family. 2014 then received in the construction area " Tichelkamp" a street named " Leyensring" . On August 28, 2016, the street sign was officially unveiled in a solemn ceremony; members of the family from England were invited.

See also : Jewish cemetery (Schwanenberg)

From 1945

American soldiers of the 334th Regiment of the 84th Infantry Division of the 9th US Army captured Schwanenberg on February 26, 1945 during Operation Grenade after crossing the Rur.

After the Second World War , Catholic citizens moved to Schwanenberg, and the Schwanenberg Catholic chapel community was formed, which wanted its own church building in the village. In 1963 the Church of St. Severin was consecrated.

On January 1, 1972 Schwanenberg was incorporated into Erkelenz.

While only a few citizens of the Roman Catholic faith were living in the Protestant enclave of Schwanenberg at the end of the Second World War, since 2010 the denominational ratio has been half Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians.

politics

coat of arms

The municipal coat of arms from 1969 shows in the lower field an upright swan on a mountain. This motif comes from an old aldermen's seal from around 1750. In the upper field there is a battlements as a symbol for the former, imperial rule of Wickrath . The swan can also be found in the coat of arms of the von Quadt family from Wickrath .

Culture and sights

Attractions Schwanenberger Market Evangelical Church from 1547 Half-timbered farms Pastorate Plastic Schwalmquelle by the sculptor Ursula Klügel See also : List of architectural monuments in Erkelenz

societies Gymnastics Club 1924 Schwanenberg SV "Black and White" Schwanenberg e. V. (from 1931) Evangelical church choir Schwanenberg Evangelical Trumpet Choir Schwanenberg Schwanenberg / Geneiken volunteer fire department BB - Bitburger Borussen (fan club from Borussia Mönchengladbach football club ) Heimatverein Grambusch

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

In Grambusch there is a bicycle factory that produces Pedersen bicycles , there is also a tree nursery and a large number of medium-sized craft businesses. Agriculture has lost its importance, only a few farms still exist in the area of ​​the former municipality.

Infrastructure

• Evangelical primary school Schwanenberg
• Evangelical Kindergarten Schwanenberg
• Motorway connection to the A46 approx. 4 km
• Connection to the B57 approx. 3 km
• Next train station in Erkelenz approx. 4 km
• Bus connection of line 418 towards Wegberg and Erkelenz as well as line 405 towards Wassenberg and Erkelenz (bus stop in the center of the village)

literature

• Gustav Voss: Schwanenberg 1558–1958. For the 400th anniversary of the Reformation . Evangelical parish, Erkelenz 1958.
• Gustav Voss: Schwanenberg. Pictures of a church in the past and present . Evangelical parish, Erkelenz 1972.

Web links

Commons : Schwanenberg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the city of Erkelenz
• Monuments in the city of Erkelenz
• Churches and chapels in the city of Erkelenz
• Film about Schwanenberg and Grambusch WDR

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Update of the population on December 31, 2016 (PDF). (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Website of the city of Erkelenz. Archived from the original on January 25, 2017 ; Retrieved January 25, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Peter Gotzes: From coffee beans and other things in Genhof. In: Home calendar of the Erkelenzer Lande. 1959, p. 155 f.
3. ↑ Genfelder celebrate 40 years of unity today. In: Rheinische Post. (Erkelenzer Zeitung) December 8, 2012.
4. ↑ ekir.de: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Schwanenberg , accessed on May 27, 2015.
5. ↑ See Josef Lennartz: The elementary school system of the 19th century in today's city of Erkelenz. Erkelenz 1984, pp. 235-244.
6. ^ Gustav Voss: History of the school in Grambusch. Festschrift for the 150th anniversary of the school on January 9, 1937. Erkelenz 1936.
7. ^ Josef Lennartz: The elementary school system of the 19th century in today's city of Erkelenz. Erkelenz 1984, pp. 121-126.
8. ^ Josef Lennartz: The elementary school system of the 19th century in today's city of Erkelenz. Erkelenz 1984, p. 233f.
9. ^ Josef Lennartz: The elementary school system of the 19th century in today's city of Erkelenz. Erkelenz 1984, p. 243.
10. ↑ See Reiner Andreas Neuschäfer: Paul Gerhard Aring. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon. Volume XXXVI (2015) and Reiner Andreas Neuschäfer: “Reorientation” - Paul Gerhard Aring (1926–2003) and his struggle for a Christian-Jewish dialogue. Approaches to a mission against mission to the Jews and their biographical premises. In: Yearbook for Protestant Church History of the Rhineland. 65, 2016, pp. 202–222.
11. ^ Klaus Eberl: Jewish life in Schwanenberg. (unpublished talk), p. 1.
12. ↑ https://ratsinfo.erkelenz.de/bi/to020.asp?TOLFDNR=9646 District Committee Schwanenberg
13. ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 307 .
14. ↑ City Archive Erkelenz ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )