Großhau

Großhau community Hürtgenwald Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 3 ″ N , 6 ° 23 ′ 25 ″ E
Height :	374 m above sea level NHN
Area :	7.13 km²
Residents :	528 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	74 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation :	1st July 1969
Postal code :	52393
Area code :	02429
	Listed house Frenkstr. 40

Großhau is a district of the municipality Hürtgenwald in the district of Düren , North Rhine-Westphalia .

location

The place is in the Eifel National Park in the Rureifel and in the North Eifel Nature Park directly on the ascending slopes of the Eifel . Neighboring towns are Kleinhau , Gey and Schafberg . From Großhau there is a wide view of the Cologne Bay and the Zülpich Börde . The place is about 380 m above sea level. NHN .

history

Archaeological finds suggest that the first settlement was in the Neolithic and Celtic times between 1800 and 300 BC. The settlement area of the Stone Age people, in today's district of Düren, was still preferably in the fertile and mild areas of the Rur and the Eifel foothills. The huge "Hürtgenwald forest area", however, towering over the surrounding area by a good 300 meters, was previously only viewed as a hunting and collecting area. It is believed that it was only the onset of population growth and the associated disputes about access to technological raw materials that required more constant settlement here. For the Stone Age people, here in the Großhauer forest area, the access to the most important early technological main raw materials, silicite ( flint ), quartzite (stone made of quartz) and pyrite (pebble), represented a location advantage that should not be underestimated. A stone or a quartzite on a pyrite (from the Greek πυρ pyr for fire ) generated flying sparks, i.e. fire. A Stone Age lighter thus contained a hard hammered stone (silicite, quartzite) and a spark-spraying iron and sulfur-containing stone (pyrite). The silicite stones (flint stones) were also the basis for almost every stone age tool or weapon (knife, ax, arrowhead, scraper ...). In Großhau, flint and pyrite were mainly mined in the northern forest area. In addition to the old, meanwhile overgrown pits, the name of the mining and processing area - Katzenknipp - still testifies to the economic importance for our ancestors. The old name for pyrite was fool's gold.

The early Celtic settlement areas in the vicinity of the later district of Großhau were based on the availability of the then most important raw, auxiliary and operating materials for the production of race iron (iron ore, wood / charcoal, clay, stones, water and wind). Race iron is the iron product that is made when iron ore is smelted in a race furnace . Knowledge of iron smelting was considered to be the key technology for the development of efficient tools and weapons and, in contrast to the Hittites , the Celts only acquired this knowledge relatively late, which means that the change from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age here took place relatively late.

Due to the now great demand for wood / charcoal as fuel and reduction material for the smelting process, a “logging” arose, which later resulted in the area being called “ Hau ” (for logging). Immediately another significant logging took place, this time in the area of the later district of Kleinhau, but of lesser, so "smaller" extent, which means that the place names Großhau - "large logging" - and Kleinhau - "small logging" - can still be clearly derived today . In the first written records from around 1500 AD, however, the undifferentiated and more general designation “auf dem Hau” (uff dem Hauw / Hauwe, 1504; uf dem Haw, 1548; Düren city archives) was found for both areas.

Likewise, the smelting of iron ore in Rennöfen in the Großhau area, at that time, probably had not played a major role for a long time, as it had been steadily increasing early on due to the spread of inexpensive and efficient bellows systems on the natural winds of the "Großhauer mountain range" Heating up the racing furnace could be dispensed with. The efficient operation of such large bellows was only made possible by knowledge of the water wheel . The oldest waterwheel north of the Alps, at a good 2000 years old, was discovered in 2009 near Düren on a water channel on the Inde. So if the iron ore was originally smelted directly in the Rennweg furnaces in the area around Rennweg, it has now found its main customers in the lower, climatically milder foreland. In addition to the smelting facility, handicraft businesses had already settled there along the streams and rivers. Kirsten Johaes' armory in Schevenhütte should be mentioned as the closest significant craft business with supra-regional recognition . The Rennweg was called "Renpad" at that time and can be found by name in the old documents from the Wehrmeisterei.

The Rennweg still exists today. However, it has been closed to vehicle traffic for a long time and so today quietly reminds the hikers and cyclists from the surrounding towns of Düren and Eschweiler who are looking for relaxation there, of the once most important production site of Renneisen in the (Hürtgen) forest of the old Celts.

The former Celtic settlement during the Iron Age, in the area of today's Großhau and "Großhauer Forest", by early ironworkers and charcoal burners, has now fully arrived in the Middle Ages and has been a colorful melting pot for centuries, made up of Celts, Romans and other cultures . The iron smelting had found its new focus in the valley "uff scheyver Hütte" Schevenhütte , the racing furnace was also developed into a blast furnace , only the importance as iron ore, wood and charcoal supplier was to persist for a long time. This is how, according to oral tradition, probably also from "Großhauer" deliveries after 1800, railway tracks for the whole country were created. The smelting and processing took place in Lendersdorf . After that, however, the iron ore mining in Großhau lost its importance and only one pit managed a short resurrection in 1938, namely the pit "Golzenhoffnung" near today's car park "Glockenofen". A further long tunnel was actually driven, but it was no longer really operational, so that the period after approx. 1850/60 is to be regarded as the actual final phase. The reason for the beginning of the pits to die out during this time was the fact that the main customer, i.e. the Hoesch-Werke, moved their focus from Lendersdorf, Schevenhütte, Zweifallshammer etc. to the Ruhr area , which was just growing up .

Mining of smaller amounts of other ores over the centuries should also be mentioned, as is the mining of shale. Slate mining was best saved in the 20th century, while non-ferrous ore mining did not manage to do so in Großhau, as the pits in the “Molbach” mining area, ie between Straß / Horm and Maubach, were more productive. Slate and quarry stones were extracted by the population from countless small and very small quarries and pits throughout the Großhauer settlement area and the surrounding forest, in the construction years after the Second World War, until the 1960s and sometimes the 1970s, but lost with the general economic boom in Germany at that time, as well as the cubic styles and sensations of beauty that have prevailed everywhere since the 1960s, completely in importance. The previously so typical use of the distinctive slabs of slate, mostly standing vertically as borders for beds, lawns or paths in the garden, or horizontally as small dry stone walls to support the slope, etc., disappeared in favor of prefabricated concrete blocks. In contrast to these small amounts of slate and quarry stones, which were mostly only extracted for personal use and neighborhood help, in the late 20th century there were always significant amounts in the logging, so that the commercial logging, more or less continuously, over the past two millennia, and even made the leap into the 21st century.

Agriculture, cattle breeding and livestock farming became more and more important for the early settlers in the “Großhauer area” - over the millennia - and with every new logging, there were also new open spaces. The area "Ochsenbroich" has been handed down as an early area of livestock husbandry. It offered a safe water supply for animals and people through 2 water sources, Thönbach (old name: Thonbach) in the west and Geybach (old name: Waschbach, Mühlensief) in the east. Today this area is again in the forest, as the tree line was later moved further south.

While the Romans very clearly put their stamp on the Eifel foothills of the Cologne Bay during their long occupation, the Celtic origins have been preserved here in the “Großhauer Forest” to a particularly high degree. Typical examples are: To the west of the Glockenofen car park is the Eichberg, to the north begins the Kalversbergweg, between the street “Auf dem Hau” and the Rennweg is the “Ochsenbroich”, next to the Rennweg you will find the areas: Hüttenhau, Wolfsschlund and Krombroichen, deeper in Forest then woe, stomach pain ...

The knowledge of the Celts , which their scholars ( druids ) had imparted over centuries, was also preserved. It was passed down orally in verse from generation to generation. The "oak" (the oak forest) was sacred to the Celts and so individual areas with a high proportion of oak survived for a long time. The druids harvested, preferably from oaks , mistletoe (which can only be found very rarely on oaks) and a “cold extract” from their white or red berries in the “Weh-bach” (Weißer Weh-Bach / Roter Weh-Bach) , was considered a medicine against many ailments (pain). Even today it is still used in a variety of ways (from hemostatic to anti-inflammatory to use in complex organs such as the pancreas). The water from the “Bauchpein” brook, which was particularly rich in iron at the time, was used in a more targeted manner, it mainly helped against abdominal pain and heavy blood loss. But even the normal water of contractions found its special use in the case of blood loss, i.e. primarily after birth (after labor). Even today, iron-containing products are used specifically to support the regeneration of blood and similar concerns.

In the normal forest area, on the other hand, the trees were not granted old age, because except in the oak (west of the Glockenofen car park) and in the high forest (east of the Katzenknipp), the settlers had to work for a short time in order to find a livelihood here - in the disadvantaged highlands and also not to deprive their children of the basis of economic activity. For the Celts living here, forest management, or the combination of forest and field cultivation, became another important cornerstone for permanent settlement. Since the Celts, in contrast to the Romans, with their already well-developed written documentation system, recorded almost nothing in writing, but nevertheless every settler had to know exactly which area of the "Hau", for which type of use, was determined by the scholars of the clan, each area was given the name of its economic use. From this, the individual field names of Großhau and Kleinhau developed in modern times.

A Hau (e.g. Rahmhau, Hüttenhau) was a wooded area, which was divided into about 18 to 25 fields (hunting, parcels) and was farmed in alternation (e.g. in the old loft). A distinction is also made between the following types of strokes: broad strokes, narrow strokes, stripe and hem strokes, eyrie and hole strokes. Only one parcel was felled each year and consequently usable timber was available each year. These young trees brought the best charcoal, their bark the best tan, they were slender, flexible and created enough tension for the lining of the pits (round wells / mining shafts ...), they served as frame wood, just for everything with which you didn't need thick logs. A house was therefore a form of coppice forest management.

If the use of the house was changed later, there were often isolated, rather small, mostly strip-shaped coppice forest plots left and this coppice forest, since Großhau and Kleinhau are located in the western part of the country, was then referred to with the term Heck, Hecke, Hecken (honey hedge, row corner , Nüllheck, Roßhecke). In some cases, cleared coppice wood plots were also to be made available for cultivation for one or two years; they were then covered with fire after the timber had been removed. This form of combination was called fire or Rottwirtschaft (Im Brandt, Rott). Plots in which one wanted to cultivate tall trees were given the name Hochwald. Parcels that were not allowed to be cleared at all were given a name that was clearly understandable for every Celt, e.g. B. Eich or Eichberg.

In addition to knowledge of forest and field management or the healing powers of nature, the druids also had extensive knowledge in the field of geometry, mathematics and astronomy, as these were the actual basis for building their solar observatories and calendar systems. Its most important buildings, for example, show the typical orientations of the sun, the knowledge of which was so important for arable crops: the equinox, winter and summer solstice. If you now know the respective points of the sunrises on the horizon of the last two, namely the horizontal angle ( azimuth ) approx. 127 and 51 degrees, you get a usable calendar and the assumed arrangement of the most important streets in Großhau in the original settlement core. Since Großhau is already much more inhospitable than the low foreland due to its altitude, special emphasis was placed on precise knowledge of the sunrise on the 1st mild day of the year, horizontal angle approx. 63 degrees, 1st May ( Beltane ), as well as the Beginning of the harvest season, horizontal angle also approx. 63 degrees, ( Lughnasadh ) and the winter solstice, horizontal angle approx. 127 degrees, at least the only two old streets that meet in Großhau in the center of the village (at the church) are exactly in their horizontal orientation (Azimuth values) and there the big tusks celebrated the night of May 1st (Beltane) for a long time by setting up the “ maypole ” (called “Dorfmai”). For this purpose, all unmarried men (up to max. 30 years) of the village moved into the forest and cut down (felled) the "Dorfmai", an approximately 20 m high, straight tree, which was then brought to this place, to then in the May night - debarked and decorated - to be set up. Traditionally, a fire was lit until the next daybreak and the “May watch” was held at the “Dorfmai”. For years, however, the maypole has not been erected at the historic site, but in front of the old village school. With regard to the horizontal angle - the point of the actual sunrise in each case - you have to note that this typically always deviates from the calculated angle, because at the specific location, in addition to the refraction of light in the atmosphere, there are also significantly more decisive optical influences. At that time these were probably mainly the still high tree growth in the direction of Schafberg and Kleinhau, as well as the rise of the area from approx. 380 to 400 m in the direction of Kleinhauer Anhöhe ( 401.4 m above sea level ).

During the Second World War , Großhau was 90 percent destroyed in the fighting in the Hürtgen Forest ( All Souls' Battle ).

The attack on Großhau took place from the " Stolberg Corridor " and was experienced and documented by the war correspondent and later Nobel Prize winner for literature, Ernest Hemingway . Especially the hard-fought two bridges over the White Wehe, west of the "Golzenhoffnung" mine, should stay in his memory. He processed this in his work: Across the River and into the Trees / Over the river and into the woods . The individual stations of Hemingway can still be hiked on the "Hemingway Trail" today. The Hemingway Trail is designed as a circular hiking trail and starts and ends at the “Glockenofen” car park. At the same time, the American writer JD Salinger , who later became famous, was in the combat zone of the Huertgen Forest. He is said to have worked out the first six chapters of his later world success The Catcher in the Rye / The Catcher in the Rye here in the Hürtgen Forest. Heinrich Böll, who later won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and his wife Annemarie Böll also translated Salinger's texts. Böll owned a house in Großhau in the early 1980s.

Reorganization

On July 1, 1969, the formerly independent municipalities of Bergstein, Brandenberg, Gey, Großhau, Hürtgen, Kleinhau and Straß, administered in the Straß-Bergstein District Association, voluntarily merged to form the municipality of Hürtgenwald. As part of the local reorganization ( Aachen Law ), the municipality of Hürtgenwald was created in its current size on January 1, 1972.

economy

Großhau was a village of roofers and carpenters until the beginning of the 20th century . This is due to the slate deposits and the forest in the vicinity. The Holzköhlerei was another source of income. Charcoal and the brown iron ore , which was also extracted from Großhau, were brought to the surrounding smelting works , for example to Lendersdorf .

traffic

The federal highway 399 leads directly past the village . The place itself has no through traffic. Buses of the Busverkehr Rheinland GmbH (BVR) run through the town with line 286.

church

In the middle of the village is the Catholic parish church of St. Apollonia . The church building had to be almost completely rebuilt after the last war. As early as 1734, the place, which at that time belonged to the Bergstein parish , received approval to build a branch church . In 1804 Großhau became its own parish . After a lightning strike in 1857, the church was rebuilt for the second time in 1862.

Others

On the outskirts is the 120 m high Großhau telecommunications tower , which can be seen from afar. It is popularly known as the "Eifelhoer".
The old school now serves as a village community center.

Personalities

Theodor Kelter (1907–1982), architect

Web links

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

Website of the municipality of Hürtgenwald

Individual evidence

↑ http://www.huertgenwald.de
↑ Axel Gröblinghoff: Großhau - From old iron and forests to the horizon . 1995 (book CD).
↑ Georg Herbst i. v. m. Christian Brandt: A revision and re-evaluation . On behalf of the city of Düren, the works and bequests of Dr. August Voigt († 1974). Düren 1982.
↑ Hemingway Trail. Retrieved January 11, 2020 .
↑ Konejung Foundation: Culture i. V. m. Rureifel Tourism e. V. and community Hürtgenwald: Historical-literary hiking trails -44- Hemingway-Trail . (Leaflet, approx. 2009).
↑ Martin Bünermann: The communities of the first reorganization program in North Rhine-Westphalia . Deutscher Gemeindeverlag, Cologne 1970, p. 98 .
^ 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. 307 .

[1] ttp://www.huertgenwald.de

[2] Axel Gröblinghoff: Großhau - From old iron and forests to the horizon . 1995 (book CD).

[3] Georg Herbst i. v. m. Christian Brandt: A revision and re-evaluation . On behalf of the city of Düren, the works and bequests of Dr. August Voigt († 1974). Düren 1982.

[4] Hemingway Trail. Retrieved January 11, 2020 .

[5] Konejung Foundation: Culture i. V. m. Rureifel Tourism e. V. and community Hürtgenwald: Historical-literary hiking trails -44- Hemingway-Trail . (Leaflet, approx. 2009).

[6] Martin Bünermann: The communities of the first reorganization program in North Rhine-Westphalia . Deutscher Gemeindeverlag, Cologne 1970, p. 98 .

[7] 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. 307 .