Oberzent

Basic data
State :	Hesse
Administrative region :	Darmstadt
County :	Odenwaldkreis
Height :	415 m above sea level NHN
Area :	165.59 km 2
Residents:	10,194 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	62 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	64760
Primaries :	06068, 06276 , 06275
License plate :	ERB
Community key :	06 4 37 016
LOCODE :	DE Z3B
City structure:	19 districts
; City administration address :	Metzkeil 1 ; 64760 Oberzent
Website :	www.stadt-oberzent.de
Mayor :	Christian Kehrer (independent)
Location of the city of Oberzent in the Odenwald district

Oberzent is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse , which was created on January 1, 2018 from the merger of the town of Beerfelden with the communities of Hesseneck , Rothenberg and Sensbachtal . With an area of 165.5 km², it takes up more than a quarter of the district area and is the third largest city in Hesse after Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden . This amalgamation was the first change in the existence of the Hessian cities and municipalities since the completion of the regional reform in Hesse in 1979. On December 31, 2015, 10,248 inhabitants were counted in the municipalities of the urban area to be merged.

Surname

Oberzent is traditionally the name for the southern part of the Hessian Odenwaldkreis with Beerfelden as the main town. The name is derived from the Zent , the medieval judicial and administrative district. The Beerfeld gallows , the largest and best preserved in Germany, is witness to this central court . For the scope of the cent, see Amt Freienstein # Geschichte . With the exception of the Mossautal community, the area is now marketed as “Beerfelder Land” for tourism. The designation of the area was the inspiration behind the naming of the Oberzent school in Beerfelden. The Oberzent museum in Beerfelden is dedicated to the city and regional history. Numerous clubs in the area also bear this name.

To distinguish it from the Oberzent, the northern part of the Odenwaldkreis from Michelstadt is often referred to as Unterzent . However, this word creation has not been historically proven and is an invention of the modern age.

geography

Geographical location

The urban area of Oberzent lies in the red sandstone area of the Odenwald and occupies the high-lying southern quarter of the Odenwald district and in particular all areas south of the Odenwald main watershed between the Main and Neckar . Most of the districts are located in the valley trains that drain south to the Neckar. The only exception to this is the Beerfelden district, which lies in the headwaters of the Mümling and to the north of it the Etzean and Hetzbach districts. The Mümling flows from these three villages north to the Main and its valley is the main traffic axis and the settlement focus of the Odenwaldkreis. Facing the southern border of the urban area, there are four valley trains side by side in the direction of the Neckar. In the west it is the multi-branched valley system of the Finkenbach . The districts of Kortelshütte, Ober-Hainbrunn and Rothenberg, Finkenbach, Hinterbach and Raubach, Falken-Gesäß, Airlenbach and Olfen are located from south to north. The next valley to the east is that of the Gammelsbach , in which the Gammelsbach district and the southern outskirts of Beerfelden are located. The third valley is that of the Sensbach with the districts of Ober-Sensbach, Unter-Sensbach and Hebstahl. Finally, the Ittertal follows with the districts of Schöllenbach, Kailbach and Hesselbach. Most parts of the city can be found in the valley. Only Rothenberg and Kortelshütte are located as hillside settlements on a cleared island of the Hirschhorner Höhe and Hesselbach is located in the far east on a high plateau that borders the watershed to the Mud . The location of Beerfelden is special in that the town center was created in the headwaters of the Mümling, but the development extends south to over the saddle, which leads from the Mümling to the Gammelsbach.

In the urban area of Oberzent, in the area of Ober-Sensbach, rise some of the highest mountains in the Odenwaldkreis, the Sensbacher Höhe at 558 meters and the Krähberg at 555 meters . The Krähberg hunting lodge of the same name, owned by the Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau, is located on the top . The deepest points are in the southwest where the Zweigrund flows into the Finkenbach at about 175 m above sea level. NN and in the southeast the confluence of the Sensbach in the Itter at about 185 m above sea level. NN . In the north the deepest point is at the confluence of the Marbach in the Mümling at about 250 m above sea level. To find NN .

Neighboring communities

The city limits of Oberzent

Oberzent borders in the north on the municipality of Mossautal , the city of Erbach and the Markt Kirchzell ( district of Miltenberg in Bavaria ), in the east on the municipality of Mudau ( Neckar-Odenwald district in Baden-Württemberg ), in the south on the city of Hirschhorn ( district of Bergstrasse ) and the city of Eberbach ( Rhein-Neckar district in Baden-Württemberg) and in the west to the community of Wald-Michelbach (Bergstrasse district).

City structure

The city of Oberzent consists of the following districts:

With 19 districts, Oberzent has the highest number of districts in Hesse alongside the municipality of Heidenrod .

history

Between 2000 and 2014, 200 jobs (13 percent) were lost in Beerfelden. From 1990 to 2015 the population fell by almost ten percent, while in Germany it rose by 1.8 percent. It was similar in the other communities, a total of 1140 people left Oberzent in 25 years. There was more and more vacancy; the infrastructure declined. So the idea of an amalgamation matured in the city and its neighboring communities. This promises to relieve the municipal finances by 900,000 euros annually as well as new financial scope to secure the necessary social and technical infrastructure in all localities and to guarantee and develop an attractive, family-friendly and livable environment. Savings are being made because three mayor's posts have been eliminated, larger cities receive more money from municipal financial equalization and the state takes on a third of the old debts as start-up aid.

That is why a referendum took place on March 6, 2016 in the four municipalities of Beerfelden, Hesseneck, Rothenberg and Sensbachtal, in which the question of merging the municipalities was raised. In all four municipalities, a majority decided in favor of a merger to form Oberzent , which was implemented on January 1, 2018. All four municipal parliaments approved a corresponding border amendment agreement on May 3, 2017. The documents for the town charter and new district boundaries were presented in Darmstadt on September 13, 2017 by the Hessian Interior Minister Peter Beuth and District President Brigitte Lindscheid . At the same time, the border change agreement that was adopted in May 2017 was approved by the Darmstadt Regional Council.

The following is specified in the boundary change agreement:

The name Oberzent
The takeover of the name "Stadt" used by the city of Beerfelden by way of legal succession
The 19 previous city districts or districts will become districts of the city of Oberzent and will retain their previous name
The city receives the uniform postal code 64760
Duplicate street names are adapted
The coat of arms and flag are shown with a picture and description
The formation of 13 local districts and the election of local councils
1. Airlenbach, 325 inhabitants, 5 members
2. Beerfelden, 3,337 inhabitants, 9 members
3. Etzean, 146 inhabitants, 3 members
4. Falcon buttocks, 489 inhabitants, 5 members
5. Finkenbach, Hinterbach and Raubach, 575 inhabitants, 7 members
6. Gammelsbach, 906 inhabitants, 7 members
7. Hebstahl, Ober-Sensbach and Unter-Sensbach, 942 inhabitants, 7 members
8. Hesselbach, Kailbach and Schöllenbach; 634 inhabitants, 7 members
9. Hetzbach, 877 inhabitants, 7 members
10. Kortelshütte, 450 inhabitants, 5 members
11. Ober-Hainbrunn, 320 inhabitants, 5 members
12. Olfen, 323 inhabitants, 5 members
13. Rothenberg, 883 inhabitants, 7 members
The mayors form an advisory board that advises and supports the magistrate in all matters particularly affecting the districts
The provisional city council meeting of the city of Oberzent issues the main statute of the city of Oberzent in its constituent meeting according to the model attached to the border change agreement

Regardless of its size, the new town of Oberzent only has a little over 10,000 inhabitants. Street names that exist twice are changed, with the street on which fewer citizens live being renamed.

politics

The by-election of the city council and the local councils took place in accordance with the boundary change agreement on April 29, 2018 for the remainder of the general election period, which in Hesse ends on March 31, 2021. At the same time as the by-election, the mayor was elected for a six-year term.

City Council

According to the boundary change agreement, a provisional city council was formed for the period from January 1, 2018 until a new city council was constituted. This consisted of the previous city councilors of the city of Beerfelden (25) and the previous municipal representatives of the municipalities of Hesseneck (11), Rothenberg (15) and Sensbachtal (8). The city council meeting consisted of 59 city councilors for the time being and held its constituent meeting on January 22, 2018. In the by-election, the legal number of 37 city councilors was to be chosen for a population of over 10,000.

The by-election on April 29, 2018 produced the following result

Distribution of seats in the 2018 city council A total of 37 seats Left : 1 SPD : 10 Greens : 3 FDP : 4 CDU : 6 ÜWO : 13	Parties and constituencies		% 2018	Seats 2018
	ÜWO	Non-partisan voter community Oberzent	35.0	13
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	27.9	10
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	17.1	6th
	FDP	Free Democratic Party	10.8	4th
	GREEN	Alliance 90 / The Greens	7.9	3
	LEFT	The left	1.3	1
	total		100.0	37
	Voter turnout in%		66.1

mayor

On January 1, 2018, Egon Scheuermann, who was mayor of Sensbachtal and was appointed by the state of Hesse in agreement with the four participating municipalities as state commissioner, took over the duties of a mayor for Oberzent until he was able to hand them over to a mayor to be elected.

The first elected mayor of the city is the non-party Christian Kehrer, who prevailed against his rival Erik Kadesch in the runoff election on May 27th. He is elected for a six-year term and took office on July 1, 2018.

magistrate

According to the Hessian municipal constitution, the mayor is the chairman of the magistrate . According to the boundary change treaty, a provisional magistrate was formed for the period from January 1, 2018 until a new magistrate was constituted. Under the chairmanship of State Commissioner Egon Scheuermann, this consisted of the previous city councilors of the city of Beerfelden (6) and the previous councilors of the communities of Hesseneck (3), Rothenberg (5) and Sensbachtal (2) as well as the four previous mayors. The magistrate thus comprised 20 members for the time being.

In the main statute of the city of Oberzent of June 12, 2018, the number of (honorary) city councilors was set at nine.

badges and flags

coat of arms

Blazon : In the inclined gevierten sign up in a black silver antlers with red antlers roses, between the bars a red acorn; in front, in red, a silver cross on a silver bow, accompanied by two silver six-pointed stars; in the back a silver wheel; below in silver a red-armored upright black bear.

The coat of arms was approved as part of the border change agreement on September 13, 2017 by the Hessian Ministry of the Interior , but only became legally binding when the city was founded on January 1, 2018. It was designed by the Darmstadt heraldist Dieter Krieger.

The heraldic figures in each square refer to the coats of arms of the four municipalities that are combined to form Oberzent. The deer antlers at the top are borrowed from the Rothenberg coat of arms, the cross, arch and stars in front have only interchanged the colors with the coat of arms of Hesseneck, the silver wheel at the back is reminiscent of Sensbachtal and the black bear below was the coat of arms of Beerfelden.

flag

The city's flag was approved along with the coat of arms as part of the Border Change Treaty and is described as follows:

“Red-white-red split (1: 3: 1) covered with the city arms. The city colors are red and white. "

List of cultural monuments

Due to the amalgamation of the various places, the list of cultural monuments has also changed.

traffic

The federal highway 45 leads from north to south through the districts of Hetzbach, Beerfelden and Gammelsbach. There is a bypass road for Beerfelden east of the town. In Hetzbach, the state road 3108 branches off to the east from the B 45 and follows the winding, steep valley slopes on both sides of the Reußenkreuz . As the eastern extension of the federal highway 460, it forms a section of the Siegfriedstrasse in the direction of the districts of Schöllenbach and Kailbach. Beyond the national border, Siegfriedstrasse continues to Amorbach .

There are three stops of the Odenwaldbahn in the city : Hetzbach north, and Schöllenbach and Kailbach south of the Krähbergtunnel .

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Johann Heinrich Breimer (1772–1837), court scholar and member of the 2nd Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse
August Breimer (1845–1900), beer brewer, innkeeper and member of the 2nd Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse
Heinrich Braun (1847–1911), surgeon
Jakob Ihrig (“Raubacher Jockel”, 1866–1941), Odenwälder Original
Heinrich Breimer (1867–1947), master brewer and member of the second chamber of the state estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, son of August
Johann Georg Peter Fuchs (1868–1949), Bavarian theater director, brother of Emil Fuchs
Emil Fuchs (1874–1971), Protestant theologian, brother of Johann Georg Peter Fuchs
Jan Holschuh (1909–2000), sculptor
Jürgen Wolf (* 1957), cross-country skier, trainer and sports official

Connected to the city

Karl Friedrich Wider , arachnologist and pastor (Lutheran senior pastor) in Beerfelden, promoted to first pastor on May 1, 1828
Ludwig Albrecht Braun (1797–1869), member of the Hessian state parliament, pastor in Beerfelden
Joe Hackbarth (1931–2000), jazz musician and painter, lived and died in the Falken-Gesäß district
Mani Neumeier (* 1940), jazz and rock drummer, temporarily residing in the Finkenbach district
Horst Schnur (* 1942), district administrator of the Odenwald district until 2009, has lived in the Olfen district since 1969.
Michael Reuter (* 1948), member of the state parliament of the Odenwaldkreis, has lived in Beerfelden since 2003.
Jochen Sattler (* 1956), TV journalist, grew up in Beerfelden.
Rüdiger Holschuh (* 1967), former member of the Hessian state parliament, grew up in Gammelsbach.
Lukas Billick (* 1988), soccer player, grew up in Beerfelden
Daniel Knop (* 1957), non-fiction author and specialist journalist, lives in Airlenbach.

Web links

Commons : Oberzent - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Oberzent - travel guide

Website of the municipal service Oberzent on the municipal merger
Ludger Fittkau: A new city in Hessen - The fight against rural exodus . In: Deutschlandfunk . December 10, 2017 ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed December 11, 2017]).

Individual evidence

↑ 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 ).

↑ Oberzent school on the Internet

^ Museum of the Oberzent at the Hessian Museum Association

↑ Hans-Gerd Öfinger: Laborious fight for the bare essentials. In rural Hesse you see yourself being disadvantaged by state politics - impressions from Oberzent in the Odenwald. In: Neues Deutschland from October 26, 2018, p. 3

↑ Mannheimer Morgen from December 22nd, 2017: Love marriage instead of forced marriage - Oberzent third largest city in Hesse

↑ Citizens in the Odenwald decide on a common city. in hessenschau.de from March 4, 2016

↑ Announcement of the approval of the border change agreement of the city of Beerfelden and the communities of Hesseneck, Rothenberg and Sensbachtal dated November 9, 2007 . In: The government president (ed.): State gazette for the state of Hesse. 2007 No. 48 , p. 1139 , point 934 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 38.5 MB ]).

↑ Oberzent: Boundary change agreement is resolved, communication from May 3, 2017 ( Memento from September 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Oberzent receives approval certificate for name and city rights | Hessian Ministry of the Interior and for Sport. Retrieved September 14, 2017 .

↑ Approval of the border change agreement of the city of Beerfelden and the communities of Hesseneck, Rothenberg and Sensbachtal dated November 14, 2017 . In: Regional Council Darmstadt (Ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 2017 No. 48 , p. 1139 , point 932 (page 7 PDF file) ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 3,9 MB ]).

↑ Eberbach-channel.de of January 21, 2018: In the Oberzenthalle in Beerfelden, the founding ceremony of the new town of Oberzent and at the same time its first New Year's reception took place.

^ Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung of May 4, 2018: Oberzent. City parliament and local councils are elected

↑ echo-online from September 29, 2017: Non-partisan from the Oberzent go together: ÜWO wants to become the strongest parliamentary group

↑ Mayoral election in Oberzent: As exciting as a crime scene in echo-online.de from May 29, 2018

↑ eberbach-channel of June 30, 2018: City council meeting for Christian Kehrer's inauguration

↑ Boundary Change Agreement

↑ Mention of Olfen as the place where the Schnur family lived in Odenwald Stories ( Memento from January 1, 2018 in the Internet Archive )

[Metadaten_Einwohnerzahl_DE-HE-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] Oberzent school on the Internet

[3] Museum of the Oberzent at the Hessian Museum Association