Ober-Olm is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – 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 ...
belonging to a ''
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns.
Rhineland- ...
'', a kind of collective municipality – in the
Mainz-Bingen
Mainz-Bingen is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Rheingau-Taunus, the district-free cities Wiesbaden and Mainz, the districts Groß-Gerau, Alzey-Worms, Bad Kreuzna ...
district in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
,
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 ...
.
Geography
Neighbouring municipalities
Ober-Olm's neighbours are
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
-Layenhof, Mainz-Finthen, Mainz-Drais, Mainz-Lerchenberg, Mainz-Bretzenheim, Mainz-Marienborn,
Klein-Winternheim
Klein-Winternheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Kl ...
, Mainz-Ebersheim,
Nieder-Olm
Nieder-Olm is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Until 5 November 2006 it was an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – but it was raised to ...
and
Essenheim
Essenheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Essenheim lies in Rhenish Hesse south ...
.
History
Finds in the municipal area have yielded the first clues to settlers here in the 4th century BC. In AD 97, the former consul
Vejento had a temple built to the forest goddess
Nemetona
Nemetona, or 'she of the sacred grove', is a Celtic goddess with roots in northeastern Gaul. She is thought to have been the eponymous deity of the Germano-Celtic people known as the Nemetes;Beck, pp. 237-238. evidence of her veneration is found ...
near his Klein-Winternheim landholding, a richly furnished
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
settlement in the Ober-Olm cadastral area of Villenkeller. Ober-Olm itself arose in the 6th century as a
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
establishment and had its first documentary mention in 994. The name “Ulmena Superior” from 1190 was formerly associated with
elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
trees, ''Ulme'' being the
Modern High German word for this tree; however, this word was not
borrowed into German from
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
(''ulmus'') until the 12th century. The formation of the placename ''Ulm'' and an ending ''—ena'' is typical for a brook's name, and these were often also used as placenames. It can be assumed that ''Ulmena'' was the name that the
Germanic settlers between Ober-Olm and Nieder-Olm gave the Selz. The few Roman people left still used the name ''Salusia'' for the brook, which was the name that eventually stuck to it. ''Ulmena'', however, remained as well, and clove to both the centres now bearing ''Olm'' as part of their names.
In 1582, 1603 and 1857, Ober-Olm was destroyed by devastating fires.
Since 1972, Ober-Olm has belonged to the
''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Nieder-Olm, whose seat is in the
like-named town.
Many ecclesiastical and monastic institutions had landholdings in the municipality, among whom were, for example,
Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey (German: Kloster Eberbach) is a former Cistercian monastery in Eltville in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in ...
, the Maria Dalheim monasteries in Mainz, the
Dominicans and the
Carthusian
The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...
s, the White Ladies (an order of nuns devoted to
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
) in Mainz and All Hallows’ Monastery in Wesel. Furthermore, the Cathedral Chapter in Mainz, the Ravengiersburg Monastery, Saint John's Church in Mainz,
Saint Stephen's Church in Mainz, Mariengreden, Saint Victor's and Saint Peter's were all landholders.
In 2003, the
German-Pennsylvanian Association The German-Pennsylvanian Association (german: Deutsch-Pennsylvanischer Arbeitskreis) is an organization founded in 2003 in the Rheinhessen area of Ober-Olm in Germany, and dedicated to cultural exchange and research involving the Pennsylvania Dutch ...
was founded in Ober-Olm. It's also the village, where the German-Pennsylvanian newspaper
Hiwwe wie Driwwe
, which means "Hither like thither" (compare german: Hüben wie Drüben), is the title of the only existing Pennsylvania German-language newspaper.
Publication
Since 1997, the publication is distributed twice a year. More than 100 Pennsylvani ...
is published by the
German-Pennsylvanian Archive
The German-Pennsylvanian Archive (Deutsch-Pennsylvanisches Archiv) is a collection of books, manuscripts, audio files, etc. about the Pennsylvania German language and culture. The archive is located in the Palatinate, Germany. It was founded in ...
in cooperation with the
Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at
Kutztown University
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (Kutztown University or KU) is a public university in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on High ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
World War II
German antisemitism under the Nazis became increasingly difficult in the years prior to World War II. Jews had lived in Ober-olm and surrounding small towns for hundreds of years, from at least the time of the Middle Ages. Jewish residents were well-integrated into the life and commerce of these towns. For a brief time, antisemitic laws were less rigorously enforced in Obel-olm than in neighboring large cities such as Mainz and Frankfurt. During those years, a few Jewish residents of these cities sent their children to live with "country cousins" in Ober-olm, hoping that their children would be able to continue to attend school and live undisturbed. But as antisemitic laws became more harsh -- for example, when Jews were no longer permitted to have checking accounts to conduct business -- Jewish residents were not able to make a living and suffered greatly.
Some Jewish residents of Ober-olm were fortunate to be able to obtain visas for the United States and were able to emigrate to safety. Others were not so fortunate, and perished as a result.
During the
Western Allied invasion of Germany
The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied ...
in April 1945, the nearby
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
Mainz-Finthen airfield was seized by the
United States Third Army
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
, and used by the
USAAF
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
354th Fighter Group which flew
P-47 Thunderbolts
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomb ...
from the aerodrome (designated
ALG Y-64) from 8 to 30 April 1945. Acquired for use by the United States Army after the conclusion of the war, the former German Luftwaffe fighter base was named Finthen Army Airfield and has been used by Army aviation units ever since.
Politics
Town council
The council is made up of 20 elected council members, in addition to the unsalaried, directly elected mayor. The mayor has voting rights just like the other council members.
The seats divided by party membership:
(as per municipal election held on 26 May 2019)
Town partnerships
*
Ramonchamp
Ramonchamp () is a large commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Inhabitants are called ''Ramoncenais''.
Geography
Downstream of Le Thillot and upstream of Ferdrupt, Ramonchamp is positioned in a narrow section of ...
,
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
*
Schloßvippach,
Sömmerda district,
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
There are also friendship arrangements with the following places:
*
Bobrowice,
Lubusz Voivodeship
Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland.
It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
*
Bruck in der Oberpfalz
Bruck in der Oberpfalz is a market town in the district of Schwandorf in the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous co ...
,
Schwandorf district,
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 ...
*
Seebach,
Ortenaukreis
Ortenaukreis ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Ortenaukrais; french: Arrondissement de l'Ortenau) is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (clockwise from north) Rastatt, Freudenstadt, Rottwe ...
,
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
*
Seiffen
The town of Seiffen is located in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, which is in the central south of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. The earliest record of the town dates to 1324 when it was referred to as "Cynsifen".
Seiffen nestles in the h ...
,
Erzgebirgskreis
Erzgebirgskreis is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is named after the Erzgebirge ("Ore Mountains"), a mountain range in the southern part of the district which forms part of the Germany–Czech Republic border. I ...
,
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
*
Wolfsegg am Hausruck,
Upper Austria
Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Sightseeing
*Saint Martin's Church (''Martinskirche'') with a tower from
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
times and a statue of
Saint Urban from the 16th century.
*Hunting lodge of the Electors of Mainz (''Altes Forsthaus'') from 1764.
*''Ober-Olmer Wald'' (forest), a 335-hectare recreation area.
*Saint Valentine's Chapel (''Valentinskapelle'') with its
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
altar, which stands picturesquely on the edge of the vineyards.
*The 650-year-old
elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
tree had to be cut down in 1985 after it fell victim to
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...
.
*Renovated Town Hall from 1550, floors added in 1721-1722.
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
*The
Autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
A 63 lies approximately 3 km away.
*The
Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the se ...
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
Klein-Winternheim/Ober-Olm on the
Alzey–Mainz railway
The Alzey–Mainz railway was opened on 18 December 1871 by the Hessian Ludwig Railway (german: Hessische Ludwigsbahn), linking the two cities of Alzey and Mainz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate to each other.
Route
The non-elect ...
is found in neighbouring
Klein-Winternheim
Klein-Winternheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Kl ...
.
*City bus link to Mainz as far as Hochheim (route 68) and ORN bus links (regional route 650) to outlying areas in
Rhenish Hesse
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
as well as into the city of Mainz in the evening and back until after midnight.
Telecommunications
The Ober-Olm Transmission Tower (''Fernmeldeturm Ober-Olm'') was built as a 70.35 m-tall tower for
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...
in 1966. Its nicknames include “Olmi”, “Ober-Olmer Spargel” (''Spargel'' means “asparagus” in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
) and “Fernsehturm” (“Television Tower”). It stands at . In 1990, the transmission tower had another 38 m built onto the top, bringing its current height to 108.35 m.
Public Institutions
*''Ulmenhalle'', a multi-purpose hall at Essenheimer Straße 17a
*Sport facility with artificial-turf
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
pitch and competition-standard athletic facility, Am Sportplatz (location)
*''Kindergarten Abenteuerland'' (“Kindergarten Adventureland”), Pfannenstiel 36
*''Kindertagesstätte St. Elisabeth'' (daycare centre), Essenheimer Straße 17
Education
* Grundschule Ober-Olm (
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
), Schulstraße, sponsor: Verbandsgemeinde Nieder-Olm
* Kreisvolkshochschule (KVHS, district
folk high school
Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...
), Ober-Olm branch, Schulstraße 2
People
*Margit Sponheimer
*
Dr. Michael Werner (Publisher)
Honorary citizens
*Franz Nikolaus Becker
*Father Henri Thiebaut, Ramonchamp
Further reading
*Heribert Schmitt et al.: ''Das Dorf, in dem wir leben, Ober-Olm.'' Geiger-Verlag, Horb am Neckar 1994,
*Maria Regina Kaiser: ''Die Trommeln der Freiheit'' novel, 1848 - Märzrevolution in Mainz, 1998,
*Claudius Moseler:'' Der Ober-Olmer Wald - Raumnutzungsansprüche, Gefährdungspotentiale und Nutzungskonkurrenzen in einem rheinhessischen Waldareal'' Diplomarbeit Geographie, Uni Mainz, 1992
References
External links
*
Hiwwe wie Driwwe – Pennsylvania German Newspaper published in Ober-Olm
{{Authority control
Mainz-Bingen