Weinstrasse (Wagenstrasse)

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The Weinstrasse is an old trade route in Hessen ( Germany ) that runs in a north-south direction and connects the Frankfurt area with northern German areas.

The name “Weinstrasse” stands for “Wagenstrasse” in Hessian ( Hessian wine, wän, wäng “Wagen”; in the plural , southern German: “Wagen ”), so it initially has nothing to do with fermented must. The north German part of Wagenstrasse has been known as Frankfurter Weg since the 17th century . It was not, as the name “ road ” might suggest, a paved path, like the Roman roads , for example , but consisted of unpaved paths with deeply rutted wheel tracks.

Function and history

Due to its historical development and some topographical features, Hesse has been a traffic and trade center in Central Europe since Roman times. A number of important old streets therefore crossed this area, in addition to the Weinstrasse, for example, Marendorfer Strasse and Lange Hessen .

Before its function as a trade route, the Weinstrasse was, like many old roads, an army route . From 772, the use of the "Weinstrasse" as a parade route for the Saxon Wars in what is now Paderborn is occupied. It was militarily secured by so-called “street festivals”. Their change to a trade and fair connection took place with the development of the cities around the 12th century.

The width and course of the wine route were determined by its use as a carriage route, the risky transport of goods and the poor terrain. In the Middle Ages, it mostly consisted of many side-by-side tracks and "gullies". As soon as too many holes and hollows were created, wagons opened a new track right next to the previous one. In addition to the route preferred by old roads on the heights, there were also, especially between the 13th and 15th centuries, more frequently used, parallel routes than hillside and valley roads for safety reasons. In the course of the 16th century, however, long-distance traffic returned to the older mountain roads.

course

The course of the Weinstrasse was characterized primarily as a high road, as the valley lowlands were mostly swampy at the time of their formation in Hesse. This in turn meant that the settlements emerging in the valleys or already developed into cities had to be connected by feeder roads. These were partially fortified near the city.

The Weinstrasse led from Frankfurt-Höchst , where it crossed Elisabethenstrasse and branched off from Lindenweg , via Hildesheim in the direction of Bremen or Lübeck .

In detail, it ran from the Nidda estuary north along the Taunus , via Eschborn , Gonzenheim , Ober-Eschbach (today information board on the way), Ober-Erlenbach , Burgholzhausen (today street name), Ober-Rosbach , Ostheim and Nieder-Weisel to Butzbach or on the middle route via Massenheim and Ober-Wöllstadt , Friedberg and Nauheim to Butzbach.

From Butzbach it went on via Pohl-Göns , Kirch-Göns and Allendorf to Heuchelheim (near Gießen ). The road continued to Fronhausen , Niederwalgern , Germershausen or Niederweimar (Wymar an der straze) and over the Marburg Ridge (west of Marburg ) via Goßfelden and Sarnau (western alternative route via Sterzhausen ), then via Wetter , Frankenberg , Sachsenberg , Goddelsheim , Korbach and Obermarsberg to Paderborn .

In addition, some sources give an alternative route, from Mainz or Frankfurt via Usingen and Wetzlar and then also west of Marburg.

The so-called Frankfurter Weg describes the course of the Weinstrasse in northern Germany .

Today's street names

One and the same street lives on in several names: For example, some places refer to the nearest place, the next larger city as a long-distance connection or the old name of this ancient north-south connection remained for centuries:

gallery

and display information about the image
View from the Weinstrasse on the Marburg back to Goßfelden , the Wetschaft-Senke and the Rothaargebirge

literature

  • Erika Dreyer-Eimbke: Old streets in the heart of Europe - kings, merchants, traveling people. Umschau Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-524-69078-5 .
  • Reinhard Maurer: Historic streets in the area of ​​Lahn and Ohm. Published by the Amöneburg Museum, 1998, ISBN 3-00-002554-5 .
  • Luitgard Gedeon: Traces of the medieval pilgrimages on the way from Marburg to Frankfurt am Main. In: Star Path . Journal of the German St. Jakobus Society e. V., No. 36 (2005), pp. 12-20.
  • Historical yearbook for the Herford district 2007, Volume 14, Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 3-89534-664-0 , pp. 112–125, chapter "He must come through this hollow alley - With the hollow paths in the history of transport" .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Germershausen is shown on the map (Armann & Pillmeier, see web links), which would make Niederweimar appear rather unlikely. Since Niederweimar abr (see [1] lagis) was on the Weinstrasse, there could be two alternative courses at different times.