Homberg (Efze)

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coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the city of Homberg (Efze)
Homberg (Efze)
Map of Germany, position of the city of Homberg (Efze) highlighted

Coordinates: 51 ° 2 '  N , 9 ° 24'  E

Basic data
State : Hesse
Administrative region : kassel
County : Schwalm-Eder district
Height : 222 m above sea level NHN
Area : 99.99 km 2
Residents: 14,001 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 140 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code : 34576
Area code : 05681
License plate : HR, FZ, MEG, ZIG
Community key : 06 6 34 009
City structure: 22 districts

City administration address :
Rathausgasse 1
34576 Homberg (Efze)
Website : www.homberg-efze.eu
Mayor : Nico Ritz (independent)
Location of the town of Homberg in the Schwalm-Eder district
Kassel Landkreis Fulda Landkreis Hersfeld-Rotenburg Landkreis Kassel Landkreis Marburg-Biedenkopf Landkreis Waldeck-Frankenberg Vogelsbergkreis Vogelsbergkreis Werra-Meißner-Kreis Knüllwald Homberg (Efze) Frielendorf Schwarzenborn (Knüll) Neukirchen (Knüll) Oberaula Ottrau Schrecksbach Willingshausen Schwalmstadt Gilserberg Jesberg Neuental Bad Zwesten Borken (Hessen) Morschen Malsfeld Wabern (Hessen) Felsberg (Hessen) Spangenberg Melsungen Körle Guxhagen Edermünde Gudensberg Niedenstein Fritzlarmap
About this picture
Marketplace from the northeast

The Reformation town of Homberg (Efze) is a small town with around 14,000 inhabitants and a district town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse . Its name comes from the Hohenburg on the basalt cone above the city.

geography

Homberg lies in the transition area between the West Hessian Basin - a Tertiary subsidence area - and the Knüll . The city itself extends over several hills, which mostly consist of basaltic subsoil. Coming from the Knüll, the Efze flows through Homberg , the drainage through this takes place via Schwalm and Eder to Fulda . There were fewer coal deposits in the immediate vicinity.

Neighboring communities

Homberg borders in the north on the municipality of Wabern , the town of Felsberg and the municipality of Malsfeld , in the east on the municipality of Knüllwald , in the south on the town of Schwarzenborn and in the west on the municipality of Frielendorf and the town of Borken (all in the Schwalm-Eder district) .

City structure

In addition to the core city, Homberg consists of the following districts:

As part of the regional reform in Hesse , the town of Homberg (Efze) initially joined forces on February 1, 1971 with the communities of Dickershausen, Holzhausen bei Homberg, Lützelwig, Mörshausen and Welferode, which Wernswig followed on October 1, 1971. Finally, on December 31, 1971, the communities Allmuthshausen (already consisting of the communities Allmuthshausen and Rückersfeld since September 1, 1968), Berge, Caßdorf, Hombergshausen, Hülsa, Lembach, Mardorf, Mühlhausen, Relbehausen, Rodemann, Roppershain, Sondheim, Steindorf came and Waßmuthshausen added. The administration is based in Homberg (Efze). A good 8,000 residents are spread across the core town of Homberg and a total of just under 6,000 across the suburbs.

Panoramic view from the Hohenburg

history

Homberg was founded by the Hessian-Thuringian landgraves and was first documented as a town in 1231. The name comes from Hohenburg , the castle above Homberg. The year 1231 can be assumed as the city's foundation year. In 1231 the burgenses von Homber and a vicillicus Eberhard were mentioned in a document . Landgrave Konrad and his successors continued to promote the city in order to secure and strengthen the landgrave's rule against the Archbishops of Mainz in neighboring Fritzlar . The Efzeaue already served as a strategic base on the Lange Hessen trade route (from Frankfurt to Leipzig) and the road from Fritzlar to Hersfeld. As early as 1231 there was talk of a twin town below the castle, with the old town as the upper town and the so-called freedom as the lower town. In 1269, Premonstratensian women from the Eppenberg monastery near Gensungen founded a monastery in Homberg, the St. Georg monastery .

From 1356 to 1536, freedom was an independent place with its own mayor, administration and church . The citizens surrounded the newly founded city with a wall ring made of local basalt up to two meters thick and, depending on the location, eight to ten meters high . 15 towers secured the fastenings. The upper town had three city ​​gates , the lower town two. In 1536 the town of Homberg and the district of Freiheit were connected by the New Gate, which is still preserved today.

The plague raged in Homberg from 1346 to 1349 .

The craft and trade town of Homberg flourished, wool trade and wool processing professions laid the foundation for the development of one of the wealthiest towns in the county. The guild letters of the shoemakers and tanners from 1345, the cooper and Wagner from 1404 and the linen weaver in 1428 prove the importance of the guilds in Homberg. A sign of this prosperity was the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the St. Mary's Church in 1340. Fires in 1318 and 1356 reduced the city to rubble. In 1372 freedom burned down.

The state parliaments of the Hessian estates took place in the town church in Homberg in 1508, 1509, 1514, 1518 and 1536 due to the easy accessibility. The Homberg Synod convened by Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous from October 20-22, 1526, marked a high point in Homberg's history when it was decided to introduce the Reformation in Hesse. The epithet Reformation City of Hesse refers to this event. In 1572 the state parliament met again in Homberg.

Historical city view by Matthäus Merian, 1655

The city burned down several times over the centuries. In the Thirty Years War , the castle and town of Homberg were destroyed in 1636 and 1640, with the exception of a few houses. The castle became a ruin.

Matthäus Merian the Younger wrote in 1655 in the Topographia Hassiae et regionum vicinarum : "Homberg / in Niederhesen / Schloss / Ampt / and Statt is one from the foremost places"

From 1783 to 1831 the place was the seat of the noble women's monastery Wallenstein . In 1807, the canton and peace court of Homberg was set up under French rule. In 1809 there was an uprising against Jérôme Bonaparte under the leadership of Wilhelm von Dörnberg von Homberg. In 1814 the Homberg Office was created, from which the Homberg District and the Homberg Justice Office emerged in 1821 . After the annexation of the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel , Homberg became the seat of a Prussian district administration and a district court in 1867. In 1932 the districts of Homberg and Fritzlar were merged to form the Fritzlar-Homberg district (renamed Fritzlar-Homberg district in 1939) and Homberg lost the seat of the district administration. With the Hessian territorial and administrative reform in 1974, Homberg became the district town of the new Schwalm-Eder district.

The official name of the city was Homberg, Kassel district . This was changed to Homberg on January 1, 1974 and finally to its current name Homberg (Efze) on January 1, 1977 . Two years later, the Hessentag was hosted in Homberg. The largest national festival in Germany attracted around 810,000 guests. However, the Hessentag left the city with a deficit of around EUR 3 million.

The East Prussia barracks existed until 2005.

The district court of Homberg (Efze) existed until 2006 . In 2014 the city was given the name Reformation City .

History of the castle

Lookout tower on the Hohenburg

Homberg was at the intersection of two historical trade routes, the road from Fritzlar via Homberg to Hersfeld and the Langen Hessen . Due to the location of the Schlossberg, a basalt cone rising steeply from the Efzeaue, the location was of great strategic importance.

The former Homberg Castle was probably built before 1190 by members of the von Homberg family. The Hohenberg (or Hohenberc) family, first mentioned in a document with Rentwich de Hohenberc in 1162, died in 1427 with Simon vom Hohen Berg. Around 1190 the castle was referred to as a landgrave. It was the official seat of the landgrave administration. Together with the city, the castle formed a unit.

In 1508 the brother of the Hessian landgrave, Archbishop Hermann IV of Cologne , owned the castle and had it extensively rebuilt. A bronze plaque that was found during excavation work at the castle bears the inscription: Herman von Gotzes mercy Erzbyschoff zu Colne, the holy romschyn rich through Ytalia, Ertzcantzler, Elector, Duke of West Valn and Engern, of the Abbey of Paderborn, Administrator A (nno ) 1508 . The bronze plate is in the Homberg local history museum . It is characterized by remarkable chasing work and is adorned with the archbishop's and landgrave's coat of arms.

Wappenstein on the Hohenburg

From 1605 to 1613, Landgrave Moritz had the re-exposed castle well built for 25,000 guilders (6100 Reichstaler), which is one of the deepest wells in Germany with a depth of 150 meters. If you take the fine gold content of the guilder during this time as a basis (0.245 grams), this sum corresponds to a gold nugget of over six kilograms. The Landgraves of Hessen-Kassel initially maintained neutrality during the Thirty Years' War until 1631. From 1634 the war was brought to Hesse. On July 16, 1636, the city of Homberg was occupied by imperial troops . The siege of the castle by General Johann von Götzen with an imperial army of 13,000 men was successfully repulsed. Another siege on August 3, 1636 led to the surrender of the castle and town due to insufficient water supply for the castle's occupants. The castle was sacked except for a few remaining buildings. Sergeant General Rabenhaupt besieged the castle from January 28th to 30th, 1648 and was able to recapture it for the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. On February 9, 1648 there was another surrender. The heavily damaged castle fell into disrepair over the centuries. Partly it was used as a quarry for the reconstruction of the likewise badly destroyed city of Homberg, so that many components of the former castle can still be found in the cityscape today.

urban planning

Like most German cities, Homberg is likely to have been laid out according to plan during the reign of the Staufers (1138–1254). Structural peculiarities in the townscape of Homberg indicate an urban planning that is not immediately recognizable. Homberg is actually a twin town, it consists of the old town, first mentioned in 1231, and freedom. Freedom was an independent city, it was founded in 1356 and united with the old town in 1536. The old town itself consisted of three Geburden ( confederation ). If you look at the city map, you can see the three main entrances to the city via the former gate entrances: Westheimer Tor, Obertor and Holzhäuser Tor.

The center and destination of all road connections is the market square , overlooked by the St. Mary's Church, which was formerly surrounded by the city's cemetery . The city does not have a regular floor plan. But there is one thing the city has in common with many other medieval city foundations, which is only recognizable at second glance: the medieval city planners used the deliberate curvature and relocation of intersections or junctions of streets and alleys when laying streets. In particular, the curvature of the road was used as an aesthetic means in the construction of today's Untergasse. The street space was visually limited by a curved street layout, a closed street space was created, at the end point a house pushed into the line of sight could be seen. In Untergasse, it was the town's former brewery , a corner building on Enten- and Untergasse. In Untergasse, the former street layout has disappeared as part of the urban redevelopment, it can only be recognized by the position of the houses or the view of the city.

The same effect was achieved when the town planners offset the side streets from one another or let them flow onto one of the main streets without a straight line. This clever planning avoided drafts. Another way to avoid drafts in cities was to move or protrude individual houses or street sections from the street axis. This urban planning trick can still be seen very clearly in the area of ​​Obere Westheimer Strasse. There was also such a jump in the area of ​​the lower Westheimer Straße, but it has disappeared over the centuries.

Incorporations

On February 1, 1971, in the course of the regional reform in Hesse, the previously independent communities Dickershausen, Holzhausen bei Homberg, Lützelwig, Mörshausen and Welferode were incorporated as districts of the city of Homberg, Kassel district. Wernswig was added on October 1, 1971. Allmuthshausen, Berge, Caßdorf, Hombergshausen, Hülsa, Lembach, Mardorf, Mühlhausen, Relbehausen, Rodemann, Roppershain, Sondheim, Steindorf and Waßmuthshausen followed on December 31, 1971.

politics

City Council

The local elections on March 6, 2016 produced the following results, compared to previous local elections:

Distribution of seats in the 2016 city council
      
A total of 37 seats
Parties and constituencies %
2016
Seats
2016
%
2011
Seats
2011
%
2006
Seats
2006
%
2001
Seats
2001
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 28.0 10 35.5 13 40.5 15th 45.5 17th
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 26.8 10 33.5 12 42.6 16 36.4 14th
FWG Free community of voters 24.0 9 15.0 6th - - - -
GREEN Alliance 90 / The Greens 7.4 3 11.3 4th 8.3 3 9.1 3
FDP Free Democratic Party 7.0 3 4.8 2 8.6 3 9.0 3
BL Homberg Citizen list Homberg 6.9 2 - - - - - -
total 100 37 100 37 100 37 100 37
Voter turnout in% 52.5 53.8 52.1 58.8

mayor

In the mayoral election on January 27, 2008, incumbent Martin Wagner (CDU) won the election with 54% of the votes, ahead of his opponent Marianne Hühn (SPD) with 46% of the votes. The turnout was 71.3%.

In the runoff election on June 15, 2014, Nico Ritz was chosen as his successor as an independent candidate with 63.3 percent against Markus Opitz (FWG), who received 36.7% with a turnout of 49.6%.

coat of arms

Homberg coat of arms
Blazon : “In blue above a striding, red-tongued and red-armored golden (yellow) lion; below two smaller, red-tongued and armored soaring golden (yellow) lions. "
Reasons for the coat of arms: The coat of arms was approved on December 19, 1968 by the Hessian Ministry of the Interior . The coat of arms is derived from seals from the 13th and 14th centuries, which already showed lions. The depiction of the colorful lion walking over three rocky peaks in the seal of the 14th century caused the misunderstanding, reinforced by contemporary scientific literature, that there were several lions. At first there are three and since the seal of 1639 only two young lions. This representation was also adopted by the heraldic books and finally by Otto Hupp , as the city itself recognizes them. From 1505 a coat of arms with three clover leaves was also shown, which is called the "real coat of arms".

Banner Homberg (Efze) .svg 00Banner: "The banner is blue and white striped lengthways with the coat of arms above the middle."

Town twinning

Homberg maintains a city ​​partnership with the following cities :

religion

The Catholic Christ Epheta Church with its 30 m high slender bell tower
The Protestant town church with the Kirchofslinde

Evangelical

The Protestant Homberg town church dates from the 13th century and is located on Marktplatz 15.

Catholic

The Catholic parish church of Christ Epheta was built in 1956/57. The Catholic community center is located at Kasseler Straße 6 / 6A next to the rectory and the parish church.

Jehovah's Witness

Jehovah's Witnesses have two churches in Homberg (Efze) (in German and Russian). Both churches meet in the Kingdom Hall at August-Vilmar-Straße 21. The two churches have around 150 members.

Culture and sights

Buildings

  • City center
City Church of St. Mary

Homberg an der Efze is one of the few cities that have largely retained their medieval city center with numerous historical buildings to this day. The copper engraving by Matthäus Merianansicht von Homberg / Efze shows the cityscape as it is reproduced in the Topographia Hassiae from 1655. Many of the buildings shown there still exist today. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the areas outside the city wall began to be settled.

From 2004 to 2007 the old town was extensively renovated. The market square was redesigned to a pedestrian zone.

The German Fairy Tale Route runs through Homberg .

  • Stadtkirche St. Marien
    The evangelical Homberg town church St. Marien from the 13th century has a special meaning within the Hessian Protestantism: In 1526 Landgrave Philipp the Magnanimous convened a synod in Homberg, which met in this church and marks the point in time when where the Landgraviate of Hesse became Protestant. That is why this church, which is one of the most important Gothic architectural monuments in northern Hesse, is called the Reformation Church of
    Hesse .
  • City fortifications
    The city of Homberg is surrounded by two separate, but almost intact city fortifications. The old town is surrounded by a city wall with a length of approx. 1800 meters. The height was six to eight meters, the thickness varies, on average it is two meters. The old town could be reached through three gates, the Westheimer Tor, the Holzhäuser Tor and the Obertor. The complex was secured by seven watchtowers, the Powder Tower, the Deep Tower and the former Bächtenturm, on the basis of which the Dörnberg Temple, a garden house, was built. In 1809 the building served as a meeting point for the conspirators against Jérôme Bonaparte around Wilhelm von Dörnberg . A map kept in the Heimatmuseum still shows a tower between the Powder Tower and the Westheim Tower, but this is not mentioned by name in the literature. The so-called little gate, which was reconstructed, served as the connecting gate to the castle. A moat provided further protection. On July 18, 2005, one of the foundation walls of the Westheimertorturm was found during construction work. Smoothly hewn sand or tuff stones were found over a foundation of basalt stones. Due to the thickness of the foundation walls, one can assume a huge structure.
The left picture shows the gate and tower of the western old town fortifications from a misprint according to Merian. You can see the double doors of the outer Westheimer Tor. The massive rectangular gate tower of the inner Westheimer Tor, the deep tower (still available today) and the submerged tower in the area of ​​the Bishop's House. The gate tower was not integrated flush with the city wall, but partially protruded from the city wall. The angular Obertorturm bordered directly on the office building and, after the engraving by Merian in 1655, showed similarities with the Westheimertorturm. The wooden house gate was secured by a bastion and a gate building. The formerly independent town " Die Freiheit " near Homberg, which was independent between 1356 and 1526 , had its own administration, clearly delimited from the outside by a city wall and two gates and four towers. In the course of urban development, the city fortifications were expanded to include the Vordere Westheimer Tor. In 1526 the New Gate was created on today's Wallstraße as a connecting gate between the old town and freedom.
  • Kirchhoflinde In
    front of the church there is a linden tree that is over 730 years old. Together with the church, the tree above the market square forms a picturesque ensemble. The local poet Heinrich Ruppel dedicated the poem Die Kirchhofslinde in Homberg to the linden tree out of gratitude for the money donated to preserve the tree after it had burned in the cavity. Erich Kaiser (local researcher and writer) also often mentioned the tree veteran in his writings. Due to its age and its location above the Schirnen, it is one of the historic trees in Germany that is of particular importance.
  • Schirnen, moving van and house under the churchyard linden tree
    The name "Schirn" is derived from the history of its location. In the eight Schirnen under the churchyard were the stalls set up in the Middle Ages, such as B. those of the butchers, bakers and a food stall. At the former location, the so-called Bäckerschirne, demolished at the beginning of 1820, a striking building was erected at the same place, which the Hombergers call the “furniture van”. The building to the right of the churchyard steps was erected in 1719 on the ruins of the former food stall. In 2018, renovation work began on two of the roofs and the historic window openings were removed in order to install glass fronts.
town hall
  • Town hall
    built in 1704 on the foundations of a previous building from the 15th century that was destroyed in the Thirty Years War. The tower was built after the Seven Years' War ; the weather vane dates from 1767. Next to the Gothic entrance on the stairs to Obertorstrasse is the Homberger Elle , a medieval unit of measurement 57.4 cm in length; it was important in the Thuringian region. The entrance to the Stadtkeller is on Obertorstrasse.
    There has been a carillon in the tower of the town hall since 1991. It sounds at 12:30 p.m. and in the evening at 5:45 p.m. No beautiful country rings throughout the year and the bells never ring sweeter at Christmas time . The initiative to set up the glockenspiel came from the mayor at the time, Horst Gunkel, and the mechanism was financed from donations. The Simbelschanze in front of the town hall was structurally changed in 1875. The name comes from a tax from the same year: the government had approved the collection of Simbeln to cover the increased expenses.
  • Engel-Apotheke
    , the largest half-timbered house on the market square, built on a rubble site in 1668, was a pharmacy from 1702 to 2012. After the renovation started in 2017, the House of Reformation and the Hohenberg Museum were opened in 2019 .
  • Five- window house
    From 1811 a
    window tax was levied in the Kingdom of Westphalia ; therefore the number of windows per floor was limited to five.
  • Krone
    half-timbered house from 1480, since 1721 an inn. Remarkable beams and roof construction, bay extensions from the 16th century.
  • Birthplace of the local poet Ludwig Mohr
    on the south side of the market square. Poet of the novel "Rot-Weiß", the theme is the Dörnberg revolt.
  • Weißer Hof
    half-timbered building of the Renaissance. The decoration with St. Andrew's cross is remarkable.
  • Lion
    House built in 1617. Coat of arms stone with staff and snake and a lion's head with the inscription LA1664 (Ofenstein) indicate the location of the lion's pharmacy. Valuable Renaissance portal .
  • Old school house or sacrificial man's house, barracks built in
    1750 as the home of the sacrificial man (sexton) of the neighboring church, the building also served as the first city school. In the immediate vicinity a Gothic building, formerly used as a barracks for the Hessian Jäger Battalion .
  • Wedding house
    Built in 1552. After the fire, the old town hall was used as the so-called new town hall. Later rectory, school and administration building, since 1952 Homberg's local museum .
  • Baumbachsch castle seat
    Built around 1543 as the castle seat of von Baumbach directly on the city wall, rented to the deaf-mute institution from 1840 to 1855, owned by the Evangelical Lutheran parish since 1873.
  • Leimbach House
    A striking corner house with a Gothic entrance portal.
  • Bischofsches Haus
    Ancestral seat of the Bishop wool trading family, built on remains after the Thirty Years' War. Renaissance bay window, house sign of the bishop (bishop's staff) and his wife, b. Scheffer (three-legged).
  • Haus Klüppel
    Seat of the Homberg District Office until 1891, on the side of Bischofstrasse sandstone figures from the former cellar entrance of a neighboring house.
  • Former brewery
    In the city's archives there are various names for the brewery in Untergasse, at the corner of Entengasse. In 1665 there was talk of a small brewery where a well was set. From 1730 the old or lower brewery was reported because another brewery had been built in the meantime. In 1676 the house was partially destroyed by fire. With the introduction of the freedom of trade in 1869, the Homberg beer fair came to an end. The city sold the brewery to the tenant Zickendraht, who brewed beer for another 15 years. The car manufacturer Wilhelm Ulrich is named as another owner. In 1918 he sold it to the carter Aubel, who converted it into a house in its current form.
  • Stadtpark Alter Friedhof
    Burial site since 1580, today a park with historical grave monuments from Homberg personalities, including Minister Julius Rhode, Mayor Winter, Prof. Wilhelm Volckmar. Tomb of the abbesses Marianne Freiin vom und zum Stein and Charlotte von Gilsa as well as
    Justice of the Peace Martin - people who played a major role in the preparations for the Dörnberg revolt under Wilhelm von Dörnberg against Jérôme Bonaparte in 1809 . On January 27, 2010 the previous designation Alter Friedhof was changed to Stadtpark - Alter Friedhof .
  • Christ Epheta Church
    consecrated in 1957. The draft plan is based on a circle with the altar in the center. Three-tier dome over the apse. 12 windows in the front stand for the 12 apostles, tower 30 m high. Mosaic design by Gerhard Dechant: Christ heals two deaf and dumb children. Four-part bronze bells from 1961 in the notes f′-g′-b′-c ″.
  • Former teachers '
    college The Prussian government had the new royal teachers' college built below the connective path. The training facility had previously existed for 44 years in the old teachers' college in freedom. The red brick building was generously designed and was considered the most modern building of its kind in Prussia at the time. The building consisted of a wide central wing in which the classrooms, specialist rooms, auditorium and administration were housed. The director and several seminar teachers lived in the extended side wings. In 1925 the teacher training college was closed and the building was initially used as a secondary school. Today the entire building complex is used by the Theodor Heuss School.
  • Freedom District founded
    by Landgrave Heinrich II in 1356 , separated from the old town by the city wall ring, with its own mayor, town hall, church and fortifications. 1536 End of self-employment.
  • The New Gate
    1536 as a connection between the city and the new district of Freiheit, broken gate passage.
  • Wallenstein's monastery building
    Built around 1550, since 1616 castle seat. The free aristocratic women's monastery Wallenstein was founded by Baroness Maria Amalia von Schlitz, called von Görtz, a born baroness von Wallenstein. In her will, she suspended a sum of money and the house in Homberg for a foundation. Hessian fräuleins and noble, Protestant widows should be admitted according to the decision of the Hessian government and have their residence in Homberg. Emperor Franz I had confirmed the foundation. On October 31 and November 1, 1783, the monastery was established in accordance with a decision of the Imperial Court Council dated July 25, 1783, after this had been delayed by inheritance disputes. The first abbess was Henriette Sophie Christine Rau von Holzhausen, who held the office until August 9, 1796. From October 18, 1796 to April 7, 1822, Charlotte Christine Wilhelmine von Gilsa headed the monastery, followed by Marianne Freiin vom und zum Stein from August 16, 1823 to November 7, 1831. Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom Stein was from December 29 1801 until his appointment as Prussian minister in November 1804 director of the monastery. During the Napoleonic occupation, assets and sources of income were withdrawn from the monastery. In the alleged participation in the Dörnberg uprising, an excuse was found to take action against the monastery. Baron Wilhelm von Dörnberg , who was a friend
    of the canons , went in and out of the monastery. Gilsa's canoness was imprisoned until she was acquitted in late August 1809. Dechantin vom Stein was brought to Paris until she returned to Homberg via Leipzig and Diez in 1810. It was not until March 15, 1814, that the monastery was restored by Elector Wilhelm I and the monastery property was returned as far as possible. In 1832 the monastery was moved to Fulda . There the so-called Harstallsche Haus Palais Buseck could be purchased, which corresponded to the spatial requirements of the canons. In 1992 the formerly independent Wallenstein Abbey was merged with the Knighthood of Althessia. After the monastery was moved to Fulda, the building was used as a residential building for the teachers of the teachers' college.
  • Hospital of the Holy Spirit
    Founded in 1368 by Priest Heinrich Bischoff for the benefit of the poor and sick. The new building, which separates from the old building, was demolished in December 2007 and is now being completely rebuilt. On the preserved building there is an inscription with the following wording:

“M tria C anno sexagesimo minus anno (1368) Presbyter Henricus Bischoff cognomine dictus Ecclesiam struxit, altaria quinquedotavit Ad Christii laudem cunctis aegrisque solanem. Hic sibi retinuit conferre, quot ipse dotavit, Jus patronatus haeredibus attulit actus. "

“In 1369, less than a year
, the priest Henrich, nicknamed Bishop,
built the church, donated five altars to praise Christ and to comfort all the sick.
He reserved the right to determine as much as he contributed.
He transferred the right of patronage to his heirs. "

  • Gothic House
    Oldest Homberg house, built around 1425.
  • Haus Holzhäuser Strasse, corner of Webergasse
    House from the 16th century, in the wall to Webergasse sandstone sculpture, angel with sword; Plastic comes from the old district court.
  • Former Jewish prayer room (Webergasse)
    The prayer room of the Jewish citizens was located in this building.
  • Baumbach castle seat at Obertor
    Above the entrance portal the family coat of arms with a lying crescent moon and two stars, original baroque entrance portal, the basement level changed in the 19th century.
  • Windmill
    Former city fortifications in front of the former wooden house gate.
  • Stadthalle built between
    1909–1911 as a Stadtpark restaurant . Restored after decades of misappropriation, used as a town hall since 1991. Awarded the Hessian Monument Protection Prize . Remarkable Art Nouveau architecture.
  • Hermann-Schellt-Schule
    School for the deaf and hearing impaired. 1912 Inauguration of the school building, which is still in use today.
Medieval farm building
View of Westheimer Strasse with two rediscovered examples of Homberg's historic water supply
  • Hohlebach-Mühle
    first mentioned in 1415, restored in 1992. Mill wheel with a diameter of five meters. The Hohlebachmühle lies with the other Homberg mills on a company ditch. The work was driven by a Zuppinger waterwheel with a diameter of 4.80 m and a width of 1.10 m, which was renewed in 1901 and 1949 ; the usable power was a maximum of 8.5 HP = 6.25 kW. The water wheel was renewed in the course of the renovation in the late 1980s. A roller mill , a grinder , a cleaning and a threshing and forage cutting machine were operated. The calibration pile protocol was drawn up on Aug. 18, 1856. Then the water power was used by three undershot water wheels; two grinding cycles and one beating cycle were operated. The precipitation area for the plant is 87 km². The operating trench is 550 m long and the lower trench is 280 m long. The Hohlebachmühle has been shut down as a grinding mill.
  • Outbuilding from the late Middle Ages
    This is an outbuilding from the late Middle Ages that was used for agricultural or commercial purposes. The house is on a lane between Pfarrstrasse and Bergstrasse, with the gable facing Bergstrasse. The overall construction of the house, which has not yet been dendrochronologically dated, points to the 2nd half of the 15th century. A similar building was in Marburg , but fell victim to the demolition. The floors were used as storage and storage rooms. The ground floor is divided into two halves by a central wall that was later inserted. The upper floor and the attic have no interior walls. There are no references to original subdivisions.
    The building is accessed through three entrances: a door on the east eaves to the ground floor from the courtyard side, an opposite door on the west eaves from the street, and a door on the north gable to the upper floor. A ladder leads to the attic. In the compartments of the gable triangle, the original wall core made of woven clay is still present. During the construction, triangular holes were pressed into the still moist clay surface with a pointed trowel. This is the so-called shed plaster, which in northern Hesse is still preserved in its original form in a house built in 1452 in Bad Hersfeld , so that the wall design is still medieval. The renovation of the building began in 2008.
  • Fountains and cisterns
    During the renovation of Westheimer Straße in 2006, two examples of historical water supply that had long been believed to be lost were rediscovered and reconstructed. The so-called wheel fountain can be seen in the foreground of the picture; A cistern has been reconstructed on the Besenmarkt in the background.
  • St. Wendel, built in
    1274 south of the city at the foot of the Schmückeberg, was the special St. Wendelin hospital with chapel and mill. The last leprosy patient was mentioned in 1652 . The building later served as an epidemic house and shelter for the homeless. The crumbling building complex was demolished in 1786. The leper house belonged to the dense network of a total of 68 places and 71 leper houses with a very even distribution over today's Hesse.
  • Artworks
    On May 19, 2005, Christina Fiand and Ernst Groß set up a joint project on Wallstrasse. The sculpture Die Stelzengänger was commissioned by the city of Homberg and the Kraftstrombezuggenossenschaft (KBG). Three carved figures on stilts over six meters high look curiously over the city wall on Wallstrasse. They are intended to arouse the curiosity of passers-by and passers-by about the city of Homberg and encourage them to look behind the walls of the city. The same artists created a work of art in front of the district building of the Schwalm-Eder district above the park Der Alte Friedhof as well as the "Heckengucker" opposite the town hall Homberg.

Museums

Homberg has four museums and a local history archive.

  • Fire Brigade Museum
  • Local history museum in the wedding house
  • Hohenburg Museum and House of Reformation in the former Engel pharmacy
  • Local history archive

Sports

The sporty figurehead of Homberg is the 1st women's team in the table tennis department of the Homberg gymnastics club , which was one of the major players in German table tennis . After withdrawing from the women's second division, the team will only start in the top division in the 2009/10 season. The greatest team success so far is winning the European ETTU Cup on March 31, 2006 with Wenling Tan Monfardini , Zhenqi Barthel and Yin Na. Opponent in the final was 3B Berlin .

Zhenqi Barthel from the Homberger Turnerschaft won the individual title at the 74th National German Championships in Minden in 2006. She also won mixed with her doubles partner, youth world champion Patrick Baum . In doubles she was third together with Desirée Czajkowski (Watzenborn-Steinberg).

Homberg is located on the Löwenweg hiking trail as a section of Hessenweg 2, on the Lange Hessen section of the Jakobsweg and is the starting point of the high-altitude hiking trail to Bad Hersfeld .

Regular events

On the first weekend in August, the city celebrates the Homberg Wine Festival in the Alter Friedhof city park.

On three to five days around St. Nicholas Day, the Christmas market known as the “Clobesmarkt” takes place on the city's historic market square.

The open-air festival music reserve has been taking place in the Hombergshausen district on the Ascension weekend since 2004 .

Economy and Infrastructure

Various logistics service providers such as the headquarters of the Danish bed warehouse are based in Homberg . Various forwarding companies such as CTL Logistics , Rauter Spedition or S. t. a. R. Logistik are located in the industrial area. The Ehring company also produces children's furniture in the industrial area. The company AKH (Antriebstechnik KATT Hessen GmbH) is a manufacturer of special electric motors .

Authorities

  • Seat of the district administration of the Schwalm-Eder district
  • Office for Soil Management as part of the Hessian Administration for Soil Management and Geoinformation (HVBG)
  • THW - Federal Agency for Technical Relief, Homberg Local Association (founded in April 1953)
  • Headquarters of the Bundeswehr Service Center Homberg (Efze)

The district court of Homberg (Efze) existed until December 31, 2004 . Its tasks are performed today by the Fritzlar District Court.

schools

The city has nine schools in seven school types.

  • Federal President Theodor Heuss School (grammar school)
  • Erich-Kästner-Schule (secondary and secondary school with support level)
  • Reichspräsident-Friedrich-Ebert-Schule (vocational schools of the Schwalm-Eder district in Fritzlar and Homberg)
  • Stellbergschule (elementary school)
  • Osterbachschule (elementary school)
  • Matthias Claudius School (elementary school in the Wernswig district)
  • Elsa Brandström School (School for Learning Assistance)
  • Anne Frank School (special school for the practically imaginable)
  • Hermann-Schaff-Schule (school for the hearing impaired and visually impaired with a department for learning assistance)

Other educational institutions

  • Knüll wildlife park in the Schwalm-Eder district
  • Adult education center in the Schwalm-Eder district
  • City library with 10,000 titles

Children's and youth facilities

A city youth council has been set up for political participation. A youth center is available.

  • Youth center in the old gas works in Davidsweg (renovation 2015)

Nine kindergartens are available in the city and its districts.

  • Municipal kindergartens (the kindergartens “Holzhäuser Feld” and “Osterbach” in the city center, kindergarten “Phantasien” in the Wernswig district and kindergartens in the Holzhausen and Hülsa districts)
  • Church kindergartens (Protestant kindergarten "Katterbach", Catholic kindergarten)
  • Kindergartens of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (in the districts of Caßdorf and Mardorf)

Seniors and care facilities

  • AWO -Altenzentrum Homberg (Workers' Welfare)
  • Papillon senior residence
  • Retirement home Moritz-Weinrich-Haus (Caritas)
  • Nursing home "St. Marien "Homberg (Caritas)

Other social facilities

There are various support and contact points available for people with disabilities and for people at risk of becoming disabled.

  • AKGG early support - advice center for early help in the Schwalm-Eder district (for infants, toddlers and kindergarten children with a suspected development risk, existing developmental abnormalities or disabilities)
  • Accompanied living in families (Psychosocial Center Schwalm-Eder-Nord)
  • Assisted living for people with mental disabilities (Psychosocial Center Schwalm-Eder-Nord)
  • Psychosocial contact and counseling center (Psychosocial Center Schwalm-Eder-Nord)
  • Social therapeutic residential facility and workshop for disabled people "Batzenmühle" in the Wernswig district (Hephata Diakonie; for people with addictive disorders)
  • Day care center (St. Elisabeth Association in the Oikos Social Center, Psychosocial Center Schwalm-Eder-Nord)

media

The Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine is the only daily newspaper with a regional section that appears in Homberg . The official journal Homberg aktuell and the regional newspaper Homberger Anzeiger are distributed weekly to all Homberg households.

traffic

Homberg (Efze) station (1970)

Homberg belongs to the North Hessian Transport Association .

The city is on the federal highway 254 , from which the federal highway 323 branches off. The latter connects Homberg with the Homberg (Efze) junction of the federal motorway 7, which is located in the neighboring municipality of Knüllwald .

The Leinefelde – Treysa railway , a section of the Kanonenbahn , ran via Homberg. The tracks on the Treysa – Homberg section are still available, but passenger traffic was discontinued in 1981 and freight traffic in 2002.

Personalities

Honorary citizen of the city

  • Horst Gunkel, retired mayor D.
  • Helmut Blau, retired mayor D.
  • Jürgen Monstadt, long-time member of the magistrate and the city council

On March 28, 1933, Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring were granted honorary citizenship of the city of Homberg. Although this ends with death and it had already been withdrawn from war criminals after the decision of Directive 38 of the Allied Control Council in Germany of October 12, 1946, in January 2009 it was discussed that Hitler and Göring formally the honorary citizenship of the city of Homberg in a symbolic act to withdraw. The city parliament officially recognized the honorary title on January 22, 2009.

sons and daughters of the town

People associated with the city

literature

Web links

Commons : Homberg  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Homberg (Efze)  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. Hessian State Statistical Office: Population status on December 31, 2019 (districts and urban districts as well as municipalities, population figures based on the 2011 census) ( help ).
  2. The magistrate of the district town Homberg (Efze): Mayor. Retrieved May 5, 2020 .
  3. a b Hessian Ministry of the Interior and for Sport: Awarding a designation in accordance with Section 13, Paragraph 2, Clause 2 of the Hessian Municipal Code to the district town of Homberg (Efze), Schwalm-Eder district ; State Gazette for the State of Hesse No. 11/2014 page 237 of March 10, 2014.
  4. a b Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality register 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. 391-393, 415 .
  5. www.hessentag2008.de.
  6. Homberg Efze currently . Volume 18, March 26, 2009.
  7. ^ Municipal reform: mergers and integration of municipalities from January 20, 1971 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1971 No. 6 , p. 248 , item 328, paragraph 55 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 6.2 MB ]).
  8. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 6, 2016. Hessian State Statistical Office, accessed in April 2016 .
  9. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 27, 2011
  10. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 26, 2006
  11. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: direct elections in Homberg
  12. ↑ Mayoral election in Homberg: Nico Ritz is the clear winner. In: HNA. June 15, 2014, accessed June 15, 2014 .
  13. Stadler, Klemens, Deutsche Wappen, Volume 3, Bremen 1967, p. 52
  14. Approval of a coat of arms for the municipality of Homberg, district of Kassel, district of Fritzlar-Homberg, administrative district of Kassel from December 19, 1968 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1969 No. 2 , p. 50 , point 43 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 5,7 MB ]).
  15. https://apps.jw.org/ui/X/meeting-search.html#/weekly-meetings/search/any/Homberg%20(Efze),%20Deutschland/51.031435,9.412724/
  16. Start of the new museum: Homberger Hohenburg Museum opens in Engelapotheke. In: HNA. March 14, 2019, accessed April 6, 2020 .
  17. Castle Museum
  18. ^ Bettina Toson: Medieval hospitals in Hesse between Schwalm, Eder and Fulda. Hessian Historical Commission Darmstadt and Historical Commission for Hesse, Darmstadt and Marburg, 2012, ISBN 978-3-88443-319-5 .
  19. Museums . Magistrate of the city of Homberg (Efze). Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  20. Homberger table tennis ladies play next season in the league , HNA online May 27 in 2009.
  21. ^ Homberg (Efze) »Wine Festival. Retrieved December 7, 2019 .
  22. ^ Homberg (Efze) »Clobesmarkt. Retrieved December 7, 2019 .
  23. ^ History of the Homberg District Court . Fritzlar District Court. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  24. Education is very important in Homberg . Magistrate of the city of Homberg (Efze). Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 18, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.homberg-efze.eu
  25. Our youth centers . Magistrate of the city of Homberg (Efze). Accessed December 2018.
  26. child care . Magistrate of the city of Homberg (Efze). Accessed December 2018.
  27. Supra-local social assistance - for people with mental disabilities . State Welfare Association of Hesse. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  28. Supra-local social assistance - for people with intellectual disabilities . State Welfare Association of Hesse. Archived from the original on July 7, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  29. ^ M. Apel, A. Bernhard: Late memory. In: mb-media , January 8, 2009.