Stepfershausen

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Stepfershausen
City of Meiningen
Stepfershausen coat of arms
Coordinates: 50 ° 36 ′ 0 ″  N , 10 ° 18 ′ 0 ″  E
Height : 430 m
Area : 15.76 km²
Residents : 561  (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 36 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : December 31, 2019
Postal code : 98617
Area code : 036943
Church, former schools and gate tower
Church, former schools and gate tower

Stepfershausen is a district of the southern Thuringian district town of Meiningen in the Franconian south of Thuringia .

geography

Stepfershausen is located in the west of the urban area and is located northeast of the Hohe Geba , which belongs to the Vorderen Rhön and with which it is connected by the Rhön-Rennsteig hiking trail (former local connection between Stepfershausen and Geba). The connecting road between the district towns of Meiningen and Fulda in Hesse runs through Stepfershausen . From Stepfershausen you have a good view of the south side of the Thuringian Forest and the Dolmar mountain , as well as the Inselsberg , to the left of it and clearly visible from the Gebaberg is the Pleßberg , located in the front Rhön. The Solz brook has its source in the village and flows into the Katza brook near Mehmels .

Neighboring places

1. With direct road connection:

2. Direct connection through unpaved roads:

history

In 863 Stepfershausen was first mentioned as Starcfridershusen . Parts of the 1200 m long village wall , built around 1600, have been preserved and are up to 5 m high. A castle was the predecessor of the current church. The fortified churchyard, the high wall ring and the gate tower emerged from it, which are still well preserved. This fortified complex was mentioned in 1389. During this time, knights also named themselves after the place. The place originally belonged to Cent Wasungen in the county of Henneberg -Schleusingen, but came to the Amt of Maßfeld in the 14th century . Stepfershausen was persecuted by witches from 1597 to 1647: three men and two women were accused in witch trials and three people were executed. The first victim was Elsa Ritz in 1597.

After the division of the county of Henneberg in 1660, the place again briefly belonged to the Wasungen office until 1672 and then came back to the Maßfeld office in the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen . In 1825 it was affiliated with the Meiningen office. On October 16, 2018, the municipal council decided on voluntary integration into the city of Meiningen, which took place on December 31, 2019.

politics

Gate tower of the former castle

Stepfershausen and Träbes (approx. 2 km in the direction of Hohe Geba) form the local council.

District Council

The district council of Stepfershausen and Träbes consists of 8 council women and councilors.

  • SV Eintracht Stepfershausen 1 seat
  • FWV Stepfershausen 2 seats
  • Stepfershausen women's association 1 seat
  • Traditional costume group Stepfershausen 1 seat
  • Free voters 1 seat
  • Male choir Buchonia 1 seat
  • PRO Stepfershausen 1 seat

(Status: 2014 local elections)

District Mayor

Jens Töpfer was elected honorary mayor on June 6, 2010 and became mayor of the district on December 31, 2019.

coat of arms

According to the main statute of the former municipality of Stepfershausen dated August 5, 2003 in the version of the 1st amendment of September 16, 2003 § 2, Paragraph (2), the municipality neither has its own municipality coat of arms nor its own municipality flag. The official seal bears the inscription "Community Stepfershausen - Thuringia" and shows the coat of arms of the Free State of Thuringia.

Historic community sign

Historical community symbol of Stepfershausen

The historical community symbol is heraldically incorrect. It shows a blue shield, in the base of the shield with the number 863, this indicates the year of the first documentary mention. The blue base of the shield stands for numerous springs and the abundance of water in the area. A red brick wall with black grooves symbolizes the town's cemetery wall. In front of it are a fountain, the main landmark of the place and two towers, the church tower and the gate tower. In the background, a green hill symbolizes the eastern slope of the Hohe Geba, with a green tree on top.

Culture and sights

  • Stepfershausen is known as the village of fountains due to its 13 fountains, each with their own name and fountain sayings .
  • The Evangelical Trinity Church consists of a nave from 1702 as well as a sacristy and a tower, which are older. (The church tower may have been the keep of the castle in the past.) The church has two-story galleries on Tuscan pillars, and the stalls are furnished with folding seats . The pneumatic organ (21 stops , two manuals and pedal ) from 1930 comes from GF Steinmeyer & Co. The church is also used for concerts.
  • The gate tower was probably a tower of the lost castle. Its upper floor is made of wood and is covered by a Welsh hood . The church and gate tower, both of which are listed, are called watchmen and guardians .
  • Stepfershausen has been a member of the Rhön Star Park since 2015 , which has a particularly low level of light pollution in the night sky and a particularly high number of stars that can be seen at night.

Personalities

  • Arthur Rudolph (* 1906 Stepfershausen; † 1996 Hamburg), rocket pioneer
  • Richard Sell (* 1862 Sinnershausen; † 1913 Stepfershausen), pastor in Stepfershausen from 1884 to 1913. He made a special contribution to the Raiffeisen idea to protect poor farmers from usury.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Residents' registration office of the city of Meiningen
  2. ↑ Michael Köhler : Thuringian castles and fortified prehistoric and early historical living spaces. Jenzig-Verlag Köhler, Jena 2001, ISBN 3-910141-43-9 , p. 239.
  3. ^ Entry on Stepfershausen churchyard fortifications in the private database "Alle Burgen". Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  4. ↑ Castle
  5. ↑ Ulrich Heß: Research on the constitutional and administrative history of the Duchy of Saxony-Coburg-Meiningen. 1680-1829 . Authorities and civil servants. tape III , 1954, p. 178 ff . ( Digital copy [PDF; 4.5 MB ; accessed on April 25, 2020]).
  6. ↑ Kai Lehmann : Innocent. Witch hunt south of the Thuringian Forest. Over 500 researched cases from the 16th and 17th centuries. Wehry-Verlag, Untermaßfeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-9813902-8-5 , pp. 355 f .; Kai Lehmann: Exhibition "Luther and the Witches". Stepfershausen area, Library Museum Schloss Wilhelmsburg Schmalkalden, 2012; Ronald Füssel: The persecution of witches in the Thuringian area (= publications of the working group for historical witchcraft and crime research in Northern Germany. Vol. 2). DOBU-Verlag, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-934632-03-3 , pp. 240–244, (at the same time: Marburg, University, dissertation, 2000).
  7. ↑ Main statutes of the Stepfershausen community . (PDF; 27 kB).
  8. ↑ Hartmut Ulle: New Thuringian Wappenbuch. Volume 2: Ilmkreis, Jena, Kyffhäuserkreis, Saale-Orla-Kreis, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt (district), Schmalkalden-Meiningen (district), Suhl. Working group Genealogy Thuringia, Erfurt 1997, ISBN 978-3-9804487-2-7 .
  9. ^ Coats of arms of the Thuringian districts, cities and municipalities. In: Thuringian Natural Letter. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Stepfershausen Church on www.kirchenkreis-meiningen.de. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  11. ↑ The Church of Stepfershausen on the website of the parish. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  12. ↑ According to Die Orgeln: Stepfershausen Trinitatiskirche ( Memento from September 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) at the Thuringian Organ Summer .

Web links

Commons : Stepfershausen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files