Erlenbach () 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

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

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 ...

in southern Germany.

Geography

Erlenbach lies at the foot of the 317 metre tall Kayberg in the lower Sulmtal (valley of the river Sulm) in the eastern part of district of

. Neighbouring Erlenbach are

and Neckarsulm to the west, Eberstadt to the east, and Weinsberg to the southeast.

Subdivisions

Erlenbach is composed of two formerly separate villages, Erlenbach in the east and Binswangen in the west.

History

Both Erlenbach and Binswangen are supposed to have been founded in 500 by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

and

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

, respectively. Erlenbach was first mentioned in the Codex Hirsaugiensis in 1130 as a gift to the

Hirsau Abbey Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of B ...

. The first record of Binswangen is in a charter on 8 November 1176 from

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

. At this time, both communities were under authority of the Lords of Weinsberg. Later, both communities were transferred from the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

to the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

on 27 May 1484 as part of the Bailiwick

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 ...

. After the dissolution of the monastic states of the Teutonic Knights in 1805, they came under control of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

and were placed under district authority of Oberamt Neckarsulm, which was renamed Kreis ( en, District) Neckarsulm in 1934. The communities Erlenbach and Binswangen officially combined under the name Erlenbach on 1 April 1935. On 1 October 1938, after the dissolution of Kreis Neckarsulm, Erlenbach was placed in the

Landkreis Heilbronn Landkreis Heilbronn () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Neckar-Odenwald, Hohenlohe, Schwäbisch Hall, Rems-Murr, Ludwigsburg, Enz, Karlsruhe and Rhein-Necka ...

. The population was counted at 2137 people in 1939. During the population growth and resulting construction activity after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Erlenbach and Binswangen have grown together to form a single village.

Religion

Erlenbach is predominantly Catholic, having two Catholic parishes: St. Martinus Erlenbach and St. Michael Binswangen. Th
Evangelical Christ Church
was dedicated in 1965.

Places of interest

Churches

St. Martinus

The

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parish St. Martinus in Erlenbach was rebuilt between 1753 and 1760 in late

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 ...

style on the site of an older Martinskirche. The

parish-house was built in 1781 by Franz Häffele.

St. Michael

The Catholic parish

St. Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

in Binswangen was built by Ludwig Bronner in 1788 on the site of a 1578 predecessor and was dedicated in 1818. The reason for the relatively long time between construction and dedication is largely unknown.

Other buildings

One of the oldest buildings in Erlenbach is the Erlenbach Bakery from 1575, which was a schoolhouse until 1813. The old town hall, a large stone building from 1876 with a crow-stepped gable is now a residence. The current town hall in the marketplace was built in 1698. The 450 square meter tithe barn of the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

from 1574 now houses the Viniculture museum "Alte Kelter Binswangen" (Old Binswangen Winepress).

Culture

Music

Every year, the music club in Erlenbach arranges a Spring concert and, every two years, a serenade in the marketplace as well as a church concert in the St. Martinus church. Additionally, it is the main organizer of the Original Erlenbach Wine Festival.

Sport

Apart from the normal sports club in Erlenbach, there is a cycling club, RSV Erlenbach, which is well known for

artistic cycling Artistic cycling is a form of competitive indoor cycling in which athletes perform tricks (called exercises) for points on specialized, fixed-gear bikes in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. The exercises are performed in front of judge ...

Regular events

There are two annual wine festivals: * ''Rund um den Wein'' (Around the wine) - every July in the multipurpose hall * ''Original Erlenbacher Weinfest'' (Original Erlenbach Wine Festival) - during the third weekend in August at the town hall in the marketplace During Mardi-Gras, the Binswangen Carnival Club puts on a parade and variety show.

Partner cities

*
Seiches-sur-le-Loir

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 ...

vor 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erlenbach, Baden-Wurttemberg Heilbronn (district)