Aiterhofen is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of

Straubing-Bogen Straubing-Bogen is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the eastern part of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Cham, Regen, Deggendorf, Dingolfing-Landau, Landshut and Regensburg. The independent town of Straubing is s ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is located about 5 km southeast of Straubing in the

Gäuboden The Gäuboden (also referred to in German as the Dungau) is a region in Lower Bavaria in southern Germany without any clear geographic or cultural boundaries, that covers an area about 15 kilometres wide south of the River Danube and the Bavaria ...

History

Aiterhofen is settled since the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

as the discovery of the biggest cemetery of the Linear Pottery culture in Germany (about 260 tombs) showed. In 773, Aiterhofen (Eitraha) is documented as residence of one of the

Agilolfing The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. T ...

Dukes. Around 973, another documentation as ''Eitarahoue'' (Farmyard at the Eiterach). An Annalist of the 11th century falsely interpreted the name as ''Farmyard of Poison'' (poison = pus = ''Eiter''). The actual meaning comes from the indogermanic ''oid'' for swelling and the old high German ''aha'' for water and ''hof'' for farmyard. Therefore, the meaning of the name can be interpreted as ''estate at the swelling stream'', which shows the reference to the Aiterach River. Approximately in the first quarter of the 13th century, the romanic parish church St. Margaretha has been constructed. Within resides the oldest bell in lower bavaria (1325). Only the northern tower of the initially planned twin towers has been constructed. In 1883 the rococo furnishings from the 18th century have been removed. The adjacent grave yard chapel was probably constructed during the 17th century. In 1846, Angela Fraundorfer founded the convent of the franciscans of Aiterhofen, which, among other things, is aimed at the education of girls, and is operating a kindergarten, a female-only secondary school and several other facilities.

Citizen Development

In the area of the municipality the following numbers of citizens have been counted: 1970 2.424, 1987 2.749, 2000 3.178, 2005 3.466, 2008 3.422

Politics

The mayor is Manfred Krä (CSU). The municipals tax income was about 2.5 million €, 600.000 due to trade taxes.

Buildings

''Churches'' * ''St. Margaretha'' was constructed approximately in the first quarter of the 13th century. The interior of the romanic church has been converted to a baroque style in the 18th century and was redesigned to the art nouveau in the 19th century. * '' St. Peter und Paul'' in Geltolfing. The present construction has been started by Jakob Ruesch in 1715, but a church has already been document in 1226. * ''St. Johannes'' in Niederharthausen has been constructed in the early

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, but today only the choir with rib vault is preserved. * ''Klosterkirche Aiterhofen'', the church of the franciscan convent.

Economy and infrastructure

Economy, Agriculture and Forestry

In 1998, there were 31 agricultural, 133 crafting and 62 trading and traveling locally employed. 132 have been registered in other fields. An overall of 1.022 employees have been registered living in ''Aiterhofen''. There were no secondary industries and 4 construction and building industries. In 1999, 96 agricultural industries with a cultivated area of 3.517 ha, consisting of 3.431 ha agricultural crop land and 82 ha permanently grassed areas, have been recorded.

Education

In 2006, the following facilities existed: *four-grouped kindergarten „Maria Schutz“ *one elementary school * Angela Fraundorfer secondary school (female only) with attached boarding school (funded by the convent of the franciscans of Aiterhofen) *vocational school for elderly care (funded by the convent of the franciscans of Aiterhofen)

References

{{Authority control Straubing-Bogen