Schwanheim (Bensheim)

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Schwanheim
City of Bensheim
Coat of arms of the former community of Schwanheim
Coordinates: 49 ° 41 ′ 52 ″  N , 8 ° 34 ′ 11 ″  E
Height : 94 m above sea level NHN
Area : 4.75 km²
Residents : 1284  (June 30, 2019)
Population density : 270 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : 1st February 1971
Postal code : 64625
Area code : 06251
map
Map of Bensheim with the Schwanheim district
Half-timbered houses in the old village center on Rohrheimer Strasse
Half-timbered houses in the old village center on Rohrheimer Strasse

Schwanheim is a district of Bensheim in the Bergstrasse district in southern Hesse with around 1200 inhabitants.

Geographical location

Schwanheim is located around three kilometers northwest of the core town of Bensheim in the eastern part of the Hessian Ried near the Bergstrasse at an altitude between 91 and 95 meters above sea level and geologically belongs to the old Neckar floodplain. The closest village is Fehlheim, around 200 meters away, in the northeast, from which it is only separated by the mill and middle ditch and the strip of meadows that run along the banks. The municipal area is 475 hectares, of which 57 hectares are forested. In the west the district borders on the Jägersburger forest.

history

overview

Traces of settlement and grave finds in the area reach up to approx. 2500 BC. BC back. The first documentary mention of Schwanheim was on November 17, 765 in a deed of donation in the Lorsch Codex (Codex Laureshamensis) as villa, que dicitur Suainheim . Further mentions were made as Sueiheimer marca and uilla Sueinheim in the 8th century, as Sueinheim in the 10th century, as Sweinheim in the 13th century, as Sweynheim and Sweinheim in the 15th century, as Schweinhein , Schweynheym or Schwainheym in the 16th century and from 17th century as a swan home. The place name Schwanheim does not come from the animal of the same name, as one might assume at first glance. Originally the first syllable was suain , which means something like swamp .

The statistical-topographical-historical description of the Grand Duchy of Hesse reports on Schwanheim in 1829:

»Schwanheim (L. Bez. Bensheim) Lutheran parish village; is 1 St. from Bensheim, and has 77 houses and 480 inhabitants, who are Lutheran apart from 8 Cath. 1 Reform and 14 Jews. These are divided into 54 farmers and 24 artisans, the latter including 11 linen weavers. - Emperor Carl the Great donated this place to the Lorsch Monastery in 782. Philipp Graf von Katzenellenbogen, Schwanheim received 1200 gold guilders from the treasurers of Dalberg in 1478. The village was parish in the Lorsch monastery, which appointed and entertained a clergyman. Mainz owned the patronage. Schwanheim was in the march of the unknown village of Hurfelden (perhaps the current Fehlheim) which Emperor Carl the Great had given to Lorsch Abbey. "

On 17 December 1957, the "Water Procurement Association Ried Group East" was founded in Nibelungensaal of Lorsch City Hall, the next Schwanheim the former municipalities of Einhausen , Fehlheim , Rodau and Lorsch belonged. In December 1958 the construction of the “Kannegießer Tannen” waterworks began and a year later the head of the association in Einhausen was able to announce: “Water is now running out of the taps for 15,000 reed residents - and we want to be grateful”. This was followed in September 1960 by the “Kannegießer Tannen” waterworks on the boundary between Lorsch and Einhausen. The waterworks, which was built at a cost of 4.5 million D-Marks, together with the 74 kilometers of laid pipelines, was called the “largest joint venture in the Bergstrasse district” after its completion.

In the course of administrative reform in Hesse , the community Schwanheim left voluntarily in the town of Bensheim on February 1, 1971 incorporate . For Schwanheim, a local district with a local advisory board and mayor was set up in accordance with the Hessian municipal code.

Time of world wars

On August 1, 1914, the First World War broke out, which put an end to the positive economic development throughout the German Empire . When the armistice was signed after the German defeat on November 11, 1918, Schwanheim also had many casualties to mourn, while the war cost a total of around 17 million human lives. There is a memorial for the dead of the First World War at the Protestant church .

The Jews living in Schwanheim belonged to the Bensheim community. The Bensheimer synagogue as almost everywhere in the Kristallnacht burned and ravaged the homes and businesses of Jewish families. In 1830 there were 14 Jewish residents in Schwanheim. As early as 1933, part of Bensheim's Jewish community, which at that time consisted of 160 people, had moved away or emigrated as a result of increasing reprisals. After the start of the Second World War, this was no longer possible and in 1942 all people of Jewish descent still living in Schwanheim were deported to camps. Most of them died in the camps due to the poor conditions or were murdered.

From 1944 onwards, the increased air war against Germany was also felt in Schwanheim. Large aviation associations flew over Schwanheim in their attacks on the surrounding industrial cities of Ludwigshafen, Mannheim or Worms. Schwanheim was largely spared from the bombing raids.

On March 22nd, the 3rd US Army crossed the Rhine near Oppenheim and occupied Darmstadt on March 25th. From the American point of view, this made it necessary for the neighboring US 7th Army to move up quickly to secure its flanks. In preparation for their crossing of the Rhine, most of the Ried communities were shelled by American artillery on March 25th and on the night of March 26th. In all affected communities people were killed and property damage was caused to buildings. On March 26, 1945, American troops crossed the Rhine near Hamm and advanced to Einhausen on the same day.

When the Americans approached Schwanheim on March 26, they were taken under fire by a German gun. Thereupon they withdrew and Schwanheim was shelled by the requested artillery. At around 4 p.m. the first shells hit the church, which was hit several times and severely damaged. At the end of the bombardment, eight civilians were dead and six injured and several houses were destroyed. In the early evening the German soldiers gave up their positions and withdrew. As a sign of surrender, the Schwanheim population then hoisted white flags and dismantled the anti-tank barrier at the entrance to the village. On March 27, the Americans marched through Schwanheim towards Bensheim, which they occupied on the same day as Lorsch and Heppenheim, without any further bloodshed .

Administration and courts

In the Upper County of Katzenelnbogen , Schwanheim belongs to the Jägersburg office , later in the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt and from 1806 in the Grand Duchy of Hesse , in which it is incorporated, to the Zwingenberg and Jägersburg office. In 1821, as part of a comprehensive administrative reform, the district bailiffs in the provinces of Starkenburg and Upper Hesse of the Grand Duchy were dissolved and district councils were introduced, with Schwanheim being assigned to the district of Bensheim . As part of this reform, regional courts were also created, which were now independent of the administration. The district court districts corresponded in scope to the district council districts and the district court of Zwingenberg was responsible as the court of first instance for the district of Bensheim . The seat of the court was deliberately separated from the seat of the district administrator in order to underline the independence of the judiciary. In 1832 the units were enlarged one more time and circles were created. As a result, Schwanheim came to the Bensheim district in August 1832 . In 1842 the tax system in the Grand Duchy was reformed and the tithe and the basic pensions (income from property) were replaced by a tax system of the kind that still exists today.

As a result of the March Revolution in 1848, the counties and districts of the Grand Duchy were abolished on July 31, 1848 and replaced by "administrative districts", which was reversed on May 12, 1852. As a result, Schwanheim belonged to the Heppenheim administrative district between 1848 and 1852 , before the Bensheim district was again responsible for the higher-level administration. The Hessian provinces of Starkenburg, Rheinhessen and Upper Hesse were abolished in 1937 after the provincial and district assemblies were dissolved in 1936. On November 1, 1938, a comprehensive regional reform came into force at the district level. In the former province of Starkenburg, the Bensheim district was particularly affected, as it was dissolved and most of it was added to the Heppenheim district. The district of Heppenheim also took over the legal successor to the district of Bensheim and was given the new name Landkreis Bergstrasse .

The Grand Duchy of Hesse was a member state of the German Confederation from 1815 to 1866 and then a federal state of the German Empire . It existed until 1919, after the First World War, the Grand Duchy for was republican written People's State of Hesse . In 1945 after the end of the Second World War , the area of ​​today's Hesse was in the American zone of occupation and by order of the military government, Greater Hesse was created , from which the state of Hesse emerged in its current borders.

In 1961 the district size was given as 474  ha , 57 ha of which were forest.

Until 1504 the competent jurisdiction lay with the " Zent Heppenheim " and then with the court in Zwingenberg, from 1821 with the regional court in Zwingenberg , from which in 1879 the district court in Zwingenberg emerged . In 1934 the Zwingenberg District Court was dissolved and the tasks were transferred to the Bensheim District Court .

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

Population development

• 1629: 35 house seats
• 1791: 288 inhabitants
• 1800: 356 inhabitants
• 1806: 370 inhabitants, 62 houses
• 1829: 480 inhabitants, 77 houses
• 1867: 560 inhabitants, 92 houses
Schwanheim: Population from 1791 to 2019
year     Residents
1791
  
 288
1800
  
 356
1806
  
 370
1829
  
 480
1834
  
 496
1840
  
 525
1846
  
 555
1852
  
 534
1858
  
 540
1864
  
 561
1871
  
 524
1875
  
 528
1885
  
 526
1895
  
 452
1905
  
 562
1910
  
 574
1925
  
 584
1939
  
 795
1946
  
 785
1950
  
 810
1956
  
 719
1961
  
 730
1967
  
 756
1970
  
 846
1980
  
 ?
1990
  
 ?
2000
  
 ?
2007
  
 1,183
2010
  
 1,225
2011
  
 1,218
2015
  
 1,229
2019
  
 1,284
Data source: Historical municipality register for Hesse: The population of the municipalities from 1834 to 1967. Wiesbaden: Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt, 1968.
Further sources:; City of Bensheim :; 2011 census:

Religious affiliation

• 1829: 457 Lutheran (= 95.21%), one Reformed (= 0.21%), 8 Catholic (= 1.67%) and 14 Jewish (= 2.92%) residents
• 1961: 607 Protestant (= 83.15%), 117 Catholic (= 16.03%) residents

politics

Local advisory board

There is a local district for Schwanheim (areas of the former municipality of Schwanheim) with a local advisory board and local councilor according to the Hessian municipal code . The local advisory board consists of seven members. Since the local elections in 2016, he has seven members of the “Wir für Schwanheim” (WfS) electoral list. The mayor is Gerald Kunzelmann (WfS).

coat of arms

On August 31, 1965, the community of Schwanheim in the Bergstrasse district was given a coat of arms with the following blazon : A striding, red-armored, silver swan in the blue shield.

Sights and culture

The Protestant church with two church towers
  • The Evangelical Church in Schwanheim replaces several previous churches . The first mention of a separate parish comes from the year 1411. It was built in 1819-21 according to Georg Moller's plans . The classicist building originally had tent roofs, which were replaced in 1877 by tall, slender pointed helmets with gold-plated weather vents. The gilded writing above the portal dates from 1953: "THE LORD'S WORD REMAINS IN ETERNITY".
  • The entire complex of the old street village Schwanheim, as it developed until the end of the 19th century, is a listed building.
  • In the center of the village is the former school and town hall. The representative building dates back to 1824 and has a four-sided bell tower.
  • In 2005, the village life was in the television series Mission into everyday life of the (AidA) Hessian Broadcasting shown. From this series, the “ Dolles Dorf ” competition developed , in which Schwanheim, after victories in the preliminary round and semi-finals in the finals as part of the Hessentag on May 28, 2006, took 5th place among originally 51 villages.

literature

  • Werner Most, Werner Pfeifer (editor), on behalf of the IGSV: 1225 years of Schwanheim, landscape-history-culture. 1991.
  • Georg W. Wagner: Statistical-topographical-historical description of the Grand Duchy of Hesse: Province of Starkenburg, Volume 1 , October 1829.
  • Literature about Schwanheim in the Hessian Bibliography

Web links

Commons : Bensheim-Schwanheim  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bensheim in numbers (only residents with main residence). In: website. City of Bensheim, accessed July 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Schwanheim, Bergstrasse district. Historical local lexicon for Hesse (as of April 17, 2018). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on May 22, 2018 .
  3. ^ A b c Georg Wilhelm Justin Wagner : Statistical-topographical-historical description of the Grand Duchy of Hesse: Province of Starkenburg . tape 1 . Carl Wilhelm Leske, Darmstadt October 1829, OCLC 312528080 , p. 215 ( online at google books ).
  4. ↑ Headlines from Bensheim on the 175th anniversary of the "Bergsträßer Anzeiger" 2007. (PDF 8.61 MB) Finally water from the tap. P. 31 , archived from the original on October 5, 2016 ; accessed on December 28, 2014 .
  5. ↑ a b main statute. (PDF; 69 kB) §; 6. In: Website. City of Bensheim, accessed February 2019 .
  6. ^ History of the Jewish community in Bensheim. In: Alemannia Judaica. Accessed December 2019 .
  7. ↑ Series of articles in the Bergstrasse Gazette from 2005 about the end of the war on Bergstrasse. Bergstrasse and Schwanheim. Bergsträßer Anzeiger, accessed on December 20, 2014 .
  8. ^ Ordinance on the division of the Grand Duchy into circles of May 12, 1852 . In: Grand Ducal Hessian Ministry of the Interior (ed.): Grand Ducal Hessian Government Gazette 1852 No. 30 . S. 224–229 ( online at the Bavarian State Library digital [PDF]).
  9. ↑ Headlines from Bensheim on the 175th anniversary of the "Bergsträßer Anzeiger". (PDF; 9.0 MB) The creation of the Bergstrasse district. 2007, p. 109 , archived from the original on October 5, 2016 ; Retrieved February 9, 2015 .
  10. ^ 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).
  11. ^ Grand Ducal Central Office for State Statistics (ed.): Contributions to the statistics of the Grand Duchy of Hesse . tape 1 . Großherzoglicher Staatsverlag, Darmstadt 1862, DNB  013163434 , OCLC 894925483 , p. 43 ff . ( Online at google books ).
  12. ↑ a b List of offices, places, houses, population. (1806) HStAD inventory E 8 A No. 352/4. In: Archive Information System Hessen (Arcinsys Hessen), as of February 6, 1806.
  13. ↑ Hessen-Darmstadt state and address calendar 1791 . In the publishing house of the Invaliden-Anstalt, Darmstadt 1791, p.  130 ( online in the HathiTrust digital library ).
  14. ↑ Hessen-Darmstadt state and address calendar 1800 . In the publishing house of the Invaliden-Anstalt, Darmstadt 1800, p.  134 ( online in the HathiTrust digital library ).
  15. ^ Ph. AF Walther : Alphabetical index of the residential places in the Grand Duchy of Hesse . G. Jonghaus, Darmstadt 1869, OCLC 162355422 , p. 80 ( online at google books ).
  16. ^ District monitoring. (PDF; 280 kB) Schwanheim key figures. City of Bensheim, p. 37 , accessed July 2019 .
  17. ↑ Selected data on population and households on May 9, 2011 in the Hessian municipalities and parts of the municipality. (PDF; 1.8 MB) In: 2011 Census . Hessian State Statistical Office;
  18. ↑ Proposals for the local elections 2016. In: Official announcement. City of Benheim, accessed December 2019 .
  19. ^ Result of the local advisory board Schwanheim 2016. In: Website. City of Bensheim, accessed December 2019 .
  20. ↑ Local Advisory Board 2016. In: Website. City of Bensheim, accessed December 2019 .
  21. ↑ Approval of a coat of arms for the community of Schwanheim, Bergstrasse district from August 31, 1965 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1965 no. 38 , p. 1102 , point 913 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1.9 MB ]).