Erlenbach () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

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 Eberstadt () is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is best known for its winegrowing and its yearly international high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump una ...

to the east, and

Weinsberg Weinsberg (South Franconian: ''Weischberg'') is a town in the north of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It was founded around 1200 and is situated in the Heilbronn district. The town has about 13,000 inhabitants. It is noted for its win ...

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 file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

and

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...

, respectively. Erlenbach was first mentioned in the Codex Hirsaugiensis in 1130 as a gift to the Hirsau Abbey. 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 (), 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 Papal election, ...

. At this time, both communities were under authority of the Lords of

. Later, both communities were transferred from the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), 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 hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

to the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

on 27 May 1484 as part of the Bailiwick

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

. 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 Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

and were placed under district authority of Oberamt Neckarsulm, which was renamed Kreis () 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 Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Neckar-Odenwald, Hohenlohe (district), Hohenlohe, Schwäbisch Hall (district) ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

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 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 A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

is now a residence. The current town hall in the marketplace was built in 1698. The 450 square meter

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

of the

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

from 1574 now houses the

Viniculture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

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 bicycle, fixed-gear bikes in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. The exercises are perform ...

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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

vor 2000

References

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