Beerfelden
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Beerfelden (pronunciation: ˈbeːɐˌfɛldən) was a town in the Odenwald in the
Odenwaldkreis The Odenwaldkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Darmstadt-Dieburg, Miltenberg, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis and Kreis Bergstraße. ''Odenwaldkreis'' belongs to the Rhine Neckar Are ...
(district) in
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
,
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 ...
, 28 km northeast of
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
. On 1 January 2018 Beerfelden, Hesseneck,
Rothenberg Rothenberg is a village and a former municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany. Since January 2018, it is part of the new town Oberzent. Geography Location Rothenberg lies at elevations between 200 and 500 m in the sou ...
and Sensbachtal merged to create the town Oberzent.


Geography


Location

Beerfelden lies in the Odenwald at elevations from 330 to 540 m. Towards the south stretches the narrow, wooded Gammelsbach Valley, in which are found the Freienstein castle ruins, down to the Neckar. The ''Beerfelder Land'' is a tourist region that lies between Beerfelden, the communities of
Rothenberg Rothenberg is a village and a former municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany. Since January 2018, it is part of the new town Oberzent. Geography Location Rothenberg lies at elevations between 200 and 500 m in the sou ...
, Sensbachtal and Hesseneck in the ''Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald'' and which is one of the Odenwald's most richly forested areas. The ''Beerfelder Land'' lies at elevations from 200 to 555 m above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
. Within it is the 626 m-high Katzenbuckel near Waldkatzenbach, which is part of a chain of heights running north-south. To the east stands the Krähberg hunting castle (''Jagdschloss'') that once belonged to the Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau, under which runs a
railway 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 ...
tunnel, the ''Krähbergtunnel'', which was at the time of its building one of Germany's longest at 3.1 km (elevation: 348 m).


Neighbouring communities

Beerfelden borders in the north on the community of
Mossautal Mossautal in the Odenwald is a municipality and a state-recognized health resort in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The community lies at elevations of between 300 and 500 m above sea level. The ''Nibelun ...
and the town of Erbach, in the east on the communities of Hesseneck and Sensbachtal, in the south on the town of Eberbach (
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The administrative headquarters are based in the city Heidelberg, which is a district-free city. As of 2019, the district is the most populous in Baden-Württe ...
in
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 ...
) and the community of
Rothenberg Rothenberg is a village and a former municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany. Since January 2018, it is part of the new town Oberzent. Geography Location Rothenberg lies at elevations between 200 and 500 m in the sou ...
and in the west on the community of
Wald-Michelbach Wald-Michelbach is a municipality in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The community lies in the Odenwald, 12 km east of Weinheim. The now disused ''Überwaldbahn'' (railway) runs through Wald-Michelbach. Geo ...
( Kreis Bergstraße).


Constituent communities

Beerfelden's ''
Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
e'' are Olfen, Airlenbach, Beerfelden, Etzean, Falken-Gesäß, Gammelsbach and Hetzbach.


History

Beerfelden was
enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...
to the Lorsch Monastery as early as the 10th century. It had its first documentary mention under the name ''Burrifelden'' in 1032 in the
Lorsch codex The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwritten in Carol ...
. In 1328, Beerfelden (whose name was then spelt ''Baurenfelden'') was granted town rights. In 1806, in the course of the '' Reichsdeputationshauptschluss'', the town passed from the County of Erbach to Hesse. On 29 April 1810, almost the whole town burnt down. The
Grand Duke of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...
and the Count of Erbach-Fürstenau saw to the relief efforts. The Hessian ''Brandassekuratorionskasse'' paid out 172,802 Gulden for reconstruction.


Politics

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:


Town partnerships

Since 1966, the outlying centre of Olfen has been fostering a partnership with the community of Trévignin in the French department of
Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...
.


Public institutions


Education

There are two
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 ...
s in Beerfelden, one in the main town and another in the outlying centre of Gammelsbach. Moreover, the main town is also home to two
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...
s, one municipal and the other
Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
. There is furthermore a comprehensive school in the main town, named ''Oberzent-Schule''.


Culture and sightseeing


Buildings

Beerfelden has Germany's only completely preserved
gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
. They were built in 1597 to replace the simple wooden gallows. The last
hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...
here took place in 1804 when, it is said, a
Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
woman was put to death, apparently after she stole a chicken and two loaves of bread for her sick child. The spot was supposedly chosen for its lovely setting, in the hope that the condemned prisoner's punishment would thereby seem all the worse. It might also have been chosen for the chilling effect that the sight of the hanged criminal would have. There are also the iron bands that hold the six-metre-tall red sandstone posts together. These were replaced long ago. Allegedly, they were torn out in 1814 by some Cossacks who were camping here so that they could shoe their horses. Around the gallows stand seven lindens that serve as a reminder of the old “
Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuse ...
’s” jurisdiction. There stood a so-called ''Zentlinde'' (“tithe linden”), before which sentences were passed. The tree is said to have stood at the town's current outskirts, but no trace of it remains today. Beerfelden also has the ''Zwölf-Röhren-Brunnen'' (“Twelve-Pipe Spring”), the source of the river Mümling. It was built in 1810.


Nature

*”Fat Oak near Airlenbach” (''Dicke Eiche bei Airlenbach'') – a dead
pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...
tree trunk measuring 8.3 m in circumference one metre above the ground.


Regular events

*The ''Beerfelder Pferde-, Fohlen- und Zuchtviehmarkt'' (“Beerfelden Horse, Foal and Breeding Cattle Market”) has taken place every year on the second weekend in July. The traditional
livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...
market on Monday is Hesse's biggest breeding cattle show. One of the market's other highlights is the riding and jumping tournament. *The ''Beerfelder Kerwe'' (church consecration festival) takes place yearly on the first weekend in October. It has been staged since 2006 at the ''Markt- und Sportgelände'' (“Market and Sport Grounds”) in Beerfelden. *On 3 October in the carpark at the ''Zwölf-Röhren-Brunnen'', the ''Beerfelder Herbstmarkt'' (autumn market) is held. The exhibitors at this market are business owners and clubs from the ''Beerfelder Land''. *At Ascension, in honour of the ''Zwölf-Röhren-Brunnen'', the ''Beerfelder Brunnenfest'' (“Beerfelden
Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
Festival”) takes place. Shops are open on this day and there are displays by various businesses, traditional arts and crafts and a great flea market. The Spring Festival runs through the town's streets. The Metzkeil (a street) forms the market's midpoint and is also the town's.


Famous people


Sons and daughters of the town

* Christian Heinrich Braun (1847–1911), German surgeon * Jan Holschuh (1909–2000), German
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
* Emil Fuchs (1874–1971), German
theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, professor in Leipzig * Lukas Billick (b. 1988), German footballer, grew up in Beerfelden. * Christian Kumpf (1838–1904), emigrant to Canada who became mayor of
Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the ci ...


People connected with the town

* Horst Schnur (b. 1942), Odenwaldkreis District Administrator, lives in Beerfelden since 1969. * Michael Reuter (b. 1948), Member of Odenwaldkreis ''Landtag'', lives in Beerfelden since 2003. * Jennifer Lang, Selected as Team Member Representative from Germany for McDonald's at 2012 London Olympic Games.


Economy and infrastructure


Tourism

Near Beerfelden, on the ''Sensbacher Höhe'' (heights) is a
winter sport Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold are ...
area with a
ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...
run and cross-country skiing trails, which are often not groomed, but are nonetheless gridlocked. When the snowfalls come in winter, the winter sport area is opened. On the only ski run can be found one of the Odenwald's few skilifts. It is 450 m long and reaches 540 m above sea level. Moreover, there are a smaller lift on the slope's lower reaches, a snowmaking facility, floodlights and a
snow grooming Snow grooming is the process of manipulating snow for recreational uses with a tractor, snowmobile, piste caterpillar, truck or snowcat towing specialized equipment. The process is used to maintain ski hills, cross-country ski trails and snowm ...
vehicle. The heights have a state-championship-standard snowboarding and downhill run.


Transport

Beerfelden lies on ''
Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...
'' 45, which runs in a great bend round the town. In the outlying centre of Hetzbach is a
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 prep ...
on the ''Odenwaldbahn'' (
railway 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 ...
; RMV Line 65). The railway connection from Hetzbach to Beerfelden, opened in 1904, was closed in 1954. It was run in its time by the ''Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'' (SEG, “South German Railway Company”).


References


External links


Town’s website

Gammelsbach’s website
* {{Authority control Odenwaldkreis Odenwald Former municipalities in Hesse