Ear bridge
The Ohrbrücke is one of the oldest streets in Ingelheim am Rhein .
History of the ear bridge
In 1854, 30 stool graves from the Younger Stone Age were found in the area of the ear bridge . With an age of 6,000 to 8,000 years, these settlement remains are the oldest in the urban area of Ingelheim am Rhein .
There are various theories about the origin of the street name. Historians are of the opinion that the name ear bridge is merely a corruption of "upper bridge". And so it is assumed that in order to distinguish between the supposedly existing two Selzbrücken in front of Altengasse and Edelgasse, the one called the "lower bridge", namely the one in front of Altengasse at the former Stoppelbein'schen Mühle, and the one above the Edelgasse were therefore referred to as the "upper bridge".
Older residents of the ear bridge, on the other hand, are of the opinion that there has only been a real bridge at this point since the turn of the century. The name "orenbruckir" also appears so early (1381, Krämer, Ober-Ingelheim, p. 36) that it cannot possibly come from an "upper" and a "lower" bridge, because neither of them existed at that time, but only fords. As evidenced by old photos, around 1900 the Edelgasse led through the Ohrbrücker Tor and crossed the Selz as a ford . Between the southern gate towers of the Ohrbrücker Tor and the main house of the Wolfgang Weitzel farm (now Wasem), there were three other buildings from the fabric of the formerly spacious monastery for noble daughters Engelthal and the one opposite on the island between Mühlgraben and Selz. Herrenmühle "(Hessian land registry from 1848). The Mühlgraben ran along the expansive west side of the monastery. Selz and Mühlgraben also served as an approach obstacle for enemies, so that the assumption that the defensive wall would be led around the Mühlgraben is not necessary and also nonsensical, since the buildings were directly on the Mühlgraben. This flowed into the Selz immediately in front of the Ohrbrücker Tor, from which it was derived more than 300 meters further up. A few meters before it merged with the Selz, it was spanned by a small arched stone bridge like the Selz. They were not passable with carts.
According to the Napoleonic cadastre of 1848 the following situation arises. In order to get dry-footed pedestrians from Edelgasse into the street "Ohrbrücke" beyond the Selz, one first passed the former gate, (ruin) crossed the Mühlgraben by means of the small stone arch bridge and thus reached the small mill island in front of the monastery on the the mill stood. After about 10 steps towards the west, a second small stone arch bridge of the same size and design followed, over which one could cross the Selz in the same way to get from the Mühleninsel to the corridor and settlement An der Ohrbrücke . (The Selz Bridge is hinted at on the right in the photo) On this path, for centuries, the donkeys loaded with grain and flour crossed both the Selz and the Mühlbach to and from the mill. Loaded cars drove through the Selzfurt and the gate. The mill wheel itself could only be observed from the Mühlbach Bridge. There was no wooden footbridge or bridge at this point. The first bridge accessible for wagons (around 1911) was built after the abandonment of the three buildings of the monastery attached directly to the southern gate tower and now as a straight extension of Edelgasse. It spanned the former Mühlengraben and the Selz, which were filled in in 1908. The two bridges owe the name "ear bridge" to their appearance. If you drove through the Selzfurt and looked at the mill on the mill island, the two stone bridge arches looked like ears and the protruding tip of the mill island looked like a long nose. (See photo; also the Hessian cadastre 1848 in the city archive)
- Other interpretations of names
- In connection with the year 1381, Philipp Krämer comes across the spelling “an der orenbruckir porten”.
- 1384 is reported in a document: "... from eymeHuse located in the oren brocken" (L. Baur: "Hessian documents").
- In 1411 the name was "orenbrucke" and Krämer came across this reference from the same year: "Zappin der murer, who lived in a courtyard with a garden at the Obirnbrucker porthin: the first known reference to Obere Brücke."
- The spelling “Obirbrucker Porte” comes from 1423 and “vor der Obernbrucker porten” from 1432.
However, this also leads Philipp Krämer to believe that the street name is derived from "upper bridge": "The name Obere-Brücke, in contrast to the lower one at Allegässer Tor, should actually be correct". In 1465 the street name was again “in der Ornbrucken”, 1593 “Ohrnbrucken”, 1597 “Ohrbrück” and finally from 1656 only “Ohrbrück”. However, there are no references to the supposedly eponymous donkey in these documents.
The ear jumpers
Up in Edelgasse and right next to it, noble families such as the Counts of Ingelheim, the Lords of Horneck, von Buseck , von Rodenstein , von Wallbrunn , von Sponheim, von Saulheim and others had their farms. The courtyards needed staff. So it was settled "over the brook" and that even before the curtain wall was built. The ear bridge could have been created as a lower extension of the Edelgasse on the other side of the Selz. So the little houses of the very least were later outside the wall and the people who lived in it outside of society. And if the gates of the curtain wall remained locked to foreign drivers, then they were still accepted in the poor hostels “in front of the Ohrbrücke”. And minstrels, jugglers, traders and other traveling people have left unmistakable traces here in the form of descendants over the centuries. Three gypsy clans had their permanent quarters here for many generations. During the Nazi era, members of these clans were brought to concentration camps.
Some petty bourgeois families have always lived here. The Junker Haberkorn lived here with his family in the 16th century . For centuries, the center of the ear bridge was the tubular running fountain. Many residents still living today could experience the strong workhorse of the farmer Karl Kopp and the little gypsy horses of the Ohrbrücker farmer while they were watering. Women and girls came to the well with buckets and cans and lingered there to chat. At the fountain, as one would say today, it was the communication center of the Ohrbrück residents.
In the mid-1920s , the ear bridge was bursting at the seams. A few other homeless families had intervened and the urge to migrate in the spring months did not bring any noticeable relief. The mayor of Ober-Ingelheim, Wilhelm Bauer, felt compelled to take an extraordinary measure. The “Ingelheimer Zeitung” reports on it: “Emergency housing. Ober-Ingelheim, September 2, 1926 . The municipality of Ober-Ingelheim has ordered 3 railway cars for residential use from the management of the Reichseisenbahn. And from the corresponding minutes of the council it emerges that these wagons were intended as makeshift apartments for 3 large families. The wagons were placed on prepared plinths between the Ohrbrücker Tor and the Selzbrücke in autumn 1926 and connected to the electricity and water supply. A three-part open-air outhouse had been built in the back. Around 30 people lived here in extremely primitive conditions until around 1938.
Ears of the country drivers
Until the beginning of the Nazi era - apart from the 3 railroad cars - there were no barracks or makeshift apartments in the immediate vicinity of the Ohrbrücke. The real ear-jerkers were people who until then had largely earned their livelihood themselves as basket makers , tinkers , scissors grinders , showmen , peddlers , barrel-horn people and junk collectors. You harnessed your horse and drove across the country. Or you tied your bundle and wandered about on foot. And wherever you went, you were easily recognized as “Oorebrigger”, especially by the dialect. A few groschen or marks could always be earned. That was enough for food. The fruit trees along the way and a hare that accidentally got caught in a noose also contributed. They slept in covered wagons, in haystacks or in open barns. For centuries, the ears bridge became known throughout Rheinhessen and beyond.
Behind the ear bridge
Social measures by the city administration have created the social housing area behind the ear bridge. For this purpose, barracks and simple apartments were built into which the residents of the Nieder-Ingelheimer Hammelacker settlement were, so to speak, resettled. A quarter was created with people from the lower social level and with some negative side effects and dangers for the residents themselves and for the environment. For a long time the ear bridge was notorious, although the actual Oorebrigg had nothing to do with it. This only affected the area “Behind the Ears Bridge”.
Since the construction of the bypass road, the city has been trying to improve the negative image through construction measures and resettlement of the local population to Heinrich Wieland-Strasse in Frei-Weinheim, as this area "Behind the Ohrbrücke" is now the entrance to the town. The "Oerebrigger Brinnelche" is still there today, just restored in 2004 in own work.
literature
- Karin Leydecker , Enrico Santifaller: Architecture Guide Rhineland-Palatinate 1945-2005, Schnell + Steiner, 2005, ISBN 978-3795417598 ( Google Books snippet )
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 57 ′ 31.1 ″ N , 8 ° 3 ′ 21 ″ E