West Greussia

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 51 ° 14 '  N , 10 ° 55'  E
Basic data
State :	Thuringia
County :	Kyffhäuserkreis
Management Community :	Greetings
Height :	175 m above sea level NHN
Area :	8.46 km 2
Residents:	363 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	43 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	99718
Area code :	03636
License plate :	KYF, ART, SDH
Community key :	16 0 65 079
Association administration address:	Bahnhofstrasse 13a 99718 Greussen
Website :	www.vgem-greussen.de
Mayoress :	Rosemarie Krause ( CDU )
Location of the municipality of Westgreußen in the Kyffhäuserkreis

Westgreußen is a municipality in the Thuringian Kyffhäuserkreis , two kilometers northwest of Greußen . It belongs to the administrative community Greußen .

Church of St. Martin in West Greussia

Reconstructed Germanic spark castle near Westgreußen: site plan

history

West Greussia was first mentioned in 817 in a document to the Fulda monastery . As fiefs of the Landgrave and the Counts of Hohnstein and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen , there were nine noble manors in the Middle Ages. Westgreußen belonged until 1918 to sub-rule of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

On April 10, 1945, four German self-propelled guns with twin flak mounted on them stood camouflaged in front of the community tavern. They were discovered during an attack by American fighter bombers and bombed despite defensive fire. Three German soldiers burned to death and were buried in the community cemetery, along with a German airplane pilot who was shot down in an aerial combat on April 9.

Like all of Thuringia, West Greussia was handed over by the Americans to the Red Army at the beginning of July 1945 and thus part of the Soviet Zone and, from 1949, of the GDR .

Population development

Development of the population (December 31) :

1994-476 1995-481 1996-488 1997-483 1998 - 476 1999 - 463

2000-456 2001 - 454 2002 - 445 2003 - 447 2004 - 438 2005 - 433

2006 - 424 2007 - 418 2008 - 413 2009 - 408 2010 - 393 2011 - 385

2012 - 387 2013 - 374 2014 - 367 2015 - 371 2016 - 373 2017 - 368

2018 - 362 2019 - 363

Data source: Thuringian State Office for Statistics

coat of arms

Blazon : "Three stylized silver lilies with green stems and leaves in gold on a brown hill."

The origin of the coat of arms is not clear. It is believed that the family coat of arms of those from Salfeld was adopted. This family lived in West Greussia around 1500 and had three stylized lilies in their coat of arms. Older seals, including the one valid until 1950, showed the three lilies.

The coat of arms was drawn by Ulrich Müller from West Graubünden .

Culture and sights

Historic sites

Funkenburg

The Funkenburg was a fortified settlement in the corridor of the Westgreußen community and between 200 BC. Settled in BC and AD 50. It was on a flat mountain spur sloping steeply on three sides. The site was already known as an archaeological site from field inspections when extensive investigations began in the 1970s, which were continued in several stages until 1980. In the area secured by a moat and palisade ring with a watchtower, storage and residential buildings were determined around a “chief's house” and several places of worship in the center of the settlement. The "castle" built in the Celto-Germanic contact zone was in use until the 1st century BC. Inhabited.
The concept for the "reconstruction" of the Funkenburg was worked out in the following years by a local association under the scientific guidance of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of Thuringia . On the basis of the excavation results, thought was given to the establishment of an archaeological open-air site as early as 1977.
After the fall of the Wall, the area designated as a ground monument became a center for experimental archeology in Thuringia, in addition to the pottery workshop near Haarhausen . The events in the Funkenburg offer insights into life 2000 years ago. Food preparation, the production of clothing, jewelry, weapons and utensils and the necessary craft techniques are explained.

Buildings

• Church of St. Martin, the Romanesque tower of which dates from 1250 to 1300

→ Main article : St. Martinus (Westgreußen)

• Weir of the Helbe in West Greussia

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  Memorial to the soldiers who died in 1939–1945 in the Westgreußen churchyard

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  Community gift and mayor's office in West Greussia

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  Memorial for four soldiers in front of the community tavern in Westgreußen

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  Tomb for four soldiers in the West Greussian cemetery

Personalities

• Caesar von Dachröden (* 1808 in Westgreußen, † 1882 in Rome), officer, court marshal and leading Freemason
• Edmund König (1858–1939), educator, local politician and philosopher

Individual evidence

1. ^ Population of the municipalities from the Thuringian State Office for Statistics  ( help on this ).
2. ↑ Jürgen Möller: The fight for northern Thuringia in April 1945. Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2010. P. 132. ISBN 978-3-86777-212-9
3. ^ New Thuringian Wappenbuch Volume 2, page 32; Publisher: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Thüringen eV 1998 ISBN 3-9804487-2-X
4. ↑ Historical Guide. Sites and monuments of history in the districts of Erfurt, Gera, Suhl . Urania-Verlag, Leipzig-Jena-Berlin 1978, Westgreußen, p. 66 .
5. ^ Verein Funkenburg Westgreußen eV (No longer available online.) Funkenburg-Verein, 2011, archived from the original on November 19, 2013 ; retrieved on July 30, 2011 : “The local group members at that time reconstructed the fortified tower integrated into the wall with simple means in the evening and indicated the height and extent of the main building with boundary posts. Only the reconstructed moat between the outer and main castle remained after the excavation. In 1990 and 1991 the local group suggested the complete reconstruction of the complex. After extensive discussions between the Thuringian State Office for Archaeological Monument Preservation Weimar, the cultural office of the Sondershausen district (today Kyffhäuserkreis), the Westgreußen community, the Funkenburg Westgreußen eV association, the non-profit support company for work and the environment and other institutions, the reconstruction could begin on December 1st, 1992 was completed in 1999. “ Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   

Web links

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

• Funkenburg West Greussia