Count donna

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Count donna
Tonna municipality
Coordinates: 51 ° 5 ′ 28 "  N , 10 ° 43 ′ 54"  E
Height : 182  (170-231)  m above sea level NN
Area : 16.86 km²
Residents : 1991  (Dec. 31, 2010)
Population density : 118 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : November 25, 1993
Postal code : 99958
Area code : 036042

Gräfentonna is a district of the Tonna municipality in the Gotha district in Thuringia .

location

The community is located in the far north of the district, about 20 km north of the district town of Gotha , 7 km east of Bad Langensalza . Gräfentonna is traversed by the Tonna , a brook that flows on the southern outskirts of Ballstädt at the Fahner Höhe at 337 m above sea level. NN rises. Between Gräfentonna and the other district of Burgtonna, the Seegraben flows towards it, which drains the “Seefeld” between Gräfentonna and Döllstädt . In Gräfentonna, near the penal institution, the “Reifenheimer Graben” from Aschara (“White Bach”) and Eckardtsleben (“Black Bach”) and the Brombach from the eastern fields flow into the Tonna. It leaves the community in a northerly direction and flows into the Unstrut at 167.1 m above sea level about 10 km after its source at the Lohmühle near Nägelstädt, a district of Bad Langensalza . NN. It therefore belongs to the Unstrut river system , which pours its water over the Saale and Elbe near Hamburg into the North Sea . The Tonna drains an area of ​​65.4 km².

Transport links

The transport connection is via the Kühnhausen – Bad Langensalza railway line , to which there is a train station in Gräfentonna. The Ballstädt – Straussfurt railway line, however, has been closed. In addition, Gräfentonna is on the B 176 (Bad Langensalza – Sömmerda, formerly L 1042).

history

Church in Gräfentonna
Altar of the church in Gräfentonna, photo from 1891
The chain castle in Gräfentonna
Plan of the market town of Gräfentonna - created in 1892 by G. Reinhardt based on archival documents
Georg Eckelt's tomb, picture from 1901, no longer in the cemetery today
Dorothea, née Countess zu Gleichen and Tonna († 1575) and Georg III. Count of Gleichen, Spiegelberg and Pyrmont , Lord of Tonna († 1599)

prehistory

In the district of Gräfentonna, finds from the early Iron Age such as helical rings, stirrup arm rings and ring fragments were made on the Semshög, the Warthügel, from a burial mound built in the Neolithic , but these could also come from subsequent burials. Fifteen stirrup rings were removed from the body grave about a kilometer to the north with rich metal additions.

When in 1695/96 farmers between Burgtonna and Gräfentonna found the bones of a forest elephant who had died a hundred thousand years ago while digging for sand , they informed the ducal chamber in Gotha. The ducal personal physician Raab and later also the "Scholars Collegium Medicum" took the view that it was a matter of a mineral structure. Wilhelm Ernst Tentzel , on the other hand, showed in his work Epistola de sceleto elephantino , published in 1696 , that they came from an elephant and thus caused a sensation, because only a few could imagine the climate change that would be necessary. An exchange of letters that he briefly conducted with the scholar Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz on this matter did not bring the longed-for scientific recognition. It was not until 1699, with a second find near the first site, that his opinion finally prevailed. The dispute made Tonna known in the international scholarly world. Even George Florschütz dealt with the issue and wrote to 1905 the magazine "The first discovery of the Elephas antiquus in the sand quarries near Gräfentonna: an amount for the History of Science" written.

Development of the name

According to Reinhardt, the name changes from Tonnaha and Tunnaha (775) via Thunnaha (845), Grefynthunna (854), Tonnahu (874), Tonnaha (968), Donnaha (10th century) to Tunna (13th and 14th centuries) and Thonna (12th and 16th centuries) The ending "a" is a relic of "aha", which refers to water, river, brook, floodplain. However, this does not apply to many other places with the ending "a"; this ending has evolved from other endings. For example, said Witterda earlier Widerthe (1148) and Aschara in the 10th century Asguri . Reinhardt lists three different interpretations of the root word tonn (thonn, dunn) :

  • The clayey, heavy soil of the valley basin in which Gräfentonna lies could have given its name.
  • The first settler could have been called that.
  • The root of the places Gräfentonna, Burgtonna or Östertonna goes back to dun , the Celtic name for mountain or ridge, hill. This refers to the Fahner Höhe, which drain into the Tonna (formerly "Donnbach").

At the beginning of the 19th century, the local council of Graefentonna put an end to all speculation about the origin of the name by including a beer barrel in the community seal.

In the year 755, shortly before his death by being killed, the 80-year-old St. Bonifacius , the patron saint of the Fulda monastery , was given 24 acres from the matron Ara 1 Huf, which lay at Tonnahu. Graefentonna is also mentioned in a document from the year 779 (775?).

Research at the Hessian State Archives in 1994 revealed that "Tonna was already a gift from a Ymmo who passed on goods in Döllstädt and Tonna ( in duabus villis Tullenestat et Tunnahe ) to Fulda Monastery between 750 and 779 during the reign of Abbot Sturmius ."

In 860 the Franconian nobleman Erphold is named as the first count in Tonna. This year is currently considered the first documentary mention; therefore, the 1150th anniversary was also held in 2010. Erphold is also considered the founder and namesake of Erfurt.

The oldest document in which the name Thunnaha occurs dates from July 18, 845; she reports, among other things, that Tonna was owned by the Fulda monastery at that time after it came to Würzburg as a gift from Erphold; by exchange it passed to King Ludwig the Germans , but came back to Fulda in 874. However, the website of the administrative association names a document from the year 779 as the first documentary mention. In the year 860 the mentioned Frankish nobleman Erphold is mentioned as the first count in Tonna. He is also considered the founder and namesake of Erfurt . King Ludwig the German had given him the place (see above). However, the sex with Erphold died out in the same year. Shortly before his death, he is said to have given his possessions in the grave field and in the upper Eichsfeld to the abbey of Fulda and the Würzburg monastery.

Another note is in a deed of gift dated May 18, 874: Here Grefynthunna, along with other 116 places in Thuringia, is mentioned as the Fulda Abbey. Archbishop Liubert zu Mainz as well as Abbot Sigehard zu Fulda asserted the right to raise the tithe for themselves. The dispute over this was decided by King Ludwig the German at the court of Ingelheim in favor of the Fulda Abbey. Since in the said document, unlike Burgtonna and Östertonna Gräfentonna, the place is named by name, it can be assumed that it was already the seat of the count (of Count Erphold ) around the time of 874 .

The Counts of Tonna ruled here from 1089 to 1631. Their ancestral seat was Tonna Castle , which Count Erwin I lived in in 1089. In 1113 the Counts of Tonna received the Gleichen Castle as a fief. From then on they called themselves Counts of Equals . In 1249 the name Villa Tonna occurs, with which the "Haus Tonna", the castle of the Counts of Gleichen, was named. During the Thirty Years War , the villages of Östertonna and Reifenheim were devastated. The latter is still reminiscent of the field name "Reifenheimer Feld" southwest of Gräfentonna, through which the "Reifenheimer Graben" flows. The citizens who fled from there settled in Gräfentonna, where the street name "Niederhöfe" in the NE of the town still reminds of the past.

In the years 1625 and 1626, the plague raged in Gräfentonna, half of the community, which used to have around 1000 inhabitants, was destroyed. At this time, the local adjunct and pastor of the place Georg Eckelt (born July 19, 1564 in Emleben , † October 9, 1626 in Gräfentonna) made a name for himself as a "plague pastor". He took great care of the sick, although three of his own children died. When the plague was over, he held a thanksgiving service, fell ill with the plague himself shortly after and died. It was thought that he would have been infected at the last funeral. The stone erected for him, which is no longer in the cemetery today, contained the legend, weathered in the 20th century: ... Eckelt. huj. loci adjunctus et pastor, natus Emlebii anno 1564. July 19 hic aetatis suae 62. October 9. cum 510 auditorib (us) denascitur Ao…

The Tonna lordship belonged to the County of Waldeck from 1640 to 1677 , and was then sold to Duke Friedrich I of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg . A landmark is the old Tonna Castle, the former ancestral seat of the Counts of Tonna and Gleichen . From 1861 to 1991 it served as a prison .

Gräfentonna used to be a fortified place with a wall, moat and towers. In 1545 the wall had two gates and two gates, to which two more exits were later added:

  • To the east, the market or upper gate closed with the market tower. This was demolished in 1848. The weather vane with the equivalent lion and the year 1588 was placed on the Gottesackerkirche (cemetery chapel) and the stones were sold to Herbsleben.
  • At the end of Langen Strasse at the transition to the Neuer Plan, the Niedertor stood next to the old community center. (Remnants of the wall with "1652").
  • At the end of the street with the name Shepherd's Gate stood the town gate of the same name. Today the "Niedergrabenstrasse" still reminds of the moat between this and the Niedertor. The gate got its name from the adjoining shepherd's house, the shepherd had to keep the closing obligations. The shepherd's house later became the community poorhouse.
  • In the south stood the sheep gate. It says “to the south to the right of the southern entrance gate of the domain sheep farm on Mühlgraben. ... The year 1545 is shown above the pointed arch superstructure. "
  • There was a nameless sixth exit in the direction of Langensalza, where the road led through the “Mönchsecke” not far from the grinding mill.

During visits in 1718 and 1725, the city wall ran "from the mill ditch at the sheep gate behind the row of one-story houses built later, then turned further between the southeast and east rows of Hirten- and Langen Gasse and the northwest and west of the upper and lower suburbs." then passed the Niederthore to the west behind the superintendent's garden and the current parish hall to the Mühlgraben and closed the western side of the village behind the moated castle. ”In 1779, almost the entire upper village burned down and you could see the open field from the market through the gap. This is how the New Gate came into being.

In the middle of the 18th century at the latest, Gräfentonna received the market right to hold three annual and two-day cattle markets. Children were given free school on market days so they could also ride the carousel. A stand fee was not taken from the traders. The offer included a. Textiles, iron and tin goods, sieve and rope goods, glasses, pottery and confectionery.

Worth seeing

The old count's castle

The old count's castle in Tonna (chain castle) was already inhabited by Erwin I in 1089. The oldest parts are the 35 m high tower in the north wing and the high front building in the northeast. Since the place is mentioned as the residence ( villa Tonna ) of the counts as early as 874 , it can be assumed that these parts of the building date from the ninth century. Around 1200 the building was rebuilt as a typical late Romanesque moated castle (surrounded by a moat, the water of which was fed by the Seegraben) as a castle of the Counts of Gleichen and Tonna on an area of ​​almost 12,000 m², the four-winged core castle is expanded with a trapezoidal outer bailey. In 1375 the castle was restored after a fire and furnished with contemporary style elements. The south and east wings were expanded in several stages in the 16th century. In 1761 further modifications were made. The west wing dates from the 16th or 17th century. The castle forms a rectangle of 2604 m² (62 m × 42 m). From the middle of the 17th century until 1861, the castle served as the royal office of the Prince of Gotha. In 1761, the royal bailiff moved into the renovated rooms. Some rooms served as storage rooms for interest crops. Until 1859 the castle served as the judiciary and tax office and was extensively redesigned until 1861. From 1861 to 1991 the building served as a penitentiary and perhaps got its name from this period. In 1873 it was expanded by adding a third floor in the south and west wing and adding an extension on the north side. The inmates were “housed” in 282 individual cells during the night. The tower used to be inhabited by a tower guard, who would blow his horn in the event of imminent danger or when an enemy became visible. During prison times, an "inmate" climbed into the tower every day to wind the clock.

The new lock on the market

In 1677 Duke Friedrich I laid the foundation stone for the new castle on the market. It was built on the site of a farm building for the foal farm. With a width of 12 m, it was a considerable 84 m long and had three floors. Each floor had 30 windows on the long side and three on the gable side. Today the municipal administration is housed here.

Church of Saint Peter and Paul

The main church , consecrated to Saints Peter and Paul , was built in the second half of the 15th century after the place came to the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in 1677. It stands on the site of an earlier church from the pre-Reformation period. The eight pointed window arches with various Gothic ornaments from the 15th century were also adopted from this church. As early as 1670 a new building was foreseeable due to its dilapidation. Demolition began on April 10, 1690, a fortnight after Easter. The demolition material was used for the new building. The foundation stone was laid in the presence of Duke Friedrich I on Friday, April 20, 1691. The inauguration was celebrated on November 13, 1692. The church has three beautiful arched portals in the middle of the west, south and north sides with bases and fighters from the years 1691/92. The main portal in the west bears the year 1692 in its keystone. Above that, a stone slab in the gable shows the coat of arms of the same and Schönburg, the two church patrons Peter with the heavenly or earth key and Paul with the sword as a symbol of his execution as a martyr in Rome as well as the year 1543 in late medieval spelling as the presumed year of the construction of the previous church .

Inside the church, the visitor will find eight solid pillars and four corner pillars with high plinths, Corinthian capitals adorned with acanthus leaves. The church's carved altar is well known from the Middle Ages. The pulpit, like the altar, was originally designed for the castle church in Gotha and dates from 1646. After the renovation there in 1687, it was moved to the previous church in Gräfentonna, which was demolished three years later. Parts of the altar, the reliefs and the large cross, come from the Grimmenthal pilgrimage church and can be dated to the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century. In 1648 the altar in the dilapidated Grimmenthal pilgrimage church came to the castle church on the orders of Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Gotha and received additions and alterations during the restoration, further parts were added during the installation in Gräfentonna.

After a fire in 1833, the upper part of the east tower had to be rebuilt, the spared lower part has been the crypt of the Counts von Gleichen and Tonna with ten gravestones since 1525. The church is the main church of the Gräfentonna parish, which also includes Burgtonna, Aschara, Eckardtsleben, Illeben and Wiegleben. The pastor is Rainer Hoffmann.

Gottesackerkirche and cemetery

Cemetery church

A second, simple Gottesackerkirche was built on the cemetery in 1771, its weather vane with the year 1588 reminiscent of the former market tower. The cemetery itself contained a number of old graves, next to the tomb of the plague pastor was the grave site of the first Protestant pastor Promist († 1574), the graves of Bachoff's with their coat of arms from the 17th and 18th centuries, an obelisk of Magdalena Eger , née Ostückenberg († 1798) and other lavishly designed grave sites. In addition to some weathered remains of historical gravestones, the cemetery only houses relatively new graves from the end of the 19th century.

Correctional facility

In 2002 the Tonna correctional facility was opened in Gräfentonna after almost two years of construction .

societies

  • Heimatverein Gräfentonna e. V.
  • Association for the promotion of the volunteer fire brigade Gräfentonna e. V.
  • Kirmesverein Gräfentonna e. V.
  • MSC Gräfentonna (Motorsport Club)
  • Sports club SV Fortuna Gräfentonna

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the place

Personalities associated with Graefentonna

  • Heinrich Schwerdt (1810–1888), theologian, worked from 1860 to 1872 in the community as a pastor.

literature

  • Guido Reinhardt: History of the market Graefentonna . A ceremony to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Church of St. Petri and Pauli. Commission publisher by Wendt & Klauwell, Langensalza 1892, p. 388 . ( Digitized version )

Individual evidence

  1. ^ VG Fahner Höhe
  2. ↑ Michael Köhler: Heidnische Heiligtümer Jenzig-Verlag 2007 ISBN 978-3-910141-85-8 p. 233
  3. ↑ Guido Reinhardt: History of the market Gräfentonna , Langensalza 1892
  4. ↑ Information from VG Fahner Höhe with the source: Codex Eberhardi (K 426 Bl. 83 V)
  5. ↑ Reinhardt: Dronke , Cod. Dipl. fuld., p. 247
  6. ↑ a b c Guido Reinhardt: Geschichte des Marktes Gräfentonna , Langensalza 1892, p. 8
  7. ↑ Ed. Editor of the Centralblatt Der Bauverwaltung, Otto Sarrazin and Friedrich Schultze: The preservation of monuments. III. Born in 1901, Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Berlin 1901
  8. ↑ Prof. Dr. P. Lehfeld: architectural and art monuments of Thuringia; Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Saxony-Gotha Volume I: Landrathsamtsgebiet Gotha, District Court districts Gotha and Tonna; Publishing house Gustav Fischer Jena 1891
  9. ^ Max Berbig:  Haun, Johann Ernst Christian . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 50, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1905, p. 69 f.

Web links

Commons : Gräfentonna  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files