Old town (Mainbernheim)
The medieval old town of the Lower Franconian Mainbernheim is a historical settlement core of the city. Today it is synonymous with the Ensemble Altstadt Mainbernheim , which is protected as a building and ground monument in the walling of the 14th and 15th centuries .
Geographical location
Mainbernheim is located in the Mainbernheim Plain , named after the town , which, with its small hills, mediates between the Main and Steigerwald . The old town itself was not created in a topographically prominent place, but can be found in the middle of the flat, undulating terrain. The terrain rises towards the northeast so that the city is on a slope. The location of the city and the older urban centers surrounding it, Kitzingen (in the northwest) and Iphofen (in the southeast), suggest that the authorities were individually promoting the settlement.
The old town in the form of an irregular heptagon is now surrounded in the north, east and in the extreme south. Only in the south and west, along federal highway 8 , does the building ensemble stand freely in the landscape. The internal structure of the old town is provided by the stately buildings, which are concentrated in the north on the highest point of the urban area. The more representative town houses can also be found here. The rest of the old town is dominated by the less magnificent buildings on the side streets. The ensemble is bounded by the city wall and the surrounding moats .
history
Reichsdorf
The history of Mainbernheim's old town is closely linked to its location on the so-called Hohen Strasse , which connected Frankfurt am Main and Nuremberg and formed an important trade route in the Middle Ages and early modern times. The village of Mainbernheim appeared in documents in connection with the street in 1172. At that time, Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa placed the settlement under the protection of the Reich and elevated Mainbernheim to an imperial village .
Due to the location of the settlement on the street, the place was also an element of the imperial politics , which was pursued by kings and emperors. If the rulers were strong, the village flourished too, if central power weakened against other forces, the people of Mainbernheim also suffered from this situation. Mainbernheim was temporarily pledged to the Würzburg prince-bishop . However, it can be assumed that the village was an important settlement during the High Middle Ages .
Similar to Prichsenstadt further north, Mainbernheim also experienced a heyday under Emperor Charles IV from the Luxembourg family . Karl released the village from the pledge of the bishopric and allowed the imperial village to build a first walling of pile hedge and moat. The city was of decisive importance for Charles IV's policy of domiciliary power , as it formed a station between his Bohemian possessions and the coronation city of Frankfurt.
City elevation and expansion
A few years later, meanwhile Wenzel continued his father's policy, Mainbernheim received city rights . In connection with the elevation to the city of 1382, the citizens were commissioned to fortify the now urban settlement with stone walls. In order to be able to cope with this task economically, Wenzel also granted his city customs and market rights within its walls. A street market quickly developed, which ran along Hohe Straße through the middle of the city.
The rise to the city led to a densification of the settlement area. The city was built as a two-gate city along the existing Königsstrasse . Representative showcase buildings of urban design developed only along the later Herrnstrasse . The rest of the urban area remained rural. This also contributed to the disputes between Mainbernheim and the neighboring Iphofen, which also wanted to be a station on Hohen Strasse. At times the Iphöfer simply rerouted the street.
After further pledging, the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach finally became new masters of Mainbernheim at the beginning of the 16th century . The margraves set up their own office in the small town and thereby further promoted their possessions. They also pushed the Reformation in Mainbernheim. In the course of the adoption of the new faith, Mainbernheim became the destination of many exiles from the Catholic area. In 1548 the cemetery, which had previously been located around the church, was moved to the city.
The Thirty Years' War did not bring Mainbernheim the destruction that comparable cities in the Steigerwald foreland suffered. As early as 1648, the residents succeeded in inaugurating the two representative city towers in the north-west and south-east, which still exist today. In 1683 one of the oldest continuously operated pharmacies in Franconia was inaugurated in the city . In 1748 the Jews settled in Mainbernheim received their own synagogue .
Decline
Mainbernheim, however, lost its office in the 18th century and completely lost its importance compared to the neighboring, more populous cities in the course of the 19th century. So the trade routes shifted and the Hohe Straße lost its importance for traffic. This is the only way to explain why the two city gates were not torn down during this time, as they quickly became an obstacle to the growing traffic in other cities in the area .
The city fell into a kind of " slumber ", which allowed the late medieval and early modern building fabric to be preserved. At the beginning of the 19th century, two small suburbs had already formed in front of the gates . Mainbernheim only regained importance with the construction of the railway station in 1864. However, for a long time the city remained a community of commuters in the direction of Kitzingen, where the first industrial companies settled.
In the 20th century, thanks to the continued growth of Kitzingen, the city managed to create new development areas itself . The old town remained unchanged in its substance and it was not until 1938 that the growth of individual traffic made the construction of a bypass road , today's federal highway, necessary. The city fell into disrepair in the 1950s and 1960s and was not renovated and renewed until the following decades. Mainbernheim is still just one station between Kitzingen and Iphofen.
Streets and squares
Mainbernheim's old town is dominated by Herrnstrasse, which crosses the town as a longitudinal axis . In the north of the tangent the church and the town hall can be found, in the south less representative buildings predominate. The Herrnstraße bends at about the level of house number 26/27, a star-shaped network of side streets was created here, all of which lead into the main street. Badgasse is important for the development of the southern part of the city. Today's street names mostly come from the 20th century, originally only the more important streets were named. They were:
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Herrnstrasse
The Herrnstrasse forms the Mainbernheimer Hauptstrasse. All other streets in the old town branch off from it in ribs . It formed the street market and marked the inner-city course of the Hohe Strasse. That is why the two gate towers, which as customs borders had an economic role as well as their military function, were built at both ends of the Herrnstrasse. The bend a little north of the geographic center of Mainbernheim forms the center point within the city.
A small square was formed here, which was decorated with a fountain. Merchant houses from the 17th and 18th centuries have been preserved along Herrnstrasse, especially on Brunnenplatz . The street was the only one in Mainbernheim on which an urban character with differentiated trades could develop. Due to the course of the trade and military road through the city center, inns also settled here , which were the focal point for passing traders.
Back streets
The side streets that bend from Herrnstrasse did not develop any outstanding cityscapes. They retained the rural character that the settlement had before the city elevation. There are hardly any monuments in the side streets, with the exception of Obere Brunnengasse, Scheuerleinsplatz and Kellergasse. With the margravial caste office and a winery of the Würzburg cathedral chapter, there are even stately buildings here, which, however, do not achieve the representative character of the buildings on the main street.
The most important traffic access road is Badgasse, which runs south. More important for the city's history is the square around the Lutheran city church in the far north. The cemetery once existed here, which was relocated to the city during the Reformation. According to its name, the Judengasse was the axis in which mainly citizens of the Israelite faith settled. On August 19, 1917, this area was devastated by a major fire , so that more recent buildings can mainly be found here.
The name Neugasse refers to an expansion of the urban area or can also be traced back to a city fire in the early modern period, after which the sub-area was rebuilt as planned. A much more regular quarter was created here with closed court riding in block development . The town hall was built at the transition between the core city and Neugasse, which can also be an indication of an urban area expansion.
Important architectural monuments
In Mainbernheim's old town, buildings from all centuries have been preserved since the Middle Ages . Representative trading houses and arable houses are particularly located along the Herrnstrasse, which is important in terms of urban development . The Herrnstrasse also gathers most of the architectural monuments in the old town. Similar densities can only be found in the street extension of Scheuerleinsplatz and in the alleys to the south of the Lower Gate.
The Evangelical-Lutheran parish church of St. Johannis can be regarded as an important architectural monument of the city. It was built as a separate church for the Counts of Castell in the north of the city. Under the supervision of Carl Friedrich von Zocha and with the help of Johann David Steingruber , the foundation stone for today's church was laid on September 12, 1732 after the previous church was demolished. From the outside, the church presents itself as a simple hall with a hipped roof. The tower built on the side towers over the city with its Welschen dome. Inside, elements of the so-called margrave style were set up. → see also: Evangelical City Church Mainbernheim
The city's representative town hall can be found in front of the church on Herrnstrasse . It was built in 1548 and underlined the independence of the townspeople from the rule. The town hall is a two-storey building that will be expanded to three storeys in the direction of Herrnstrasse. With its stepped gables , the plastered, slightly protruding half-timbered upper floor and so-called arched curtain windows, it cites the forms of the Renaissance .
The rulers also had buildings built to underpin their claim to the city. The Ansbachische Kasten- und Fraischamt at Scheuerleinsplatz 4 was redesigned in the Baroque style in the 18th century , but its core dates back to the Middle Ages. It is a two-storey hipped roof building with drilled window frames. The margraves also had a winery in Mainbernheim, but it was located outside the old town. → see also: Scheuerleinsplatz 4 (Mainbernheim)
However, the city also has several town houses that are historically important. Due to the favorable location, there were many inns in the city. The so-called Paulshaus stands out at Herrnstrasse 12. It was built in the 16th century and takes up the shapes of the town hall opposite. Another, albeit much younger, inn is the Gasthof zum Falken in Herrnstraße 27. Its low-hipped roof characterizes this part of the main street. → see also: Paulshaus and Gasthof zum Falken (Mainbernheim)
Another important example of bourgeois architecture is the house in Herrnstrasse 23. With its cellar from the 11th or 12th century, it can be described as one of the oldest buildings in the Kitzingen district . Today's building with the distinctive boss portal , the half-timbered upper floor and the hipped roof was built around 1486 . The house at Berggasse 6 dates to the same time. Dendrochronological investigations showed that the house was already being built in 1483. Changes to the house were made at the end of the 16th century. → see also: Herrnstraße 23 (Mainbernheim) and Berggasse 6 (Mainbernheim)
The Old Town Mainbernheim ensemble is bounded by the city fortifications, which are still largely preserved today. It was essentially built in the 14th century, and improvements and renovations had to be carried out up to the present day. The two towers at both ends of Herrnstrasse are particularly representative. The upper gate received its distinctive, octagonal tower in the 18th century. The part of the wall along the B 8 also shapes the cityscape. With its three towers, it forms a popular photo motif . Here are also the so-called grave gardens found in the man made moat.
literature
- Reinhard Gutbier: The community center in eastern Lower Franconia (= The German community center XXXVI) . Tübingen 1995.
- Kurt Kraus: Mainbernheim - then and now. Images of the past and present . Mainbernheim 2003.
- Kurt Kraus: Between Powder Tower and Eichelsee. Old views and documents from Mainbernheim . Mainbernheim 1990.
- Hans-Eckhard Lindemann: Historic town centers in Main Franconia. History - structure - development . Munich 1989.
- City of Mainbernheim (Ed.): Grabengärten Mainbernheim. Brochure . Mainbernheim 2012.
- Hartmut Zehner: Mainbernheim. Allow . Wuerzburg 1977.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Zehner, Hartmut: Mainbernheim . Pp. 13-15.
- ^ Lindemann, Hans-Eckhard: Historic town centers in Mainfranken . P. 82.
- ↑ Kraus, Kurt: Mainbernheim - then and now . P. 3.
- ^ Lindemann, Hans-Eckhard: Historic town centers in Mainfranken . P. 84 f.
- ^ Lindemann, Hans-Eckhard: Historic town centers in Mainfranken . P. 84.
- ↑ Kraus, Kurt: Between Powder Tower and Eichelsee . P. 63 f.
- ^ Gutbier, Reinhard: The community center in eastern Lower Franconia . P. 126 f.
Coordinates: 49 ° 42 ′ 37.8 ″ N , 10 ° 13 ′ 2.5 ″ E