Otzenrath

Otzenrath municipality Jüchen Coordinates: 51 ° 4 ′ 14 " N , 6 ° 27 ′ 52" E
Height :	approx. 90 m
Residents :	0 (Jun 30, 2010)
Incorporation :	1st January 1975
Postal code :	41363
Area code :	02164
	Location of the former village of Otzenrath in the Rhenish lignite district

Otzenrath and neighboring towns on the Tranchot map around 1806

View of Alt-Otzenrath with excavator on the edge of the village at the end of 2006

Otzenrath was a district of the former municipality of Jüchen in the Rhine district of Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia . Alt-Otzenrath had to give way to the Garzweiler opencast mine operated by RWE Power and was relocated to Neu-Otzenrath and Neu-Spenrath together with the neighboring village of Spenrath .

geography

Planned mining area Garzweiler II

Alt-Otzenrath bordered Alt-Holz in the north, Alt-Garzweiler in the east, the villages of Alt-Spenrath and Pesch in the south and Borschemich in the west . All neighboring towns of Alt-Otzenrath were also in the mining area of the Garzweiler opencast mine and were therefore also relocated and demolished.
The Köhm flowed from the direction of Alt-Garzweiler north of the edge of Alt-Otzenrath past towards Borschemich to the later confluence with the Niers .

history

The village was first mentioned in the 11th century under the name " Osrotha ". Politically, Otzenrath has belonged to the Grevenbroich office in the Duchy of Jülich since the Middle Ages .

Towards the end of the Thirty Years War , Hessian troops invaded in 1642 and burned 16 houses down. After the war, 54 families lived in Otzenrath.

In 1794 the place was occupied by French revolutionary troops. Otzenrath came to the Mairie Neukirch in the canton of Odenkirchen in the Arrondissement de Crévelt in the Département de la Roer . In 1815 Otzenrath came to the Kingdom of Prussia and a year later to the Grevenbroich district and the mayor's office in Neukirchen, which was renamed the mayor's office of Hochneukirchen in 1873. In 1929 the place came to the Grevenbroich-Neuss district. Otzenrath has been part of the city of Jüchen since January 1st, 1975.

industrialization

Otzenrath orchard occupied by the BUND

In contrast to the neighboring villages, old Otzenrath was shaped by industry. The connection to the network of the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , which opened the Hochneukirch - Jülich ( valley railway line ) on October 1, 1873 , contributed to this. Otzenrath now got its own train station. The line, nationalized in 1882, was in operation until it was closed on June 1, 1980.

In 1876 the "Mechanical Clothes Factory, Weaving and Twisting Bausch" was founded, for which Otzenrath was known until the Second World War. In 1885 it already employed 125 workers. Gerhard Dürselen founded another clothing factory in 1892. 450 workers worked here in 1968. The Schniewind textile company settled in the village around 1900 and employed 181 people in 1912.

Protest and resettlement

Since the 1980s the community had to deal with the resettlement plans of the open pit operator Rheinbraun and protested u. a. with fairy lights in 1985 and 1987. A public survey in 1995 approved a complaint by the municipality of Jüchen before the Constitutional Court of Münster, which was rejected. The relocation of most residents (around 80 percent) to the new location began in 2000 and was completed by 2007. At the beginning of 2008, the BUND still demonstrated resistance to the opencast mine , which occupied its own orchard at the northern end of the village on the edge of the pit until it was evacuated. In November 2008, all roads in the former local area had been dismantled; the last building to be demolished was the primary school. Most recently, only the Otzenrath sports field on the western Jahnstrasse to Borschemich was preserved and served as a material store. This has not existed since the end of 2011 and the Otzenrath site has now been completely excavated by the Garzweiler opencast mine .

religion

Old Protestant baroque church from 1706

The place was in the Protestant parish Otzenrath-Hochneukirch. Unlike in the villages of Borschemich and Keyenberg, the Reformation in Otzenrath had already gained a foothold before 1550, but was restricted again during the time of the Counter Reformation . Religious freedom was only granted after the death of Duke Johann Wilhelm . In 1676 the congregation finally received the first Reformed pastor. In 1661 the evangelical community used a barn as a place of worship, which was replaced by a new baroque building in 1706 . After 1900, however, this listed building was demolished, although the Düsseldorf consistory had prohibited it. Today's Art Nouveau church was built in 1910 .

In 1870 the architecturally idiosyncratic Catholic parish church of St. Simon and Judas Thaddäus was completed according to plans by Hugo Schneider .

Jewish families have lived in Otzenrath since the early 19th century. In 1832 23 and in 1905 17 Jewish Otzenraths were counted. They visited the synagogue in neighboring Garzweiler . Only one Holocaust survivor returned to the village.

Population development

With industrialization, Otzenrath's population has also increased significantly since the late 19th century:

Buildings

Leuffen manor

Catholic parish church with octagon and westwork

The following buildings were in the old town:

The Evangelical Church was built in 1910 to replace a previous Baroque building.

The Catholic parish church of St. Simon and Judas Thaddäus was a unique structure in Germany and consisted of an octagonal nave, in which the vault was supported by a single granite column. The sanctuary adjoined the octagon to the east. This structure was based on the Aachen Cathedral . On June 18, 2006, the last service before the demolition was held in the church. On March 9, 2007, the building was torn down down to the granite column. This will be transported to the relocation site and set up again. Furthermore, some pews and the altar were taken over in the newly built chapel in Neu-Otzenrath.

The Leuffen manor was one of the oldest properties in Otzenrath, dating back to the 13th century. The courtyard was once the chapter court of the Maria im Kapitol monastery in Cologne. After the secularization of the monasteries during the Napoleonic occupation at the beginning of the 19th century, the farm was acquired by the Leuffen family. From 1871 the farm was allowed to call itself " Rittergut ". After a fire, the last visible “Schlösschen” along the street as well as parts of the associated courtyard were rebuilt. In May 2006, extensive excavations by the Rhenish Office for Archaeological Preservation took place in the courtyard and park of the property . Here were u. a. former courtyards exposed. The remains of a castle from the 13th century are suspected especially under the barn. The Leuffen manor was demolished on February 26, 2007.

The Neuwerkerhof (Hofstraße 79) was first mentioned in the 12th century as the chapter house of the Neuwerk (Mönchengladbach) monastery. The large Franconian square courtyard was initially managed by a monastery helper. The farm burned down in the 17th century, was rebuilt and burned down again. The residential building, which was later heavily damaged as part of a THW exercise, was built in 1778, the other courtyards partly date from the 1950s.

Events

Klompenkirmes

societies

Village community Otzenrath / Spenrath
Kolping family Otzenrath
VfL 1909 eV Otzenrath
Spielverein 1909 Otzenrath eV
Pathfinder DPSG Stamm Otzenrath

photos

Demolition and leveling of Otzenrath, 2006
The school is the last building left in July 2007
Marktstrasse Otzenrath, June 2006
Market street Otzenrath with remaining street lamps, December 2007
Aerial photograph 1997

Movies

The almost extinct place was used in 2004 as "Schaffrath" as a backdrop for the Tatort production Schopfwunden by WDR with Klaus J. Behrendt and Dietmar Bär .
Two documentary films accompanying the resettlement process were made under the direction of Jens Schanze : Otzenrather Sprung (2001) and Otzenrath 3 ° colder (2007). The first film received the Adolf Grimme Prize in 2002 , the second the Phoenix Documentary Film Prize in 2009.
The film OTZENRATH, Last Day was made in 2005/2006. It is Martijn Smits' final project at the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam and won the 2006 audience award at the Documentary and Short Film Festival in Bilbao, Spain.

literature

Peter Staatz: The story of Otzenrath and Spenrath. From the beginning to the relocation. (= History of the community of Jüchen. 8). Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8375-0040-0 .
Jürgen Kiltz: Hochneukirch, Holz, Otzenratz and Spenrath on postcards. (= History of the community of Jüchen. Volume 14). Hundt Druck, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-049507-6 .

Individual evidence

^ Karl L. Mackes: Erkelenzer Börde and Niersquellen area. Kühlen, Mönchengladbach 1985, ISBN 3-87448-122-0 , pp. 325, 183.
^ 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, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 295 .
^ Karl L. Mackes: Erkelenzer Börde and Niersquellen area. 1985, p. 118.
^ Peter Staatz: The story of Ortzenrath and Spenrath. 2008, p. 91.
↑ Despite eviction, resistance against brown coal continues. on: bund-nrw.de January 11, 2008.
^ Karl L. Mackes: Erkelenzer Börde and Niersquellen area. 1985, p. 430.
↑ Peter Saatz: The story of Otzenrath and Spenrath. 2008, pp. 142, 151.
^ Population figures according to Peter Saatz: The story of Otzenrath and Spenrath. 2008, p. 212.
^ Contents Otzenrather Sprung
↑ PHOENIX Documentary Award and Advancement Award 2009 awarded. ( Memento from June 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on: phoenix.de , 2009.
↑ imdb.com