Fraa vun Bensem
The Fraa vun Bensem (high German "Woman of Bensheim") is a legendary figure from Bensheim on the mountain road .
History
Fraa vun Bensem is said to have shown the Bavarian troops a secret route into the city during the Thirty Years' War when they invaded the city on December 2, 1644 and drove out the French and Swedish troops who had captured Bensheim on November 20, 1644.
It was not until much later that the legend of Fraa vun Bensem was formed, to which the proverbial saying, which can only be proven around the middle of the 19th century , refers to : Turn it around, turn it around like Fraa vun Bensem . Apparently, however, this reproach made on the Bensheimers goes back to ancient times - demonstrably as early as the beginning of the 16th century - that they always came back or forth, that is, too late.
In another source (letter from Heppenheim burgrave Gerhard von Waldenburg to the Elector of Mainz on December 31, 1625), after Kurmainz reigned over the office of Starkenburg during the Thirty Years' War and immediately began the Catholic Counter-Reformation , it is reported: Nur In one place the cause of the Catholic Church is still badly in order: in Bensheim, which, according to the old adage, always comes after .
monument
On the square by the city mill, a monument to commemorate her stands as a fountain figure. The monument with the clay figure of Fraa vun Bensem was designed by the Auerbach artist Tilmann Zobel. Before that, the old town mill was located on the square . It was demolished in 1910. The park, which can largely be traced back to the initiative of Joseph Stoll from Bensheim , was inaugurated on May 30, 1935. In addition to the central figure, there are four water-spouting mercenary masks on the well. They were also made in ceramics by the Mannheim-Friedrichsfelder Steinzeugfabrik. The fountain, as well as the entire small park, stand out as a cultural monument under monument protection .
present
At the Bergsträßer Winzerfest , the Bensheimer Heimat- und Weinfest, the figure of Fraa vun Bensem takes part in the parade. Over 300 years after her first appearance, she had her own column in the local newspaper, the Bergstrasse Anzeiger, in which she was critical of local events.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reiner Maaß and Manfred Berg (eds.): Bensheim - traces of history. EditionDiesbach, Weinheim 2006, page 380.
- ↑ Cultural monuments in Hesse: Park with fountain ('Fraa vun Bensem') ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Ed.): Park with a fountain ('Fraa vun Bensem') In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hessen
Coordinates: 49 ° 40 ′ 50.7 " N , 8 ° 37 ′ 23.5" E