History of Grebenau and the Gründchen
The area around today's town of Grebenau , a town in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse , can look back on a very long history. The area called Gründchen is a landscape rich in meadows and forests.
Prehistory
Although the green area is neither favored by the soil conditions nor the climate, the first traces of human settlement in the area of the city of Grebenau go back to the Bronze Age, around 3,500 years ago. The oldest traces of settlement in the area around Grebenau are found in the excavation of the tumulus in the 2nd millennium BC. Numerous, well-preserved part tumuli testify that the area of Jossa and Schwarza people offered an adequate basis for a long time. Coming from Spain spread at the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age , from 2,600 to around 2,200 BC. BC, the bell beaker people in Europe and brought the knowledge of copper metallurgy with them. In the Upper Hessian Museum in Gießen you can marvel at a 3000 year old, well restored bell beaker from the Gründchen. In the 1880s, some well-preserved metal objects were found in addition to skeletal parts when Bronze Age barrows were opened. A marginal hatchet / shaft kelt as well as a finely fluted club-head needle / neck needle with a pierced, swollen neck made of bronze testify to the great craftsmanship of the Gründchen inhabitants around 2500 years ago.
Early Middle Ages
According to the Bronze Age evidence of the settlement of the Gründchen, there is no reference to the Gründchen again until a document from 812 AD. In a description of the Schlitz-Lauterbacher Mark, the desert "Esginebach" - preserved in the current field name Eschelbach - is mentioned. With the political structure, the area from Hersfeld and Fulda was evangelized around this time. Grebenau was probably a Carolingian street festival as early as 800. The history of Grebenau is closely linked to the "road through the short Hessians" , on which even kings and their entourage passed by in the Middle Ages . The passage of the king and later emperor Heinrich IV. , On the way to Mainz , in the year 1071 is clearly documented. The monk and historian Lampert von Hersfeld documents the misfortune of Liupold von Meersburg for this year when he was in the entourage of Heinrich IV a lunch break in Utenhusen ( Udenhausen (Grebenau) ) fell so unhappily from his horse into his own sword that he died immediately.
Grebenau was first mentioned in a document in 1073 in a report by Lampert von Hersfeld. After fleeing from the Harzburg , Henry IV met some princes, including Duke Rudolf of Swabia, in Capella (Waltcapel) on August 18 and 19, 1073 on the way to Trebur , Mainz and other cities on the Rhine at the beginning of the Saxon War , Capelle) near Hersfeld, today's Grebenau . Such stays by the king suggest that there was a suitable infrastructure for the supply of a royal retinue at the confluence of the Jossa and Schwarza rivers, especially since the Waltcapel at that time was part of the imperial church property. The use of the term Capella (fiscal church) by Lampert von Hersfeld makes this clear. Ministerials who live permanently on site often built small structures made of wood or stone near villages and farms on the plain. Tower hill castles , called moths, were sometimes built on piled-up hills . The elevated position of the monastery building between Jossa and Schwarza, which was built from the ruins of the former castle, and the moat, which was still clearly visible until a few decades ago, suggest that it was similar here.
High and late Middle Ages
In the course of history there were often more divisions than things in common due to the lordly conditions in the Gründchen. Until the middle of the 13th century, the Counts of Ziegenhain were responsible for the places in the Gründchen both as liege recipients of the Fulda and the Hersfeld abbots . Around 1264 the Hersfeld abbot Heinrich III feuded . with the help of some knights - including Count Gottfried V. von Ziegenhain - the Fulda abbot Bertho II , known because of his small body size "Abbot Thimble". During the interregnum in the empire (1254 to 1273) , the knights also attempted to expand their influence over the powerful imperial abbeys from Grebenau Castle Capelle , which was then the Fulda bailiwick of the Ziegenhain counts . The defeat of the knighthood ended with the destruction of 15 castles by Abbot Fingerhut in Rhön and Vogelsberg , including Castle Capelle. As a result of the defeat, Gottfried V. von Ziegenhain lost part of his possessions and privileges in the Gründchen. So in 1270 Abbot Bertho II forced him and nobles allied with him to sell their estates and the villages of Eulersdorf (Ailhardesdorph), Reimenrod (Reinmerode), Udenhausen (Udenhusen) and the current desert of Winden to the Johanniter zu Nidda . The friars made the destroyed castle building habitable again and founded a commander in Grebenau around 1278 .
Sovereigns
The name Grevenhowa was first used in a Haina document as early as 1265 . At the latest after the destruction of Capelle Castle and its reconstruction as a Johanniterkommende, the place, which was in the immediate vicinity, became more important. This was expressed in the use of this name in documents (Grebenauwe - 1285, Grevenowe - 1320, Grefenawe - 1344, Grebinauwe, Greffinauwe - 1436). The place names Capelle, Capella or Waltcapel then disappeared completely from the scriptures. Even if "daz hus zu Grebenouwe" fell into other hands again and again in the following 250 years (Landgrave Heinrich von Hessen , Friedrich von Lißberg , Rohrich von Eisenbach , Frytschin von Schlitz ), it was mostly the Commander of the Johanniter who was on site made the decisions.
In Schwarz, unlike in Grebenau, the Counts of Ziegenhain continued to exercise their bailiwick rights after 1270. The lords of Romrod , Fink von der Altenburg, the lords of Liederbach and the von Merlau appeared in black as their tenants .
The "Hainic Villages"
Wallersdorf (1200) and Bieben (1231) with Merlos (1280) fell to the Haina monastery early on through sale and other acts of noble and church owners and were first mentioned in a document. They are consequently called the "Hainic Villages" in historiography.
In 1372 Grebenau came under Landgrave Hessian influence when the Order of St. John sold his house in Grebenau for 3000 Schillings to Landgrave Hermann II . The order received it back as a pledge.
The introduction of the Reformation in Hesse by Landgrave Philip I brought another turning point for the two largest towns in the Gründchen. In Grebenau, the Landgrave took the opportunity to acquire the order property of the Kommende Grebenau and in 1527 to enfeoff Dietrich the Younger of Plesse. In that year the Gründchen became Protestant. Heinrich Schröder was one of the first Protestant pastors in Grebenau at this time.
By merging the two courts of the so-called "hainischen villages" (Waller village, courtyard Merlos and Bieben) with the court Grebenau for "Office Grebenau" Grebenau received on 10 June 1605 the reign of Landgrave Ludwig V of Hesse-Darmstadt , the city rights and the privilege of holding three general and annual markets. The SIGILLUM REI PUB GREBENAUIENSIS shows - like the coat of arms of the city - a medieval Greben on a green meadow.
Modern times
17th to 19th century
The granting of city rights could no longer have a great effect, because just a few years later the Thirty Years' War began . The balance of 30 years of war was terrifying: 70 to 90 percent of the local population fell victim to the war and the effects of the war, and a large number of the towns were completely desolate or could only exist for a few decades. Agriculture, crafts and trade were ruined. Reimenrod only had six inhabitants.
The population barely had two generations to recover when the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) and the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1815) brought great hardship to the people again.
For many centuries there was office and court of the respective lords in Grebenau and Schwarz. With the dissolution of the offices in Grebenau (1812) and Schwarz (1821), both places lost their importance.
After the first Swabian procession into the Banat , from 1763 residents of the Gründchen also followed the call of Catherine the Great and went to Russia . Two further waves of emigration (1816–1817 and 1845–1855) once again led to a noticeable decline in population (> 800 to <680). Years with bad harvests and the beginning of industrialization were reason enough for many to leave their homeland, mostly for the USA . The rural population could not compensate for the decline in sheep breeding and artisanal linen weaving ; only the expansion of the infrastructure led to economic improvements.
20th and 21st centuries
After 55 years of efforts to establish a rail link, the last section Alsfeld-Grebenau was put into operation during the First World War in 1916. The time of the Weimar Republic and the years of National Socialism brought significant cuts for the Gründchen and its population. Up until the beginning of the Nazi era there was a good understanding between Jews and Christians in Grebenau. Many Jewish men were members of the war club (many also took part in the First World War) and the gymnastics club. This was certainly not unusual, because in 1910 around 20%, in 1924 around 12.5% and even in 1933 around 9.1% of the Grebenau population belonged to the Jewish community of Grebenau . Several merchants and cattle dealers, but also a saddler and upholsterer, a baker, a tailor and two shoemakers contributed significantly to Grebenau's economic prosperity.
This changed fundamentally in 1933 and in 1938 at the latest. Suddenly it no longer mattered that between 1909 and 1929 Heinrich Lichtenstein taught both Jewish and Christian children as a Jewish teacher on behalf of the state. In 1925, at the inauguration of the TV “Frohsinn Grebenau” gymnasium, the highly respected man was given the honorable task of giving the speech. After the synagogue fell victim to an arson attack in 1938, only 14 Jewish residents were counted in 1939. In the following war years the Jewish community died out completely.
Second World War
With the beginning of the Second World War, Grebenau began a painful time that went beyond the end of the war. In addition to many dead and missing from all parts of the city, there was personal injury and property damage even in the remote area. The Grebenau church was hit and a courtyard burned down in Schwarz. However, the Gründchen had luck on September 27, 1944. A heavy strategic bomber of the USAAF (B-24 Liberator) Consolidated B-24 was shot down on that day and fell with a crew of ten just before Grebenau, in the area of Langwiesenweg, barely 200 m away from the kindergarten at the time and the first residential development.
Population development
The end of the Second World War, with mass exodus and displacement, presented Grebenau with a great challenge and endurance test, because refugees and displaced persons had to be provided with more than just living space. The resident population grew from 676 (1939) to almost 1,100 inhabitants (1945/46). With the beginning of the economic miracle, the situation eased. Building gaps were closed in town and new building areas were created.
Economy and Infrastructure
Instead of the extensive beech forests, which still shaped the face of the greens in the Middle Ages, pine and spruce have become the predominant tree species in the still very wooded region over the past 400 years. From 1625, many generations of foresters contributed to the fact that the "Grebenauer Kiefer" is known nationwide for its excellent quality wood. In 1876, barely 250 years after the conversion began, only 15% of the forest area was left with deciduous trees. The high forest management had replaced the coppice forest management, in which predominantly fast-growing birches were felled every 18 to 20 years. With annual rainfall of around 680 mm, agricultural use is essentially limited to the deeper and more nutrient-rich soils of the valley slopes. The meadows and flatter valley floors are mostly used for grassland.
Economy and Transport
In terms of traffic, Grebenau was in ancient times conveniently located on the east-west connection from the Rhine-Main area to Thuringia, the so-called Kurzen Hessen. In the districts of Grebenau and Schwarz, a section of the route is typically still called Frankfurter Strasse today. From the northeast to the southwest the junction cut this route in the direction of Lauterbach and from the south the Ottrauer Weg led from Fulda past Grebenau. Merchants, craftsmen and also the military were on the old trade routes. The transport of goods to the trade fairs in Frankfurt and Leipzig ensured regular income and a modest livelihood through customs revenue and paid auxiliary services. The Fulda provosts occasionally used their estate, located a day's journey from Fulda near Wallersdorf, to rest when they were on their way to the Westphalian z. B. wanted to Paderborn, Hameln or Corvey Monastery. Small states, with all their negative effects, were for many centuries a huge drag on economic development, not just in the green. The expansion of infrastructure took place only to a modest extent, if at all. War costs as well as the ostentation and ruthless passion for hunting of the landgraves contributed significantly to the impoverishment of the rural population.
A railway for the greenery
After the beginning of industrialization, it was not until 1915/1916 that the 23.4 km long rail link (Gründchenbahn) between Alsfeld and Niederjossa also connected the Gründchen to the approximately 70,000 km long rail network in the German Empire at that time. 55 years of efforts to establish a railway connection for the greenery were crowned with success. This gave the Gründchen another chance to catch up. Many thousands of cubic meters of wood and agricultural raw products left the green along this route. In the opposite direction, for example, fertilizers found their way here at low cost. The large Raiffeisen warehouse in Bahnhofstrasse was an important hub for the export and import of goods in the Gründchen.
For many decades the railroad was the means of transport for schoolchildren and commuters. Like many east-west connections, the Alsfeld-Bad Hersfeld line lost its importance due to the division of Germany. Declining transport requirements in the freight sector and upcoming renovation investments in the two large bridge structures near Eifa brought the end of passenger transport on this route a few months before their 60th anniversary on May 26, 1974. Starting from Alsfeld, sections of the route were repeatedly closed to freight traffic over the next 20 years. Today, rail traffic is no longer possible on the entire route. Local public transport is now taken over by buses on regular routes to Alsfeld, Lauterbach and Bad Hersfeld.
Industry sectors
The building sector in particular belongs to the economy in the Gründchen. Today, the largest employers in the Gründchen belong to the metal industry and their products also bear the name of the city of Grebenau to international customers.
There has been a strong concentration in agriculture. Of the 38 farms in the Gründchen, 14 cultivate more than 75 hectares of land. All the others have less than 20 hectares “under the plow”. There are only 10 dairy farmers left. Even if almost 600 residents leave the Gründchen to work, the city still offers around 300 people from outside the city. Especially for activities in the public service such as the police, school or administration, residents of the Gründchen mainly find work outside of the city.
School and kindergarten
In the municipal kindergarten "Tabaluga" in the Eulersdorf district, children are looked after from the first year of life. Since August 25, 1978, the children from Gründchen and from the Alsfeld district of Lingelbach have been taught in the new Grebenau primary school. Since September 17, 1980 it has been named after the well-known Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren . The ALS is attended by around 150 children in seven classes. The “entry level” model has been in practice for over 30 years; it enables seamless transition from kindergarten to school.
politics
With the de facto abolition of municipal self-government by the German municipal code of 1935 and the subsequent legislation, Grebenau lost its town and market rights during the Nazi era . Together with Romrod and Kirtorf, Grebenau received its town charter back on September 1, 1958. Due to the regional reform of December 31, 1971, the large community of Grebenau was formed through the merger with Eulersdorf, Reimenrod, Schwarz, Udenhausen and Wallersdorf. Bieben with Merlos completed the new large community in Gründchen on August 1, 1973. In the city council elected on April 27, 2011 with its 15 members, four parties are represented for the first time.
literature
- Hans-Werner Krug: City brochure: Grebenau - small town on the Vogelsberg. TargetWorks-Medienverlag, Grebenau 2011.
Web links
- The 2011 city brochure as a page-turning PDF file from TargetWorks-Medienverlag
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lampert von Hersfeld describes it as follows: “[…] quam caeteri, qui cum eo erant. Principes citato, quantum possent, itinere, sibi occurrerent in villa, quae dicitur Capella, haud procul from Herveldia. Quo cum venissent […] ”.