Obermarsberg

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Obermarsberg
City of Marsberg
Coat of arms of Obermarsberg
Coordinates: 51 ° 27 ′ 1 ″  N , 8 ° 51 ′ 10 ″  E
Height : approx. 390 m
Area : 21.46 km²
Residents : 1969  (2017)
Population density : 92 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : 1st January 1975
Postal code : 34431
Area code : 02992
Aerial photo (2013)
Aerial photo (2013)

Obermarsberg is one of 17 districts of the city of Marsberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis in North Rhine-Westphalia . The place is on the site of the prehistoric Eresburg . In the 17th and 18th centuries in particular, the place was known as Stadtberge ; this term is still in use in Low German.

Charlemagne founded a monastery there , which was the provost of Corvey until 1803. In addition, a city developed in the 13th century. Destroyed towards the end of the Thirty Years War , it was rebuilt, but no longer achieved its former importance. Since 1975 it has been part of the new town of Marsberg.

Geographical location

Obermarsberg lies at a maximum of about 398  m above sea level. NN high mountain plateau that drops steeply on three sides. Only in the south does a saddle allow relatively easy access. The plateau is about 1 km long and 0.5 km wide. West past Mount flows Diemel , in the north of the mountain in Niedermarsberg the east running Glinde opens.

history

Old town hall and pillory
Neo-Gothic chapel built in 1868 on the Kalvarienberg near Obermarsberg

Prehistory and early history

The first traces of settlement in the form of flint tools were found in the so-called White Hollow. They date from around 14,000 BC. Remains of the Neolithic Michelsberg culture were found near the collegiate church . Probably it has been in the pre-Roman Iron Age a Wallenburg given earth-fixing wood with. In the Saxon period , the Eresburg was located on the plateau . The important tribal shrine Irminsul is said to have been located there.

middle Ages

Carolingian period

The Obermarsberg area appeared for the first time in 772, when Charlemagne conquered the Eresburg on the mountain during the war against the Saxons. He destroyed the Saxon sanctuary, the Irminsul , and had a first church built around Sturmius by missionaries . In 774, the Saxons recaptured the Eresburg; but just a year later Karl was able to take the Eresburg again and rebuild it. After that, despite multiple subsequent uprisings by the Saxons, the Frankish rule over the Eresburg was retained. The monastery Obermarsberg is said to have been founded by Karl in 780 . In 785 he had a stone basilica built on the site of Irminsul, which is said to have been built in 799 by Pope Leo III. was consecrated at a meeting with Charlemagne at the Eresburg.

In 826 Louis the Pious gave the Eresburg with the monastery and the church to the Corvey monastery . In the year 900 King Ludwig the Child granted the Villa Horhusen (later Niedermarsberg), located below the Eresburg in the valley, a public market as well as minting and customs rights. In 1115 the castle was destroyed by Friedrich von Arnsberg and in 1145 Volkwin von Schwalenberg. Between 1205 and 1208 the abbot of Corvey rebuilt the castle.

Urban development

Between 1200 and 1220, residents of the Horhusen settlement below the mountain (today Niedermarsberg) moved to the hill and founded a town there, right under the former Eresburg, which was called Mons Martis or Heresberg . In the course of the move, the early Gothic Nikolaikirche was built. Compared to the easily accessible settlement in the valley, which was only able to develop into a town in the 19th century, the fortification character predominated at Obermarsberg. The city was fortified with walls and towers.

The city court was first mentioned in 1222. In 1228 King Henry VII revoked the transfer of ownership rights of the Eresburg to the Archbishop of Cologne two years earlier and returned them to the Abbot of Corvey. In 1229 a document emphasizes the new town's membership of the diocese of Paderborn . For the first time, there is talk of 12 “consules” (councilors) and the community. In 1230 the town and the Obermarsberg provost were largely destroyed by fire. To finance the reconstruction, Corvey sold half of Marsberg to the Archbishop of Cologne, while Corvey kept the monastery in Marsberg. The castle men were now determined by both of them together.

The city was an important trading center and was a member of the Hanseatic League in the late Middle Ages .

Modern times

cenotaph

The city joined the Reformation in the 16th century . Conflicts with the Corvey monastery played a role as did the example of the neighboring Waldeck . The citizens repeatedly succeeded in preventing the appointment of Catholic pastors. After the end of the Archbishop of Cologne, Gebhard I. von Waldburg , who tried to officially introduce Protestantism in his sphere of influence, his successor Ernst von Bayern initially did not change anything in the denomination. Under Ferdinand of Bavaria , the Counter Reformation began in Marsberg, which belongs to the Duchy of Westphalia . He gave orders to accept the Catholic denomination or to emigrate by 1628. Nevertheless, it took decades before all citizens were Catholic. After 1630 there were hardly any Protestant residents in the city. The Counter-Reformation had negative consequences for the city. Many citizens emigrated and numerous houses fell into disrepair.

In the Thirty Years' War it was besieged several times by Hesse and Sweden from 1632 and almost completely destroyed in 1646. Almost 200 houses went up in flames. The monastery and the town hall were also destroyed. The city archive was also lost. The winners broke down walls and gates, so that in the years that followed, the majority of the inhabitants moved back into the valley. Nevertheless, Obermarsberg was able to maintain its political supremacy over the lower town of Niedermarsberg until the end of the Holy Roman Empire . In 1808, Niedermarsberg gained its independence. The judicial office was moved to the lower town in 1827. An industrial development like in the lower town did not take place in Obermarsberg.

During the Second World War , Wehrmacht soldiers were billeted from the end of November 1939 to January 1940. From the end of October to November 1944 soldiers of the Waffen SS were quartered. From March 1945 there were low-level aircraft attacks. Even farmers in the field were attacked. On the afternoon of March 29, columns of vehicles with tanks of the US Army reached Giershagen from Obermarsberg. During the night, explosions could be heard continuously and a glow of fire could be seen in the west. A German ammunition train caught fire below the Hagens. US soldiers were quartered in some houses for eight to 14 days. It came to theft u. a. of valuables.

During the Second World War, 94 men from the town of Obermarsberg fell as soldiers, most of them on the Eastern Front , or died in captivity.

On January 1, 1975, Obermarsberg was incorporated into the new town of Marsberg.

politics

coat of arms

Blazon : “In red the golden (yellow) capital letter A with black damascene ; in the upper coat of arms a silver (white) three-tower wall crown with gate. "

The coat of arms was approved by the King of Prussia on December 20, 1909. The letter A appears on coins from Obermarsberg as early as the 13th century. There is also said to have been a coat of arms stone with the A on the Obermarsberg church. The meaning of the letter is still unclear today. The city of Marsberg continued the coat of arms in a modern form without the wall crown and damascene.

Attractions

Buttenturm on the outskirts, a former watch tower, now a lookout tower
Pillory in front of the old town hall
The Drakenhöhlen in Obermarsberg with a description of the origin of the name.
Weathered Roland statue, built around 1600
Oldest house in town
  • The collegiate church of St. Petrus and Paulus is one of the first churches in Westphalia . In addition to the church, parts of the monastery district have also been preserved. The church dates back to a basilica from the time of Charlemagne and in its current form essentially dates from the second half of the 13th century. The interior is baroque .
  • In front of the collegiate church stands a heavily weathered figure known as a Roland statue from around 1600. In fact, it probably depicts Charlemagne as the founder of the church with the church in hand.
  • The entrance area of ​​the monastery is formed by the Benedictine arch . This dates from 1759. In a niche above the passage there is a statue of St. Benedict. Above it is the papal tiara .
  • A first wayside shrine can be seen next to the Benedictine arch. It is the first of seven stations that depict the seven footfalls of Christ. They line the path to the Calvary . This is outside the old stand walls. A neo-Gothic chapel was built on the 373 m high Kalvarienberg as the end of the Kalvarienweg in 1868 . The altar as a symbol of the end of Christ's Passion is designed as a holy grave.
  • The Nikolaikirche from the 13th century (built between 1229 and 1247, a thorough renovation took place in 1877) is often referred to as one of the most beautiful early Gothic churches in all of Westphalia .
  • The Jewish cemetery was outside the city walls in front of the south gate.
  • The stake , pillory Kaak or Kook, stands in front of the old town hall. It was mainly in the 16th century that criminals were found guilty of robbery of the mouth, field robbery, brawls or alcoholism, tied up with ankle shackles and a collar and presented to the public for ridicule and deterrence. In 1972 the pillory was renovated on the occasion of the 1200th anniversary of Obermarsberg. Further professional restoration work was carried out in 2001 with the assistance of the LWL State Monument Authority in Münster.
  • Old Town Hall The old town hall of Obermarsberg was first mentioned in 1377 at its current location. It's probably much older than that. Two thirds of the old town hall was destroyed in the Thirty Years War - the council archives were destroyed. The part of the old town hall that has been preserved to this day was rebuilt in 1650. The building was used as a court house until 1827, after which it served as a residential building. In 1847 a renovation took place. After lightning damage, it was bought by farmer and miner Josef Thiele (grandfather of the current owner Albert Zeitler) in 1922 and restored. Extensive interior renovations took place in 1981 and 1982. The building has been privately owned since 1922.
  • Drakenhöhlen - Below the Buttenturm are the Drakenhöhlen. There were also springs here that supplied the city with water.
  • Knight jump - There are several legends about the rock called 'knight jump'. The most popular of them is that a young knight, fleeing from a knight of the robber baron family , came here from Padberg to seek refuge in the nearby monastery. During the night he crossed the forest to get to the monastery by the shortest route possible. According to legend, his opponent came towards him from the slope above him, whereupon he turned in a panic and fell down the rock with his horse. He miraculously survived the fall, which should have been fatal, escaped his pursuer and fled unharmed.
  • Water tower and Buttenturm - Remains of the old city wall can still be seen today, including the water tower and the Buttenturm. There were a total of seven fortress towers along the city wall.
    • The water tower got its name after its second function as a well, through which the upper town was supplied with water from the valley. There were a total of eleven important wells and springs on the Eresburg, which guaranteed the drinking water supply.
    • The name Buttenturm is derived from 'bouten', which means 'outside'; the tower was the outer tower of the fortress. The dungeon, which can still be visited today, was also located here. Due to its location, the Eresburg was long considered extremely difficult to take. The Buttenturm is used today as a lookout tower.
    • Other waiting towers outside the city, from which the surrounding area could be easily seen, were the Enemuder Warte, the Priesterbergwarte on the mountain of the same name and the Donnersberger Warte (mouse tower). The Mäuseturm is a 13 m high round tower with a diameter of 4.60 m and a wall thickness of 1 m, which can now be climbed as a lookout tower.
  • The oldest house in Marsberg is at Eresburgstrasse 28. It was built in 1589 by Johann Mertens senior, a member of the merchants' guild. In 1781 it received the ornamental facade in the area of ​​the gate from the then owners "Fobben". It has been owned by the Böttcher family since 1880.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ City of Marsberg: Demographic Development 1997–2017. In: City of Marsberg IKEK. Retrieved September 15, 2018 .
  2. ^ Hugo Cramer: The district of Brilon in the Second World War 1939-1945 . 1955, section Obermarsberg, pp. 81-82.
  3. ^ Hugo Cramer: The district of Brilon in the Second World War 1939-1945 . 1955, honor roll section Obermarsberg, pp. 182-184.
  4. ^ 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, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 332 .

literature

  • Hugo Cramer: The district of Brilon in the Second World War 1939–1945 - reports from many employees from all over the district. Josefs-Druckerei, Bigge 1955.
  • Carl Haase: The emergence of the Westphalian cities. 4th edition, Münster 1984.
  • Rupert Stadelmaier: Contributions to the history of Marsberg . Edited from the estate and edited by Heinrich Klüppel and Hubert Schmidt, Marsberg o. J. (approx. 1971).
  • Hermann Runte: On the history of Marsberg. In: Sauerland 2/2010, pp. 60–68.
  • Petrasch: Chronicle of the thousand-year-old town of Obermarsberg. Brilon 1848 ( digitized ).
  • Daniel Bérenger: The Iron Age fortification of Obermarsberg . In: Archäologie in Ostwestfalen  6. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2002, pp. 29–33, ( online (PDF, 552 kB) ).
  • Karl-Rudolf Böttcher: Oberstädter Hausgeschichten , Marsberg 2011.

Web links

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