Richrath

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Richrath
Coordinates: 51 ° 7 ′ 46 ″  N , 6 ° 56 ′ 39 ″  E
Height : 47 m above sea level NN
Richrath (Langenfeld (Rhineland))
Richrath

Location of Richrath in Langenfeld (Rhineland)

Richrath is the northern part of the city ​​of Langenfeld (Rhineland) .

geography

St. Martin at Pentecost with flag decoration

Richrath and Wiescheid, which is adjacent to the east, form the north of the city ​​of Langenfeld . To the south of Richrath, Immigrath joins first , followed by the other districts of Langenfeld-Mitte and Reusrath . Berghausen , which is also part of Langenfeld, forms the southwest . The northern boundary runs to the Düsseldorf districts Hellerhof and Garath and the city of Hilden , the latter is also part of the district of Mettmann on. The Richrath area, located on the middle terrace of the Rhine (also known as the Heideterrasse ), is mostly flat. Open watercourses are Assenbach, Burbach, Götscher Bach, Riethrather Bach and the mostly dry Oerkhausgraben ( city ​​limits to Hilden). Larger areas of water , groundwater lakes , were created by large-scale gravel . Some of them are used as recreational areas or by anglers . No other mineral resources besides gravel and sand are known.

history

About the name

Richrath, as Josef Hünermann had already stated in the magazine of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein 1932/33, was the clearing ( -rath means clearing) by Richard. With reference to the memoirs of the Gereonstift in Cologne, the historical person of a Count Richarius is cited, who can be documented as early as 966 and 973. One could hardly go wrong in viewing him as the founder of Richrath, summarized Müller in 1955.

The name researcher Heinrich Dittmeier also considers a historical personality to be possible as a namesake with regard to the syllable Rich- . However, he gives further interpretations : A “narrow corridor”, a “thorn hedge” or a “ strip of bushes” could have been meant by rich . Another researcher , Hans Bahlow, however, suspects a name of Celtic origin that could be associated with water , swamp , mud , mold or bog .

Be that as it may, the excavations at St. Martinus Church mean that at least Count “Richarius” is no longer the founder of Richrath. Finally, the bone of a person was discovered here, whose death was determined by the researchers using the radio-carbon method to be exactly the year 796. Presumably, the person will also have been buried in a wooden church , even if no more archaeological finds could be made. Because if Richrath already existed with a church around 800, the count, who first appeared in documents in 966, cannot have been the founder of the village.

Early records

The beginning of the settlement is no longer traceable because of the unknown namesake or the unknown settler community. In any case, finds since the Stone Age in Reusrath and Wiescheid suggest that the local area was permanently settled , even if the settlement was very sparse for centuries because of the migration of Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire . Richrath was first mentioned in a document and thus verifiable for historical research as "Ruchrothe" in the years 1090/1120. The document refers to one of the canon's the Suitbertus - pin Kaiserwerth tender white bread donation to the Rich Rath twelve pennies contributed. This first mention of Richrath then follows in 1299 Hüsgen ("Husigin"), 1302 Riethrath ("Reterode"), 1336 Örkhaus ("Udinghusen" - today Hilden) and 1336 Bräuhaus ("Bruhoyve").

Richrath as parish and dominion

St. Martin church tower

Much is not gained by listing a few documents . Therefore, research also tries to shed more light on the past with comparisons . One possibility is the name research together with the evaluation of existing written records . The focus is also on the endings of the place names. So it was assumed that places ending with -rath were founded in the 10th century. Archaeological findings from Richrath and more recently from Reusrath, however, have now shaken this view. The reason is the much older traces of settlement that were found on both churches . Based on the results, it is now assumed that the places on -rath could have been founded a good hundred years earlier than previously assumed.

And there are other indications for the earlier settlement: St. Martinus is consecrated to St. Martin of Tours (315–397)) and is mentioned as the investiture church of Haan in the 16th century . Haan is mentioned in a document as early as 925. In addition, fragments found in Richrath-Nord suggest (as in other parts of the city, partly from the Iron Age ( Hallstatt and La Tène times ) that the history of settlement in Richrath could even go back to the 6th ( AD ) century .

With regard to the organization of the community , only fragments are known. The assumption of a Margraviate of Richrath is probably no longer the state of research . Undisputedly, however, the (church) history began with the affiliation of a parish of Richrath to the dean's office in Neuss . The parish was first mentioned in a document around 1289, until it was transferred from the administration of the Monheim office to the Richrath rule on December 30, 1666 . Reusrath, which remained in the Monheim district, belonged to the parish of Rheindorf at the time, which - mentioned in passing - would still be reflected today in the carnival calls Alaaf in Reusrath and Helau in the places belonging to the parish of Richrath. However , it is doubtful whether the further presumption of the preference for light or dark top-fermented ( Kölsch or Alt ) can be traced back to the boundaries of the deanery alone.

Incidentally, Richrath formed a joint association with the honors Berghausen , Immigrath and Wiescheid as parish , rule , canton or mayor's office throughout the Middle Ages up to modern times , while Reusrath always remained separate from them. Richrath and Reusrath were only transferred to the Richrath mayor's office from 1808 , the first meeting of which was on August 26, 1808. Another reorganization took place on April 15, 1814 in the form of merging with Monheim to form the joint municipality of Richrath-Monheim , this time with the official seat in Richrath. This later joint community of Richrath left Monheim on September 30, 1851. Finally, with the decree of the King of Prussia on March 16, 1910, the previous five honors were merged to form the municipality of Richrath-Reusrath . The constituent meeting of the newly elected municipal council took place on June 9, 1910. From this community of Richrath-Reusrath, on November 11, 1936, the now so-called community of Langenfeld (Rhld.) And finally on September 14, 1948 the city ​​of Langenfeld (Rhld.) Emerged.

Richrath's churches

St. Martinus

St. Martinus is the Roman Catholic Church of Richrath. Its history goes back to the Christianization of the Rhineland. The current building of the nave goes back to 1965/66. The tower dates from the 12th century. Since January 1st, 2011 the church belongs to the Catholic parish of St. Josef and Martin .

  • St. Martin seen from Frankenplatz

  • St. Martin in the back light

  • St. Martin church tower

  • Cross of the Pius Church

Daughter Church of St. Pius

Tower of St. Martin as seen from the Martin School

1973 figures believers incurred after the war Rich Rath-Nord was the result of higher Pius 's Church consecrated as a daughter church of St. Martin. However, changes in behavior in the practice of religion gradually led to a steady decrease in the number of people attending services , so that the church was closed again a few years ago. The large wooden cross that once stood in front of the church has now been framed and is now presented in front of a gold-colored mirror on the east side of the St. Martinus Church in Kaiserstraße.

Evangelical St. Luke Church

A wave of strong population growth, including people of Protestant faith, caused by people displaced from the East after 1945 required the construction of new places of worship . The total number of residents increased by a previously unknown rate. While the population grew by only 8,575 between 1905 and 1945, it rose by 28,671 in the 40 years that followed until 1985. Since February 1st, 1961 the officially named "Evangelical Parish Langenfeld", since then identical with the area of ​​the city , reacted to the influx of Protestants in the years 1960/1964 with the construction of the new parish hall on the Kaiserstraße. This was followed in 1970/1972 by the Lukaskirche, according to plans by the architect Nathow, with beautiful windows by the glass painter Henk Schilling.

  • Lukas Church in Richrath

  • Kaiserstrasse in Richrath

  • Martinus School

  • Showroom

Highlights from history

The St. Martinus Hospital

In the past, sick people who needed care either had to be cared for at home or taken to hospitals far away. The hospital in Kaiserswerth (founded in 1845), the sanatorium in Bonn (1847), the Bethel establishment ( von Bodelschwinghsche Stiftungen Bethel ) near Bielefeld (1887) or even the rural poor house in Trier (1893) were the contact points for such patients . In order to remedy this problem, the pastor at St. Martin, Wilhelm Boddenberg, took the initiative to found a hospital for the mayor's office of Richrath, which now has over 7,000 inhabitants. At his request the approved archbishop of Cologne on 23 April 1892, the facility as a branch of the poor Franciscan nuns from the parent company to Olpe . In 1890 the pastor bought the house of the late Vicar Martin Bürsgens and made it available to the Franciscan Sisters. On August 1, 1892, the Mother Superior gave her promise from Olpe to send the necessary sisters. On June 4, 1893, the first four Franciscan Sisters arrived in Richrath. Dr. Müller, a family doctor with hospital experience. The final point was the “Concession to Operate a Hospital in Richrath” on January 9, 1894, issued by Pastor Boddenberg.

The hospital developed rapidly, the chronicle is full of renovations, land purchases, extensions and modernizations. The sisters opened a cooking and housekeeping school in 1906, later a children's home and as early as 1914 a kindergarten . During the First World War , several rooms served as a hospital . After the death of the founder, the pastor Theodor Breuer and the doctor Dr. Oskar Prigge the further expansion measures.

As early as 1924, the hospital had 175 beds. With 25 nurses and 5 doctors, it was one of the largest hospitals in the Solingen district . And in 1933 surgeon and gynecologist Dr. Eugen Löhe became a medical director for the first time, who concentrated exclusively on hospital work. For 1989, 201 beds are finally given and there were 274 employees, including 27 doctors in the service of the patients.

The horse burial from Götscher Weg

A horse burial on the Götscher Weg is reported, which was discovered there during canal construction work in the 1960s. It may not have been documented by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn . A burial next to the burial place of a Turkish sultan , who commanded an advance command during the Turkish wars , is suspected . Turkish sabers , which are in the local museum at Schloss Burg , should possibly be able to be assigned to this event. Unfortunately, Turkish authorities are currently unable to report on the (once secret) military operations of their troops, unless the request is specifically named with the name of the leader.

The find of the Mercurius statuette

A special kind of find, presumably lost by a Roman traveling salesman , is a 10.7 cm high bronze Mercurius statuette , which the nine-year-old student Götz Neumann found in the sandy excavation on a construction site on Kirschstrasse in 1976. It points to the diverse trade relations since antiquity , which led to the establishment of a post office in 1774 . In the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn the find is described as follows:

“ The inconspicuous statuette has a green patina, is heavily corroded in places and modernly damaged. A base is missing. It shows Mercurius, the messenger of the gods and patron god of trade in the Roman pantheon . The god stands on the right leg, the left one is set back. In the outstretched right hand he is holding an oversized purse. The left arm is slightly bent, the hand formerly held the herald's staff . Mercurius is unclothed except for a short coat, which is held on the right shoulder by a head fibula, the left shoulder is covered and falls over the left forearm. He turns his head to the right; a flat cap with a narrow, towering pair of wings covers the hair. The god wears wing shoes. The Mercurius statuette from Langenfeld shows a type of representation that was popular in Roman times and, apart from certain variations, goes back to a Greek model from the 5th century BC; it is often occupied. The craftsmanship of the statuette is of poor quality. The bronze caster evidently had only modest artistic means available to embellish the sequence of movements and the plasticity of the body. Much seems clumsy, all too often only rough lines draw the tension-free muscles. "

So it should be noted that the place of discovery is important, namely on the other side of the Rhine in the Germanic settlement area. In this room Mercurius statuettes were indeed common, since Mercurius also by the Germans worshiped. However, the find in the immediate vicinity of the earliest transport connection in this region, the mouse path , also documents the centuries-old trade route, which, with finds from the La Tène and Hallstatt periods, can be dated to the 7th century BC.

Schools and population

In 1716 a Catholic elementary school was set up in Richrath, which was also attended by children from Berghausen, Immigrath and Wiescheid. In 1968 this school was transferred to the Zehntenweg Catholic Primary School - Martinus School (today Richrath-Mitte Primary School, Catholic sub-location ) and to the Jahnstrasse community secondary school . The latter, the Wilhelm-Würz-Schule , was merged with the Fahlerweg Community Secondary School in Immigrath at the beginning of the 3rd millennium due to the falling number of pupils . In 1965 the community elementary school Götscher Weg was set up on Götscher Weg . This emerged with the Zehntenweg Community Primary School from the Evangelical Primary School founded in 1911 .

15,367 people currently live in Richrath (as of December 31, 2006). Richrath is the second largest district after Immigrath. (Source: City of Langenfeld)

Economy and Transport

Richrath is located on the oldest trade route through the Rhineland, the mouse path . The mouse path does not owe its name to mice , but to its course through the moor ( mouse = moss or moor ). This footpath once ran between the Rheingau and Essen , where it reached the Hellweg . Its course in Langenfeld is roughly traced by Opladener Straße , Talstraße , Richrather Straße and Hildener Straße . The grave fields at its side were characteristic of this former beaten path . The modern burial ground at the entrance to the village from Immigrath, however, only stands in an old Germanic tradition and is more recent. In contrast, Germanic grave fields were discovered at the Neuburger Hof , the Hagelkreuz and the Richrath customs house . There is the old and the new customs house , a relic of the time, namely a form former tollgate towards Hilden.

Nowadays, Richrath has its own exit on federal motorway 59 and is connected to this exit and federal road 8 via Berghausener Strasse . About Winkelsweg and Schneider Road , there is also connected to the A 3 and A 542 . A separate stop on the Troisdorf-Mülheim-Morsbroich-Opladen-Immigrath-Richrath-Speldorf railway line has not existed since the 1980s. Local public transport is now handled by Rheinbahn buses on lines 785 and 790.

Nevertheless, the development of the district was less influenced by the mouse path as the earliest trade route in the Rhineland , but more arable and livestock farming . In addition, some of the streams were used economically by hydropower . Particularly noteworthy are two mills , the Riethrath mill on the Riethrather Bach and the Götscher mill on the Götscher Bach. At Assenbach and Burbach, the craft of bleaching can also be traced back to 1757 , as well as at Gladbach in Immigrath. Nowadays, Richrath is a popular residential area , trade and industry (due to its convenient location) is on the eastern edge of the A3, in the Hardt . This is where the industrial area east spreads out, which is shared by the old districts of Richrath and Immigrath.

Club life

Richrath is strongly influenced by a lively club life. Traditional and sports clubs in particular should be mentioned here.

Traditional clubs

  • Richrather St. Sebastianus Rifle Society
  • Richrather Carnival Association Black and White Richrath - RKV

sports clubs

  • Tuspo Richrath
  • Richrather Sports Club RSV 08
  • Langenfelder Tennis Club - LTC
  • Fishing club Petri Heil

Langenfeld fire brigade - Richrath fire fighting group

The Richrath fire department is part of the Langenfeld volunteer fire department . As fire fighting group 3 of the volunteer fire brigade, the group has a fire fighting group vehicle LF20 and a team transport vehicle MTF . The last-named vehicle was on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the fire fighting group on 24./25. May 2008 ceremoniously handed over.

Personalities

People who lived in Richrath for a long time and who made a special contribution to Richrath were (in alphabetical order):

  • Heinrich Wilhelm Boddenberg, pastor in St. Martin and founder of the St. Martinus Hospital
  • Theodor Breuer, pastor in St. Martin and opponent of the Nazi regime
  • Hans Litterscheid (born December 24, 1921 in Richrath; † January 3, 2014 in Langenfeld), Mayor of Langenfeld from 1961 to 1989, former member of the state parliament, honorary citizen of the city and holder of the Federal Cross of Merit and the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • Hermann Ludovici (1731–1802), pastor in St. Martin from 1767 to 1802, author of a so-called "Richrather Chronik"

Rolf D. Gassen, longtime deputy mayor - 15 years - and 25 years parliamentary group leader of the FDP in the council of the city of Langenfeld. Golden Ring of Honor holder of the city, holder of the Federal Cross of Merit and the silver plaque of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for merits in vocational training. Honorary member of the Langenfeld Heart Foundation and sponsor of many associations. Ombudsman of the LVR-Klinik Langenfeld for affairs of mentally ill patients. Since May 2013 spokesman for patient protection in the health and care conference of the Mettmann district.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Place and field names of the city of Langenfeld tell of days gone by. In: Home calendar of the Rhein-Wupper-Kreis 1955.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Rolf Müller, " Stadtgeschichte Langenfeld Rheinland ", Verlag Stadtarchiv Langenfeld 1992
  3. ↑ Stephan Meisel, Already in the 8th Century , in Rheinische Post, Langenfeld edition of June 26, 2004
  4. ^ Thomas Becker, New Findings on St. Martin in Richrath , in Niederwupper 20, Historical Contributions
  5. ↑ Stephan Meisel, Reusrath probably older than expected , edition of May 9, 2008
  6. ↑ a b c von Galera, Langenfeld (Rhld.), Von der Margrafschaft zur Stadt , Ofen, Langenfeld 1963
  7. ↑ a b c Friedhelm Görgens, Langenfeld , Droste, Düsseldorf 1984
  8. ^ Reply from the Turkish Consulate General dated August 12, 2008
  9. ^ City of Langenfeld: Elementary School Richrath-Mitte, cath. Sub-location Retrieved June 15, 2012.

literature

  • Thomas Becker, New Findings on St. Martin in Langenfeld-Richrath in Niederwupper 20, Historical Contributions, Leverkusen 2003.
  • Rolf Müller, Stadtgeschichte Langenfeld, Verlag Stadtarchiv Langenfeld 1992.
  • Friedhelm Görgens, Langenfeld, Droste, Düsseldorf 1984.
  • von Galera, Langenfeld (Rhld.), From the margraviate to the city, oven, Langenfeld 1963.

Web links

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