Head Office Heidelberg

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The Oberamt Heidelberg was an administrative district of the Electoral Palatinate until 1803 with its seat in the residential city of Heidelberg . With the dissolution of the Electoral Palatinate as a result of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , all places of the Oberamt came to the Grand Duchy of Baden .

Territory of the Oberamt

The area of ​​the Oberamt extended on both sides of the lower Neckar with parts of the Rhine plain and the Bergstrasse , the southern part of the Odenwald with the Neckar valley and the northern edge of the Kraichgau hill country. In 1786 the Oberamt Lindenfels and part of the Oberamt Mosbach were neighboring in the east, and the Diocese of Speyer with the knightly places of the knightly canton of Kraichgau in between . In the west the Rhine formed the border to which the Oberamt Neustadt was attached. In the north were the Oberamt Ladenburg , the Diocese of Worms , the Electoral Mainz Office of Heppenheim and, along with Bergstrasse, parts of the Oberamt Lindenfels. Until 1737, the area of ​​the Oberamt Lindenfels also belonged to the Oberamt Heidelberg and was a subordinate district bailiff. Furthermore it had the rightful about the places of the Oberamt Ladenburg .

According to a register from 1784, the Oberamt including the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg had a population of 13,737 families and 79,033 souls, of which 18,804 men, 15,021 women, 14,752 sons, 15,129 daughters, 3993 journeymen, servants and servants, 4766 maids, 67 households of mennonists and 428 by Jews. In terms of buildings, 147 churches and monasteries, 84 rectories, 133 schools, 8980 civil and 198 common houses, 3774 barns and 132 mills were counted.

history

The beginnings of the Pfalzgrafschaft near Rhine on the right bank of the Rhine go back to the Staufer period and once belonged to the Lobdengau . Count Palatine Konrad was able to take hold of property here thanks to his bailiff's rights in the diocese of Worms and the Lorsch monastery and founded the city of Heidelberg on Worms soil around 1170. Around 1220, the Wittelsbachers , who provided the Count Palatine until 1430, acquired the rest of the old Lobdengau County. The first detailed description of the Palatinate possessions in this area dates from 1288.

North of the former Lobdengau, the Palatinate possessions stretched along the Bergstrasse to Laudenbach , while in the Odenwald only the Schönau monastery belonged to it. The rule of Wersau, acquired in 1286, protruded into the northern part of the old Kraichgau on the Rhine plain . In the 14th century, enclaves in the Palatinate region , such as Schriesheim in Ellwang and the rule of Waldeck in the Odenwald and, temporarily, the Schauenburg, were acquired. However, it was returned to the Archbishop of Mainz in 1319 as an election gift. The ownership of Weinheim and Hemsbach was also temporary . At the time of the greatest disruption of the Worms monastery , Ruprecht I was able to acquire Ladenburg and the Stein winery in 1385 .

Due to the division of the country in 1410 , individual territories acquired late were lost again from the almost closed area, such as Wiesloch , Wersau , Schriesheim and Hemsbach , all of which fell to Pfalz-Mosbach and were partly mortgaged to Pfalz-Zweibrücken . Under Frederick the Victorious (Count Palatine 1451–1476), these areas, with the exception of Hemsbach, which was sold to the Bishop of Worms, came back through the inheritance contract with Pfalz-Mosbach. In addition, Friedrich conquered the Schauenburg in the Mainz collegiate feud and after the Battle of Seckenheim had the office of Rotenberg ceded by the Bishop of Speyer, which was triggered again after 1504.

The sub-office of Dilsberg with the two cents Meckesheim and Reichartshausen were accessories of the imperial city of Wimpfen and were acquired as imperial pledges by the lords of Weinsberg and Hirschhorn in 1330 and 1378 . The Palatinate acquired Dilsberg directly from the king in 1330.

The modern era only brought about small acquisitions and exchanges of territory with the dioceses of Speyer and Worms, which served to create a closed territory. In 1737, the Lindenfels office, previously run as a sub-office by Heidelberg, received the status of an upper office.

As a result of the Napoleonic Wars , the Holy Roman Empire (German Nation) was reorganized by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 and ceased to exist with the laying down of the imperial crown on August 6, 1806. In 1803, Heidelberg came to the Electorate of Baden with the entire area of ​​the Oberamt Heidelberg , which in 1806 became part of the Grand Duchy of Baden .

In 1808 the city became the seat of the Heidelberg City Office. There was also an upper and a lower office in Heidelberg, which were combined in 1813 to form the Heidelberg Land Office. The Heidelberg City Office and the Land Office were merged in 1826 to form the Heidelberg Regional Office, from which the Heidelberg District Office emerged in 1863, which was expanded in 1924 to include the municipalities of the dissolved Eberbach District Office . From the district offices of Heidelberg and Wiesloch , the district of Heidelberg was finally formed in 1938 , which existed until 1972. In 1939, the city of Heidelberg left the district of Heidelberg and became an independent city, but remained the seat of the district. During the district reform on January 1, 1973, the district of Heidelberg was combined with the district of Mannheim to form today's Rhein-Neckar district . Heidelberg itself remained an independent city and became the capital of the new district.

Administrative units within the Oberamt

The upper office was divided into cents . The function of the Zent as an administrative unit was diverse and changed over time. But the center was always connected with a jurisdiction that was exercised through the center court . Usually, the Zentgraf acted as chairman at the negotiations , but the verdict was pronounced by lay judges. Other administrative tasks such as the recruitment of military units, the establishment and monitoring of units of measurement, the maintenance of execution sites, the administration of the dominalia (cellars), the catering of officials and other things were imposed on the center and organized and supervised by the center. The organization as Zenten prevailed in the Oberamt Heidelberg in the course of the 15th century and was finally concluded in 1560 in the central contract with the nobility. Thus there were two groups of villages in the area of ​​the Zenten; on the one hand, those directly subordinate to the Palatinate rule and on the other hand, those with aristocratic or spiritual local rule. Before this treaty, there was still the possibility in the villages in which the nobility exercised the local rule that all residents were Palatine serfs and that a debt had to be paid to the Palatinate for them .

Subordinate directly to the Oberamt

were

  • the cities:
    • Weinheim : Windeck Castle and Neustadt were awarded to the Palatinate in 1264 . In 1308 the old town also passed to the Palatinate. From 1314 to 1345 the city was pledged to the Archdiocese of Mainz . From 1368 Weinheim belonged to the indivisible core area of ​​the Electoral Palatinate and was subordinate to the Oberamt Heidelberg from the end of the 14th century. In 1454 the areas of the old town and the new town, which had been administratively separate until then, were combined into one town.
    • Wiesloch : It became Palatinate in the first third of the 13th century and belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach from 1410 to 1499. The Altwiesloch belonging to the city was granted to the local nobility as an inheritance in 1269 and 1414 .
    • Schönau : This was originally a Cistercian monastery, which came under the patronage of the Palatinate around 1180. During the Reformation the monastery was abolished in 1559 and the lordly rights were transferred to the care of Schönau . Schönau was first referred to as a city around 1600. After the destruction of Waldeck Castle in the Thirty Years War, the administrative headquarters of the so-called Waldeck Winery was relocated to Schönau, where it remained until 1803.
    • Neckargemünd : It was elevated to a free imperial city by King Heinrich (VII) around 1230 . Emperor Ludwig pledged Neckargemünd in 1330 to the Count Palatine near Rhine , who in 1346 relocated the court of the Meckesheimer Centers here. In 1395 Neckargemünd lost the status of an imperial city when it was incorporated into the Palatinate territory.
  • the Zent Schriesheim with the locations:
    • Kirschgartshausen : It belonged to the Kirschgarten Monastery , whose nuns ran an agricultural estate there with the associated “St. Gangolf Chapel”. They sold the property to the Electoral Palatinate in 1422.
    • Scharhof: Today it is a district in the Mannheim district of Sandhofen and came under Palatinate rule around 1200. Count Palatine Rudolf sold the local rule in 1300 to the Schönau monastery . This was repealed in 1559.
    • Käfertal : It became Palatinate around 1200, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility until after 1236.
    • Wallstadt : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Feudenheim : It also came to the Palatinate around 1200, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility until around 1350.
    • Ilvesheim : It has probably belonged to the Palatinate since around 1200 and definitively since the 13th century, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Straßenheim : Here the sovereignty between the Electoral Palatinate and the Worms Monastery was disputed until 1803 . The place was claimed by the Palatinate because it belonged to the Schriesheimer Zent .
    • Heddesheim : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Mukkensturm and Neuzenhof: Today they belong to the municipality of Heddesheim and were mentioned in 1463 as part of the Zent.
    • Lützelsachsen : It came to the Palatinate in the 13th century, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Hohensachsen : It came under Palatine sovereignty in the 13th century.
    • Ritschweier : It also came under Palatine sovereignty in the 13th century, with the Counts of Erbach exercising local authority.
    • Greater Saxony : It came to the Palatinate in the 13th century.
    • Rippenweier with Hilsenhain : It probably came to the Palatinate in the 13th century, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility until after 1454.
    • Oberflockenbach : It came to the Palatinate in the 13th century, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility until after 1400.
    • Leutershausen : It came to the Palatinate around 1355, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Schriesheim : It came to the Palatinate around 1355. From 1410 to 1448 it belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach and from 1448 to 1470 to Pfalz-Zweibrücken .
    • Schwabenheim (now part of Dossenheim ): It came to the Palatinate around 1600.
    • Dossenheim : It was acquired by the Count Palatine in 1303 and was a Kurmainzer fief from 1320 to 1460 .
    • Handschuhsheim with Heiligenberg : See Dossenheim.
    • Neuenheim : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Ziegelhausen with the Bergstrasse Central Mend Forest : In the 14th century it finally belongs to the Palatinate.
  • the Zent Kirchheim with the locations:
    • Neckarau : It came under the influence of the Palatinate around 1220 and finally became Palatinate in 1261.
    • Seckenheim : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Friedrichsfeld : It was a re-establishment from 1682 on the district of Edingen .
    • Edingen : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Wieblingen with Grenzhof: It also came to the Palatinate around 1200, with local rule being exercised by the lower nobility until around 1450.
    • Rohrhof : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Schwetzingen : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Brühl : A third came in 1423 and the rest in 1709 under Palatinate rule; In the meantime there was a joint fiefdom of both shares for the Lords of Handschuhsheim until 1600 and then a condominium between the Palatinate and the Speyer diocese .
    • Plankstadt : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Eppelheim : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Oftersheim : It came to the Palatinate around 1200.
    • Kirchheim with Pleikartsförsterhof and Bruchhausen : It came to the Palatinate around 1200. The local rule was until 1559 at Schönau Monastery and Neuhausen Monastery.
    • Rohrbach . From 1234 it came into the possession of the Palatinate.
    • Hardtwald : He came under Palatinate sovereignty from 1286.
    • Sandhausen : In 1351 the Electoral Palatinate bought the rule over Sandhausen.
    • St. Ilgen : The Palatinate acquired two thirds of the village in 1330 and the remaining third in 1463, with local rule being exercised by the Sinsheim Monastery until 1474 .
    • Leimen : It finally came to the Palatinate in 1351, the supremacy possibly even earlier.
    • Nussloch : It belonged to the Palatinate definitively from 1351, the supremacy possibly even earlier.
    • Hockenheim : It belonged to the Palatinate finally from 1286, but belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach between 1410 and 1448 and to Pfalz-Zweibrücken from 1448 to 1470 .
    • Reilingen : See Hockenheim.
    • Walldorf : In 1230 the Count Palatinate received Walldorf as an imperial fiefdom, but the place was probably under Palatinate rule earlier.
  • the Waldeck winery ; it was acquired by Count Palatine Ruprecht I in 1357 and given to the Lindenfels districts as a fief between 1388 and 1537 . From 1410 to 1499 the winery belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach and from 1437 to 1525 it was inherited from the lower nobility. The places were:

Winery Stein

The Stein winery was based in Stein Castle near Nordheim . In 1380 half of the winery belonged to the Count Palatine and from 1504 to 1517 the winery was owned by Hesse as a result of the Bavarian feud . In 1705 it was assigned to the diocese of Worms. The places were:

Rotenberg Office

The Rotenberg office belonged to the Palatinate from 1463 to 1505 as a pledge. The places were:

Unteramt Dilsberg

The Dilsberg sub-office included:

  • the place Dilsberg , which came under the rule of the Count Palatine around 1330.
  • the center of Meckesheim , which came under Palatinate rule in 1330, with the following locations:
    • Mückenloch , which was under the local rule of the Lords of Hirschhorn . It became part of the Palatinate in 1694, but was pledged until 1740.
    • Gaiberg with Lingental , which belonged to the so-called Ausdörfen , in which the Electoral Palatinate and Kurmainz fought over wild-catching rights until around 1420.
    • Waldhilsbach , also Ausdorf until around 1400.
    • Bammental with Reilsheim , in which a large part of the property belonged to free farmers as an own village.
    • Wiesenbach with Langenzell was also Eigendorf.
    • Lobenfeld , emerged from the Lobenfeld monastery , which ruled the area until 1559.
    • Waldwimmersbach was also Eigendorf.
    • Gauangelloch , belonged to the villages and the local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Ochsenbach , here the property was in the hands of the lower nobility, who exercised the local rule is unclear.
    • Maisbach
    • Mauer , was also Ausdorf , where local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Mönchzell : Local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Spechbach : Local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Schatthausen , belonged to the villages and the local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Baiertal : Here only the eastern part of the district belongs to the center. Local rule was exercised through a condominium by the lower nobility and the German order .
    • Meckesheim was Eigendorf and mostly belonged to free farmers .
    • Zuzenhausen : Local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Eschelbronn : Local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Daisbach : Local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
  • the Zent Reichartshausen , also called Stüber Zent. In it jurisdiction was exercised from 1378 by the Count Palatine, before that in the imperial judicial district by the Lords of Hirschhorn . The places belonged to the center:
    • Moosbrunn : Here the local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Schönbrunn : From 1349 the local rule was also part of the Palatinate.
    • Haag : From 1419 the local rule was also part of the Palatinate.
    • Stüber Zentwald
    • Schwanheim with Unterallemühl: Here the local rule was partly with the Palatinate and the lower nobility. From 1410 to 499 the place belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach.
    • Neunkirchen : From 1349 onwards, the local rule was partly with the Palatinate. From 1410 to 1499 the place belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach.
    • Neckarkatzenbach : From 1349 the local rule lay with the Palatinate and included the Minneburg . From 1410 to 1499 the place belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach.
    • Guttenbach : From 1349 the local rule was with the Palatinate. From 1410 to 1499 the place belonged to Pfalz-Mosbach.
    • Epfenbach : Here the local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Reichartshausen : Here local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Michelbach : Local rule was exercised here by the lower nobility.
    • Unterschwarzach
    • Oberschwarzach : From 1419 the local rule lay with the Palatinate. This also included Schwarzach Castle .
    • Aglasterhausen : Here the local rule was exercised by the lower nobility and from 1632 by the diocese of Worms.
    • Breitenbronn : Local rule was exercised here by the lower nobility until 1653.
    • Daudenzell : Here the local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Helmstadt : Here local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Asbach : Local rule was exercised here by the lower nobility until 1560.
    • Flinsbach : Here the local rule was exercised by the lower nobility.
    • Bargen : Local rule was exercised here by the lower nobility and from 1632 by the diocese of Worms.

Bailiffs

The duties and titles of these bailiffs changed very much over time. They changed from the original tasks of administration and jurisdiction to honorary titles. Landschreiber were appointed to carry out the task. The centers or cities were responsible for exercising lower jurisdiction and, in some cases, blood jurisdiction. A sub-civil servant was appointed where there was not full jurisdiction. The court court of the higher office remained responsible for the appeal proceedings in all cases, as far as this was permitted depending on the gravity of the offense.

The officials with their respective titles known from the documents were:

literature

  • Johann Ferdinand (Hrsg.): Archive for the history of the city of Heidelberg. 2. Volume 1854, IX. The Palatinate Oberamt Heidelberg. P. 108. ( online at google books )
  • Johann Goswin Widder : Attempt of a complete geographic-historical description of the Kurfürstl. Palatinate on the Rhine. Volume 1 , Leipzig 1786–1788. ( Online at Hathi Trust, digital library )
  • Meinrad Schaab: The Zent in Franconia from the Carolingian era to the 19th century. Online [PDF; 1.6 MB] ( Memento from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  • Eckhardt, Albrecht: On the history of the cents in the southern Odenwald in: Archive for Hessian history and antiquity, NF 35 (1977), pp. 305-312. Editor: Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt in connection with the Historical Association for Hesse

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Goswin Widder : Attempt of a complete geographical-historical description of the Kurfürstl. Palatinate on the Rhine . First part. Frankfurt and Leipzig 1786, OCLC 1067855437 , p. 85 ( online at googe books ).
  2. a b Editor: Meinrad Schaab, from Willi Alter (Ed.): Pfalzatlas. Text volume I. Speyer: Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science, 1964, 415. (accessed on March 27, 2014)
  3. Konrad Dahl: Historical-topographical-statistical description of the Principality of Lorsch, or Church history of the Upper Rhinegau , 1812, page 175f and 240ff ( online at Google Books )
  4. JG Widder, page 81ff