Waechtersbach

This article deals with the Hessian city of Wächtersbach. The Waechtersbach ceramics factory can be found under Waechtersbacher ceramics , the castle and the castle park under Wächtersbach Castle

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 50 ° 15 '  N , 9 ° 18'  E
Basic data
State :	Hesse
Administrative region :	Darmstadt
County :	Main-Kinzig district
Height :	157 m above sea level NHN
Area :	50.79 km 2
Residents:	12,640 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	249 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	63607
Area code :	06053
License plate :	MKK, GN, HU , SLÜ
Community key :	06 4 35 029
City structure:	8 districts
City administration address :	Castle 1 63607 Wächtersbach
Website :	www.waechtersbach-online.de
Mayor :	Andreas Weiher ( SPD )
Location of the city of Wächtersbach in the Main-Kinzig district

Urban area with districts

Wächtersbach is a small town between Frankfurt am Main (50 km) and Fulda (50 km), in the Main-Kinzig district in Hesse , on the southern edge of the Vogelsberg . The city was the former residence of the Counts of Ysenburg and Büdingen in Wächtersbach , and is located near the historic Via Regia trade route from Frankfurt to Leipzig .

geography

Geographical location

Wächtersbach is located between Spessart and Vogelsberg in the middle Kinzig valley , on the eastern edge of the Büdinger Forest , with one of its highest elevations, the four spruces . The cities of Gelnhausen , Bad Orb and Bad Soden-Salmünster are not far away . The districts of Wittgenborn, Waldensberg and Leisenwald are located on the southern edge of the Vogelsberg on the Spielberger Platte .

Neighboring communities

Wächtersbach borders in the north on the communities Kefenrod ( Wetteraukreis ) and Brachttal , in the east on the city Bad Soden-Salmünster , in the south on the city Bad Orb and the community Biebergemünd , in the south-west on the city Gelnhausen and in the west on the community Gründau and the city of Büdingen (Wetteraukreis).

City structure

Wächtersbach consists of the five districts in the Kinzig and Brachttal valleys: Wächtersbach, Aufenau , Neudorf , Weilers , Hesseldorf and the three mountain communities Wittgenborn , Waldensberg and Leisenwald .

and display information about the image

Panoramic picture of Wächtersbach: Aufenau on the left, Wächtersbach in the background, Hesseldorf in the back and Neudorf in the foreground. Weilers and the three mountain communities are not visible

history

prehistory

On the Wolferburg, a high plateau above Hesseldorf, Celtic stone graves were found at the beginning of the 20th century. They point to an early Celtic settlement in the area. Because of the exposed location of the site, it could have been a refuge. This is supported by other Celtic finds in the Alteburg in nearby Biebergemünd , in Bad Orb and near Glauburg .

middle Ages

In 1236 the place was first mentioned as Weichirsbach , which means something like "The brook that feeds the ponds ".

The settlement began with a moated castle - remnants of the former surrounding water areas are still visible with the ponds in the castle park. This fortress was erected on the south-east corner of the Büdinger Forest in the Staufer period and, like the castles in Gelnhausen and Büdingen, served to protect it. It was part of the security systems for the old Königsland Wetterau . A settlement developed under the protection of the castle, which we first learned about through a document from the nearby Selbold monastery (see Langenselbold ) from 1236, which had land and income here.

The lords of Büdingen also administered the Wächtersbach area as fiefs of the imperial forest. When they died out in the male line around 1245, four sons-in-law, including Albert von Trimberg and a nephew, Heinrich von Isenburg, shared the entire inheritance. The claim to power over Burg and Flecken Wächtersbach was long disputed between them and their successors.

In 1354 Konrad von Trimberg donated a Lady Chapel on site. In 1404 Johann II. Von Isenburg elevated Wächtersbach to the status of town , the administration of which was based in the Gothic half-timbered town hall built in 1495 . In 1458 the castle and town finally came into the possession of the Counts of Ysenburg .

Modern times

Count Anton von Isenburg-Büdingen zu Ronneburg (1501–1560) began after 1520 with the renovation and modernization of Wächtersbach Castle. “He had turned to Luther's new teaching early on. Step by step ... he succeeded in carrying out the Reformation in his main part over the course of about 20 years. ... Wächtersbach received ... the first Protestant pastor in 1541 ".

In 1564 the Faulhaberin from Wächtersbach in Büdingen was accused of being a witch and tortured by order of Count Georg von Isenburg-Büdingen . In the absence of a confession, she was finally pardoned.

In 1578 the Wächtersbach brewery was founded by one of Count Anton's sons, initially as a count and later as a princely brewery . It worked for over 400 years until it was finally closed in 2008.

The city of Wächtersbach and its castle also suffered greatly in the Thirty Years' War . It was Count Johann Ernst I von Isenburg-Büdingen (1625–1673) who first made the palace habitable again for his wedding to Countess Marie Charlotte von Erbach , later expanded it and added further buildings and a pleasure garden with a fountain.

Ferdinand Maximilian I von Ysenburg, the founder of a younger line of the house, made Wächtersbach his residence in 1687 . In 1699 he took in Waldensians who had been expelled from Piedmont because of their faith . The village of Waldensberg was founded for them. The Ysenburgs lost their function as sovereigns in 1806 in the Napoleonic ( Principality of Isenburg ) and finally in the post-Napoleonic period ( Congress of Vienna ). From 1815 they belonged to the Austrian Empire for one year , which ceded the area to the Grand Duke of Hesse (Hessen-Darmstadt) in 1816 . The Grand Duke and Elector of Hesse (Hessen-Kassel) shared the area in mid-1816; Wächtersbach became part of the Electorate of Hesse and there - after the extensive territorial and functional reform - from 1821 to 1829 it belonged to the Electoral Hesse District of Salmünster and - after its dissolution - from 1830 to 1866 to the Electoral Hessian District of Gelnhausen . After the annexation of Kurhessen by Prussia, the district (increased by the previously Bavarian district court Orb ) belonged to the new Prussian administrative district of Kassel in 1867 , which belonged to the newly founded Prussian province of Hessen-Nassau from 1868 to 1944 .

With the construction of the railway between Hanau and Bebra in the years 1864 to 1868, the city found connection to the Rhine-Main area and has since experienced rapid growth , especially after the Second World War . The residential quarters grew out of the restricted space enclosed by the city wall and spread out on the surrounding slopes and in the lowlands of the Kinzig valley. A local industry developed. In the tertiary sector, the city now represents a certain focal point in the region.

Incorporations

On December 31, 1970 were part of the Hessian municipal reform the previously independent municipalities Hessel village Neudorf, hamlet and Wittgenborn voluntarily incorporated . On March 1, 1971, Leisenwald and Waldensberg were added. Aufenau followed on April 1, 1971. The town of Wächtersbach thus consists of 8 districts. A local district with a local advisory council and a local mayor was set up for each district .

Traces of Jewish life in Wächtersbach

overview

Evidence of Jewish life in Wächtersbach goes back to the 17th century. A name is mentioned for the first time in 1643 with a Hezekiah. In the following period, especially from the 19th century, the number of Jewish residents of the city fluctuated greatly, between 2.3% and around 6% of the population. The fluctuations are likely due to emigration, especially to the USA. Professionally, they are mostly wholesalers and small traders, butchers and craftsmen. They took part in the social life of the city and had their own institutions.

Jewish facilities and activities

Former entrance area of ​​the synagogue with Hebrew inscription

Already at the beginning of the 19th century there was a Jewish school in Wächtersbach, with a teacher and a teacher's apartment. There was also a ritual bath, a mikveh . It was located “from 1830 to 1910 in a building at the Untertor, then in an extension to the synagogue building ”.

The Wächtersbach synagogue from 1895, in Bleichgartenstraße, had a previous building, which was located from around 1700 to 1895 in a no longer preserved rear building at Schlossgasse 5. The new synagogue was a hall building. In 1910 the Jewish community center with school, teacher's apartment and bathroom (mikveh) was added to the east. The last chairman of the Jewish community in Wächtersbach sold the synagogue building in the summer of 1938. “Some of the ritual objects were brought to Hanau and some to Frankfurt. The Torah shrine and the prayer desk were buried in the cemetery in Aufenau. "

Cemetery in Aufenau

A small Jewish community had existed in Aufenau since the 17th century, but it disbanded in the middle of the 19th century. At the cemetery in Aufenau, which was laid out together with the Wächtersbach Jews, the deceased from Hesseldorf, Schlierbach and Wittgenborn, and later from Bad Orb until around 1920, were also buried. The last burial in the Aufenau cemetery took place in 1932.

The end of the cattle trade

The cattle trade in Wächtersbach had a tradition that went back to 1768. In the 1920s and first 1930s there was a rapid development of the cattle markets under the first chairman of the Main-Kinzigtal cattle dealer association, Benjamin Grünebaum. Since they were almost entirely in Jewish hands in 1933, they were a preferred target of the National Socialists. “On July 17, 1935, hordes in civilian clothes" spontaneously "penetrated, probably mostly SA men, who beat the defenseless Jewish traders and with them their nailed shoes tortured people and cattle. The Jews climbed over the fence and tried to hide in houses and barns. A Jew's eye was gouged out. The animals were untied and they ran into the fields and meadows as far as the Kinzig and the forest. That was the end of a cattle trading company, largely initiated and supported by Jews, which had brought considerable income to the city and its residents. The chairman Benni Grünebaum emigrated to South Africa and built a large cattle ranch and dairy there with his son Alfred. "

Persecution and emigration

Memorial plaque on the Wächtersbach synagogue

Discrimination and desecration of Jewish institutions existed before. The Jewish cemetery in Aufenau was desecrated in 1879 and 1905. In April 1935, the windows of the Jewish houses and the Wächtersbach synagogue were broken. After the violent end of Jewish participation in the cattle markets in Wächtersbach in July 1935, the emigration of the Jewish population increased. Their destinations were the USA, South Africa, and Czechoslovakia. In August 1938 the last Jewish resident left Wächtersbach.

memory

There are two information and memorial plaques on the building of the former synagogue. One refers to the original purpose of the building, the second recalls the fate of the Jewish community in Wächtersbach.

politics

City Council

The local elections on March 6, 2016 produced the following results, compared to previous local elections:

Distribution of seats in the 2016 city council      A total of 37 seats Left : 2 SPD : 22 Greens : 3 CDU : 10	Parties and constituencies		% 2016	Seats 2016	% 2011	Seats 2011	% 2006	Seats 2006	% 2001	Seats 2001
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	58.2	22nd	63.8	23	56.3	21st	60.0	22nd
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	27.7	10	26.4	10	35.1	13	33.4	12
	GREEN	Alliance 90 / The Greens	8.9	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
	THE LEFT	The left	5.2	2	5.3	2	-	-	-	-
	FDP	Free Democratic Party	-	-	4.6	2	8.6	3	6.6	3
	total		100.0	37	100.0	37	100.0	37	100.0	37
	Voter turnout in%		54.2		53.9		54.6		59.9

mayor

On September 22, 2013, Andreas Weiher ( SPD ) was elected the new mayor of Wächtersbach with 72.7% of the vote in the first ballot. In the election to succeed the incumbent Mayor Rainer Krätschmer, who ended his office at the end of April 2014, the First City Councilor Weiher was successful against the candidates Saskia Götzl (CDU / 22.8%) and Gabi Faulhaber (left / 4.6%) . The turnout was 72.5%. In 2019 Weiher was re-elected with 79.9 percent of the vote.

His predecessors were:

• 1990–2014, Reiner Krätschmer, (SPD)
• 1953–1990, Heinrich Heldmann, (SPD)
• 1949–1953, Werner Schwichtenberg (independent)
• 1948–1949, Helmut Petzold, (independent)
• 1945–1948, Johannes Müller, (SPD)
• March 1945 - July 1945, Heinrich Zipf, temporarily deployed by the US military government
• 1934–1945, Dr. Wilhelm Netthöfel, ( NSDAP )
• 1924–1934, Georg Stetefeld, (DDP)
• 1901–1902, Frhr. von Steinacker and Schultheis, temporarily deployed
• 1895–1901, Karl Stein
• 1885–1895, Christian Morkel
• 1863–1884, Georg Kolb
• 1854–1863, Ernst Hammer
• etc.

In the early days, around 1507, and until the new Hessian municipal code of 1834, there was a lord mayor and a sub-mayor. The oldest known people were Mayor Heinz Kesselring and Mayor Hert Dietrich from 1507–1508

Districts

The following local districts with local advisory board and local councilor according to the Hessian municipal code exist in the municipality:

• Local district Hesseldorf (areas of the former municipality Hesseldorf ). The local advisory board consists of five members.
• District of Weilers (areas of the former municipality of Weilers ). The local advisory board consists of five members.
• Neudorf district (areas of the former Neudorf municipality ). The local advisory board consists of five members.
• Leisenwald district (areas of the former Leisenwald municipality ). The local advisory board consists of five members.
• Waldensberg district (areas of the former municipality of Waldensberg ). The local advisory board consists of five members.
• Aufenau district (areas of the former Aufenau community ). The local advisory board consists of seven members.
• Wittgenborn district (areas of the former Wittgenborn community ). The local advisory board consists of seven members.
• Inner city district (areas of the former municipality of Wittgenborn and the new development areas "Köhlersgraben Part III, IV and V"). The local advisory board consists of nine members.

The current mayor of the city center is Susanne Mainka and her deputy is Mark Grillwitzer.

coat of arms

Wächtersbach coat of arms

Blazon : The coat of arms of the city of Wächtersbach shows in blue a silver knight accompanied on the left by a silver wolf tang ; two black bars in the silver shield base, which is bordered by a wave cut.

Meaning: Wächtersbach has had a guardian in the seal since 1982. Together with the wave cut, it should refer to the name "Wächtersbach". The 5 districts of Hesseldorf, Weilers, Wittgenborn, Waldensberg and Leisenwald are symbolized by the 5 bars in the lower part of the coat of arms. Together with the core city, they belonged to the Isenburg-Büdingen county. The two black bars are part of the coat of arms of the Counts of Ysenburg and Büdingen. The districts of Neudorf and Aufenau are symbolized by the wolf angel. Until the end of the 18th century, both were under the imperial rule of the forestry masters of Gelnhausen .

The origin of today's coat of arms actually goes back to a misinterpretation. The municipality of Aufenau, as the later district of Wächtersbach, had a much older coat of arms as the former property of the forestry masters of Kinzighausen, but the city of Wächtersbach had none. On the occasion of the Hessentag 1982 Wächtersbach wanted to have an equally attractive coat of arms and thereupon commissioned the design of the coat of arms. Due to the ignorance of the actual etymology of the name "Wächtersbach" ( Weichirsbach : "The brook that feeds the pond "), "The guard at the brook" was added to the coat of arms. The mistake still continues today. The mayor Rainer Krätschmer, who has since passed away, immortalized himself with a fountain in front of the historic town hall, in which he had a bronze “watchman at the brook” set up.

Town twinning

• Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne , Vonnas and Baneins (France), since 1964
• Troitsk ( Russia )
• Roßleben (district of the city of Roßleben-Wiehe ) ( Thuringia )
• Bobbio Pellice ( Italy ), since 2005

Public facilities

Town hall in the castle

The town hall of the city of Wächtersbach, with the entire city administration, has been located in the renovated Wächtersbach Castle, the former residence of the Ysenburgers, since March 2020. There you will also find ceramics from the Waechtersbach manufactory as part of the Wächtersbach local history museum . A restaurant and a hall for events with 200 seats complete the facilities in the castle.

schools

The Aufenau elementary school is located in the Aufenau district of Wächtersbach , the Kinderbrücke elementary school in the city center and a cooperative comprehensive school , the Friedrich-August-Genth School. All districts are connected to the school center by bus lines.

Heinrich-Heldmann-Halle, village community houses

Wächtersbach has a town house in the city center, the Heinrich-Heldmann-Halle and village community houses in each of the districts, these are the village community houses Hesseldorf, Leisenwald, Neudorf, Waldensberg, Weilers, Wittgenborn and the culture house Aufenau. In addition to communal use, the facilities can also be booked for private events of all kinds, family celebrations, presentations, seminars and the like. There is also a restaurant in the Heinrich-Heldmann-Halle building.

Wächtersbach volunteer fire department

The Wächtersbach volunteer fire department was founded on June 18, 1871. The base has been in the center of the village since 1972 and is part of the Wächtersbach security center. In 1981 a youth fire brigade was founded. The central function of the city also entails a number of tasks with a supra-local character for the Wächtersbach volunteer fire brigade. These include:

• Transport of the thermal imaging camera to neighboring communities or cities
• On-site helpers ("first responders") during the Wächtersbach trade fair, on the national bicycle Sunday "Kinzig-Total", or at Mardi Gras
• Operations on the neighboring BAB 66 and Bundesstraße 276
• Operations on the Frankfurt-Fulda railway line
• Industrial plastics technology
• Companies according to the Hazardous Incident Ordinance
• Supra-local operations -dangerous goods-

The operations department consists (2020) of 56 women and men. The youth fire brigade in Wächtersbach has 12 emergency services. Several times a year, joint exercises with the fire departments of other parts of the city, such as Aufenau, Wittgenborn, Waldensberg and Leisenwald, take place.

For the Main-Kinzig district, the Wächtersbach base is a training location, a respiratory protection workshop and is used for the provision and staffing of MKK vehicles.

technical aid organization

The Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) operates a base in Wächtersbach. In addition to the technical train (consisting of a platoon, 1st and 2nd rescue group) there is also a special detonation group (FGrSp) stationed there.

Churches

Beginnings

The first church mentioned in Wächtersbach was a Marienkapelle built as a wooden structure. It was donated by Konrad V. von Trimberg, together with his wife Elisabeth and son Konrad VI. In a document dated July 13, 1354, he endowed them "richly with property and income ...", e.g. B. with the tithe from the village of Weilers. In the beginning, Aufenau was the mother church for Wächtersbach. In 1435, Wächtersbach was separated from Aufenau because of the great distance, and declared an independent parish.

Protestant church

The regent of the Ysenburg region, Count Anton von Isenburg-Büdingen zu Ronneburg , joined the Reformation as early as 1526 . Since the beginning of the 1530s, he has dissolved or pledged several monasteries in his domain, and finally Wächtersbach received "1541 with Philipp Wahne the first evangelical pastor".

Many renovations changed the exterior of the former Marienkapelle over the centuries. It is documented that in 1514 the watchtower of the city wall, which formed a right angle near the church, was added to the church. He later fulfilled the function of the church tower . The transept was built in 1703 to enlarge the church . The main part of the church was rebuilt in 1664, 1702 and 1816 to become today's church .

As is common in other places, in Wächtersbach "some outstanding parishioners have found their final resting place in the church". The Wächtersbach Latin School was closely linked to the church in terms of both personnel and space.

Catholic Church

For the first time about 300 years after the introduction of the Reformation, 3 Catholics were mentioned in Wächtersbach in 1838, in 1857 there were 27. By 1892, the number increased to 121 people. Catholic worshipers attended church services in Aufenau. In addition, the Franciscan Fathers of Salmünster had been looking after them since 1856.

For the steadily growing Catholic community, the need for their own place of worship increased. Through the "energetic initiative ... of Princess Anna Elisabeth zu Ysenburg and Büdingen, born Countess Dobrženský von Dobrženitz ", and with considerable material support from Prince Friedrich Wilhelm zu Ysenburg and Büdingen (among other things he had donated the property and the timber), Finally, on January 1, 1907, a Catholic Marienkapelle in Wächtersbach was consecrated. Anna Elisabeth, the Catholic wife of the Protestant prince, raised her five daughters as Catholic, while the son, Hereditary Prince Ferdinand Maximilian, belonged to the Protestant denomination. Pastoral care for the Catholics in Wächtersbach, including the chapel, continued to be in the hands of the Fathers of Salmünster.

After the Second World War there was a further significant increase in the number of believers due to expellees from Upper Silesia and the Sudetenland as well as evacuees and bombed-out people from the region. In 1946 Wächtersbach received Nikolaus Bauer, the first Catholic pastor after the Reformation. An extension of the Marienkapelle was inaugurated on June 17, 1951. In 1960 the Schlierbach local chaplaincy was affiliated with other communities in Wächtersbach, which had meanwhile exceeded the number of 1400 believers. Initially run as a parish curate, Wächtersbach was raised to the status of an independent parish of the Assumption on January 1, 1963 .

When the chapel could no longer be expanded as the congregation continued to grow, it had to give way to a new church in 1969. In 1985 the parish received a community center, the Nikolaus-Bauer-Haus.

In 2006 the parish association St. Jakobus Vogelsberg-Spessart was founded . It is an amalgamation of the Catholic parishes Mariae Heimsuchung (Birstein); St. Peter and Paul (Biebergemünd); Mariae Birth (Biebergemünd) with the Burgbergkapelle St. Mauritius; St. Johannes Nepomuk ( Biebergemünd ) and Mariae Himmelfahrt (Wächtersbach) with the branch Herz Jesu (Schlierbach).

library

The Protestant parish operates a public parish library.

Castle Park

In the very center, next to the old town, next to the town hall in the castle, is the castle park, an English-style landscape park . “The park has been open to the public since the middle of the 20th century, mostly before 1939.” Due to its proximity to the city, its size and its natural design, it is a popular local recreation area.

Leisure and sports facilities

The town has a heated outdoor pool, tennis courts, a skate park and opportunities for fishing, bowling and horse riding. There are 48 km of marked hiking trails in the municipality. In the Wittgenborn district there is an open-air go- kart track , the Vogelsbergring. The route is 1038 m long, with an average width of 7 m.

economy

trade

Retail , electrotechnical and plastics processing industries dominate economic life. Many shops have settled in the last few years; this made Wächtersbach a regional shopping center for the surrounding towns and communities.

Fair, markets and events

Wächtersbacher Fair 2012

Fair Wächtersbach

The consumer exhibition “Messe Wächtersbach” has been held every year since 1949 on Ascension Day. The largest consumer show in the Main-Kinzig district has a wide variety of offers on its own exhibition grounds. Up to 440 exhibitors in the fields of industry, trade, craft, building, living, gardening and lifestyle compete for the favor of the consumer. A special exhibition is also held every year. For example, in 2007 the special show showed the terracotta army of the first Chinese emperor, in 2009 exhibits from the Bründl collection were exhibited under the title “Mythos Wild West”.

Christmas Market

The Christmas market takes place annually on the Saturday before the 1st Advent.

Beer mile festival

The beer mile festival takes place every first Saturday in July. There are shuttle buses to the surrounding communities.

Bioenergy thermal power station Wächtersbach

A district heating power station has been available in Wächtersbach since 2009 , the bioenergy power station Wächtersbach. The heat is generated in a climate-neutral manner with wood chips as an energy source. The wood chips are delivered daily as thinning and residual wood. The production of fuel in the wooded region around Wächtersbach is also ecological from a transport point of view . The current consumption is a maximum of two transport containers per day.

The heating system consists of two units that work independently of one another but are technically interconnected, each with a capacity of 6 MW. At the same time, up to 1 MW of electricity can be generated in one of the subsystems. The heat distribution network already exists in the west of the city, in the center of the city and extends to the city swimming pool in the east. It is continuously being expanded. In the basic design, it is suitable to gradually take over and guarantee the heat supply for the entire city.

District heating is currently being supplied to the citizens of Wächtersbach as well as larger consumers such as the previous town hall, the community center, schools, the sports halls, the security center, the castle as the new town hall with city administration, the department store and the outdoor swimming pool. There is no obligation to join.

additional

The “Wächtersbacher Fürstenpils” beer was brewed in the Princely Brewery in Wächtersbach until 1999 and is currently sold under the same name by a Würzburg brewery. Another specialty was the “Wächtersbacher Hopfenherbe”.

The oldest documents from the Büdinger archive show that beer was brewed in Wächtersbach as early as 1521. However, at the latest since 1578 this happened in a count's brewery, when "Count Wolfgang Ernst hired the brewer Matthes Möller from Nordhausen in Thuringia". Not only the barley but even the necessary hops were grown on site, which is reminiscent of the street name “Hopfengarten” in the west of the city.

The Bürgerbräu , a small brewery founded on a private initiative, remained only one episode . It was integrated into the Wächtersbach bioenergy thermal power station and used waste heat from the system.

The ceramic cups from Wächtersbach, which are sold throughout Germany (see Waechtersbacher ceramics ), are also known.

traffic

Rail and road

Wächtersbach has a train station on the Fulda – Hanau railway line . From the Wächtersbach train station , regional connections (RE, SE) provide hourly connections to the transport hubs Frankfurt (Main) , Frankfurt (Main) Süd and Fulda . Due to its geographical location, it opens up as a transfer station, parts of the Spessart to the south and the eastern Vogelsberg to the north . In 2015 it was expanded to make it accessible for people with disabilities. 2 large parking spaces, one municipal and one owned by the railway, complete the infrastructure of the station, as well as a station store and bistro which provides passengers with culinary delights, press and travel utensils.

By 1967 a small railway line , the Vogelsberger Südbahn , branched off into the valley of the Bracht , which originally met in Hartmannshain in Vogelsberg on the Glauburg-Stockheim-Lauterbach (Hess) Nord railway line .

Up until March 4, 1995, a Gelnhausen district works train ran on the Wächtersbach – Bad Orb line . This route was then converted from standard gauge to 600 mm narrow gauge by a museum railway association and has been used purely as a museum railway since 2001 on Sundays and public holidays, seasonally from Easter to the end of October .

Wächtersbach is touched by the federal highway 276 , which as a bypass road connects the Vogelsberg, on the Iron Hand , with the federal highway 66 (Frankfurt-Fulda) "Junction Bad Orb / Wächtersbach" (45). The state roads 3194, 3201, 3216, 3271, 3314, which connect the districts with each other and with the neighboring communities , also lead through the village .

Bike lanes

The following cycle paths run through the city :

• The BahnRadweg Hessen runs on former railway lines for approx. 250 km through the Vogelsberg and the Rhön. Part of the BahnRadweg Hessen is the Vogelsberger Südbahnradweg , it connects over 35 km the Kinzig valley with the volcano cycle path near Hartmannshain .
• The Hessian long -distance cycle route R3 runs as the Rhein-Main-Kinzig cycle route from Rüdesheim to Tann in the Rhön .

In Wächtersbach there is also a connection to the Hessian long-distance cycle route R3 and to the Vogelsberger Südbahnradweg . A number of rest areas with information boards have been set up along the Vogelsberger Südbahnradweg. There is also a bicycle rental service in the city.

Electromobility

In the Main-Kinzig-Kreis several charging stations for electric cars and for already pedelec built, including some in Wächtersbach. Most of the charging stations were set up by the Main-Kinzig district works in cooperation with Park & ​​Charge .

Culture and sights

Evangelical church with its defense tower from 1514

Cultural event

March wind - events in the culture cellar

Out of the desire of the people of Wächtersbach to offer a program with its own character in their own city beyond the cultural offers of the neighboring communities and the Rhein-Main-Zentrum, an initiative was formed in 1984. The association Kulturinitiative Märzwind emerged from it. "The aim of the association is ... to seek culture, music, art, theater away from the stream of media taste , to present it and to establish it as an integral part of a high quality of life." The March wind events take place 10 times a year in the Kulturkeller, the atmospheric vaulted cellar of the former old school instead of. The offer includes "bands, singers, reciters and cabarets". Trademarks are also the spatial proximity to the artists and the relaxed atmosphere with the wine offered on site.

The Wächtersbacher art salon

The “Wächtersbacher Kunstsalon” is also a creation of the March wind initiative. It serves to promote the fine arts. This annual art exhibition has meanwhile attracted national attention.

Kind in office

There are regular exhibitions of local artists in the town hall foyer under the title “Art in Office” . The organizer is the cultural office of the city of Wächtersbach.

Museums

Wächtersbacher Heimatmuseum

This was formerly only housed in the Gothic half-timbered town hall from 1495. The associated Wächtersbach ceramics department will in future find a place in the new town hall in the castle. The museum is run by the Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Wächtersbach e. V. supervised.

Wittgenborn Pottery Museum

The Wittgenborn district made a significant living from pottery in the 19th century until the Second World War. Numerous exhibits, many of them hand-painted, are on display in the pottery museum.

Neudorf local history museum

The former town hall of Neudorf houses a small local museum.

Geological rock garden

A geological rock garden opposite the Wächtersbach train station gives an overview of the typical rock formations in the region around Wächtersbach. He is also looked after by the Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Wächtersbach.

Buildings

• Wächtersbach Castle
• Evangelical church from 1354 with defense tower from 1514
• Synagogue , built in 1894/95
• Vier Spichten wind farm

See also : List of cultural monuments in Wächtersbach

Regular events

Strong Viking Run

The annual obstacle course Strong Viking Run in the Wittgenborn district attracts several thousand participants every year.

Kinzigtal Total

Once a year, the Kinzigtal Total Cycle Sunday , a popular sports event, takes place. It began with the car-free Sunday, during the oil crisis in 1974. Due to the supporting program of the city of Wächtersbach, special trains run on this day at the Wächtersbach station .

Personalities

Count Wolfgang Ernst I of Isenburg-Büdingen

Robert Sterl: Self-Portrait (1919)

Christian Neureuther, ceramist

Honorary citizen

• Friedrich Christian, cardboard manufacturer, owner of the machine, cardboard and cardboard factory Friedrich Christian GmbH, which was later continued by the Adt company, appointed honorary citizen on March 23, 1920
• Christian Hain, master tailor, appointed honorary citizen in 1954,
• Prince Otto Friedrich III. zu Ysenburg-Büdingen (* 1904; † 1990), honorary citizen on September 17, 1974
• Nikolaus Bauer, a Catholic pastor in Wächtersbach for 40 years, appointed honorary citizen on June 22, 1986,
• Heinrich Heldmann, (* 1925; † 2011), Mayor of Wächtersbach from 1953 to 1990, appointed honorary citizen on November 20, 1990
• Rainer Krätschmer, (* 1945; † 2017). He was mayor of the city of Wächtersbach from May 1, 1990 to April 30, 2014 - a total of four terms. Appointment as honorary citizen on May 30, 2014

sons and daughters of the town

• Friedrich August Genth (1820–1893), German-American chemist and mineralogist; Son of the Forester Georg Friedrich Genth from the Count of Isenburg and his wife Caroline Amalie Genth, née von Schwarzenau.

Personalities and families associated with Wächtersbach

• The widely ramified Faulhaber von Wächtersbach family settled in the area between Franconia and the Wetterau from the 13th to the 17th century , with a clear focus on Wächtersbach and Orb.
• Dietrich Faulhaber von Wächtersbach (around 1325 – before 1380, son of Berthold von Faulhaber and Gele Schultheiß) and his wife Luckard acquired the village of Weilers from Konrad von Trimberg on June 2, 1365 . The Faulhaber family held fiefdoms until March 26, 1603 for about 250 years .
• Konrad von Trimberg (the younger) (–31 October 1376), was a descendant of Albert von Trimberg, a son-in-law of the Lords of Büdingen, who in 1247 had acquired rights to the castle and spots of Wächtersbach for the first time for his family. In 1354 Konrad donated a Marienkapelle, the first known church in town. The successor building is today the Evangelical Church of Wächtersbach. On June 2, 1365, Konrad sold the village of Weilers to Dietrich Faulhaber von Wächtersbach.
• Johann II. Von Isenburg in Büdingen (1395–1408), count, raised Wächtersbach to town in 1404
• Count Anton von Isenburg-Büdingen zu Ronneburg (1501–1560) expanded and modernized the Wächtersbach Castle, where he finally resided.
• Faulhaberin , (mid-16th century), member of the von Faulhaber family , was accused of witchcraft and tortured in 1564. Severely marked by the torture, she was finally pardoned for lack of evidence.
• Count Wolfgang Ernst I von Isenburg-Büdingen (1560–1633), spent the last years of his life with his youngest sons in Wächtersbach Castle.
• Count Johann Ernst I von Isenburg-Büdingen (1625-1673) grew up in Wächtersbach Castle. After the Thirty Years' War he expanded the palace and outbuildings and created a "pleasure garden" .
• Ferdinand Maximilian I., Count of Ysenburg a. Büdingen in Wächtersbach (1661–1703), made Wächtersbach his residence in 1687 , and founded the village of Waldensberg in 1699 by settling Waldensians who were expelled from Piedmont for religious reasons .
• Anton Calaminus (1808-1868), a Protestant theologian and historian , was educator of Hereditary Count Ferdinand Maximilian III from 1830 . to Ysenburg-Büdingen . From 1836 to 1841 he was pastor, school inspector, member of the sub-consistory and rector of the Latin school in Wächtersbach.
• In 1840 Johannes Bodenbender presented a plan according to which the pleasure garden and the Wächtersbach zoo were merged and transformed into an English landscape park.
• Robert Sterl (1864–1932), painter and graphic artist, representative of German Impressionism, stayed regularly for longer periods between 1900 and 1904 in Wittgenborn, where he made sketches of potters, farmers and shepherds
• Christian Neureuther (1868–1921), ceramist, inventor of the "Wächtersbacher Art Nouveau". He shaped the artistic face of Wächtersbach ceramics for two decades.
• Georg Stetefeld (1883–1966), Mayor of Wächtersbach 1924–1934
• Wilhelm Malkemus (1937-2019), was a painter , graphic designer , stage designer , caricaturist , draftsman and portrait painter , winner of the culture award of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis in the field of art. From 1967 until his death he was active in the cultural life of Wächtersbach, but was also politically active in the trade fair commission, in the local advisory board and as a city ​​councilor
• Simon Krätschmer (* 1979), German television presenter
• Peter Tauber (* 1974), Parliamentary State Secretary, former CDU General Secretary

literature

• Jürgen Ackermann: "A tour through Alt-Wächtersbach" Wächtersbach 1999.
• Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Wächtersbach (ed.): "Collections for the History of Wächtersbach" , Vols. I – V, Wächtersbach 1984–2012.
• Eberhard Jamrowski, "East Prussian Forests and Büdinger Forest" , Wächtersbach 2015.
• Jürgen Ackermann, "The Wächtersbach Synagogue" , collections on the history of Wächtersbach 28, 8/1986
• Jürgen Ackermann, 1768–1935, “Die Wächtersbacher Viehmärkte” , collections on the history of Wächtersbach 3, 8/1984
• Martin Schäfer, "Heimatbuch des Kreises Gelnhausen, Orte des Amtsbezirks Wächtersbach" , published by the Gelnhausen district administration in 1950
• Jürgen Ackermann, "1690–1750: The Jewish School in Wächtersbach" , collections on the history of Wächtersbach 4a, 8/1984
• Jürgen Ackermann: 1816–1866: The Jewish school in Wächtersbach in the time of the Electorate of Hesse " , collections on the history of Wächtersbach 4b, 8/1984
• Jürgen Ackermann, "From the beginnings of the Wächtersbach Jewry and its end in the National Socialist era" , collections on the history of Wächtersbach 72, 1/1989
• Jürgen Ackermann, “In memory of the Wächtersbacher Judengemeinde” , collections on the history of Wächtersbach 147, 8/1994 and Brachttal-Nachrichten No. 30–32
• Jürgen Ackermann, “Synagogue and Jewish School in Wächtersbach. The changeful fate of two buildings ” , collections on the history of Wächtersbach 269, 1/2003
• "Of Jews and Court Jews in the Wächtersbacher Ländchen" , homeland yearbook of the Gelnhausen district, 2003
• Paul Arnsberg, “The Jewish Communities in Hesse. Beginning - Falling - New Beginning ” , Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1971, vol. 1, p. 51 (Aufenau) and vol. 2, p. 334/335 (Wächtersbach)
• Jürgen Ackermann, "History of the Jewish Community of Wächtersbach" , collections on the history of Wächtersbach, Wächtersbach 1984
• Dagmar Reimers, "Wächtersbach Castle and the Ysenburgers" , Collective Gesch. Wächtersbach, January 41, 2003, No. 265, ISSN 0931-2641
• Christian Werner, "Kirchliches von Wächtersbach" , Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 43rd L., January 2004, No. 289, ISSN 0931-2641
• Jürgen Ackermann, “The construction of the Chapel of the Assumption in Wächtersbach” , Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, January 48th, 2007, No. 344, ISSN 0931-2641

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hessian State Statistical Office: Population status on December 31, 2019 (districts and urban districts as well as municipalities, population figures based on the 2011 census) ( help ).
2. ↑ Spielberger Platte
3. ↑ The Wolferburg
4. ↑ Carl Hessler (Ed.): Hessische Landes- und Volkskunde: The former Kurhessen and the hinterland at the end of the 19th century. Volume 1, part 1, Elwert, Marburg 1907, p. 695
5. ↑ Dagmar Reimers, Schloss Wächtersbach and the Ysenburger, Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 48. L., January 2007, No. 331, 16 S., ISSN 0931-2641, pp. 5-7
6. ↑ Jürgen Ackermann, "Count Anton zu Ysenburg-Kelsterbach Missheurath caused his Count's family vilen unkust" Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 41. L., January 2003, no. 265, ISSN 0931-2641
7. ↑ D. Reimers, Schloss Wächtersbach and the Ysenburger, pp. 14–15
8. ↑ Dr. Reimers, Dagmar, "1650: A post-war wedding in Schloss zu Wächtersbach", 1987, 4.3.1.6
9. ^ Convention Territorial entre le Grand Duc de Hesse et Electeur de Hesse . - Signèe à Francfort sur Mein, le 29 Juin, 1816. British and Foreign State Papers 1815-1816, Volume 3, Compiled by the Librarian and Keeper of the Papers, Foreign Office, James Ridgway and Sons, Piccadilly, London: 1838, p 812-819; (mostly in German) digital copy ; also printed in Grindaha, issue 26, Geschichtsverein Gründau e. V., Gründau 2016 ISSN  2194-8631 pp. 4–12 with a comment by Norbert Breunig
10. ^ Incorporation of the communities of Hesseldorf, Neudorf, Weilers and Wittgenborn into the city of Wächtersbach in the district of Gelnhausen on January 5, 1971 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (Ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1971 No. 3 , p. 110 , point 111 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 5.5 MB ]).
11. ^ 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. 362 .
12. ↑ ^{a b} main statute. (PDF; 628 kB) § 5. In: Website. City of Wächtersbach, accessed August 2020 . 
13. ↑ Jürgen Ackermann, "From the Beginnings of the Wächtersbach Jewry and their End in the National Socialist Period" , Collections on the History of Wächtersbach 72, 1/1989
14. ^ Paul Arnsberg, The Jewish Congregations in Hesse, Beginning - Falling - New Beginning , Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1971, vol. 1, p. 51 (Aufenau) and vol. 2, p. 334/335 (Wächtersbach)
15. ^ Jewish communities in Hesse
16. ↑ Jürgen Ackermann, “Synagogue and Jewish School in Wächtersbach. The changeful fate of two buildings ” . Collections on the history of Wächtersbach 269, 1/2003
17. ^ Jewish communities in Hesse
18. ^ [1] Jewish cemetery in Aufenau
19. ^ [2] End of the Wächtersbach cattle market
20. ↑ [Jürgen Ackermann, 1768-1935, "The Wächtersbacher cattle markets," collections on the history of Wächtersbach 3, 8/1984]
21. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 6, 2016. Hessian State Statistical Office, accessed in April 2016 . 
22. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 27, 2011
23. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 26, 2006
24. ↑ Mayoral election: this is how Wächtersbach voted: First City Councilor Andreas Weiher brings in excellent results. In: waechtersbach-online.de. Retrieved October 7, 2013 . 
25. ↑ Mayor Weiher in Wächtersbach re-elected
26. ^ Jürgen Ackermann, Mayor of the City of Wächtersbach , Sammlg. Business Wächtersbach, 55th L., August 2010, No. 378ISSN 0931-2641
27. ↑ Local Advisory Council City Center. In: website. City of Wächtersbach, accessed August 2020 . 
28. ↑ Wächtersbach volunteer fire department
29. ↑ Wächtersbach fire brigade
30. ↑ Voluntary fire brigade, operations department
31. ^ Wittgenborn fire department
32. ↑ J. Ackermann, "From mills and millers near Hesseldorf", Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 40. L., August 2002, No. 262, ISSN 0931-2641
33. ↑ Christian Werner, "Kirchliches von Wächtersbach", Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 43. L., January 2004, No. 289, ISSN 0931-2641, p. 1
34. ↑ Dagmar Reimers, "Schloss Wächtersbach and the Ysenburgers" , collection Gesch. Wächtersbach, January 41, 2003, No. 265, ISSN 0931-2641
35. ↑ Martin Schäfer, "Heimatbuch des Kreises Gelnhausen, Orte des Amtsbezirks Wächtersbach" , editor of the district administration Gelnhausen 1950, p. 247
36. ↑ Christian Werner, "Kirchliches von Wächtersbach", Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 43. L., January 2004, No. 289, ISSN 0931-2641, p. 3
37. ↑ Jürgen Ackermann, “The construction of the Chapel of the Assumption in Wächtersbach” , Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 48th January 2007, No. 344, ISSN 0931-2641, p. 1
38. ^ Chronicle of the Assumption of the Virgin in Wächtersbach
39. ↑ Festschrift of the Catholic parish
40. ^ Chronicle of the Assumption of the Virgin in Wächtersbach
41. ↑ Festschrift of the Catholic Parish , p. 24
42. ↑ Altstadtförderverein - Ed., Wächtersbach-The whole castle park, A cultural gem in the middle Kinzig valley , Nov. 2019
43. ↑ [3] , J. Ackermann, "Hops and malt - God preserves it"
44. ↑ [4] , J. Ackermann, "Hops and malt - God preserves it"
45. ^ Gießener Anzeiger Verlags GmbH & Co KG: Wächtersbach understands the station . ( gelnhaeuser-tageblatt.de [accessed on January 13, 2017]).
46. ↑ [5]
47. ↑ http://stammbaum.glehnhoff.de/herkunft/waechtersbach.htm
48. ↑ https://www.hgv-waechtersbach.de/index.php/berichte/museen/177-erinnerungen-an-die-gebrueder-adt-ag-in-waechtersbach
49. ↑ A mayor tells , Heinrich Heldmann, Sammlg. Business Wächtersbach, 55th L., August 2010, No. 379 ISSN 0931-2641
50. ↑ https://www.katholische-kirche-waechtersbach.de/waechtersbach/chronik/mariae_himmelfahrt.php , From the Marien Chapel to the Church of the Assumption of Mary in Wächtersbach
51. ^ City of Wächtersbach
52. ↑ Jürgen Ackermann, The Faulhaber von Wächtersbach and Orb , Sammlg. Business Wächtersbach, 41. L., January 2003, No. 266 ISSN 0931-2641
53. ↑ [6] Gudrun Kauck, Chronological data: Castle and city Wächtersbach
54. ↑ Martin Schäfer: Anton Claminus , in Zwischen Vogelsberg and Spessart, Heimat-Jahrbuch des Kreis Gelnhausen 1950 , Der Landrat des Kreises Gelnhausen, Gelnhausen 1949, p. 44 f.
55. ↑ Georg Rösch: Anton Calaminus - Pastor and Metropolitan , in: Between Vogelsberg and Spessart, Heimat-Jahrbuch des Kreis Gelnhausen 1960 , Der Landrat des Kreis Gelnhausen, Gelnhausen 1959, p. 14
56. ↑ Jürgen Schultheis, "The search for the original man - Robert Sterl - a forgotten impressionist who pursued his studies in Wittgenborn and the surrounding area" , Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 42nd L., August 2003, No. 280, ISSN 0931-2641
57. ↑ Angelika Baeumert, Karl Baeumert, "Robert Sterl in Wittgenborn" , Samml. Gesch. Wächtersbach, 49. L., August 2007, No. 341, ISSN 0931-2641
58. ↑ [7] , laudation for the award of the MKK Culture Prize in the field of art

Web links

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

Wikivoyage: Wächtersbach  - travel guide

Wikisource: Wächtersbach in Merian's Topographia Hassiae  - sources and full texts

• Official website of the city of Wächtersbach
• "Wächtersbach, Main-Kinzig-Kreis". Historical local dictionary for Hessen. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
• Literature on Wächtersbach in the Hessian Bibliography
• Literature by and about Wächtersbach in the catalog of the German National Library
• Link catalog on the subject of Wächtersbach at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
• Commemorative publication of the Catholic parish
• Chronicle of the Assumption of Mary Wächtersbach