Herzogskreuz (Oftersheim)
The Herzogskreuz in Oftersheim in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a historic stone cross that was converted into a boundary stone between Oftersheimer Gemeindewald and Schwetzinger Hardt in the 18th century .
history
The origins of the stone cross at the intersection of the old postal route from Oftersheim to Sandhausen and the old Speyerer Straße to Heidelberg are unknown. As with most ancient stone crosses, it is believed that the cross was erected on the site of calamity or murder. Old church registers from the time before 1700, which could possibly still provide information about the occasion, are no longer available in Oftersheim. Two traditions have been handed down in the local treasure trove: either someone is said to have been murdered near the cross or a duke is said to be buried there. According to a wooden plaque in a nearby forest named after the cross, an assassination attempt on Landgrave Wilhelm III is said to be here in 1498 . have been perpetrated by Hessen .
After the elector had confirmed the forest ownership of the community of Oftersheim in 1698, the community forest was marked off from the stately forest in Schwetzinger Hardt in 1702. The stone cross was used as a boundary stone.
All the inscriptions on the cross date from the time it was used as a boundary stone. On the side facing Oftersheim there is the Oftersheim snake with the year 1702 and the boundary stone number 30. On the side facing the state forest there is the inscription RPN / VIR / 1778 / CP . The upper inscription probably once read RENO / VIRT , which refers to the renewed border survey in 1778. CP stands for the Churpfalz . In addition, the boundary stone number 41 was once visible on the side facing the state forest, the cross was the 41st of a total of 228 boundary stones in the state forest. On the end side of the left cross bar is the abbreviation UH for Untere Hardt (ie the neighboring forest area Schwetzingen), on the right end side an abbot's staff symbolizes the adjoining property of the Schönau monastery . Finally, there is a notch at the top of the cross that indicates the direction of the boundary marked by the cross.
In the forest management renewal of the Schwetzinger Hardt of 1848, the boundary stone No. 41 is described in detail. Another historical description comes from Forstmeister a. D. Freiberger from 1924. In the latter description, the stone cross had a visible height of 100 centimeters, of which the height from the floor to the transom was 48 cm. The cross was also about 50 cm in the ground.
In the Second World War there were officers' barracks at a Wehrmacht military training area near the stone cross. Looting took place there in the turmoil of the last days of the war. The stone cross was also smashed at that time. The remains lay at the edge of the forest for a while before the upper part of the cross was erected on its current short concrete base.
literature
- Karl-Heinz Söhner: From stone cross to boundary stone - The meaning of the ducal cross of Oftersheim lies in the darkness of history , in: Kurpfälzer Winzerfestanzeiger , edition 2011, p. 90.
Web links
http://www.suehnekreuz.de/bw/oftersheim.htm
Coordinates: 49 ° 20 ′ 53.2 " N , 8 ° 37 ′ 36" E