Breitenbach (Bebra)

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Breitenbach
City of Bebra
Breitenbach coat of arms
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 25 ″  N , 9 ° 47 ′ 2 ″  E
Height : 202 m above sea level NHN
Area : 5.52 km²
Residents : 1312  (1970)
Population density : 238 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : December 31, 1971
Postal code : 36179
Area code : 06622
Breitenbach lakes in the background Breitenbach with church
Breitenbach lakes in the background Breitenbach with church

Breitenbach is located in the northeast of Hesse and is a district of Bebra in the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg .

geography

Geographical location

Breitenbach is located in the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg about 65 km southwest of Kassel on the Fulda. Thanks to its prominent location on the Fuldaknie, the village is easy to find on most maps. It is surrounded by the Stölzinger Mountains in the north, the Richelsdorf Mountains in the east, the Seulingswald in the southeast and the Knüll in the southwest. The neighboring villages are Blankenheim, Lüdersdorf and Weiterode.

The closest cities are Bebra (2 km), Rotenburg ad Fulda (8 km) and Bad Hersfeld (14 km).

Within the village area there are the rivers Lüderbach and Lehmbach, which flow into the Fulda.

Expansion of the village area

In the Middle Ages, the village area extended south of the Fulda to the current road junction to Lüdersdorf . By the end of the 18th century it grew in the areas around the Klenges and on both sides of the Lüderbach in the direction of Lüdersdorf. Around 1900, today's old cemetery , which has existed since 1844, was on the village boundary. Later he was on Hersfelder Straße near the center of the village. Today the cemetery is located above the "Baumgarten" development area in Buchenweg.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Breitenbach was ravaged by a conflagration, with six residential buildings with the adjoining stables in the area between Hersfelder Strasse and the street leading to the rectory burned down on September 7, 1905. Nevertheless, the village expanded further, so that the areas in "Rieth" (area from the old cemetery in the direction of Blankenheim ), "Behind the Fences" (→ Weserstraße), Lüdersdorfer Straße, on "Bitzen", Fuhrmannweg ("cave") ), and the stream side were gradually developed.

New development areas are located in Breitenbach in the Baumgarten areas and, since 1959, also on the Kleeberg between Lüdersdorfer Straße and Höberück. Since the 1990s, some new houses have been added in the east of the town, i.e. between Hersfelder Straße and B 27 .

history

History up to the 19th century

On May 30, 1003, King Heinrich II divided the Reichsforst Ehringswald (Ehrenvirst) between the monasteries of Fulda and Hersfeld . Breitenbach fell into the sphere of influence of Hersfeld . A few years later it was first mentioned in a document.

On January 27 and 28, 1074, two documents were drawn up, which are now kept in the State Archives in Karlsruhe . They were written by the writers of the imperial chancellery, as King Heinrich IV was staying in the Breitenbach royal court at that time. In the spring of 1075, Henry IV gathered an army near Breitenbach and Blankenheim to forcefully suppress the uprising of the Saxons.

Breitenbach was devastated during fighting in 1219 and 1312.

At the beginning of the Thirty Years War in 1623 a transport train of the Catholic troops belonging to Tilly was attacked near Breitenbach . The local attackers forced the few survivors not to turn against the Protestants from now on , which nevertheless later resulted in retaliation. To the left of the Fulda in the direction of Rotenburg, there is still the fiefdom of Mischels , with which the von Bartheld family was enfeoffed in 1641 by Countess Amalie Elisabeth von Hessen-Kassel.

The court seat Breitenbach with the associated villages Breitenbach, Lüdersdorf, Mecklar and Meckbach existed from the 16th century to 1821. It belonged to the higher court in the office of Rotenburg .

History from the 19th century

On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, around 50 buildings in the village were badly damaged when a unit of the Waffen-SS tried to defend the village against the American army. From the west (Lüdersdorf) and south, the American units moved towards the village and encountered bitter and senseless resistance. At least 7 German and 23 American soldiers were killed in the fighting around Breitenbach. 6 civilians were also killed. 11 residential buildings were totally destroyed, 9 heavily damaged and 21 farm buildings destroyed. The Americans set many of the buildings on fire because they were attacked by soldiers after the village was surrendered.

The SS had taken command of the village's defense on March 31, 1945 and holed up in cellars and front gardens and began to use anti-tank barriers.

At noon on April 1, 1945, shortly before the American invasion, the Fulda Bridge was blown up by German troops. The huge detonation caused great damage in Breitenbach, also because the explosive charges were improperly installed and the pressure wave was directed against the village.

The Wehrmacht officer Major Alfred Lauer, who had been in command of the surrounding flak batteries since December 1944, tried to prevent the Fulda Bridge from being blown up. He repeatedly refused to give the order to blow up. He and his adjutant Arthur Esch paid for it with their lives. Both were shot in the neck.

Some of the citizens of Breitenbach were threatened with shooting by the Americans in retaliation after the fighting. This prevented the pastor's wife Grete Scheffer and Karl Bode, who both spoke English.

The importance of the Fulda

Already in the Middle Ages , a ford about 50 meters downstream of today's Fulda bridge made Breitenbach an important point for crossing the river. From 1494 the crossing of the Fulda was made easier by the construction of a wooden bridge, which was decided by Landgravine Mechthild, widow of Landgrave Ludwig I of Hesse , and the Hersfeld Abbot Volpert Riedesel zu Bellersheim. A duty was levied for using the bridge . The wooden bridge was destroyed several times by floods and ice floes, the last time being on December 19, 1902. As a result, at the end of 1903 an arch bridge was built from an iron construction that rested on stable stone pillars. But this bridge was also destroyed, this time by the demolition of German troops during the imminent invasion of the Americans on April 1, 1945. The makeshift wooden bridge built by American pioneers was used until 1948. After that, a simple iron bridge was put into service, which was not replaced by today's reinforced concrete bridge until 1975/76 .

The navigable part of the Fulda to Bad Hersfeld has been used since the beginning of the 16th century . Here, draft horses were used on the way up the river to pull the ships against the current. In the district of Breitenbach, the Fulda was straightened in several places in 1760, 1775 and 1860. The rafting industry, which experienced an upswing around 1800, also benefited from this. Here , wood from Thuringia that had been processed into boards in the Ulfenmühle (today in Weiterode ) was first tied together to make rafts in Breitenbach. Then it was transported by raftsmen over 80 kilometers on the Fulda to Kassel in about 35 hours . In Breitenbach, for example, there was a “stately wood and floorboard magazine” until the middle of the 19th century, but with the increasing use of the railway as a means of transport, raftsmen lost their importance.

Incorporation

As part of the Hessian territorial and administrative reform , Breitenbach was incorporated into the city of Bebra on December 31, 1971 .

politics

Mayor

The mayor of Breitenbach has been Guido Zilch since 2016.

coat of arms

The Fulda (river) , the bridge over it and a half-timbered house are shown on the coat of arms .

Heraldic motto

The fathers trusted in God
and built a stone bridge that
was as solid as a word from Hesse
and was supposed to connect south and north.

The time was stormy,
the village was new,
but it never loses its old loyalty.

From heart to heart it's about building bridges,
we want to dare and look upwards.

Culture and sights

music

The MGV 1895 Liederkranz Breitenbach is a male choir that is proud of the low average age of the approx. 50 active members.

The Protestant youth trombone choir was founded in December 1992. In the spring of 2013 the 20th anniversary was celebrated in a festive service in the Breitenbach church.

Sports

The Sportgemeinschaft Breitenbach 1920 eV is primarily active in the field of football . In addition to the first team, the "old men" and the youth sector, there is also a department for women's football , which forms a game community with Lispenhausen . There is also a fistball department . The soccer field and a training ground are connected to the sports house.

Above the sports field is the shooting range of the Schützenverein 1926 Breitenbach eV In the shooting range there are 5 shooting ranges for air rifles and 4 shooting ranges for small caliber. Archery has also been offered since the beginning of 2013.

The TV 03 Breitenbach is mainly known for its runners. In addition to the tennis department , which manages the court near the sports field with two clay courts , other sports such as badminton are also offered.

Protestant church

Buildings

The Breitenbacher Church was built between the 11th and 12th centuries and is dedicated to St. Michael . The first documented mention of the church comes from the year 1508. After a lightning strike in 1782, the tower was rebuilt and has been preserved in this form to this day. The nave , on the other hand, was extended and rebuilt several times, most recently in 1967.

A plebanus was mentioned for the first time in 1254 . The parish belonged at that time to "erzpriesterlichen Sprengel" Braach . In 1595 Blankenheim , Lüdersdorf and Weiterode belonged to the parish of Breitenbach. Weiterode became "independent" in 1914, the remaining places still form the parish of Breitenbach today. The village had three cemeteries in its history : the first was right by the church. From 1844 an area was used that was then between Breitenbach and Blankenheim. This "old" cemetery is now in the center of the village. Since 1972 there has been a new cemetery above the "Im Baumgarten" development area .

In the course of its history, Breitenbach had three school houses. The first, which stood opposite the old nave until 1967 , was used until 1900 and was finally torn down in 1968 as part of the church renovation. The second is a well-preserved half-timbered house and is now used as a residential building. In 1936 the new schoolhouse was built, which is now used as a primary school and was last completely renovated in 1990. During the renovation, some of the lessons for the Breitenbach students took place in the Weiteröder elementary school .

Since 1998 the work of the elementary school has been supported by a development association. The circle of friends and sponsors of the elementary school Breitenbach e. V. with around 70 members has set itself the task of promoting school life financially and in terms of content.

Further

  • Village community center
  • Fire station
  • Multipurpose hall
  • Rectory
  • Rifle house
  • Sports house
  • Youth clubhouse
  • kindergarten

Regular events

Economy and Infrastructure

The following shops are in Breitenbach:

  • Grocery store with a bakery
  • Restaurant with guest rooms
  • Butcher's shop
  • hair stylist
  • Driving school
  • Flower shop with post office
  • Auto repair shop
  • Gardening and landscaping company
  • Building technology and plumbing

traffic

Federal highway 27 ran through Breitenbach until 1984 , since then it has been led around the village to the east via a newly built bypass . To the south you get to Blankenheim via a section of the old federal road (today Kreisstraße 74) , in the opposite direction the road leads to Bebra and Weiterode . To the west, the district road 60 leads to Lüdersdorf and from there to Rotenburg an der Fulda .

With the Deutsche Bahn Breitenbach is over the station from Bebra to achieve. The buses of the North Hessian Transport Association (NVV) run regularly.

media

The following media are published regularly in Breitenbach:

  • the local daily newspaper Rotenburg-Bebraer Allgemeine (local edition of the HNA ),
  • the weekly advertising paper Kreisanzeiger , which appears twice a week.

Bike trails

The following cycle paths lead through Breitenbach :

Educational institutions

  • Primary school in the tree garden

Kindergartens

  • Urban kindergarten dandelion

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the village

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Breitenbach (Bebra), Hersfeld-Rotenburg district. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  2. ^ 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 and Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 406 .
  3. ↑ Local councils on the city of Bebra's website, accessed in January 2017.