Pettstadt is a community in the

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...

n district of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

with about 1,900 inhabitants.

Geography

The community lies in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Oberfranken (Upper Franconia), roughly 8 km south of

where the Rauhe Ebrach empties into the

Regnitz The Regnitz is a river in Franconia, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length. The river is formed by the confluence of the rivers Rednitz and Pegnitz, which meet in the city of Fürth. From there the Regnitz runs northward ...

Constituent communities

Pettstadt’s main and namesake centre is by far the biggest of its ''Gemeindeteile'' with a population of 1,914. The community furthermore has these outlying centres, each given here with its own population figure: * Eichenhof: 25 * Neuhaus: 24 * Schadlos: 17 The community also has one of the traditional rural land units known 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 **Ger ...

as ''Gemarkungen'', named Pettstadt, the same name as the main centre (it is traditional for a ''Gemarkung'' to be named after a town or village lying nearby).

History

The community had its first documentary mention in 1070 as ''Betestat''. The placename goes back to a personal name, Petto, which around the year 1000 was quite common in the Frankish-

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 ...

n area. In 1399 came the establishment of the parish of Pettstadt. In 1754, the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

church was built under architect Johann Jakob Michael Küchel. The community belonged to the Cathedral Chapter of Bamberg of the High Monastery at Bamberg, and with the ''

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

'' of 1803, the community passed to

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 ...

. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, today’s community came into being under the ''Gemeindeedikt'' (“Community Edict”) of 1818. In 2002, the administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') with Frensdorf, which had been instituted in the course of later administrative reform, was dissolved.

Population development

Within municipal limits, 1,041 inhabitants were counted in 1970, 1,411 in 1987 and 1,829 in 2000. On 30 June 2007 it was 1,923.

Politics

The mayor is Jochen Hack (Freie Wählergemeinschaft), first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020. The community council is made up of 12 members, listed here by party or voter community affiliation, and also with the number of seats that each holds: * FWG (Freie Wählergemeinschaft) 5 *

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social Un ...

(Christlich-Soziale Union) 3 * BNL (Bürgernahe Liste) 2 *

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) 2 In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s, amounted to €708,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €127,000.

Culture and sightseeing

Pettstadt has something rather remarkable for a place of its size, namely a Baroque church by the famous master builder Michael Küchel, the parish Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Faehre Pettstadt 1

One curiosity in Pettstadt is the ''Pettstadter Schmied'', Upper Franconia’s only

reaction ferry A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the water. Such ferries operate faster and more effectively in rivers with strong currents. Some reaction ferri ...

, which crosses the Regnitz not far west of the village and is used mainly by cyclists. The original ''Pettstadter Schmied'' (German for “Pettstadt smith”) is the main character in a story that is well known throughout the region. It tells of master

smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

Sebastian Schubert, who died in 1910. About the turn of the 20th century, it is said that, at a very late hour at an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

, he would not comply with a

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

patrol’s order to leave the inn. Instead, he said “''Des mach ich, wie ich mooch''” (dialectal German for “I do whatever I like”). The incident led to charges. The judge at the Royal Bavarian ''

Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

'' Court, however, acquitted the accused citing an apparent lack of abusive or rebellious attitude. From this developed a well known Upper Franconian expression: ''Mach' es wie der Pettstadter Schmied'' (“Do it like the Pettstadt smith”), which is taken as a demand to decide on one’s own authority.Entry about Pettstadter Schmied at pettstadt.de
.

Sport and clubs

From the local club life have grown many events such as the Pettstadt Street Festival (''Straßenfest'') on the third weekend in July, which is attended by citizens from all over the district. The three biggest clubs, the Sportverein Pettstadt (SVP, a sport club), the Freihand Schützenverein Pettstadt (FSV, a shooting club) and the ''Rauhe Ebrach'' angling club are successful even beyond the local region.

External links

References

{{Authority control Bamberg (district)