Steeden

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Steeden
City of Runkel
Steeden coat of arms
Coordinates: 50 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  N , 8 ° 7 ′ 32 ″  E
Height : 114  (110-150)  m above sea level NHN
Area : 4.55 km²
Residents : 1373  (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 302 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 65594
Area code : 06482

Steeden is the third largest district in the city of Runkel . The place is located on the Lahn in the central Hessian district of Limburg-Weilburg .

geography

Aerial view from the southeast, limestone quarries in the upper right corner of the picture
The village of Steeden

Steeden is located in the Limburg Basin on the north-east curve of a horseshoe-shaped curve of the Lahn running northwards , the incised Untertal of which widens downstream in the central parts of the basin. Due to its location between the Lahn and the slope of the river terraces to the east, Steeden has developed into a row village. The Devonian mass limestone north of the place is of economic importance to this day , the extraction of which has permanently changed the landscape.

The oblong north-south direction, around 400 hectares in size with a branch to the east, borders in the north on the Beselich district of Niedertiefenbach , in the north-east on Hofen , in the east on Schadeck , in the south-east and south on the core town of Runkel, in the south-west to Ennerich and to the west to Dehrn . The terrain rises on both sides of the Lahn, but especially on the north bank. The place is mostly on the slope there. A smaller brook valley, which has meanwhile been significantly widened by the limestone mining, meets the Lahn valley in the local area, coming from the northwest. Both lahnauf- and -abwärts the location of the river valley to a wide widens floodplain zone . On the banks of the Lahn, the terrain sinks to around 110 meters. The place itself extends up to around 160 meters, in the northeastern part of the district up to 195 meters are reached, in the southwest up to 150 meters. Apart from the incision of the Lahn valley, the district has only slight differences in height. The area of ​​the Steedener district consists mainly of agricultural land. The part of the district, which is located on the opposite side of the Lahn as seen from the village, consists largely of the Steeden part of a larger forest area. Smaller patches of forest are to the north and east of the village. The Tiefenbach flows from the north, the center and empties into the Lahn. The active and disused limestone quarries and the Lahn floodplains also encompass larger parts of the Steedener district.

history

The Steedener Caves

Entrance to the Wildscheuer, around 1925

In Steeden you move on prehistoric soil. The two caves "Wilde Scheuer" and "Wildes Haus", which no longer exist today, are important, as the Upper Palaeolithic finds in Hesse are extremely sparse.

The early Upper Palaeolithic (around 35,000 to 29,000 BC) can be documented by the Aurignacia finds from the Wildscheuer and the Wildhaus (stone artifacts made of silica slate, spearheads made of mammoth bones). The middle Upper Palaeolithic (around 28,000 to 21,000 BC) can be traced back to the Gravettian layer from the Wildscheuer (finds made of chalcedony and flint, decorated bird bones). The late Palaeolithic (about 15,000 to 11,500 BC) is only by the Magdalénienschicht the wild scouring is (scratches, stylus , pointed blade-like drill). The caves were inhabited by several families of the Cro-Magnon people at the same time in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic .

The Wildscheuerhöhle, open to the southwest, was 6 m wide and 7 m high at the entrance and led 18 m deep into the mountain. The Wildhaus cave was about 65 m south of the Wildscheuerhöhle. In terms of dimensions, it was more of a crevice (54 cm wide, 3.5 m high, about 11 m deep) that could only be walked on knees 3 m after the entrance.

The caves together with stone-age finds still lying there fell victim to limestone mining in the 1950s.

Numerous artifacts have been kept in the State Museum in Wiesbaden since the first scientific excavations in 1870 . The last emergency excavation took place in 1953.

Iron Age and Middle Ages

Above the Wildscheuer cave, on the so-called "Herrenplatz", there was a ring wall system, which was assigned to the spring La Tène period . A few sacrificial pits were found there during excavations.

During the construction of the crusher and washing plant of the lime works, above the Löhrbruch, a cemetery was found that dates back to the Frankish colonization in the late 7th century. In the immediate vicinity there was also a Franconian settlement to which the cemetery was assigned. When the graves were excavated, an amulet capsule with Christian symbols and a pressed brooch made of sheet silver with runic inscriptions were found.

First mention

In 2008 Steeden celebrated its 750th anniversary, as the oldest documented mention of the village to date was from 1258. This first written mention can be found in a “Westerburger Urkunde” in which a “Marquard von Steden” is mentioned. It is the document with which Siegfried von Westerburg negotiated the wild ban and fishing rights with Count Otto von Nassau.

In 2016, research by the association member of the Heimat- und Geschichtsverein, Hans-Jürgen Eck, in old writings and documents of the Bonifaz Abbey in Fulda as well as extensive correspondence with the Hess. State Archives Marburg and the Hess. Main State Archives in Wiesbaden found that Steeden is much older!

According to a document found in the documents, the oldest written mention of Steeden does not come from the year 1258, but from the year 821! This is a document with which Waltrada, widow of the noble Adrian, the son of Gerold the Elder, donated her property to the Bonifaz Abbey in Fulda with the consent of Voto, the Count of Wormsgau and Count of Lahngau. In this deed of donation from the year 821 it reads: The possessions such as fields, meadows, pastures, vineyards, water and watercourses as well as buildings and customs in Wormsgau and Trachau as well as in Lahngau and here in Velden, Weil, Bernbach, Steden, in particular a fenced-in piece Land on the Weilbach and in the districts of the villages of Steden and Velden, furthermore with all serfs with their earned and acquired goods, are given to the Bonifaz Abbey in Fulda. The document was issued in 821 by the abbot Habranus and entered in a document book in 824. Existing Latin copies of these documents come from Johanis Friedrich Schannat, in the document book "Corpus Traditionum Fuldensium" from 1724 and from Ernst Friedrich Johann Dronke in the "Codex Diplomaticus Fuldensis" from 1850.

The place developed around today's Johanneskapelle, the first Steeden church, which was first mentioned in 1290. It was consecrated as early as 1140 by the St. Irminen monastery in Trier-Oeren, a Benedictine monastery that had a Marian patronage until the end of the 16th century. At that time it belonged to the Lubentiusstift in Dietkirchen. The church was regarded as an advanced post of the Prüm monastery in the Eifel, from which the Christianization of the Lahn area had started.

From Dietkirchen Abbey, Steeden passed into the possession of the Counts of Molsberg, from them into the possession of a Dietmar von Heyden and from this again into the possession of the Counts of Molsberg and after sale to the lay judge of Montabaur, Konrad Hellwich, into the possession of the counts von Diez, over.

On June 28, 1366, the brothers Friedrich and Dietrich von Runkel , sons of Siegfried von Runkel and Anna von Diez, were able to award the tithe of Aumenau (without the Niederselters), Schupbach (without Beselich) and the villages of Ennerich, from the heavily indebted Count Gerhard VII. Bring Steeden and Hofen into your lien. On February 1, 1376, the lien was converted into a so-called man fief. In 1553, the Counts of Runkel introduced the Reformed Reformation, which means that the Steeden residents still predominantly belong to the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau .

The Thirty-Year War

During the Thirty Years' War Steeden was in the marching area of ​​the various armies. In particular, a field camp set up by the imperial army between Runkel, Dehrn, Ahlbach and Niedertiefenbach almost completely destroyed the existence of the Steeden residents. The soldiers, exhausted by forced marches, took everything they could use. This led to famine in Steeden, and in order to survive, people were forced to sell their farmland to farmers in the unaffected places. As a result, the Hofener farmers in particular became rich and received a large part of the farmland of the Steedener. This explains why Steeden still has one of the smallest districts in the entire city of Runkel. Since the Steedener citizens could hardly feed themselves and their children due to the poverty at the time and were partly dependent on alms, they were also given the local nickname "Steedener Cuckoo".

Modern times

On December 1, 1970 , the previously independent municipality of Steeden and other municipalities merged with the city of Runkel as part of the regional reform in Hesse . This made Steeden a district of Runkel.

Territorial history and administration

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

Industrial history

Rock face in the disused limestone quarry near Steeden, nowadays directly adjacent to an industrial park
Limestone quarry northeast of the village

Steeden has been a center of the lime industry since the middle of the 19th century. The first industrial plant, the Röth company, was founded as early as 1850. To date, three large quarries have been used, one of which is still in operation, but which is partly in the neighboring village of Hofen. In 1924, the company came into the possession of the Diez entrepreneurial family, the Schaefer family, who run it again today. In 1941 ownership changed to IG Farben , after the Second World War to BASF , 1970 to Rheinisch-Westfälische Kalkwerke and in 1999 back to Schaefer Kalk. More than 500 workers were employed in the quarry and lime works in the 1950s. The lime was temporarily transported on the Kerkerbachbahn .

Marble and manganese mining in Steeden played a subordinate role until the end of the 1950s.

population

Population development

Steeden: Population from 1834 to 1970
year     Residents
1834
  
 329
1840
  
 349
1846
  
 385
1852
  
 435
1858
  
 467
1864
  
 521
1871
  
 549
1875
  
 536
1885
  
 645
1895
  
 651
1905
  
 654
1910
  
 696
1925
  
 805
1939
  
 833
1946
  
 1,231
1950
  
 1,253
1956
  
 1,210
1961
  
 1,223
1967
  
 1,323
1970
  
 1,452
Data source: Historical municipality register for Hesse: The population of the municipalities from 1834 to 1967. Wiesbaden: Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt, 1968.
Other sources:

Religious affiliation

 Source: Historical local dictionary

• 1885: 613 Protestant (= 95.04%), 32 Catholic (= 4.96%) residents
• 1961: 987 Protestant (= 80.70%), 224 Catholic (= 18.32%) residents

religion

Lutheran church in the town center

The majority of the Steeden residents, around 700, belong to the Steeden Evangelical Church Congregation, which is part of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau and uses the Johannes Chapel for its services. Around 300 residents belong to the Roman Catholic Church and belong to the parish of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Runkel. The majority of their ancestors came to Steeden as displaced persons from the Sudetenland after the Second World War . For prayer evenings and community celebrations, they have had their own community building, the "Johanneshaus", on Rosengartenstrasse in Kerkerbach, since the 1960s. Another parish of Steedens is the Evangelical Lutheran Zionsgemeinde of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) founded in 1846 with around 400 members. This parish has had its own church since 1849, which was consecrated on Ascension Day (May 17, 1849). A part of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (ELFK) later developed from this parish . In addition, the Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Congregation developed from it. The latter uses a community center for its services, which was newly built and handed over to the community on December 8, 1991.

politics

The mayor is Hans-Karl Trog (SPD).

Culture and sights

societies

Steeden has the Steeden volunteer fire brigade founded in 1934 with its youth fire brigade (founded on November 29, 1975), the gymnastics and sports club TSV Jahn Steeden founded in 1898 , a fruit and horticultural club , a bird protection club, a small animal breeding club, the church and Trumpet Choir of the SELK, a rural women’s association and, since May 2009, a local history and history association.

The Johanneskapelle

Johanneskapelle

When examining the structure of the Johanneskapelle, it was found that the church was probably built in the 11th century - in the Romanesque style. A window on the north side of the choir still has the old Romanesque version.

The interior of the chapel, as it is a reformed church, was kept sober until the 1960s, without any image or symbol. During the renovation carried out in 1968, the originally applied frescoes of two saints on the altar arch were exposed and restored. During this restoration, a baptismal bowl was made from the former base of the altar and the former altar plate ("The Mensa") was inscribed and attached to the wall behind the baptismal font.

Today the altar has a cubic shape. It is made of wood that was found in the church.

Around the church there used to be a churchyard, accessible from two sides and shaded by chestnuts. Today it is a green area, only one of the four chestnuts that used to exist.

Economy and Infrastructure

Industry

The currently operated limestone quarry “Schneelsberg-Nordost”, which is located on the road between Hofen and Niedertiefenbach, today supplies around 500,000 tons of raw material per year.

Schneelsberg quarry northeast

Lime deposits are still stored there for the next 7–8 years of quarry operation - then a new quarry in the Schupbach district, with the field name "Hengen", is to be put into operation. Around 50 people are employed in the current quarry and lime works. Currently (winter 2018) the lime works is being expanded to include a lump lime loading system. The lime works with its kilns is connected via the former Kerkerbach railway with the Kerkerbach train station, which is connected to the railway.

Lime works Steeden of Schaefer Kalk in 2018

In addition to the lime industry, the automotive division of Richard Klinger GmbH settled in the Lahnaue in the direction of Runkel in 1970, producing special cylinder head gaskets and shielding parts for the entire automotive industry. The division merged in 1994 to form ElringKlinger GmbH. Today it employs around 280 people in the Runkel-Kerkerbach plant.

On the outskirts from the direction of Dehrn, Süwag Energie AG operates an operating point.

traffic

Lime works Steeden siding

Since 1862, Steeden has been connected to the Lahntalbahn Koblenz - Gießen (timetable route 625 - RE25 / RB25 of the Hessische Landesbahn / DB Regio AG) via the “Kerkerbach” station . Around 30 trains stop in Kerkerbach every working day in the direction of Gießen and Limburg (Lahn) / Koblenz . In the summer of 2009 the Kerkerbach Railway , which was closed in 1984, was put back into operation on a short section (approx. 2.9 km) as a connecting railway for Schaefer Kalk GmbH & Co. KG. The siding connects the lime works with the Lahn valley line in the Kerkerbach station and is used exclusively for the transport of goods.

A country road to reach Steeden of the neighboring villages Runkel and Dehrn . The village can also be reached via the main roads from Hofen and Niedertiefenbach . Schadeck is reached via a local road - Heerstraße.

The Lahn federal waterway is also navigable for larger motorboats up to the rapids below Steeden (river kilometer 70.0).

safety

The Steeden Voluntary Fire Brigade , founded in 1934 (with a youth fire brigade since November 29, 1975), provides fire protection and general help.

literature

  • Old school archive of the Steeden elementary school
  • State Museum Wiesbaden, Steedener Höhlen collection
  • Various files in the Hessian Main State Archive Wiesbaden Steeden pertaining to
  • Community archives of the independent Evangelical Lutheran Zionsgemeinde Steeden and the Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Congregation Steeden
  • Literature on Steeden in the Hessian Bibliography
  • Corpus Traditionum Fuldensium (1724) and Codex Diplomaticus Fuldensis (1850)

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Steeden, Limburg-Weilburg district. Historical local dictionary for Hessen. (As of March 23, 2018). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  2. ↑ Numbers and facts. In: website. City of Runkel, accessed August 2020 .
  3. ^ The caves of Steeden - collection in the Landesmuseum Wiesbaden
  4. ↑ Amalgamation of the town of Runkel and the communities Ennerich Schadeck and Steeden in the Oberlahnkreis to form the town of "Runkel" on November 30, 1970 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (Ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1970 No. 50 , p. 2339 , item 2340 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 4.8 MB ]).
  5. ^ 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. 372 .
  6. ^ 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).
  7. ↑ Committees. In: website. City of Runkel, accessed on August 12, 2020 .