Karlburg

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Karlburg
City of Karlstadt
Coat of arms on Karlburg
Coordinates: 49 ° 58 ′ 39 ″  N , 9 ° 45 ′ 37 ″  E
Height : 163 m
Residents : 1991  (Jan. 1, 2020)
Incorporation : May 1, 1978
Postal code : 97753
Area code : 09353

Karlburg , also known locally as Kalleberch , is a district of Karlstadt . The settlement, which has retained its village character to this day, is located opposite the city on the left bank of the river north of Karlsburg . However, Karlburg was much more important in the early and high Middle Ages. According to a legend, even Karl Martell and his grandson Charlemagne were born here.

The Karlburger Tal in May 2005
Karlburg in the early evening of March 3, 2006

Location and topographical situation

It is a very convenient and convenient location in the Franconian old settlement area. The main valley widens there to a flat basin rising to the west. Important roads to the centers of the Frankish-Carolingian Empire ran along the Main and in a west-east direction. They crossed the river in two fords about two kilometers apart. The complex of castle and settlement formed the last stop on the way up the Main to Würzburg, the former seat of Duke Heden and episcopal city since 742 . Another day's journey is the Neustadt am Main monastery downstream and Hammelburg to the north . This shows the important position of Karlburg on the way through what was then East Franconia.

The settlement belonging to Karlsburg was located below the mountain spur, less than a kilometer away, in the valley on one of the two fords. Excavations and aerial photos showed that the early and high medieval settlement was much larger than today's Karlburg. It extended in a northerly and especially in a southerly direction on a flat, flood-free ridge along the banks of the Main, about 1.4 kilometers long and an average of 130 meters wide (maximum 200 meters) and took up an area of ​​about 20 hectares. The area of ​​today's place formed the center with the Marienkloster and the ship piers, as archival studies, historical and archaeological research have shown. Topographically, it is characterized by an elevation and the location on the former Mainfurt.

The archaeological site surveys and the excavations since 1989

From 1986, the Karlstadt Archaeological Working Group first drew attention to rich early and high medieval finds that they were able to recover during scheduled site surveys.

The first smaller emergency excavation was necessary in the spring of 1990 due to the expansion of the shooting range. In 1991/92 a preventive test excavation was carried out in advance of planned development measures south of today's location in the “Flur In der Au”. In 1993/94 excavations were carried out in the town center for the first time after a building was demolished. The 30 by 14 m large excavation area, which directly adjoined the Church of St. John, primarily provided information on high and late medieval buildings. In 1994 there were also two smaller construction observations in the corridor “Krautgarten” to the north and in the center of the settlement area. In 1996/97 the approximately one hectare area for a new development area on the northern edge of today's village was examined.

Due to the construction of a bypass road with a new Main Bridge, large-scale rescue excavations south of the Karlburg district were necessary again in 2002. From April 2002 to May 2003, employees of the Würzburg branch of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation examined a strip about 135 m long and 12 m wide in the future road route. They were supported by many voluntary excavation helpers from the surrounding area of ​​Karlstadt and students from the Department of Prehistory and Protohistory of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena .

However, the previous excavations only covered a small section of the villa . With the rescue excavations in 2002/03, only around ten percent of at least ten hectares of potentially explorable settlement area have so far been investigated.

The results of these excavations were shown from August 12 to November 16, 2008 in the exhibition "A world in motion - On the way to the centers of the Middle Ages" in the Main Franconian museums in Würzburg . This was a joint exhibition about the two places Karlburg and Ballhorn near Paderborn, which were important in the Middle Ages .

history

Prehistory, times of the emperors and the migration of peoples

In particular, the archaeological finds discovered on Heidenrain and Gnockenweg as well as some Neolithic barrows point to the very early settlement of the Karlburger valley. In the vicinity of Karlsburg , isolated finds from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic times have even been made. Barrows from the Bronze Age around 1000 BC were also found near today's village. Found.

Many objects from the early Iron Age were uncovered in the Karlburg Valley north of the cemetery and in the Au further south . They confirm the Celtic settlement of the Karlburg Valley. In addition to prehistoric finds from the Bronze and Iron Ages that appear on almost all areas , particular attention should be drawn to finds from the northern area of ​​the settlement dating from the times of the emperors and migrations . However, the extent of the prehistoric settlement and its importance for the emergence and development of the Karlburg settlement complex cannot yet be precisely determined.

Significance of the settlement in the early and high Middle Ages

With many years of archaeological research in Karlburg, it was possible for the first time in Lower Franconia to record at least some of the structural elements of a royal court. Here there was a complex of hilltop castle, valley settlement and monastery. The settlement ensured the supply of the politically important castle, which in return offered protection to the Marian monastery and the settlement.

The unusually large valley settlement shows continuous settlement from the end of the 6th century to the middle of the 13th century . It consisted of a monastery, port facilities, a craft and commercial area with pit houses in the eastern part and an area with ground-level post construction as residential houses or stables or barns to the west of it. This made it much more than just a “bailey moved into the valley” or a mere farm yard. It was a supraregional important central place or trading and transshipment point, which allows comparisons with early urban facilities or developments in the early medieval Baltic Sea area, with West Franconian monasteries or Carolingian-Ottonian royal courts and palaces.

Late Merovingian period

The excavation west of the parish church in 1993/94 yielded individual ceramic finds from the end of the 6th century. According to this, it is the oldest known settlement core. The area was definitely built up in the 7th century. Finds from this period are also available from excavations and prospecting in the areas adjoining to the north and south and prove the intensive use of the site. In the southeastern area facing the Main, there was an area mainly used for handicrafts, as indicated by semi-finished products , tools, casting molds , slag and two mine houses. On the other hand, settlement and post pits were found in the western part , which point to a ground-level development with stables, storage facilities, barns and residential buildings. This separation of functions , initially only documented in a small excavation section, remained in the later periods of use. The same distinction between two differently used areas apparently existed in the northern area of ​​the villa .

Carolingian period

The first mention of Karlburg in 742 is directly related to the establishment of the diocese of Würzburg. The Carolingian caretaker Karlmann gave the diocese founded by Bonifatius not only 25 royal own churches, but also a Marian monastery with associated goods and rights in the villa Karloburgo, of which three later confirmation documents report. In a second donation in the same context, King Pippin the Younger gave the first Würzburg bishop Burkard the castle and royal court with the associated fiscal district and all income to be derived from it ( castellum ... Karloburg ... cum fisco regali ) in 751/53 . By the middle of the 8th century at the latest, there was a central place with fortifications, a royal court and a monastery, which was initially in royal hands or the Carolingian caretakers and was only then handed over to the diocese. The historical news marks Karlburg as an important central place in the early medieval history of Main Franconia. In the Marienkloster ( monasterium in honore sanctae Mariae ) moved from Würzburg to Karlburg lived and worked in Würzburg from 700 as abbess Immina, the daughter of the last Thuringian Duke ( dux ) Heden des Younger to reside in Würzburg . After her death in 750 she was buried in the monastery church, which, according to legend, was founded by St. Gertrude von Nivelles (626–659) (Passio sancti Kiliani maior, 9th century and Vita sancti Burkardi, 12th century).

After that, the written sources are silent for a long time. In 1133 a Heinrich was first recorded as noster ministerialis de Karlburg ; until 1245 another five Ministeriale de Karlburg are mentioned. Around 1200, the city of Karlstadt was founded on the opposite side of the Main by Bishop Konrad von Querfurt (1198–1202). At the same time, the importance of the old settlement began to decline compared to the new foundation. During the Rieneck feud, a dispute between the Würzburg monastery and the Counts of Rieneck, a local noble family, the valley settlement was destroyed in 1236. The Marienkloster, which was donated to the diocese of Würzburg in 741/42, is based on archival sources, the presumed constancy of the sacred sites and archaeological evidence on an area of ​​150 × 45-80 m between the current parish church, which has been occupied since 1133, and the south-eastern edge of the late medieval one Presumed local development. The narrower monastery area was not in the area investigated in 1993, but is not far from it. This is particularly clear from reading finds from the south-western and southern surroundings of this area, which indicate monastic life and an associated monastery school: the fragment of a 15 mm thick porphyrite plate of Mediterranean origin, probably part of a portable altar; a gilded bronze trim with a three-pass-shaped braided ribbon pattern and red glass inlays, which may have belonged to a reliquary or a Codex binding, and a fragment of the comb with carved Latin letters.

Based on maps from the 19th century, it is also assumed that shipping docks to the east of the core settlement already existed in Carolingian times. Here an artificial bay was probably created as a port with an area of ​​400 × 75 m. Archaeological evidence is still pending.

Ottonian-Early Salian period

In the period marked by the Hungarian invasions and various noble feuds, the conditions remained largely unchanged according to the archaeological results. It is uncertain whether the monastery still existed in the core area. During this troubled time, the six hectare central area in today's town center was fortified with a high degree of certainty. Presumably at the same time as the second fortification was built on the castle, a 7–8 m wide and 3 m deep pointed trench was dug here, perhaps supplemented by an analogous simple earth wall.

Salian-Staufer period

There was a fundamental change in the structure of the settlement. In the core area, only 1.50 m west of today's church, a small castle with a stone residential tower was built around 1100 . The residential tower with a rectangular area of ​​11.90 × 10.30 m was surrounded by a 3 m wide and approx. 2 m deep trench. In addition to the stone construction, there were at least two other wooden buildings, as well as pit houses and other things. This castle is most likely the seat of the noster ministerialis de Karlburg , first mentioned in 1133, i.e. a small ministerial castle .

In the outdoor areas of the villa , use and development continued, but a reduction in the number of finds and findings and thus of the settlement area used can already be determined for the western area. The settlement of the entire area ended according to evidence of the finds in the first half of the 13th century. A fire horizon in the youngest mine house indicates a violent end. Here, the findings coincide with the written records that Karlburg was destroyed in the Rieneck feud in 1236. After that, the settlement was only rebuilt in the core area to a reduced extent and on a square, right-angled structure. The areas to the south and north of today's village were given up, and around half of the former settlement area fell into desolation. The loss of importance is due, on the one hand, to the previous destruction; on the other hand, the settlement focus had gradually shifted to the right bank of the Main River with the foundation of the city of Karlstadt around 1200.

The function of the settlement and its relationship to the castle

The function of the settlement consisted of supplying the inhabitants of the castle with animal and vegetable food and products of daily use (textiles, handicraft products made of metal and bone, etc.) and probably also providing building materials and workers for the construction work in the castle. Interesting conclusions were drawn from the analysis of animal bones, according to which a higher proportion of game animals was consumed in the castle than in the valley. The residents of the castle had a higher social rank and thus had time, rights and resources to go hunting. The other eating habits also show their elevated position.

However, some finds, such as particularly high-quality individual metal pieces, and the written sources from the beginning of the 7th century show the presence of a socially superior group of people in the valley settlement. Their connections extended to the Rhine region, Friesland and beyond.

Modern times

After initial indecision, the citizens of Karlstadt, along with the town council, joined the rebels from the Taubertal in the Peasants' War in 1525. They received an order from the Heidingsfeld rebel leaders to destroy Karlsburg , which happened in the second half of May 1525.

In 1609 the plague occurred in Karlburg, the renewed outbreak of the epidemic in Karlburg in 1609 claimed 44 lives; the following year another 31st 1611 died in late summer within 8 weeks of the epidemic. In the period that followed, there were repeated smaller outbreaks, such as in 1627/28, when 9 deaths were to be mourned, and in 1632, when there were 4 deaths from the plague.

In 1631 the neighboring town, the town of Karlstadt, was occupied by Swedish units during the Thirty Years' War . The Swedes demanded ever higher taxes on bread, wine and money.

After the cold winter of 1783/84 with long periods of frost, on February 29, 1784, after an advance of warm air, the huge flood of 1784 occurred throughout Central Europe. Record water levels were also observed on the Main, which on average only occur every 300 to 500 years. The highest level of the February flood in 1784 is engraved on many buildings, including a restaurant in Karlburg. The village itself was largely under water; the residents of the lower alleys were quartered with the citizens of the higher alleys.

In the German War of 1866 between Prussia and Austria , Bavarian troops of the 7th Infantry Regiment, which fought on the side of the Habsburg monarchy , had to be supplied in Karlburg. After the armistice in July 1866 , three weeks after the decisive battle at Königgrätz , the victorious Prussians and their allies had to be fed in the village, like 842 men of the Rhenish infantry regiment 25 fighting with Prussia. As compensation, the municipal administration received 2,499 guilders and 54 1/2 cruisers.

First World War

In the 20th century, people in the country fared less badly in terms of food compared to the urban population, even if the lack of essentials was also great here.

In the war year 1914, on August 1st, the day of mobilization , young men from Karlburg had to enter. However, as in large parts of the German Empire , people believed in a quick victory à la 1870/71 . But the patriotic enthusiasm for war - often less pronounced in the country than in the big cities - quickly gave way. By the end of 1914 there were seven dead from Karlburg to mourn.

In the following years there was no trace of enthusiasm in the village. In 1915 there were eleven deaths, in 1916 another six. The population of the village fell from 886 in 1910 to 849 at the end of 1916. In 1917, the church bells for the war industry were removed and melted down. There were also seven deaths to mourn, in 1918 six, the total number of soldiers killed is 37.

Interwar period

The rural community of Karlburg also had to struggle with the consequences of the economic downturn triggered by the global economic crisis . The local authorities had to warn many citizens who could not pay their electricity or water bills and even threaten to shut off the water supply. In late autumn 1931, the municipality of Karlburg even took up loans from private individuals due to financial difficulties. In February 1932, community servants' salaries were cut; the mayor even voluntarily waived 10% of his compensation. From February 1930, a so-called “local welfare committee” had to decide who was allowed to receive help from the community. The unemployed were u. a. Made the offer to work in the community forest for 40 pfennigs an hour.

In the Reichstag elections on March 5, 1933, the following was voted in Karlburg:

Second World War

In the autumn of 1936, air raid exercises were carried out over two nights. The rearmament of the German Reich was in full swing. Shortly before the attack on Poland , the first soldiers from Karlburg were recruited for army service. After France declared war, many families from the border areas in the west of the empire were quartered in Karlburg. After the defeat of France in 1940, however, they were able to return to their homeland. After Hitler's lightning victories in the north and west in the spring of 1940, Karlburg still had no war victims to complain about. Prisoners of war from Poland and France were used as labor in agriculture and thus compensated for the loss left by the men drafted by the Wehrmacht .

Three weeks after the start of the Barbarossa company , the generally good mood in the village took a bitter dampening: Markus Köhler, the first Karlburg of the Second World War , fell on July 13, 1941 . By the end of the year there were other victims, including the brothers Ernst and Ludwig Ruppert and Wilhelm Ehrenfels. In the war winters from 1941 onwards, there were also short school holidays because there was a lack of heating material. In 1943, the church bells in Karlburg were taken down and melted down for war purposes. By the end of the war, Karlburg had 93 war casualties, of which 63 were officially reported to have fallen and 30 were missing. On April 6, American troops advanced from Wiesenfeld towards the village. Kilian Arnold went to meet them with the white flag and declared that Karlburg was free of the enemy. Thanks to his commitment, damage to the village could be avoided. In the post-war months, the food shortage boosted the black market in the village. Barter deals such as food for clothing were common.

The first free elections after the end of the 3rd Reich on January 27, 1946 produced the following result: Kilian Gold becomes 1st Mayor with 261 votes ahead of Alfons Gold, who received 210 votes. In the municipal council, the CSU got 6 seats, the SPD 1 seat. The population of the village rose from 1,080 to 1,349 from 1939 to 1946, as many expellees from the eastern German regions found a new home in Karlburg.

Incorporation

On May 1, 1978, the previously independent municipality of Karlburg was incorporated into the district town of Karlstadt.

literature

  • Dieter Heyse: The castle of a ministerial in Karlburg, City of Karlstadt, Lkr.Main-Spessart, Lower Franconia. In: Ingolf Ericsson (Ed.): Excavations. Layer by layer into the Middle Ages. Bamberg 1998, pp. 107-113.
  • Peter Ettel : Castellum and villa Karloburg. Historical and archaeological lore. In: Jürgen Lenssen , Ludwig Wamser (Ed.): 1250 years of the Diocese of Würzburg. Archaeological and historical evidence of the early period. Würzburg 1992, pp. 297-318.
  • Peter Ettel with contributions by Dieter Neubauer, Robert Koch, Ralf Obst and Barbara Sponholz: Archaeological research on the early medieval Karlburg. Preliminary report on the 1997 excavation in the northern area of ​​villa Karloburg. In: Contributions to archeology in Lower Franconia 1998. (= Mainfränkische Studien. 63). Büchenbach 1998, pp. 146-191.
  • Peter Ettel: Karlburg - Roßtal - Oberammerthal. Studies on early medieval castle building in Northern Bavaria. (= Early historical and Roman provincial archeology. Materials and research. 5). Publication of the commission for the comparative archeology of Roman Alpine and Danube countries of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Rahden / Westf. 2001.
  • Peter Ettel: Between King and Bishop. The Karlburg settlement complex. In: Wilfried Menghin, Dieter Planck (Ed.): People, Times, Spaces. Archeology in Germany. Stuttgart 2002, pp. 339-342.
  • Peter Ettel, Roman Grabolle: New excavations in the early medieval central town of Karlburg am Main. City of Karlstadt, Main-Spessart district, Lower Franconia. In: The archaeological year in Bavaria . 2003, pp. 107-109.
  • Klaus Weyer: From the Celtic shrine to the Carolingian mission monastery - Neustadt am Main. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-8260-6740-2 , pp. 55–92.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Numbers, data, facts. City of Karlstadt, archived from the original on March 30, 2020 ; accessed on March 30, 2020 .
  2. ↑ "A world in motion - On the way to the centers of the Middle Ages" ( Memento of the original from June 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / eine-welt-in-bewegung.de
  3. ^ 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. 763 .

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