Bilz (Oberkochen)

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Bilzhaus from the north-west
Bilzhaus, Bilzhülbe and Bilzhütte

The Bilz is a forest area located just under three kilometers west of Oberkochen in the Hinteren Tiefental and bordering the Essingen district . From the second half of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century there was a settlement of immigrants from Austria . The foundations of a stone house, called “Bilzhaus”, and a rainwater collection basin, called “Bilzhülbe”, have been preserved from this time. The Bilzhaus, excavated between 1989 and 2003, is an archaeological monument in Baden-Württemberg .

history

The Bilz has been documented as a settlement since the beginning of the 13th century. During the Thirty Years' War the population of Oberkochen fell from five hundred to one hundred. This thinning of the population caused a wave of immigration. Almost without exception, Catholics came to Oberkochen from Carinthia , Styria , Tyrol and the former archbishopric of Salzburg . The poorer immigrants were given the opportunity to settle in the Bilz.

It is not clear what buildings the settlement consisted of. Between 1700 and 1730, up to eight families lived in the Bilz at the same time. A forest pasture is to be assumed , perhaps also a charcoal factory .

The foundations of the Bilzhütte and the Bilzhülbe, excavated between 1989 and 2003, come from this settlement. The archaeological finds lead to the conclusion that the settlement was no longer permanently inhabited, but was definitely inhabited until the third decade of the 19th century.

Around 1830 the forest pasture was afforested. Today's forest around the Bilzhaus was planted around 1965 after the high forest was felled.

Origin of name

The origin of the name “Bilz”, which also appears in the Oberkochen birth and death registers in the spelling “Bülz”, “Biltz” and “Pilß”, is unclear. It may be derived from “ mushroom ” or “ henbane ”. But it could also designate a border settlement or a remote pasture area.

Bilzhaus

Reconstruction drawing of the Bilzhaus
Floor plan of the Bilzhaus
1 = business section
2 = entrance hall
3 = basement
4 = furnace
5 = living room

There was at least one stone house in the settlement. This was in the forest department called “Bilzhaus” today. Up until the 1960s, there were wall remains in the undergrowth of the high forest. These disappeared when the forest was felled in the course of the replanting.

The foundation walls were built between 1989 and 2003 as part of a project by the Oberkochen Heimatverein in cooperation with the City of Oberkochen, the State Forestry Office and the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Baden-Württemberg, initially by students from the Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium in Oberkochen and later by students from the International Youth Community Services ( ijgd) exposed and preserved. The building, constructed from local limestone rubble in a sandy mortar compound, probably consisted of a larger commercial part in the south and a smaller residential part in the north, almost a meter lower. In between there was an entrance hall with an entrance from the east.

For over a hundred years, the Bilzhaus was used as an apartment, farm building and, most recently, as a shelter. In 1810 it is said to have been visited by King Friedrich I of Württemberg and Duke Paul of Württemberg during a hunt.

Bilzhannes

Shards of stove tiles found in the Bilzhaus
Shards of a plate found in the Bilzhaus, copper spoons, fragments of glass flux

The Bilzhannes was a legendary corridor guard who lived in the Bilz and had to supervise the forest and the game on behalf of the municipality of Oberkochen. He was a drinker, but also a particularly good driver on hunts. In November 1810 he took part in a royal hunt. King Friedrich I of Württemberg had come to the Bilzhaus, where the old tiled stove was smoking heavily. When it became unbearable, the king called out: "But Hannes, you have a ragged stove, the devil can't stand it." With a branch he knocked over the tiled stove and smashed it. Finally, the king appeased the disturbed Bilzhannes with several silver coins and later had a cast-iron furnace sent to him from the foundry in Königsbronn.

During the excavation work, larger fragments of stove tiles were found in the Bilzhaus, which confirm this legend. The stove tiles and other finds from the Bilzhaus are exhibited in the Oberkochen local history museum.

Most likely, the Bilzhannes was Mathias Widenhöfer, born on June 25, 1780 in Oberkochen. In Oberkochen documents he is also mentioned with the first names “Mattes”, “Matthias”, “Matthäus” and the last name “Wiedenhöfer”. At least in the last few years he lived in his parent house in today's Hasengässle 6. He died on August 13, 1840 at the age of "60 years, 1 month and 18 days of nausea and nerves." His widow Magdalena, nee. Späth (December 4, 1774, † April 20, 1852), survived him by twelve years. The couple had no children.

Bilzhülbe and Bilzhütte

Bilzhülbe
Bilzhütte

The Bilzhülbe, which lies north of the Bilzhaus on the opposite side of the Schneckenburrenweg, is an artificially created depression in the ground in which rainwater was collected. Because of the permeable karst subsoil, it was sealed with a layer of clay .

The Bilzhütte is a modern wooden shelter with a barbecue area in the north of the Bilz . The Bilz hut not with the Bilz should house be confused. World icon

reception

In addition to the already mentioned legend of the King of Württemberg and the Bilzhannes, there is also a play and a Swabian dialect poem in which Bilzhannes is portrayed as an alcoholic . In response to the priest's reproach that he was drinking his brains, even though even an ox only “drinks as much as it can,” replied the Bilzhannes, when he drinks water , he'll stop by himself.

Bilzhannes of the Oberkochen fools guild

The Oberkochen fools guild "Schlagga-Wäscher", founded in 1973, founded the "Gruppe des Bilzhannes" in 1997. The hat consists of a green loden coat covered with leather patches, rough trousers and half-high lace-up shoes. The mask has a rough facial expression with strongly protruding cheekbones, an angular chin, a strongly pronounced nose and bulging eyebrows. A black slouch hat, a crooked knot stick, rucksack and pipe complete the equipment of the forest ranger.

literature

  • Dietrich Bantel: The Bilz. A mysterious and historic Oberkochen forest area. In: Ostalb Unicorn. No. 91, September 1996, pp. 192-200.
  • Legends and rascals: The Bilzhannes. In: City of Oberkochen, Mayor Harald Gentsch (Ed.): Oberkochen - history, landscape, everyday life. Oberkochen 1986, pp. 436-446, here: 437-438.

Web links

Commons : Bilzhaus in Oberkochen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dietrich Bantel: The Bilz. A mysterious and historic Oberkochen forest area. In: Ostalb Unicorn. No. 91, September 1996, pp. 192-200, here: pp. 194 and 196.
  2. ^ Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg, Landesvermessungsamt Baden-Württemberg (ed.): Archaeological monuments in Baden-Württemberg. Stuttgart 2002, p. 223.
  3. ↑ a b c d Information board at the Bilzhütte.
  4. ↑ Bantel (1996) pp. 194-195.
  5. ↑ On the trail of the spirit of Bilzhannes - Oberkochen students enthusiastic about excavation. In: Aalen People's Newspaper. 15th July 2019.
  6. ↑ The devil come out, Bilzhannes is here! on ostalbkreis.de. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  7. ↑ Bantel (1996) p. 196.
  8. ↑ Bantel (1996) pp. 192-194.
  9. ↑ Bantel (1996) p. 195.
  10. ↑ Bilzhaus on heimatverein-oberkochen.de. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  11. ↑ Bantel (1996) p. 195 and 198.
  12. ↑ Bantel (1996) pp. 195-199.
  13. ↑ Dietrich Bantel: The story of "Bilzhannes" on heimatverein-oberkochen.de . Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  14. ↑ Dietrich Bantel: The oven smashed by the king in the Bilzhaus on heimatverein-oberkochen.de. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  15. ↑ Dietrich Bantel: Where did the "Bilzhannes" live? on heimatverein-oberkochen.de. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  16. ↑ Bantel (1996) p. 199.
  17. ↑ Dietrich Bantel: Who was Bilzhannes? on heimatverein-oberkochen.de. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  18. ↑ Dietrich Bantel: The Bilzhannes. on heimatverein-oberkochen.de.
  19. ^ NZ Oberkochener-Schlaggawäscher eV Oberkochen. on alemannischer-narrenring.de. Retrieved August 10, 2019.

Coordinates: 48 ° 46 ′ 46.7 "  N , 10 ° 4 ′ 5.6"  E