Bastheim

This article deals with the municipality of Bastheim. For the noble family see Bastheim (noble family) .

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 50 ° 24 '  N , 10 ° 12'  E
Basic data
State :	Bavaria
Administrative region :	Lower Franconia
County :	Rhön-Grabfeld
Height :	284 m above sea level NHN
Area :	41.75 km 2
Residents:	2106 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	50 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	97654
Primaries :	09773, 09775
License plate :	NES, CAN, MET
Community key :	09 6 73 116
Community structure:	8 districts
Address of the municipal administration:	Obergasse 20 97654 Bastheim, Germany
Website :	www.bastheim.de
First Mayor :	Tobias Seufert ( FW )
Location of the municipality of Bastheim in the Rhön-Grabfeld district

Bastheim (dialect: Bosde ) is the largest municipality in Besengau in the Lower Franconian district of Rhön-Grabfeld .

The place name is explained by the activity of tying brooms from branches (twigs) of the birch, which was carried out by the population in the winters of the 18th and 19th centuries due to economic hardship.

geography

Bastheim is located in the Main-Rhön region . Geographically, the municipality of Bastheim and its districts largely correspond to the so-called Besengau , with the village of the same name as the center in the valley of the Els .

Community structure

There are eight officially named municipal parts:

Bastheim Braidbach Geckenau Reyersbach

Rödles Simonshof Unterwaldbehrungen Wechterswinkel

There are the districts : Bastheim, Braidbach, Reyersbach, Rödles, Unterwaldbehrungen, Wechterswinkel and Wechterswinkeler Forst .

history

Grave finds from the Bronze Age and Hallstatt Age in the Bastheimer Flur attest to cultural activities as early as 1800 BC. Chr.

Around 700 the advance of the Franks to the east began (attested by place names with the ending heim ), by which the Thuringians (older founding names with ungen come from them ) were pushed back to the Rennsteig , which was the Franconian border in the Middle Ages. At this point in time, Bastheim can be imagined as a small populated forest clearing on a stream. The local noble family of the Lords of Bastheim has been traceable since 1180 and, in the late Middle Ages, provided important officials in the administrative apparatus for the prince-bishop's clergy in Würzburg . The later secularized Cistercian monastery in Wechterswinkel also had supraregional importance for the Besengau in the Middle Ages .

In 1525, Bastheim farmers conquered the Hildenburg in the German Peasants' War and completely destroyed it. Allegedly, the rebels were of the opinion that the reformer Martin Luther was there and razed the castle to the ground when they had not found him. However, this is probably a legend that emerged later, as there are no historical references to this motif of the farmers. As a result of the Congress of Vienna , a large part of Franconia and with it Bastheim was given to Archduke Ferdinand of Tuscany in 1805 to form the Grand Duchy of Würzburg and with this in 1814 fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria in the First Peace of Paris . The family of the Barons von Bastheim died out in 1848. In 1856 the old moated castle of the Lords of Bastheim was torn down, and in 1869 the parish church of St. Sebastian was built .

Bastheim from the south (2007), the Rhön in the background

In the course of the administrative reforms in Bavaria, the municipality of Bastheim was created with the municipal edict of 1818 .

During the Nazi era , the synagogue of the Jewish community on Auweg 1 was desecrated during the November pogrom in 1938 , and the cult objects were destroyed. A plaque on the building, which is now used by the Kolping Family , reminds of this event. Bastheim has supraregional importance due to the Heimathof Simonshof located two kilometers north of the core community . Caritas looks after women and men from marginalized groups here.

On January 1, 1972, the previously independent communities Braidbach, Reyersbach, Rödles and Unterwaldbehrungen were incorporated. Wechterswinkel was incorporated on May 1, 1978 .

politics

The professional first mayor is Tobias Seufert (Free Voters Besengau). He has been in office since May 1, 2020. In the 2020 election he was elected in the first ballot with 68.2% of the vote.

coat of arms

Under a shield head in blue, divided by black and silver in a cloud section, a growing golden crook, placed obliquely to the left, covered with a sloping beam arranged in two rows of red and silver.

Economy and Infrastructure

Bastheim in the aerial photo 1999

Economy and agriculture, tourism

As in all rural regions, the former infrastructure of the economy in Bastheim is on the decline. Little is left of the two bakeries, two butchers, two inns, the shoemaker, the butcher and all other handicraft businesses that were located in the core community of Bastheim a few decades ago, also due to the great attractiveness of the nearby cities that are now accessible by car. The main employers for the Bastheim population are the remaining local craft businesses and the medium-sized and large companies in neighboring towns such as Bad Neustadt or Mellrichstadt .

In Bastheim, too, agriculture has not been spared the “peasant deaths” in recent decades. After the last world war, almost every farm in the municipality was still predominantly a full-time farm with seasonal sideline activity (a farmer in summer, forest worker or carver in winter and house building in the quarry in spring), but currently only four are active in agriculture and forestry Full operations reported.

Tourism and tourism was not able to establish itself on a larger scale in Bastheim, but there are some guest houses and guest rooms.

education

The community has kindergartens in the districts of Bastheim and Reyersbach. There is a primary school in the core community of Bastheim. A community library has been set up in the village community center in Rödles.

Culture

Sebastian fountain in Easter decorations (2007)

Historically, Bastheim and the Besengau as part of the Rhön are culturally part of Lower Franconia and are shaped accordingly. The language of the "Bosdemers" is Lower Franconian with a strong Rhön tongue.

Meeting places

• Besengauscheune in the core community with changing events
• LandStadt House in the Rödles district, cultural dialogue
• Kulturspeicher: Cultural meeting place for the district in the former Wechterswinkel monastery

Architectural monuments

→ Main article : List of architectural monuments in Bastheim

Club life

The main social and cultural activity in the community comes mainly from the associations:

• Bastheim is a regional carnival stronghold. The carnival company "Ba-Ka-Ge", jointly operated by the TSG and Kolping associations, organizes carnival events according to the "Rhenish style" such as ceremonial meetings, carnival dances and children's carnival with the support of the entire village population.
• The gymnastics and sports community (TSG Bastheim) is numerically the largest and most active club; the clubhouse with the sports fields is located on the Spielberg, about one kilometer north of the village.
• The music association Bastheim gathers the wind musicians, the club house is housed in the town hall.
• The Bastheim branch of the Rhön Club is also housed in the town hall.
• The Kolping Family has its clubhouse on the Mühlbach.
• The Bastheim volunteer fire brigade has its fire station on Geckenauer Strasse.
• The small animal breeding club has its clubhouse in a wing of the town hall.

Personalities

• Bernhard Reyder (1652-1717); born in Wechterswinkel, abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Münsterschwarzach
• Georg von Mölter (1775–1846); Bavarian Major General , Commander of the Federal Fortress Landau (Pfalz) , Knight of the French Legion of Honor , the Military Max Joseph Order and the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown .
• A nationally important artist from Bastheim is the wood sculptor Josef Gerngras . Born on October 12, 1894 in Bastheim, he belonged to a generation that went through two wars. The main place of activity of a correspondingly eventful life of the independent artist was the Würzburg area. Josef Gerngras died on January 10, 1959. Objects in the parish church in Bastheim include the Christ the King statue, the Brother Konrad statue and the crucifix with the warrior memorial tablets. Other executed objects in the vicinity are in the cath. Parish church in Salz (ECCE HOMO) and in Heustreu (Tragmadonna and Christkönig in the parish church) to be visited.
• The school teacher, writer, dialect and local poet Georg Trost (1906–1968) was resident and employed in Wechterswinkel , and with a lot of imagination he told historical stories and legends from the Rhön homeland.
• The linguist Ernst Lewy (* 1881 in Breslau; † 1966 in Dublin) lived and worked in the former Wechterswinkel Propstei from 1914 to 1933. Lewy was a full professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin between 1922 and 1933 and has several books and essays in Wechterswinkel composed.

Web links

Commons : Bastheim  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bastheim community
• Entry on the coat of arms of Bastheim  in the database of the House of Bavarian History

• Bastheim: Official statistics of the LfStat

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Data 2" sheet, Statistical Report A1200C 202041 Population of the municipalities, districts and administrative districts 1st quarter 2020 (population based on the 2011 census) ( help ).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Mayor / Lord Mayor in municipalities belonging to the district (as of May 1st, 2020). (xlsx) Bavarian State Office for Statistics, accessed on June 20, 2020 . 
3. ^ Community of Bastheim in the local database of the Bavarian State Library Online . Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, accessed on August 20, 2018.
4. ↑ Memorial sites for the victims of National Socialism. A documentation. Volume 1. Federal Agency for Civic Education , Bonn 1995, ISBN 3-89331-208-0 , p. 119.
5. ^ Wilhelm Volkert (ed.): Handbook of Bavarian offices, communities and courts 1799–1980 . CH Beck, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-406-09669-7 , p. 520 .
6. ^ 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 GmbH, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 741 .
7. ↑ http://www.historisches-unterfranken.uni-wuerzburg.de/db/wappen/wappen/index.php?kreis=nes&gemeinde=Bastheim
8. ↑ Community library