Schönficht (Plößberg)

Schönficht Plößberg market Coordinates: 49 ° 48 ′ 55 ″  N , 12 ° 15 ′ 11 ″  E
Height :	544 m
Residents :	126  (Nov 10, 2016)
Incorporation :	1978
Postal code :	95703
Area code :	09637
Aerial view of the place, the structure as a street village is clearly visible. The three-sided courtyards date from the 19th century, some of the original stables have been preserved

The village of Schönficht in the northern Upper Palatinate is a district of the Plößberg market in the Tirschenreuth district and was an independent municipality until 1978.

location

Schönficht is located on a high plateau on the northwest flank of the Upper Palatinate Forest , which slopes down to the west and south in a gently undulating hill country towards the Waldnaab . The predominant type of rock is a coarse-grained, heavily weathered granite , which is criss-crossed by isolated quartz veins . This rocky subsoil is only visible in the valley of the Frombach , which runs between the former districts of Konnersreuth and Bodenreuth. The most common type of soil is brown earth , which alternates with pseudogley . Most of the fish ponds were also created on the areas with impermeable pseudogley . Since the terrain has few natural barriers, strong winds, mainly west-east directed winds, occur around Schönficht, including the Bohemian wind .

history

Schönficht was first mentioned in a document in 1245, and that year the Waldsassen monastery exchanged several villages for the Lords of Liebenstein , including Schönficht. In 1402 the monastery finally acquired manorial power over the village and set up a maintenance facility in the associated castle .

→ for the late medieval history of Schönficht see also Burgstall Schönficht

After the abolition of the monastery in 1571, a first wave of secularization began in the entire Stiftland , so in 1583 the Schwaighof (the later inn was created from it after 1600) by purchase into private hands and in 1670 the forge followed. Only today's state forest ultimately remained with the manor, but at the same time the farmers had timber rights to it.

On his coronation trip in the autumn of 1619, Elector Friedrich V traveled through Schönficht on his way from Heidelberg via Eger to Prague. In May 1621 Schönficht was occupied and sacked by Mansfeld troops during the Thirty Years' War . In June 1632, Elector Maximilian of Bavaria , the new sovereign since 1628, traveled through Schönficht to meet the imperial general Wallenstein in Waldsassen . The troops of the two military leaders raged for several weeks in the Stiftland and had to be supplied. In 1634 the neighboring village of Beidl was occupied by soldiers for months and after their departure the plague remained. According to a list of damages from 1646, in the village of Schönficht alone, damage of over 1,300 guilders occurred during one winter , an amount for which two large farms could have been bought at the time.

Corridor altar near Schönficht from 1711

At the end of the 17th century, the ruins of the castle were demolished by the Schwaighof farmers and the former moat was expanded northwards to become today's village pond. For this, part of the Angers , which was community property, was dissolved, with the other farmers being compensated with a fishing right. During the War of the Spanish Succession , the Stiftland was occupied by Austrians in 1703 and then relinquished to the Electoral Palatinate for ten years . In 1707 a stagecoach station was built on the route from Regensburg to Eger, initially once a week, from 1812 onwards the carriages for parcels and travelers ran twice a week. During this time, the stone corridor altar at the southern entrance to the village was also built in 1711, commissioned by the pastor of Beidl. It is the oldest monument of its kind in the parish. Perhaps this happened in connection with a legal dispute between the pastor and the Schwaighof farmer that was fought out in 1703. It was about the 600 (!) Sheep of the innkeeper who had illegally "lost" on parish grounds. In 1783, Goethe also crossed Schönficht, which apart from a remark about the good road had no literary echo. Between 1774 and 1789 there was also a toll station in Schönficht, which was then moved back to Eppenreuth.

Around 1800 Schönficht was a traffic junction in the northern Upper Palatinate. So after 1780 the main line from Regensburg to Eger was rebuilt and led over Schönficht and Falkenberg. 1817-1818 the junction to Tirschenreuth was rebuilt, between 1818 and 1855 the junction to Beidl and Schönkirch, 1819-1835 the junction towards Wildenau and Floss and 1825-1857 the junction via Schnackenhof to Windischeschenbach, today's motorway feeder.

In 1808 the community and tax district Schönficht was formed. Parts of the parish were:

• Schönficht
• Bodenreuth (until 1972)
• Schnackenhof
• Konnersreuth
• Holzmühl and Hanfmühl (until 1972)

After the Napoleonic Wars , stagecoach traffic and the number of lines increased steadily, until the expansion of the railway network began to decline again. On July 1, 1880, the royal postal expedition Schönficht was canceled. But a post office was built in Schönficht as early as 1837. Post received in Schönficht was postmarked from 1850 with the number 308, from 1856 with the number 468 and from 1869 with the date stamp. In 1899, after a break of several years, a post office was built again, which was supplemented in 1907 by a telegraph and telephone intercom. The final end came in 1969 with the death of the last postman.

Historical views of Schönficht around 1958

A registry office was set up together with Beidl since 1866, and the school had been in Beidl since the 16th century. In 1877 there was a serious fire in which two thirds of the village of Schönficht (seven courtyards) burned down. The voluntary fire brigade Schönficht was founded in 1900, before that there was a compulsory fire brigade together with Beidl, the fire station was in Schönficht. The electrical power supply was set up in 1916, the water supply only in 1947/48. Until then, each courtyard used its own well. During the 1st World War 7 Schönfichters were killed, in the 2nd World War another three residents were killed, plus five men who were permanently missing. During a low-flying attack in April 1945, three courtyards burned down; only I was lucky enough to prevent major damage. On the same day, April 16, a misery train of around a thousand concentration camp prisoners crossed Schönficht on their way to Flossenbürg. Shortly before, there had been a massacre by SS guards in the Frombach Valley, and 23 bodies were later found in the Schönficht community area alone. American troops occupied the village on April 22nd. A year later, on behalf of the Americans, a mass grave was erected on the border with Lengenfeld for a total of 37 victims from three communities, but it was closed in 1957 and the remains of the victims were transferred to Flossenbürg.

In 1957, a bypass was built when the federal highway 15 was rebuilt, before traffic flowed directly through the village for centuries. Starting in 1971, the community of Schönficht was urged to join the community of Plößberg as part of the regional reform in Bavaria . The local council was unanimously against it and the integration met with little approval from the population. In 1972 Bodenreuth, Holzmühl and Hanfmühl had to be ceded to Markt Falkenberg . On May 1, 1978, the Schönficht community was forcibly incorporated into the Plößberg market. The extent of the former community is still reflected in the Schönficht district .

Mayor of Schönficht

• ???? - 1839 Franz Joseph Prockl (Schönficht)
• 1839 - ???? Ambros Mark (Bodenreuth)
• ???? - 1853 Alois Frauendörfer (Schönficht)
• 1853 - 1854 Franz Josef Schedl (Konnersreuth)
• 1854 - 1857 Franz Scharnagl (Schönficht)
• 1857 - 1863 Busl (Bodenreuth)
• 1863 - 1869 Schön (Schönficht)
• 1869 - 1874 Konrad (Bodenreuth)
• 1874 - 1889 white (wooden mill)
• 1889 - 1900 Franz Klupp (Schönficht)
• 1900-1912 not known
• 1912 - 1927 Andreas Pschierer (Konnersreuth)
• 1927 - 1928 Josef Schön (Schönficht)
• 1928 - 1945 August Scharnagl (Schönficht)
• 1945 - 1948 during the occupation, Schönficht was united with the municipality of Beidl
• 1948 - 1972 Hans Schön (Schönficht)
• 1972 - 1978 Josef Schön (Schönficht)

Population of the municipality

Population development
year	1819	1867	1910	1939	1946	1961	1976	2016
Residents	241 (107)	252	222 (94)	219	266	210 (103)	134 (90)	126

The relatively high population level in 1946 was due to the influx of displaced persons; the number for 1976 only relates to the rump community Schönficht, with Konnersreuth and Schnackenhof. The second largest village of Bodenreuth had gone to Falkenberg since 1972. The numbers in brackets only refer to the village of Schönficht.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ BStA Munich Clm 1091
2. ↑ Document summary in the HStA Munich, Waldsassen KL. 84a, no.145
3. ↑ Harald Fähnrich, Pfarrei Beidl, 1977, printed by Wittmann Waldsassen, p. 85 ff
4. ↑ Harald Fähnrich, p. 31
5. ↑ Harald Fähnrich, p. 238
6. ↑ Ingild Janda-Busl , From hell back to life, Erich Weiß Verlag, Bamberg 2010, p. 50, p. 97
7. ↑ Harald Fähnrich, pp. 113/114/398/399