Mergelstetten

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Mergelstetten
Coat of arms of Mergelstetten
Coordinates: 48 ° 39 ′ 33 ″  N , 10 ° 9 ′ 22 ″  E
Area : 9.35 km²
Residents : 6812  (Dec. 31, 2014)
Population density : 729 inhabitants / km²
Brenzufer

Mergelstetten is a district of the district town of Heidenheim an der Brenz in Baden-Württemberg .

The place name Mergelstetten ( Latin Merchelinestetin ) is probably derived from the large marl deposits in the area. However, a derivation from the personal name Merkilo is also conceivable.

The place is located south of Heidenheim on the left and right banks of the Brenz and extends with the Reutenen residential area to the Swabian Alb .

history

Celtic grave finds in the stake

The more than 30 Celtic barrows in the Scheiterhau forest to the west testify to an early settlement in the Hallstatt period .

The first documentary mention is in a document from Bishop Walter von Augsburg from 1143, in which he mentions a mill, a fishing water and a farm in Mergelstetten, which are owned by the nearby Anhausen an der Brenz monastery. But it has been going from an earlier settlement by the Alemanni from.

In the south of Mergelstetten there are still the remains of the Furtheim castle ruins, popularly known as Hurwang . The castle was built by the Lords of Furtheim and first mentioned in 1209. At that time it should have been larger than the predecessor of Hellenstein Castle in Heidenheim. Furtheim / Hurwang Castle was abandoned around 1300 and has been a ruin since then, in whose vaults, according to a traditional legend, a golden crown is said to be buried to this day.

Other important dates, which are primarily associated with the economic upturn in Mergelstetten, are the year 1828, in which Jakob Zöppritz from Darmstadt founded a wool blanket factory, and the year 1901, in which Carl Schwenk from Ulm built the cement factory. The cement factory still shapes the image of Mergelstetten with its large dimensions.

On May 29, 2016, the low pressure area "Elvira" caused severe flooding. Especially in the area of ​​the Brenzblick Residenz.

Attractions

Churches

Evangelical Church, interior view

In 1841 the old Ulrichskirche in Mergelstetter was torn down and replaced in 1843 by a Protestant church in neo-Gothic style. The architect of this church was Carl Alexander Heideloff , who had also built Lichtenstein Castle . Since the Mergelstetter community was very poor at that time, the pillars and the balustrades were made of wood instead of stone. Savings were also made on the church tower by not building it as high as originally planned. It now measures 35 meters high. Nevertheless, the Protestant church in Mergelstetten is a popular postcard motif.

A Catholic church was built in 1957 and expanded with a rectory in 1960 and a parish hall in 1972.

Observatory

The Willi-Hüll observatory is located at an altitude of approx. 540 m in Heidenheim-Mergelstetten on the Erbisberg . It is a public observatory operated by the Heidenheim Astronomy Association. It was inaugurated on September 30, 2006, is the only observatory in the Heidenheim district and can be used by students and amateur astronomers . A solar telescope has also been located there since April 2008 . Guided tours and astronomical lectures take place in the observatory.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the place

Other personalities

literature

  • Helmut Weimert: Historic Heidenheim. Heidenheim City Archives 2006.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Siegfried Kurz: Funeral Customs in Western Hallstatt Culture , 1997, p. 203.
  2. ↑ Captain v. Dürrich: Grave finds near Mergelstetten . In: Annuals of the Wirtenbergische Alterthums-Verein, Volume 1, Issue 6, Stuttgart 1844–1869.
  3. ↑ Storm in a circle: More than 100 missions until midnight. In: swp.de. Retrieved June 1, 2016 .