Gorxheimertal is a municipality in the
Bergstraße 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 ...
. It is in the
Odenwald and the
Rhine Neckar Area.
Geography
Location
The community lies along the length of the Grundelbach valley in the
Odenwald. The nearest big town is
Weinheim, and the way there also marks the division between the Odenwald and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (part of the Upper Rhine valley), as well as the boundary between Hesse and
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 ...
.
Through the community’s namesake Gorxheim valley – it is called the ''Gorxheimertal'' 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 ...
– flows the Grundelbach. At the eastern point of the constituent community of Trösel rise the two mountains Waldskopf and Daumberg, which also mark the Gorxheim valley’s eastern limit.
Neighbouring communities
Gorxheimertal borders in the north on the community of
Birkenau, in the east on the community of
Abtsteinach
Abtsteinach is a municipality in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. The municipality calls itself “The Gateway to the Überwald”.
Geography
Location
Ober-Abtsteinach lies among mountains in hilly country at 450 to 500 m ab ...
, in the southeast on the community of
Heiligkreuzsteinach
Heiligkreuzsteinach is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is located about 25 km North-East of Heidelberg. In 1293 the community was officially mentioned for the first time. Until 1525 the administr ...
and in the south and west on the town of Weinheim (both in the
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 ...
).
Constituent communities
The community’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 Gorxheim, Unter-Flockenbach and Trösel.
History
About 900, Unter-Flockenbach had its first documentary mention as a ''
Waldhufendorf
The ''Waldhufendorf'' ("forest village"; plural: -''dörfer'') is a form of rural settlement established in areas of forest clearing with the farms arranged in a series along a road or stream, like beads on a chain.Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''G ...
'' ("forest village"), followed by Trösel’s in 1071 as an ''offenes Reihen-Hufendorf'' (a similar concept). Gorxheim was first mentioned in 1486 in connection with a
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
mine there. Originally the
Lorsch Abbey
Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries ...
’s holdings, the
Archbishopric of Mainz acquired them in 1232, yielding them to
Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
in 1463, which in 1623 passed them back to Mainz. In 1803, the valley became part of the
Grand Duchy of Hesse, where it was administered within the
Abtsteinach
Abtsteinach is a municipality in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. The municipality calls itself “The Gateway to the Überwald”.
Geography
Location
Ober-Abtsteinach lies among mountains in hilly country at 450 to 500 m ab ...
region (''Bezirk'').
Amalgamations
In 1971 the communities of Gorxheim and Unter-Flockenbach merged to form the community of Grundelbachtal, which itself then swallowed up the community of Trösel the next year to become today’s community of Gorxheimertal.
Politics
Community council
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:
References
External links
Community’s official webpage
{{Authority control
Bergstraße (district)