Mechlenreuth

Mechlenreuth City of Münchberg Coordinates: 50 ° 10 ′ 17 ″  N , 11 ° 48 ′ 5 ″  E
Height :	552 m
Residents :	202  (December 31, 2009)
Incorporation :	May 1, 1978
Postal code :	95213
Area code :	09251
Location of Mechlenreuth in the Münchberg urban area

Mechlenreuth is a village in the Hof district in Bavaria, which has been incorporated into Münchberg since 1978 . It is believed that Mechlenreuth was originally a resting place for monks or colonizers moving eastwards. According to the current state of research, the village was first mentioned in 1185 at the earliest. From 1837 to 1978 Mechlenreuth was an independent municipality. Today the village has 200 inhabitants.

geography

Geographical location

Mechlenreuth town center

The village lies on the edge of the Fichtelgebirge nature park . The neighboring villages are (clockwise) Münchberg , Weißdorf , Stockenroth -Germersreuth, Großlosnitz, Kleinlosnitz and Mussen . The village lies at an altitude of 545  m above sea level. NN two kilometers south of the city of Münchberg. Mechlenreuth is surrounded by forests in the south and east. In the northwest rises the Kapellenberg, the highest elevation in the village area. It forms the border to the former district of Mechlenreuth Nord, which has now grown together with Münchberg. The center of the village is grouped around a tree-lined meadow with a village pond. The hamlets and individual farms Obere Eiben, Untere Eiben, Umspannwerk Mechlenreuth, Rußhütte, Lohziegelei and Dietelsmühle also belong to the village of Mechlenreuth .

Average rainfall from 1961–1990

climate

Due to the location of the village in a low mountain range, the climate is comparatively cool and humid. The mean annual temperature is around 5 to 6 ° C. The mean annual rainfall is around 926 millimeters. On the wooded south side, the Mussenbach often leads to fog formation and flooding in the autumn months. Since Mechlenreuth is on a hillside, the village is mostly spared, with the exception of Dietelsmühle.

geology

Geologically, Mechlenreuth lies on the Münchberger Gneismasse , a plateau in the middle of the so-called Old Mountains of northeast Bavaria. The soils of this region consist primarily of the rocks amphibolite , gneiss and phyllite . They differ from those of the nearby Fichtelgebirge, which consist of about 40% granite .

history

Name development

It is not clear how the name came about. The spelling and pronunciation vary in the documents. In 1140 the place is said to have been called "Metilesreut". A name analysis carried out by the University of Regensburg on March 6, 2009 showed that the lack of dentals d or t after l and, in particular, the genitive ending it suggests the name of a man. Mechlenreuth has the female basic name Mechthild in later mentions . The ending -reuth or -rut indicates clearing . The following place name variants emerge from various notarizations:

1185 Methildereute 1220 Methildruth 1323 Mahilttruett 1323 Mechtildereuth 1373 Mechthildenreuth

1408 Mechthildenreuth 1517 Mechlareuth 1523 Mechelereuth 1720 Meglareuth

history

A first written mention of the village was originally assumed in the report on the pious works of Bishop Otto von Bamberg around 1140. The acquisitions mentioned there took place from 1102 until Otto's death in 1139. As a result of new findings from the Gefrees Historical Forum in March 2009, the previously valid first mention of the village as "Metilesreuth" was refuted by a name analysis. Officially, the year 1102 was the earliest documented mention up until then. When electing this year it was originally assumed that Mechlenreuth must have existed for a long time before 1140.

On March 9, 1185, the then Pope Lucius III confirmed. the Cistercian monks of the Waldsassen monastery their possessions, whereby Mechlenreuth was also mentioned. At that time, however, it was unclear what property the monks in the village owned. It was not until 1220 that an estate was confirmed. This property, which is very remote from Waldsassen, was presumably given to the monks by the ministerials of the time and used as a rest stop. The mother monastery of Waldsassen, Volkenroda Monastery , was about seven days 'walk from Mechlenreuth and the Waldsassen Monastery two days' walk. The other ownership structures in the village are unknown. The local researcher Karl Dietel assumed that the area around Münchberg was taken over by the Lords of Sparneck between 1220 and 1240 . The presumed previous owners, the Walpoten , are said to have left the area before 1240.

In a document from King Ludwig IV of March 7, 1323, Sparnecker's rights to the village were confirmed for the first time . Mechlenreuth appears in it as an imperial fief . The owner of the village was King Ludwig, who gave it to the Lords of Sparneck as a fief. At the request of Johannes von Sparneck Mechlenreuth, the certificate was handed over to the brothers Eberhardt and Ulrich von Bindlach . From the year 1400, the estate of the Waldsassen monastery in Mechlenreuth is no longer recorded in their Salbuch . A castle counts register of the court and town of Münchberg lists ten farms in Mechlenreuth in 1408, nine of which were owned by the Sparnecker family. The Bindlach rights to Mechlenreuth no longer existed. The remaining property belonged to the Himmelkron monastery , probably as a gift from the friars from Waldsassen, provided they had not given it in payment. The Sparnecker property in the village was still Reichslehen. With Ludwig's coronation as emperor, the rights to the village later passed to Emperor Sigmund . On April 16, 1418 he gave his property to the Lords of Sparneck as a fief.

Due to the declining influence of the Sparneck noble family from 1523 and the loss of most of their castles and lands, they were forced to sell. The brothers Wolf and Georg von Sparneck decided to sell goods, including Mechlenreuth, to the Margraves Georg and Albrecht von Brandenburg-Kulmbach (Principality of Bayreuth), who incorporated them into their office in Münchberg. In the sales deed, dated November 13, 1537, a total of twelve courtyards, an inn, various ponds and a formerly fenced-in noblemen's dwelling were mentioned. For the imperial fief, Emperor Charles V confirmed the sale a few years later on March 24, 1541. The feudal rule passed to the margraves.

As part of the Münchberg office, Mechlenreuth belonged to the Principality of Bayreuth . In the Thirty Years' War there were initially no direct acts of war due to the Margrave Christian's declaration of neutrality . Before long, however, protests were held to create a counterweight to the upcoming marches. The citizens of Mechlenreuth were probably also responsible for this. The situation only changed fundamentally when neutrality was given up in 1631. Various parties to the conflict subsequently moved through the area. Both the allies and the enemy treated the local population equally cruelly. Again and again there was talk of billeting, robbery and murder. The church records of this time show that there were several deaths from Mechlenreuth. One example was Hans Fischer, who was "damaged" by the enemy on February 11, 1633. A directory from September 1635, the special extract of the main team yard , lists "40 widows and their 13 children, 76 orphans, 46 burned down houses and 113 deserted farms, houses and goods" in the Münchberg office. The figures also roughly reflect the situation in the village of Mechlenreuth. This dark chapter in the village's history ended with the Peace of Westphalia .

Territory of the Principality of Bayreuth (1791)

In 1791 the area was sold to the Prussian state under a secret treaty . During the Fourth Coalition War , Napoléon's troops invaded the Münchberg area on October 8, 1806, on their advance north-east, after the Prussians had withdrawn from Tauentzien under General Bogislav . After the devastating defeats of Prussia, the Principality of Bayreuth had to be ceded to the French Empire in the Peace of Tilsit in 1807 . While maintaining the Prussian administrative structures, it was initially placed under French military administration and briefly occupied by Austria in the subsequent Fifth Coalition War. During this time, troops had to suffer again. After the defeat of Austria and the Treaty of Schönbrunn , the French regained control of the area. On June 30, 1810, the existence of the Principality of Bayreuth ended and Mechlenreuth belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria from then on . From 1818 to 1837 Mechlenreuth was part of the Kleinlosnitz district municipality.

From 1837 Mechlenreuth was a municipality with the districts Mechlenreuth-Dorf, Mussen , Schweinsbach , Dietelmühle, Eiben and Rußhütte. In the two world wars, 57 people from the community died, 23 of them in the First and 34 in the Second World War . American forces invaded Mechlenreuth in 1945. Shortly afterwards Karl Gräf replaced Karl Wolfrum as mayor. Numerous refugees and displaced persons were assigned to the community, which was part of the American zone of occupation . When the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949, the municipality of Mechlenreuth belonged politically to the Free State of Bavaria . During this time, the district Mechlenreuth-Nord on the former district road MÜB 2 (today HO 18) from Münchberg to Sparneck was built as a new building area . It currently has about 330 residents . Extensive renovation and beautification measures took place in the community in the 1960s.

As part of the Bavarian regional reform efforts were made to incorporate the community of Mechlenreuth into Münchberg. The local council gave its approval in principle on February 22, 1972. Due to the good financial situation, however, it was decided to wait a few years before taking this step in order to complete tasks that had already started or were planned. On May 1, 1978 it was incorporated into Münchberg. At that time the parish had an area of ​​982 hectares. From July 27th to 28th, 2002 Mechlenreuth celebrated the 900th anniversary of the village.

Example of attempted reconstruction of a tower hill

Chapel and tower hill

In the Middle Ages there was probably a chapel on the northeast slope of the Kapellenberg . According to tradition, it was built on a former water source. Nothing is known about their patron saint . The chapel is said to have belonged to Zell and was visited from there during processions . A hollow in the ground near the present war memorial still marks the former location.

A fortification in Mechlenreuth was first mentioned in a document on April 19, 1533. It was probably a tower hill ( Turmhügel Mechlenreuth ), which was a popular form of fortification at the time. The register of the Lords of Sparneck speaks of the wall in the village . This tower hill was probably a round earth mound with a palisade wall and a moat . In the middle of the hill was a tower house. The complex served to protect the village and the road or as a Fronhof . A few years later, on October 20, 1537, and also in the deed of 1537 for the fenced-in noble house, the fortification was mentioned again. At the time of the notarization, the tower hill had long since lost its defensive character and was probably already in serious disrepair. This assumption is supported by the fact that the fortifications were repeatedly listed as “near the pond systems” in the later registers. The hill was removed around the 17th or 18th century in order to create a pond from the existing moat and to expand it for fish farming. The pond still exists as a village pond.

Population development

The first established population figures for Mechlenreuth come from the report on the current state of the Landeshauptmannschaft Hof, written in 1792 . Due to the First World War (1914-1918) the number of inhabitants of Mechlenreuth fell, but recovered until the 1933 and 1939 censuses. After the Second World War, a drastic increase in the number of inhabitants was recorded by refugees from the former German eastern regions. In the first years after the war, however, the population decreased again. The population of Mechlenreuth has been around 200 since 1986.

Population development of Mechlenreuth (village)
year	Residents		year	Residents		year	Residents
1792	112		1951	379		2004	199
1880	184		1961	580 **		2005	210
1895	194		1970	578 **		2007	200
1905	218		1984	226		2009	202
1910	228		1986	208
1925	182		1991	215
1933	247 *		1995	212
1939	294 *		2000	193

* Census

** Census: Mechlenreuth community

politics

The former council consisted of eight councilors and the mayor. The last mayor was the building contractor Alfred Lottes. After the local elections in March 2014, the village is represented by two councilors in the Münchberg city council (one each from the village and one from Mechlenreuth-Nord). The electoral district of Mechlenreuth had the official election result of 50.78% CSU, 36.06% SPD and 13.16% MWG (Münchberger voter community).

As far as known, the former community leaders and mayors were:

• 1782 Adam Kayser (Dorfschultheiß)
• 1867–1876: Wolfrum
• 1876–1882: Kielmann
• 1882–1894: Johann Renner
• 1894–1904: Balthasar Hoffmann
• 1904–1912: Nikol Schatz
• 1912–1925: Balthasar Kielmann, independent
• 1925–1934: Karl Wolfrum, non-party ( Mussen )
  

  Günther Beckstein on his company visit in Mechlenreuth
• 1934–1945: Karl Wolfrum, NSDAP (Mechlenreuth)
• 1945–1952: Karl Gräf, independent
• 1952–1978: Alfred Lottes, independent

On August 26, 2008, Prime Minister Günther Beckstein visited a company in Mechlenreuth, accompanied by a large number of security and media protections. Among the guests were local politicians and the Münchberg mayor Thomas Fein, the member of the Bundestag Hans-Peter Friedrich and the member of the state parliament Alexander König . The public event was attended by around 200 people.

Culture and sights

Buildings

War memorial on the Kapellenberg

• In Mechlenreuth there are still two historic half-timbered farmhouses with crooked hipped roofs in the Franconian style.
• On the Kapellenberg there is a war memorial from 1926, which stands out from other monuments of this time due to its distinctive shape. On a two-tiered hexagonal granite block stand six columns on which a granite dome with a massive stone cross rests, which is similar to the Bavarian Cross of Merit. On the granite block, the fallen and missing from the former community of Mechlenreuth from both world wars are recorded in dark red letters . The names of the victims of the Second World War were added after 1945. The granite dome bears the inscription: "Your fallen hero - Mechlenreuth community - Mussen - Schweinsbach".
• The Dietel mill is located away from the village, accessible via the Mechlenreuth – Kleinlosnitz farm road. The way from Mechlenreuth to Obermühle in Münchberg used to be too far for the farmers, so that Nickel Diettel zu Mechlareuth set up a grain and cutting mill at Mussenbach in 1568. The milling and cutting operations were discontinued before 1958. The last miller was Karl Gräf.

societies

Mechlenreuth fire station

• The Mechlenreuth volunteer fire brigade was founded in 1875. At that time, a hand pressure syringe was available as an extinguishing device. After the Second World War, a motorized sprayer was procured, which was replaced by a portable pump trailer in 1965 . This is still in use. A new fire station was put into operation as early as 1963 and in 1966 the district fire brigade day of the Münchberg district was celebrated. In the same year the brickworks burned down to the ground. Further major fires struck the town in 1988 and 2004.
• The poultry breeding association Münchberg 1888 e. V. owns a clubhouse with an exhibition hall. This is also the clubhouse of the Münchberger Aquarienverein.
• The Reit- und Fahrverein Münchberg maintains a riding facility with riding arena and stables in Mechlenreuth.

Regular events

• Every year towards the end of July there is a two-day village festival in Mechlenreuth with fireworks over the village pond.
• A parish dance is held in October.
• In June there is a solstice celebration on the Kapellenberg .
• The riding and driving club regularly organizes tournaments on its riding facility in the Obere Eiben district.

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

Former steam brick Mechlenreuth

Mechlenreuth, like most of the villages, was initially oriented towards agriculture and characterized by farms. At the beginning of the 19th century a brick and meat factory was built. As a result, industrialization began relatively early in the community. After the Second World War, due to its proximity to the industrial city of Münchberg, there was an economic boom with the establishment of a weaving mill and a ski factory. A few years later (1973/1974) a substation was built in the Eiben part of the municipality , which is still in operation. There are currently four full-time farms and two part-time farms in the village. There is also a carpenter's shop, a sanitary facility, an architecture office and a car workshop. There is a solar park in the Upper Eiben.

The Raiffeisenkasse Mechlenreuth, which dealt mainly with the goods business, served the predominantly rural population as a self-help facility. The registration as a cooperative with unlimited liability took place on June 10, 1919. Its name at that time was Mechlenreuter Savings and Loan Association. In 1954 a warehouse was built in Mussen , which was later equipped with a community freezer. The cooperative also had a canning machine, a pickling machine and a meadow roller. Between 1939 and 1965, a total of 56 general meetings took place. The allied military administration ordered the only extraordinary general assembly on March 18, 1946, after the dismissal of all previous board and supervisory board members, to hold new elections. The existence of the Raiffeisenkasse Mechlenreuth eGmbH ended in 1966 through the merger with the Poppenreuth cash register and the re-establishment of the Raiffeisenkasse Münchberg und Umgebung eGmbH.

traffic

Mechlenreuth can be reached via the district road HO 18 Münchberg– Sparneck , the B 289 Münchberg– Schwarzenbach an der Saale , the former B 2 , the farm road with the Mechlenreuth - Kleinlosnitz cycle path and the Münchberg - Stockenroth cycle path. The connection to the A 9 is through the Münchberg-Süd and Münchberg-Nord junctions. The nearest train station is in Münchberg, accessible by bus or call and collective taxi.

education

former school house and Mechlenreuth community chancellery

From around 1836 there were schoolhouses in Mechlenreuth and Mussen in the community . After the increase in the number of students, a new school building was built in Mechlenreuth in 1908, which also housed the community office and a teacher's apartment. The school in Mussen could then be closed. In the 1950s there were plans to build a new schoolhouse, but this was never realized. As part of the Bavarian country school reform, the local council decided to found a school association together with the former municipalities of Sauerhof, Poppenreuth, Straas, Markersreuth and Meierhof and to set up an association school in Poppenreuth, whereupon the Mechlenreuth elementary school was closed in 1968. The classroom was then used until 1978 for meetings of the municipal council, elections and citizens' assemblies. The students from Mechlenreuth attend the primary school am Kreuzberg in Münchberg today , the secondary school of the city of Münchberg is in Poppenreuth.

literature

• Karl Dietel : From the history of the village of Mechlenreuth . In: Newspaper report consisting of several series . Münchberger Helmbrechtser Zeitung ( Frankenpost ), Münchberg 1954 (local supplement of the Münchberger Helmbrechtser Zeitung).
• Karl Dietel: Münchberg. History of an official and industrial city . tape 1 . City administration Münchberg, Münchberg 1963, p. 578 with 43 ills., 20 plates, 1 cover picture (until the transition to Bavaria in 1810).
• Karl Dietel: Between Waldstein and Döbraberg - The historical development of the Münchberg district . Münchberger District School Office, Münchberg 1964, p. 87 .
• Karl Dietel: Tower hill in the heart of the Münchberger valley . tape 41 . Archive for the history of Upper Franconia, Bayreuth 1963.
• Wilfried Kluge: Mills in Münchberg and in the old district of Münchberg . Münchberg-Helmbrechtser Zeitung ( Frankenpost ), Münchberg 1998, ISBN 3-938463-02-3 , p. 156 .
• Heinrich Gradl : Monumenta Egrana. Egerland monuments as a source for its history . tape 1 . Witz, Eger 1886 (from the year 805-1322).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bavarian Surveying Office: Bayern Viewer , accessed on January 19, 2009
2. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment: Hydrogeological examination of the Münchberg gneiss mass (PDF document), accessed on January 19, 2009
3. ↑ University of Erlangen: Geological overview of the Fichtelgebirge , accessed on January 19, 2009
4. ↑ Email from Dr. Wolfgang Janka; Bohemicum of the University of Regensburg; March 6, 2009.
5. ↑ see: Excerpt from the magazine for Bavarian church history 22 Author Matthias Simon 1953 pp. 162–164.
6. ^ Karl Dietel: Münchberg. History of an official and industrial city. Pp. 31-32.
7. ↑ City of Münchberg lists Mechlenreuth's 900th anniversary in 2002 in the official city chronicle
8. ↑ City of Münchberg: Chronicle ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed January 19, 2009
9. ^ Karl Dietel: Münchberg. History of an official and industrial city. P. 79.
10. ^ Karl Dietel: Münchberg. History of an official and industrial city. Pp. 99-101.
11. ^ Karl Dietel: Münchberg. History of an official and industrial city. Pp. 133-136.
12. ^ Karl Dietel: Münchberg. History of an official and industrial city. Pp. 176-177.
13. ^ 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 GmbH, Stuttgart and Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 687 .
14. ^ Karl Dietel: From the history of the village Mechlenreuth: The village and its inhabitants
15. ↑ Freiwillige Feuerwehr Mechlenreuth: Historical overview of Mechlenreuth ( Memento of March 10, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) , accessed on January 19, 2009 (in the Internet Archive )
16. ^ Karl Dietel: Tower hill in the heart of the Münchberger valley. The whale in Mechlenreuth.
17. ^ Karl Dietel: From the history of the village Mechlenreuth: The village and its inhabitants
18. ↑ Population figures according to the Münchberg residents' registration office and records from the Münchberg City Archives
19. ^ City of Münchberg: Current City Council , accessed on January 19, 2009
20. ^ Frankenpost: newspaper report from August 27, 2008 . Retrieved January 19, 2009.
21. ^ Wilfried Kluge: Mills in Münchberg and in the old district of Münchberg. Dietelsmühle. Pp. 67-68.
22. ↑ Information from Die Raiffeisenkasse Mechlenreuth , a written record by Klaus Foerster, written on April 25, 2002.
23. ^ Stadtwerke Münchberg: More detailed information. ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed January 19, 2009
24. ↑ Information from the chronicle of the schools of the Mechlenreuth community , a written record of the Mechlenreuth elementary school.

swell

1. ^ Relatio de piis operibus Ottonis episcopi Babenbergensis (report on the pious works of Bishop Otto von Bamberg). This source is available as an edition in the series Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Vol. XV , S 1165 Line 1 (ed. Oswald Holder-Egger) in the Bamberg State Library .

Web links

Commons : Mechlenreuth  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on September 8, 2008 .