Schlüsselfeld is a town on the southwestern edge of the

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (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 Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

n district (

Landkreis In 13 German states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the () or (). Most major cities in Germany are not part of any ''Kreis'', but instead combine the functions of a municipality and a ''K ...

) of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

Geography

Schlüsselfeld lies 24 km southwest of

in the Steigerwald (forest) in the valley of the Reiche Ebrach, 299 m above sea level.

Constituent communities

The town of Schlüsselfeld is made up of 22 ''

Ortsteil A village is a human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located ...

e'', which for the most part were independent communities until administrative reform: *Aschbach *Attelsdorf *Bernroth *Debersdorf *Eckersbach *Elsendorf *Fallmeisterei *Güntersdorf *Heuchelheim *Hohn am Berg *Hopfenmühle *Lach *Obermelsendorf *Possenfelden *Rambach bei Schlüsselfeld *Reichmannsdorf *Schlüsselfeld *Thüngbach *Thüngfeld *Untermelsendorf *Wüstenbuch *Ziegelsambach The town also has these traditional rural land units, known in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

as ''Gemarkungen'' (most are former independent communities retained as cadastral areas): *Aschbach *Eckersbach *Elsendorf *Heuchelheim *Reichmannsdorf *Schlüsselfeld *Thüngfeld *Untermelsendorf *Ziegelsambach All share names with the town's constituent communities as it is traditional for a ''Gemarkung'' to be named after a town or village lying nearby. From 1972 to 1978, Schlüsselfeld belonged to

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia, Germany, in the west of Bavaria bordering the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; the most populous and largest city is Nuremberg. Subdi ...

Climate

Schlüsselfeld's average yearly temperature is 8.24 °C.

History

Schlüsselfeld was founded on 10 June 1336 by Konrad von Schlüsselberg. He was granted the right to found a town by Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV. After its founder's death, Schlüsselfeld passed to the Bishops of Bamberg and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. Through a compromise, Würzburg also acquired Bamberg's share of the town in 1390. In 1396, the market town of Schlüsselfeld had its town rights confirmed. The Würzburg Bishops built Schlüsselfeld up into an '' Amt'' and chose as their ''Amt'' seat the Thüngfeld Castle (''Thüngfelder Schloss''). The town hall built in 1723 declares the following in a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

inscription: “''This house hates unrest, loves peace, punishes crime, upholds the law, honours goodness. ''” As part of the Würzburg High Monastery, the tithing centre (''Centamt'') of Schlüsselfeld was

secularized In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

’s favour in 1803, passed in 1805 with the Peace of Pressburg to the newly formed

Grand Duchy of Würzburg The Grand Duchy of Würzburg () was a German grand duchy centered on Würzburg existing in the early 19th century. History As a consequence of the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the Bishopric of Würzburg was secularized in 1803 and granted to the ...

, and then eventually, after territorial adjustments in 1810, was returned to Bavaria. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, today’s community came into being under the ''Gemeindeedikt'' (“Community Edict”) of 1818.

Religion

Of the town's inhabitants, 4,262 belong to the

Catholic Church 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 ...

, 1,217 to the

Evangelical Church Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

and 588 to other or no religious bodies.

Population development

Within town limits, 4,780 inhabitants were counted in 1970, 5,034 in 1987 and 5,711 in 2000. Over the next six years, the population rose and on 31 December 2006, it had reached 5,824.

Politics

The mayor is Johannes Krapp (CSU). In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s, amounted to €2,715,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €817,000.

Town council

Town council consists of: *

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

9 seats * SPD 4 seats * Freie Wählergemeinschaft 3 seats *Unabhängige Bürgergemeinschaft 3 seats *Überparteilich Christliche Wählergemeinschaft 1 seat

Coat of arms

Schlüsselfeld's arms might heraldically be described thus: In gules a key argent per bend sinister with the bit upturned, flanked per bend each side by a mullet of six Or. The key refers not only to the town's name (“Schlüsselfeld” literally means “Key Field” in

), but also by its charges and

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 ...

s to the arms borne by the old Lords of Schlüsselberg, who have since died out, but who were once the town's owners and founders. The town was first mentioned in history as Konrad von Schlüsselberg's property. The current

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

appeared for the first time in a seal from the 16th century. The town flag is gold, white and red.

Culture and sightseeing

Worth seeing in the Schlüsselfeld area are the following: *in Schlüsselfeld: the Town Gate Tower with remains of the town wall and two round towers, the ''Petrusbrunnen'' (fountain), the Old Town Hall with

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

, the New Town Hall, the Gothic parish church, the ''Klein-Mariazell im Steigerwald'' church (with a copy of the

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

Mariazell Mariazell (; Central Bavarian: ''Mariazöö'') is an Austrian city in the southeastern state of Styria. Well known for being a hub of winter sports and a pilgrimage destination, it is located north of Graz. It is picturesquely situated in the v ...

in the

Steiermark Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and clockwise, from the southwest, ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) *in Aschbach: the

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 ...

castle, the ''Mariä-Himmelfahrt'' church, the Evangelical church with ''Marienaltar'' *in Reichmannsdorf: Dientzenhof Castle *in Heuchelheim the '' Dreifrankenstein''

Economy and infrastructure

The town of Schlüsselfeld lies at the common point of all three of Franconia's ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

e'', right on the A 3 (Würzburg-

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

) with its ''Schlüsselfeld'' interchange, and is acknowledged as a smaller centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlusselfeld Bamberg (district)