Wattendorf is the smallest 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 ...

and a member of the administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') of Steinfeld.

Geography

The community lies on the edge of the “

Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland (german: Fränkische Schweiz) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main i ...

” on the rise to the

Franconian Jura The Franconian Jura ( , , or ) is an upland in Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. Located between two rivers, the Danube in the south and the Main in the north, its peaks reach elevations of up to and it has an area of some 7053.8 km2. Emil Meyne ...

in the east of the Bamberg district.

Constituent communities

The community has 5 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'', each given here with its own population figure: *Bojendorf (157) *Gräfenhäusling (211) *Mährenhüll (74) *Schneeberg (60) *Wattendorf (216)

History

Wattendorf is very old as a settled place, having been settled in the time around 3000 to 1800 BC by the

Linear Pottery culture The Linear Pottery culture (LBK) is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic period, flourishing . Derived from the German ''Linearbandkeramik'', it is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Inci ...

. It had its first documentary mention in 1180, when the community was owned by the Counts of the

Duchy of Merania The Duchy of Merania, it, Ducato di Merania, sl, Vojvodina Meranija, hr, Vojvodina Meranije was a fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire from 1152 until 1248. The dukes of Merania were recognised as princes of the Empire enjoying imperial immediacy ...

. From 1260 to 1274, Wattendorf was owned by the Count of Truhendingen. In 1274 he donated the estate to the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

at Langheim, to which it belonged until

Secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

in 1803. The Monastery's ties with the High Monastery at Bamberg grew weaker over time, so that by the time the Old Empire came to an end, the Langheim Monastery could almost be thought to be the High Monastery's ''Mediat''. Since 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 has belonged 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.

Population development

Within municipal limits, 753 inhabitants were counted in 1970, 723 in 1987 and 722 in 2000. By 2007 the figure had further fallen to 708, but on 30 June 2007 it had risen slightly to 715.

Politics

The first mayor is Thomas Betz from the

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 ...

. The community council is made up of x members, listed here by party or voter community affiliation, and also with the number of seats that each has held since the 2002 election and the percentage of the votes that each won: *

3 seats (30.2%) * Bojendorfer Wählergemeinschaft 2 seats (22.9%) * Wählergemeinschaft Gräfenhäusling 2 seats (25.6%) * Freie Wähler Mährenhüll 1 seat (9.5%) * Freie Wähler Schneeberg 0 seats (9.1%) 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 €274,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €50,000.

Coat of arms

Wattendorf's

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

might heraldically be described thus: Azure a spread eagle argent reguardant, sinister a chalice Or, emerging therefrom an abbot's staff Or. The eagle and the

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

azure (blue) recall the Counts of Andechs Merania, who until 1248 were Wattendorf's overlords. The chalice and the abbot's staff recall the community's donation to the Cistercian Monastery at Langheim by the Counts of Truhendingen in 1274.

Economy and infrastructure

Breweries

In Wattendorf there are still today two small family

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

, the Brauerei Hübner and the Brauerei Dremel. Both brew and serve

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

n speciality beers.

Economy

According to official statistics, there were no workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in producing businesses or in trade and

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

. However, 305 such workers worked from home. In processing businesses there were nine businesses, but in construction none. Furthermore, in 1999, there were 79 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 220 ha, of which 1 078 ha was cropland and 140 ha was meadowland.

References

External links

Community’s website
{{Authority control Bamberg (district)