Breitau (Sontra)

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Breitau
City of Sontra
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 59 ″  N , 10 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  E
Height : 254  (237-278)  m above sea level NHN
Area : 9.61 km²
Residents : 307  (Feb. 3, 2020)
Population density : 32 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : December 31, 1971
Postal code : 36205
Area code : 05653
View of Breitau from the south. In the background the Erbberg, southern part of the NSG and FFH area Boyneburg and Schickeberg near Breitau

Breitau is a district of Sontra in the Werra-Meißner district in North Hesse .

geography

location

Breitau is surrounded by forest between the Ringgau in the northeast and the Richelsdorf mountains in the south, around 4 km (as the crow flies ) east of Sontra . It is traversed by the Ulfe , a south-southeast tributary of the Sontra . The B 400 runs as a bypass road on the western edge of the village .

geology

Hessen's strongest spring , the Kressenteich spring , has its source in Breitau. It is a karst spring of the Lower Muschelkalk , its discharge is between 48 and 900 l / s and the long-term average 290 l / s.

history

Settlement history

Breitau in the Ulfetals . The mountains in the background belong to the western foothills of the Ringgau high plateau.

Numerous pottery shards found in the district of Breitau show that Celts lived in the Ulfetal as early as the centuries before the birth of Christ . The Ulfetal and the Ringgau lay in the northeastern edge zone of their heartland. In the years around the turn of the times, the Celts were oppressed by the tribes of the Germanic peoples advancing south and finally expelled. At that time there will probably have been repeated armed conflicts, as testified by Celtic castles in the border areas. If possible, the Celts built their castles on ridges that sloped steeply on the sides and that access was only possible over a narrow ridge. This access was secured with ramparts and ditches and dry stone walls were built on the slopes that were not steep enough . The shape of the Taubenberg corresponds to this description: the summit plateau drops more or less steeply on three sides, relatively easy access is only possible from the northwest via a narrow spur.

There is little evidence of the Teutons, as the new immigrants. It is assumed that the part of the pre-population that remained in the country and the Germanic tribes developed into the Chatten tribe . With the chats, the North Hessian area, from the prehistoric period, which is only documented by archaeological evidence, enters the early period, which is illuminated by written sources. It was the Roman historian Tacitus who recorded a battle between the Chatti and the Hermundurs over a salty river. It is assumed that the Hermunduren settled the area of ​​the Ulfetal in the first century after the turn of the times and later, it is assumed, formed the tribal association of the Thuringians in association with various Germanic groups . The region was, as excavation results confirm, the westernmost part of the Thuringian Empire . During this time, many of the oldest places and place names in the area were created, including Breitau.

In 531 the Thuringians were subjected to the Franconian kings, who only began to include the country in their military fortification system by building castles and royal courts around 700. During this time, the first monks of the Hersfeld Monastery , which was newly founded around 775 , built churches, such as those in Breitau, under the protection of the Franconian rule and installed a church patronage organization in the Ulfetal and the Ringgau. In Breitau, the Counts of Ziegenhain held the patronage in the Middle Ages, which was probably given to them by Hersfeld, since they were also in the service of Hersfeld as bailiffs.

Since 700, as everywhere in Central Europe, the number of people living here has increased steadily and the need to develop new arable land has grown from this. Large areas of forest were cleared and new settlements were established. There are only sparse references to the medieval development of the country in the documents. Some Breitauer field names that end in -rod are evidence of the ongoing changes during this time: Beyerod, Hennerod and Bubenrod. They are all on the edge of what is now the district, in higher terrain.

In the era of increasing population numbers, numerous hilltop castles were built throughout the empire . Shortly before the turn of the millennium , the Counts of Northeim built the Boyneburg in the region on behalf of the German king as the center and base of the royal property in the Ringgau and Ulfetal. For the rural residents of Breitau, the Boyneburg, a little more than an hour's walk away, became a burden that lasted for centuries, because the knightly garrison had to be provided with all essentials.

Local history

The village was first mentioned in a document from Cornberg Monastery on February 22, 1260 as Breitowe . Among the witnesses at the time was a knight Wigand von Breitau, which is also evidence of local nobility in Breitau.

In 1423 Breitau was a Hessian fiefdom of the von Hundelshausen family . In terms of canon law, Breitau was part of the Archdeaconate Dorla in Thuringia. In 1333 the Counts of Ziegenhain had church patronage rights, later those of Trott zu Solz and von Verschuer .

Breitau became Protestant under the first Protestant pastor, Balthasar Riemer , who worked here from around 1544 until after 1556; possibly under the church's predecessor Johannes Auckenheim , pastor before 1522 to 1541.

In 1585 57 households were determined in Breitau, in 1747 only 51 households. In 1885 459 persons are recorded, 458 of them Protestant and one Jewish. After that, the population stagnated. In 1961 there are only 465, of which 434 are Protestant and 29 again Catholic. 1967 only 447 and 1987 only 394 inhabitants are registered.

Hessian since the 14th century, Breitau has repeatedly changing rulers since the Thirty Years' War :

Breitau was incorporated into Sontra as part of the regional reform in Hesse on December 31, 1971 . With this it comes to the district of Eschwege in 1972 and in 1974 to the newly formed Werra-Meißner district .

Desolation

To the northwest of Breitau lies the Eckhardshausen desert in the Breitau district. Just a few hundred meters northeast of it, also in the Breitau district, is another deserted area on the upper reaches of the Gangstal valley, the former Gangesthal settlement .

Culture and sights

church

The Protestant parish church rises from a prominent position on the north-eastern edge of the village. The church tower made of solid masonry was built in the 13th century, the original nave was destroyed by a fire in 1668. The current nave in brick masonry dates from 1893. In that year and 1981 it was renovated.

The original development in the vicinity of the church is considered to be worthy of protection by the listed building as a whole.

Stone cross

Breitauer stone cross

The one meter high memorial cross made of limestone shows the grooved outline of a lumberjack's ax. The stone was moved a few times, today the location is a little outside the town, on the bike path that leads along the B 400 to Ulfen . The monument protection has classified the stone cross as a field monument worthy of protection .

Castle complex

The Taubenberg approx. 700 m southwest on the Breitauer district with the castle stable of the Taubenberg Castle

To the southwest of the village on the Taubenberg was an elongated, rectangular, medieval, actually nameless castle, called Castle Taubenberg , of which only the flattened moat has survived and the remains of which have only been known since the 1980s. There is no documentary evidence of the builder and age of the castle.

Nature reserve

The two-part nature conservation and FFH area Boyneburg and Schickeberg near Breitau is east of Breitau.

Infrastructure

Breitau has its own village community center with a room for youth leisure.

literature

  • Festival committee Breitau: Chronicle Breitau: 750 years Breitau 1260–2010 . 1st edition. Self-published, Breitau 2009, 487 pages

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Breitau In: Website of the city of Sontra. Accessed July 2020.
  2. ↑ Breitau Festival Committee : Breitau Chronicle: 750 Years Breitau 1260–2010 . 1st edition. Self-published, Breitau 2009, 487 pages
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Breitau, Werra-Meißner district. Historical local lexicon for Hesse (as of May 17, 2019). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on December 15, 2019 .
  4. ↑ City and Village Book of the Upper and Lower Duchy of Hesse
  5. ↑ Gangesthal, Werra-Meißner district. Historical local lexicon for Hesse (as of February 17, 2014). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on March 14, 2017 .
  6. ↑ (arrangement) Peer Zietz, Thomas Wiegand: Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany, cultural monuments in Hesse, Werra-Meißner-Kreis I, Altkreis Eschwege , Vieweg Verlag, Braunschweig 1991, ISBN 3-528-06240-1 .
  7. ^ Castle Taubenberg, Werra-Meißner district. Historical local dictionary for Hesse (as of January 31, 2014). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on October 8, 2014 .