Rittershausen (Dietzhölztal)

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Rittershausen
community Dietzhölztal
Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 42 "  N , 8 ° 16 ′ 56"  E
Height : 390  (380-673.1)  m above sea level NHN
Area : 18.47 km²
Residents : 795  (Jul 1, 2020)
Population density : 43 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : January 1, 1977
Postal code : 35716
Area code : 02774
View from the southwest
View from the southwest

Rittershausen is a district of the Dietzhölztal community in the Lahn-Dill district in central Hesse . The place has 795 inhabitants, which corresponds to 14.1% of the total population of Dietzhölztal (as of July 1, 2020). This makes the village the district with the second lowest population. This contrasts with the large municipal area of ​​1,847 hectares (Dietzhölztal: 3,744 hectares). Thus Rittershausen is almost as big as the three other localities Ewersbach , Almonds and Steinbrücken combined. Rittershausen is the largest single district of all municipalities in the Lahn-Dill district, ahead of Brandoberndorf ( Waldsolms , 1,727 ha) and Wetzlar (core town, 1,686 ha).

Geographical location

The place is on the Dietzhölze at about 380 m above sea level, the highest point in the district at 673.1 m above sea level is the Jagdberg north of the forester's house Dietzhölze, followed by the Nordhöll (641.1 m above sea level) ) northwest of the place and Eichholzkopf (609.9 m above sea level) north of the place. The Jagdberg is also the highest point in the Lahn-Dill district.

State road 1571 runs through Rittershausen. The federal road B 253 (Dillenburg – Frankenberg) is about eight kilometers away; the A 45 can be reached via the Dillenburg and Wilnsdorf junctions, both are about 20 km from Rittershausen.

Geographically, the place borders (from north-east to north) on Ewersbach, Haiger -Weidelbach, Haiger-Offdilln, Netphen -Hainchen, Bad Laasphe -Heiligenborn, Bad Laasphe-Sohl and Bad Laasphe-Fischelbach.

history

According to historical records, the entire period between the 8th and 13th centuries can be considered for the age of Rittershausen. The old form of the name "Rudershusz", the preferred location in the Dietzhölze valley and the continued existence even during the late medieval desert period suggest that Rittershausen was founded in the 9th or 10th century at the latest. The first documented mention goes back to the year 1344. In the man and interest book of the von Bicken men it is mentioned that in “Ruderszhausen disz seyt der Bach” the men from Bicken were entitled to the “ major and minor tenth ”.

Territorial reform

Until December 31, 1976 Rittershausen was an independent community. On January 1, 1977, Rittershausen was incorporated into the Dietzhölztal community as part of the regional reform in Hesse through the law to reorganize the Dill district, the districts of Gießen and Wetzlar and the city of Gießen, making it its fourth district. Local districts were not formed in the Dietzhölztal community.

School history

Rittershausen has been a branch of the Bergebersbach parish since the 16th century. A parish school was introduced there in 1582. It is not known exactly since when school lessons were regularly held in Rittershausen itself. Presumably, however, this must have been at the beginning of the 18th and possibly the end of the 17th century, as the school chronicle already mentions teachers in Rittershausen in a number that point to this time. The original “old school” was built in 1779 and, in addition to the school hall, also served as a teacher's apartment, a bakery, a shepherd's apartment, a parking space for the fire brigade's sprayer and as an emergency shelter for journeymen and other people.

At the beginning of the 19th century the teacher was paid by the community itself, but every family, with the exception of the “poor”, had to deliver grain and oats or a sum of money to the teacher.

School subjects were religion lessons, language lessons, real lessons, numbers lessons, forms and measure introduction and singing lessons. All children were taught between the ages of 6 and confirmation, i.e. in eight school years. The number of pupils was between 70 and sometimes up to 110 children.

The old school building gradually became too small, so that a new building was created in 1887, originally one-story, but only as a classroom with a kitchen and other ancillary rooms. Due to the increasing number of pupils, a second teaching position was set up in 1920 and the new school building was increased by a second floor in 1939. In the post-war period, the number of pupils continued to rise, with three full-time teachers working here at times. In 1965 a school pavilion was built as a makeshift new building because the existing school no longer met the requirements. In 1967 the “new old school” was converted into a village community center.

Also from 1967 the school was converted into a pure elementary school with grades 1–4, from the 5th school year the children had to attend secondary schools in the vicinity.

In the makeshift new building from 1965, teaching was carried out until 1989, when Rittershausen received a new school building that met modern standards.

The number of primary school students has been falling for some years, so that the continued existence of the primary school in the village is no longer guaranteed in the medium term. For the 2015/2016 school year, the continued existence of the school was achieved by re-registering individual future students. Due to the birth rate of the following cohorts, it seems possible to maintain the school location in Rittershausen in the near future.

Desert "Langenbach"

Within the boundaries of the Rittershausen district, the desert areas of Langenbach, Dunnenbach (on the northern slope of the Hausberg), Hof Hilgeshausen (about 200 meters above the Lower Dietzhölzweiher), Glashütte (about 400 meters below the Upper Dietzhölzweiher), Kizzenbach (on the left on the path to the Dietzhölze forest house) were located ) and Hof Wilhelmsthal (today Forsthaus Dietzhölze). The largest of them was Langenbach. This village was located northwest of Rittershausen on a tributary of the Dietzhölze of the same name. Even today there is the field name "Dorfwiese". Langenbach itself was first mentioned in a document three years before Rittershausen, i.e. in 1341. When exactly the place became desolate cannot be said with certainty. The above-mentioned pastor Karl Nebe describes that, according to oral tradition, the residents of Langenbach fell victim to the plague , and that the last survivor moved to Rittershausen. Langenbach is also mentioned in a list of Haiger's nobles dated around 1400, and in 1486 when the Ebersbach court was sold by the von Bicken to the Counts of Nassau , he is no longer mentioned.

Territorial history and administration

The following list gives an overview of the territories in which Rittershausen was located and the administrative units to which it was subordinate:

population

Population development

Rittershausen: Population from 1834 to 2018
year     Residents
1834
  
 414
1840
  
 427
1846
  
 446
1852
  
 446
1858
  
 443
1864
  
 446
1871
  
 415
1875
  
 428
1885
  
 450
1895
  
 468
1905
  
 439
1910
  
 449
1925
  
 560
1939
  
 554
1946
  
 797
1950
  
 836
1956
  
 863
1961
  
 849
1967
  
 977
1970
  
 1.105
1980
  
 ?
1990
  
 ?
1999
  
 948
2013
  
 845
2016
  
 855
2018
  
 798
Data source: Historical municipality register for Hesse: The population of the municipalities from 1834 to 1967. Wiesbaden: Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt, 1968.
Further sources:; after 1970: Dietzhölztal municipality

Religious affiliation

 Source: Historical local dictionary

• 1885: 0450 Protestant (= 100.00%) residents
• 1961: 0741 Protestant (= 87.28%) and 103 Catholic (= 12.13%) residents
• 1999: 1002 Protestant (= 78.80%), 196 Catholic (= 20.68%) and 270 other residents

Culture and sights

societies

In Rittershausen there is YMCA , DRK youth and senior citizens, the volunteer fire brigade , the choral society 'aCHORd', the Evangelical Trumpet Choir , Schützenverein , VdK , Beautification Association and the TSV . TSV Rittershausen became known through the ski department. In the area of ​​Nordic skiing, due to the previously existing ski jumping hill in Rittershausen, Hessian championships were also held in the 1960s. Rittershausen is still known today for its cross-country skiing trails.

The football department of TSV merged with TV Ewersbach in 1970 and now forms the SG Oberes Dietzhölztal. The men played from 2000 to 2004 for three years as the highest (dill) team in the regional league. After many relegations to the district league B, the SG was promoted back to the district league A for the 2016/17 season.

The nationally best known department of the TSV is the cycling department. For almost twenty decades from 1993, international mountain bike downhill races were held regularly by the TSV in Rittershausen.

Maimann and Pentecostal bride

"Maimann" and "Pfingstbraut" are two still preserved customs in Rittershausen, which are carried out every year on Whitsun . The boys (Maimann) and girls (Pentecost bride) of the 8th grade are responsible for this.

The Maimann

On the morning of Pentecost Sunday the younger children of the village go and bring small bouquets of flowers they have picked into the house, where the Maimann's bouquet is tied. As a thank you, you will receive a glass of raspberry juice. These flowers are then attached to a square wooden frame, which the maimann is tied up on Mondays, together with colorful ribbons and many, mostly 300–400 blown eggs. In the early afternoon, the tied bouquet is carried around and presented by the boys in the village. Later in the afternoon, all 4 to 14 year old boys from the forest fetch the mailaub (beech leaves). Fathers tie it on their boys' backs as a bandage and it is then carried through the village while singing more or less happily. It is stored in the barn, where the maimann is involved the next day.

The day starts early on Whit Monday. At four in the morning, before daybreak, the oldest boys meet with their fathers in the forest. The first thing to do is to fortify yourself with bacon, sausage, eggs and “boiled liquid bread”. At the beginning of the day, similar to Sunday afternoon, leaves are now being carried through the village and also brought to the barn, but now birch twigs, which will later be used to tie the maimann.

The actual involvement of the maimann begins there in the early morning. Experienced men bind a young, strong man with the collected beech and birch sticks in such a way that he then disappears completely from foot to head in the green branches and is no longer recognizable. At the end he gets the colorful bouquet mentioned at the beginning as a crown. All of this happens when the barn door is closed. When the maimann is done, the barn door opens and the maimann and the boys begin their march through the village. The maimann is led by two of the oldest boys during this march. Eggs, flour and bacon are collected in the village. These are then processed into egg (pancake) cakes, which are eaten by the children and adults after the whole procession.

Maimann and Pfingstbraut 2013

The Pentecost Bride

The girls of the 8th grade look after the Whitsun brides on Whit Monday. These will be three first-year girls. In the morning, you will be crowned with a hair ornament, which is woven from a wreath of flowers with long, colorful ribbons. They walk through the village with the girls up to the 8th grade, beautifully decorated. They go from house to house, recite various old sayings and collect eggs, bacon and flour like the boys, so that they too can eat their pancakes with their relatives.

The headdress and breast ornament of the Pentecost bride are the last traditional forms of traditional bridal jewelry in the Dietzhölztal area, which are now only worn at Pentecost. It is only through this old custom that the art of making the bridal hood was handed down into the 20th century. The last weddings that took place in costume and this bridal jewelry can be dated between 1845 and 1870. Due to the lack of historical or pictorial records, a last wedding in costume cannot be dated more precisely.

One of the last women to wear traditional costumes was Alwine Friedrich geb. Gerhardt (1877–1973). It is not known, however, whether their wedding on January 3, 1902 still took place with the traditional bridal hood and breast stud.

Buildings

church

The Protestant church was built in 1769.

Ring wall

A first settlement in today's Rittershäuser district has, however, been proven much earlier. Around 1912, at the initiative of Pastor Karl Nebe from Bergebersbach - with the help of the financially strong owner of the Neuhütte, Gustav Jung , and under the direction of the State Museum in Wiesbaden - excavations of a ring wall in the area of ​​the Hohen Lay were carried out. A large number of ceramic products, tools and jewelry were found there. This "castle" called ring wall system from Celtic times proves a settlement on Rittershäuser district already in the Latène period around 450 to 250 BC. Chr.

Forest house Dietzhölze

Forest house Dietzhölze

As the local history records (village chronicle and school chronicle Rittershausen) can be seen, the Obere Dietzhölzweiher near the forester's house already existed at the time of the Wilhelmsthal estate. At an auction on April 21, 1757, fire-damaged citizens from Niederscheld, about 20 km away, were awarded the contract to purchase the buildings for demolition.

Until 1840 there was no forester's house in Dietzhölze. The manorial forests were looked after by foresters who had their apartments in Rittershausen or even in Straßebersbach. Crimes such as poaching, wood theft and the like increased sharply. This happened mainly through residents of the nearby "Prussian settlements and farms" in the directly neighboring Wittgensteiner Land. Foresters from Rittershausen needed about an hour to get to the forests that were quite far away. Therefore, the then head forester felt compelled to submit a building application for a forester's house to the manorial forestry office. It was finally built in 1842.

Since around 2006 the forest ranger's office has not been re-staffed and the forester's house has been given up. In the meantime, the Herborn Forestry Office, as the current owner, offers private individuals, preferably of course hunting enthusiasts, “Holidays in the Dietzhölze Forest House”.

Haubergswirtschaft

Hauberg impact 2015

The large amount of oak, birch and coppice forest can be explained by the areal size of Rittershausen. As in the surrounding towns in the Dietzhölztal, Rossbach and Dilltal and Siegerland , Hauberg economy is still practiced in Rittershausen. In contrast to the neighboring towns, where the deforestation takes place approximately every 18 to 20 years, in Rittershausen a fixed proportion of coppice forest is cut down approximately every 30 years for firewood production, among other things. As everywhere in Haubergsland , there are cooperatives here . In Rittershausen, however, there are a large number of them, for example Rittershäuser, Langenbacher, Weimarisches Kirchenlehen, Kirchberg.

The legal basis of the Haubergs work goes back to the "Haubergordnung for the Dillkreis and the Oberwesterwaldkreis of June 4, 1887". It says: "Hauberge within the meaning of this law are the properties in the districts of Dillbrecht , Fellerdilln , Ober - and Niederroßbach , Bergebersbach , Eibelshausen , Almonds , Offdilln , Rittershausen, Steinbrücken , Straßebersbach, Weidelbach and Korb , which currently belong to Haubergs associations."

Economy and Infrastructure

The Kreck Metallwarenfabrik GmbH is located in the area of ​​the former lower mill. As a family business, it mainly works as a supplier for other, mostly domestic, companies in the field of CNC laser technology.

Up until the beginning of the 1960s there was a weaving mill on the outskirts of Rittershausen. Rudolf Loh from Haiger and seven employees founded the Rittal company in this building in 1961 . Today the Rittal plant is part of the globally active Friedhelm Loh Group . Among other things, control cabinets are manufactured in Rittershausen; at times the Rittal company had more than 1,000 employees in Rittershausen alone.

literature

  • Village chronicles : Jakob Karle created a village chronicle in the 1930s. This chronicle contains statements about the buildings and their inhabitants, some dating back to the 16th century. On the occasion of the 650th anniversary in 1994, the Dietzhölztal community published a new volume of chronicles for Rittershausen.
  • Church chronicle : For the 250th "birthday" of the church building in 2019, the local parish has published a church chronicle, which is available from the parish.
  • Literature about Rittershausen in the Hessian Bibliography

Web links

Commons : Rittershausen  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Population figures in Dietzhölztal. In: website. Dietzhölztal municipality, accessed in August 2019 .
  2. ↑ Law on the restructuring of the Dill district, the districts of Gießen and Wetzlar and the city of Gießen (GVBl. II 330–28) of May 13, 1974 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1974 No. 17 , p. 237 ff ., § 26 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  3. ↑ a b c Rittershausen, Lahn-Dill district. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. (As of October 16, 2018). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  4. ^ Michael Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. State of Hesse. (Online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006).
  5. ^ Anton Friedrich Büsching: D. Anton Friderich Büsching's new description of the earth. The German empire. tape 3 . JC Bohn, 1771, p. 841 ( google.com ).
  6. ↑ a b Population by place of residence. In: website. Dietzhölztal community, archived from the original ; accessed in February 2019 .
  7. ↑ Population figures . (all versions). In: website. Dietzhölztal community, archived from the original ; accessed in February 2019 .
  8. ↑ Haubergordnung for Dillkreis and Oberwesterwald circle of 4 June 1887 . From: Preußische Gesetzsammlung 1887, 289, Hessenrecht legal and administrative regulations, accessed on 6 August 2015.