Merzig

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the city of Merzig
Merzig
Map of Germany, position of the city of Merzig highlighted

Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '  N , 6 ° 38'  E

Basic data
State : Saarland
County : Merzig-Wadern
Height : 178 m above sea level NHN
Area : 108.81 km 2
Residents: 29,795 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 274 inhabitants per km 2
Postcodes : 66651-66663
Primaries : 06861, 06869
License plate : MZG
Community key : 10 0 42 113
City structure: 17 districts

City administration address : 		Brauerstraße 5
66663 Merzig
Website : www.merzig.de
Mayor : Marcus Hoffeld ( CDU )
Location of the city of Merzig in the Merzig-Wadern district
Luxemburg Perl (Mosel) Mettlach Losheim am See Merzig Beckingen Frankreich Weiskirchen Wadern Rheinland-Pfalz Landkreis Saarlouis Regionalverband Saarbrücken Landkreis Neunkirchen Landkreis St. Wendelmap
About this picture

Merzig ( in the local, Moselle Franconian dialect Meerzisch / Miërzësch ) is a district town in Saarland and the administrative seat of the Merzig-Wadern district with around 30,000 inhabitants in 17 districts on 108 km². Merzig lies on the Saar and extends far into the surrounding heights ( Saargau ) and side valleys.

geography

Geographical location

The district town of Merzig in northern Saarland is located between Saarbrücken and Trier - each 50 kilometers away - in an elongated flood plain of the Saar . Metz in France and Luxembourg are also each 50 kilometers away. The urban area extends from this "Merzig basin", in which the larger districts are to the right and left of the Saar, over a total of 108 km² to the heights of the Saargau, which rise to the right and left. In the city center, Merzig is 175 m above sea level, the surrounding Gau heights rise to 417 m. 3108 hectares of forest, 60 hectares of recreational areas such as parks and green spaces, 5862 hectares of agricultural and horticultural areas and 128 hectares of water make Merzig a “green” city with a green area of ​​over 80 percent.

and display information about the image
Panorama of Merzig, view in south-west direction

Neighboring communities

The following communities border on Merzig: Beckingen in the southeast, Mettlach in the northwest, Losheim am See in the northeast and Rehlingen-Siersburg in the southwest.

City structure

Since the regional and administrative reform in 1974, the city ​​has been divided into 17 districts (population figures as of June 30, 2011):

district Residents
Shooting 1,189
Better wrestling 2,979
Bietzen 968
Bread village 3,733
Büdingen 310
Fit 706
Harlingen 565
Help 2,569
Mechern 834
district Residents
Menningen 635
Merchingen 939
Merzig 10,934
Mondorf 768
Schwemlingen 2,186
Silwingen 387
hamlet 350
Wellingen 291

climate

Precipitation diagram
The annual precipitation is 882 mm. The driest month is September. It rains most in November. 76% of the measuring locations of the German Weather Service show lower values; the precipitation is thus in the upper third. The seasonal fluctuations in precipitation are in the lower third. In 22% of all places, the monthly precipitation fluctuates less.

history

Development of the name

Saarland postage stamp, 1957, 100 years of the city of Merzig
  369 Martiaticum
  870 Martia
1338 Mertzige
1478 Mertzych
1497 Mertzig
1499 Mertzigh, Mertzych

Early history

The earliest mention of Merzig is, according to Kell, in an order from the Western Roman Emperor Valentinians , issued during his stay in "Mansio praedium Martiaticum" on June 4, 369. At the exit of the Merchinger Valley in the Hangenfeld district, the Roman settlement is believed to be in the area of ​​the Confluence of the Ritzerbach in the Seffersbach various Roman finds were made.

middle Ages

Charles the Bald gave the Merzig Crown Estate to Archbishop Bertolf of Trier on the occasion of his episcopal ordination in 869. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the ministerial dynasty of Merzig served the elector. The Archbishop of Trier had bailiwick rights in Merzig. Merzig was divided into seven bailiwicks , "the bailiwick" of the archbishop, the combined "Schultheißerei" with the "Montclairer Vogtei", the "Rischerei", the "Mettlacher Vogtei", the "Brückerei" and the "Propstei".

On the Merziger district exists Wüstung Wolkessen or cloud singing, mentioned in 1337 in the records of the Abbey Mettlach . In the 11th century Merzig became the capital of the eponymous country chapter to which 45 parishes belonged. From the 11th century on, Merzig came under the tension of the expanding powers Kurtrier and Lorraine . In 1333 Trier and the powerful elector Balduin were able to exercise their rights and rights in the court of men “zu den Bäumelen” against Duke Rudolf of Lorraine . a. enforce via Merzig. After the rulers of Lorraine had gained strength, a stalemate arose, and from 1368 Merzig was jointly administered with the district of Merzig-Saargau by Kurtrier and Lorraine.

Modern times

This condominium existed for about 400 years until 1778, from 1766 together with France , the legal successor of Lorraine. After the condominium was divided, Merzig came to Kurtrier until 1794, but was soon occupied by the French revolutionary troops. After the end of the French occupation, the new Prussian Rhine province came into being in 1815 . It was not until May 25, 1857 that the city of Merzig was expressly recognized by the Prussian king.

Incorporations

On January 1, 1974, the previously independent communities of Ballern, Besseringen, Bietzen, Brotdorf, Büdingen, Fitten, Harlingen, Hilringen, Mechern, Menningen, Merchingen, Mondorf, Schwemlingen, Silwingen, Weiler and Wellingen were incorporated.

politics

Local election in Merzig 2019
Turnout: 63.6%
 %
40
30th
20th
10
0
39.8%
25.6%
9.2%
6.9%
6.5%
5.4%
4.4%
2.1%
Gains and losses
compared to 2014
 % p
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
-3.2  % p
-8.0  % p
+ 4.5  % p
+ 0.9  % p
+1.4  % p
+ 2.7  % p.p.
+ 2.3  % p
-0.6  % p

City council

Allocation of seats in the Merzig City Council: (Status: municipal elections in Saarland 2019 )

       
A total of 39 seats
Political party be right in % Seats
CDU 5,961 39.8% 17th
SPD 3,830 25.6% 11
The left 1,034 6.9% 2
AfD 981 6.0% 2
Green 1,385 9.2% 4th
Pirates 321 2.1% 0
Free voters 816 5.4% 2
FDP 662 4.4% 1
total 14,990 100% 39

mayor

coat of arms

Blazon : embedding, top right and bottom left in silver a continuous red cross, top left and bottom right in silver a floating black double cross.

The red cross stands for the Archdiocese of Trier and the floating, black double cross stands for the Duchy of Lorraine.

After the regional reform, the city of Merzig was given the previously used coat of arms without a wall crown on March 20, 1980. On December 16, 1987, the Ministry of the Interior of the City of Merzig allowed the coat of arms to be used again with a wall crown.

Town twinning

Friendly relationships

Culture and sights

theatre

Merzig has two theaters: the town hall, located in the center of the city, and the tent palace in the Saarwiesen. In addition, cultural events such as concerts or theater take place in the Villa Fuchs cultural center . The band Glasperlenspiel performed here, among others .

Tent palace Merzig

Since 2012, musicals have been staged in the tent palace in Merzig every year in August and September . In 2014, the Broadway musical The Addams Family premiered there in German. Artists such as Uwe Kröger ( Hairspray , The Addams Family , Spamalot ) and Edda Petri performed .

City Hall Merzig

Musicals are also performed in the town hall, but mostly only as part of a tour. So here were among others the Opera Phantom and My Fair Lady (2017) and The Jungle Book (2017) presented.

The town hall is often used for regional and municipal events such as school performances or the annual sports ceremony in the district town of Merzig.

Museums

Buildings

(chronologically)

  • St. Peter's Church ; three-aisled late Romanesque basilica, approx. 1190–1230, with a baroque rectory. Most important Romanesque church in Saarland. Worth seeing inside: Gothic plague cross from the 14th century, paintings in the style of the Nazarene school.
  • Historic town house (“Old Town Hall”), built 1647–1649 as an electoral hunting lodge for Archbishop Philipp Christoph von Sötern of Trier ; six-axis building with two corner towers protruding strongly in front of the front.
  • Various baroque buildings such as Halfenhaus (former Hafenkneipe ), Staadt-Marxsches Bürgerhaus , Hilbringer Schlösschen, Abteihof Besseringen ("Zehnt-Haus"), former home of Christian Kretzschmar in Trierer Straße (all 18th century)
  • Various buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries such as Villa Fuchs , Protestant church, churches in Hilringen ( St. Petrus in Ketten ) and Besseringen ( Sacred Heart Church ), Lothringer Hof, train station , main building of the former regional hospital, Art Nouveau houses in Trierer Straße, former jam factory (former monastery)
  • Various chapels worth seeing such as Marienkapelle, Heilig-Kreuz-Kapelle , Kreuzbergkapelle, Josefskapelle, Harlinger Kapelle , Alte Wellinger-Kapelle , St.-Clemens-Kapelle (Menningen)
  • Seffersbach Bridge , 1901, the last preserved suspension strap bridge "System Möller" in Saarland
  • Catholic parish church St. Agatha (Merchingen) with furnishings, 1929–30 by Clemens Holzmeister
  • Catholic parish church St. Maria Magdalena (Brotdorf) , 1930–31 by Clemens Holzmeister.
  • Catholic parish church of St. Martin (Bietzen) , 1931–32 by Peter Marx .
  • Catholic parish church St. Josef, 1958–59 by Hermann Baur .

Parks

  • Bürgerpark Besseringen
  • Garden of the Senses on the Kreuzberg
  • Orchids on the Nackberg near Hilhaben
  • City park with the only saltworks in Saarland

The Bürgerpark in Besseringen, the Garden of Arts at the Museum Schloss Fellenberg, the Garden of the Senses and the Parish Garden at St. Peter have been included in the ensemble of Gardens without Borders as particularly worth seeing .

Other sights

  • B-Werk Besseringen (Westwall bunker system), on the B 51 between Merzig and Besseringen
  • "Das Bad" bathing area
  • Bietzener Heilquelle on the B 51 in the direction of Beckingen
  • Heilborn natural baths
  • Sculpture symposium stones at the border
  • St. Gangolf Monastery, between Besseringen and Mettlach
  • Museum railway (to Losheim )
  • Animal enclosure at Blättelbornweiher
  • Wolf enclosure in the chamber forest
  • Kreuzberg chapel with a view of almost the entire city and the Merzig basin
  • Climbing Park - Europe's largest free-standing climbing park

Regular events

  • Freeschenfeschd (big club festival in Brotdorf)
  • Harbor Festival (major event with dragon boat races in the Merziger Hafenmeile)
  • Local festival and lentil festival (large club festival in Besseringen)
  • Flicker festival (fair and club festival in Schwemlingen)
  • SparkassenCup (traditional handball tournament for A youth national teams)
  • Viezfest (largest club festival in Saarland) Viez , apple wine; with the election of the Viezkönigin, currently Ulrike I.
  • Moonlight Market (market at dawn)
  • Zoo festival (around the zoo)
  • Merzig lights up! (Christmas market in the city center)
  • Nikolausmarkt (Christmas market at St. Peter's Church)
  • Sports honor (honor of the athletes of the city of Merzig)
  • Viezfest (festival for the start of the Oktoberfest and the fair in autumn)
  • Oktoberfest
  • Summer fair
  • City festival
  • Medieval market
  • Merziger Kultursommer (regular live acts on the Altstadtplatz in the summer months)
  • Merzig blossoms! (Big flower market in the city center)
  • Merzig is serving up!
  • Delicious market
  • "Gaaßenfeschd" (charity street festival in Bietzen)

Former sight

  • The tree in the chamber forest was one of the oldest trees in Saarland. It was felled in 2005 for reasons of road safety.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Streets

Merzig is well connected to the national and international road network via the federal autobahn 8 ( Perl - Salzburg ) and the federal road 51 ( Bremen - Saargemünd ).

railroad

Merzig is located on the Saar line and has three train stations, two of them in Merzig ( Merzig (Saar) , Merzig-Stadtmitte) and one in the Merzig district of Besseringen. The first is a train station with an attached bus station, but a bit outside the city center. All Deutsche Bahn RE and RB trains stop here. There is a connection to Saarbrücken, Homburg and Trier every half hour . There is also the “Merzig-Stadtmitte” train stop, which has been in operation since 2000 and is located directly in the city center. Just like in Besseringen, only regional trains stop here .

The Fremersdorf stop is also in the area of ​​the city of Merzig, but is named after the district of the municipality of Rehlingen-Siersburg .

The Merzig Süd – Büschfeld railway branches off from the Saar line at Merzig-Süd . After the closure, there has been a museum railway operation on part of the route since 1982 and freight traffic again since 2007.

economy

Economically, the district town of Merzig supplies a catchment area of ​​more than 80,000 people, whereby the visitors who come to Merzig to shop or to use the extensive range of services regularly include guests from neighboring France and Luxembourg. The city of Merzig is the location of traditional companies in the field of ceramics, metal processing and the beverage industry, but recently it has also been able to record significant successes in the field of pharmaceutical and medical technology trade. Some parts of the city are largely shaped by agriculture and the many tree nurseries that have made Merzig the tree nursery center of the southwest.

Merzig offers its citizens and commuters from the surrounding area over 12,000 jobs. For years, the most important area of ​​employment has been the service sector, in which 63 percent of all residents of Merzig work, including trade and transport with around 21 percent of jobs. It is followed by manufacturing with 35 percent and agriculture with just under 2 percent.

Companies

Merzig is an important production and logistics location of the porcelain and ceramics manufacturer Villeroy & Boch , which is based in neighboring Mettlach, and its former subsidiary V&B Fliesen GmbH, which has been part of the Turkish Eczacıbaşı Holding since 2007 . Merzig has been the headquarters of Germany's largest pharmaceutical importer kohlpharma GmbH since 2002 . The companies formerly based in Merzig included the Mercedes tuner Carlsson Autotechnik , which is now based in Saarlouis , and the fruit juice manufacturer Merziger Fruchtsaft, which has risen in the Niehoffs Vaihinger Fruchtsaft company .

Viticulture

Kreuzberg 1890

In spring 2007, a historic vineyard was replanted on the Kreuzberg. This makes Merzig the second place in Saarland after Saarfels ( Beckingen ) that is reviving the tradition of viticulture on the Saar south of the established Mosel-Saar-Ruwer growing region . The wine falls under the name "Saarländischer Landwein".

dishes

The Merzig District Court is subordinate to the Saarbrücken Regional Court and the Saarland Higher Regional Court . It has a branch in Wadern .

military

The 8th and 9th Companies of Paratrooper Regiment 26 and Recruit Company 2, which belongs to Airborne Brigade 1 of the Bundeswehr , are based in Merzig .

Hospitals

Until the 1990s, Merzig was one of the three locations for psychiatric institutions in Saarland. The institution, founded in 1876 ​​under the name of Merzig Provincial Insane Asylum , was the largest in Saarland , along with the psychiatric institution in Homburg . Partly under the code name - in late summer 1939, the institution with Merziger involved in was Operation T4 operating under the name - Nazi euthanasia programs to mentally handicapped. In the course of a move declared as evacuation, the institution was closed and the between 600 and 900 patients were moved to other institutions. Most of them were murdered in the Hadamar killing center in Hessen , one of the T4 centers.

The historian Christoph Braß, who specializes in the subject, rates the extent to which the two Saarland institutions Homburg and Merzig had contributed to the euthanasia program as above average: While more than half of the psychiatric inmates from other federal states had survived the euthanasia program only a quarter of the Saarland patients came back. Doctors involved in the T4 program also continued their careers in the institutions in Saarland after the war - such as the doctor Rudolf Leppien, who acted as assistant to the T4 expert Hanns Heene in Homburg and continued to hold responsible positions in the institution in Merzig after the war exercised. After 1945 the facility operated under the name Landesnervenklinik Merzig . In 1998 it became part of the Saarländische Heilstätten Gesellschaft (SAG) and dissolved in the course of the decentralization of psychiatric institutions. As a correctional facility, the building complex now houses a closed facility for forensic psychiatry - the Saarland Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry (SKFP).

education

6,500 pupils visit the schools in Merzig every day. There are also 18 municipal, church and free day nurseries, kindergartens and crèches.

Kindergartens

  • Catholic day care center St. Josef Merzig
  • KiTa Hilringen-Seitert
  • Catholic day care center St. Peter Merzig
  • KiTa Fitten-Ballern
  • Catholic children's home St. Marien Merzig
  • Catholic day care center St. Josef Hilhaben
  • Catholic day care center St. Martin Bietzen
  • Catholic day care center St. Marien Brotdorf
  • KiTa Besseringen
  • KiTa Mechern
  • KiTa Merchingen
  • Kindergarten Mondorf
  • Kindergarten Schwemlingen

Elementary schools

  • Elementary School Kreuzberg (Merzig)
  • Merzig-Besseringen primary school
  • Elementary school Merzig-Brotdorf
  • Merzig-Hilhaben primary school
  • Primary school Saargau (Schwemlingen)
  • Primary School St. Josef (Merzig)

High schools

Extended secondary school

  • Christian Kretzschmar School

Special schools

  • Schule zum Broch, special school for mental development in Merzig-Merchingen
  • Special school for people with learning disabilities Merzig-Brotdorf

Job-related schools

BBZ-Merzig:

  • BGJ and BGS, BGJ dual and BGS dual
  • Vocational school for housekeeping and outpatient care
  • Social care school
  • Trade school
  • Commercial school
  • Technical college for social affairs
  • Technical college
  • Technical college economics
  • Upper secondary school for health and Social as well as economy

Religions

There are numerous Christian parishes and some other religious communities in Merzig :

Roman Catholic parishes

  • Catholic parish of the Maria Visitation, Büdingen
  • Catholic parish of St. Agatha, Merchingen
  • Catholic parish of St. Maria Magdalena, Brotdorf
  • Catholic parish of St. Gangolf, Besseringen
  • Catholic parish of St. Johannes, Mondorf
  • Catholic parish of St. Josef, Merzig
  • Catholic parish of St. Laurentius, Schwemlingen
  • Catholic parish of St. Martin, Bietzen
  • Catholic parish of St. Peter, Merzig
  • Catholic parish of St. Petrus in Ketten, Hilringen

Evangelical parishes

Islam

  • DITIB -Turkish Islamic Community of Merzig e. V.
  • German-Arab mosque Merzig, Islamschule Merzig e. V.

Other denominations

Jewish community

A Jewish community existed until 1938/40 , the formation of which dates back to the 17th century. In the middle of the 19th century, about 6% of the total population belonged to the Jewish community (1846: 223 Jewish community members).

The synagogue , inaugurated in 1842, was set on fire during the November pogrom in 1938 and completely devastated and completely destroyed in an air raid in 1944. The cemetery was destroyed and largely cleared in 1938. In 1949 it was repaired as far as possible. The last burial took place in 1978.

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Personalities who worked in Merzig

literature

  • Constantin von Briesen : Documented history of the Merzig-Wadern district in the Trier government district , 2 volumes. Saarlouis 1863–1867, unaltered reprint Queißer Verlag, Dillingen / Saar 1980. ( Google books )
  • Frank Hirsch: Jews in Merzig between persistence and progress. A small town community in the 19th century (= history & culture. Saarbrücker row 4). Kliomedia, Trier 2014, ISBN 978-3-89890-188-8 .
  • Johann Heinrich Kell: History of the city of Merzig and the Merziger country . Merzig 1958.

Web links

Commons : Merzig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Merzig  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saarland.de - Official population figures as of December 31, 2019 (PDF; 20 kB) ( help ).
  2. ↑ http://www.merzig.de/frameset.phtml?NavID=301.33/ (link not available)
  3. ↑ Mentioned in Codex Theodosianus: 369 prid.non.Iun.
  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. 804 .
  5. ^ Official Journal of the Saarland, year 1980, page 529
  6. ^ Certificate posted in the town hall of Merzig. On the basis of Section 3 of the Municipal Self-Administration Act as published on September 1, 1978 (Official Gazette, p. 801), last amended by the Act of June 11, 1986 (Official Journal, p. 520), the district town of Merzig is permitted to use the on March 20, 1980 awarded coat of arms a three-tower natural-colored wall crown in such a way that it rests on the upper edge of the shield.
    Saarbrücken, December 16, 1987
    Saarland
    The Minister of the Interior
  7. ↑ Eckart Roloff and Karin Henke-Wendt: A different kind of psychiatry museum . (Saarländisches Psychiatriemuseum, Merzig) In: Visit your doctor or pharmacist. A tour through Germany's museums for medicine and pharmacy. Volume 2, Southern Germany. Verlag S. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2015, pp. 219-220, ISBN 978-3-7776-2511-9
  8. ↑ Europe's largest free-standing climbing park is in Merzig. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 26, 2017 ; Retrieved April 25, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.merzig.de
  9. ^ "Noble droplets from Wolfersberg" (Saarbrücker Zeitung, October 23, 2002)
  10. ↑ Wine and culture friends Kreuzberg Merzig e. V.
  11. ↑ Doctors and the crimes against children during the Nazi era . Saarbrücker Zeitung, January 9, 2017
  12. ↑ Students of the Gymnasium am Stefansberg investigate the fate of psychiatric patients in Merzig under National Socialism ( Memento of the original from September 12, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Press release on the city's website, March 30, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / merzig.de
  13. ^ Nazi euthanasia in Saarland: "I would have loved to come home" . Mirko Tomic, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, December 16, 2014
  14. ↑ The SKFP in Merzig . Brief information on saarland.de, accessed on September 12, 2018
  15. ↑ Merzig. Retrieved June 19, 2018 .
  16. ↑ KiTas at a glance | Merzig - the city with more possibilities. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 19, 2018 ; accessed on June 19, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.merzig.de
  17. ↑ Mosques in Merzig