Schöneberg is a village and a municipal division (''

Stadtteil A quarter is a part of an urban area, urban settlement. A quarter can be administratively defined and its borders officially designated, and it may have its own administrative structure (subordinate to that of the city, town or other urban area ...

'') of the town of

Hofgeismar Hofgeismar () is a town in the district of Kassel, in northern Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km north of Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Ge ...

in the district of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

in northern

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, Germany. West of the village, there are the ruins of a castle dating from the 12th century that bears the same name.

Geography

Schöneberg is a ''straßendorf'', a village that straddles a main road. Schöneberg lies on the western edge of the

Reinhardswald The Reinhardswald () is a range of hills up to and covering an area of over 200 km²
in the W ...

and is home to 600 residents. The German

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), 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'' are labelled with re ...

83 between Kassel and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

runs through town."Museumsrallye - Hugenotten- und Waldenserorte: Schöneberg"
Deutsches Hugenotten-Museum, official website.

Bad Karlshafen Bad Karlshafen () is a baroque, thermal salt spa town in the Kassel (district), district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It has 2300 inhabitants in the main ward of Bad Karlshafen, and a further 1900 in the medieval village of Helmarshausen. It is s ...

, Germany. Retrieved February 3, 2011

History

Castle

To exert their power and influence, and for protection, in the early part of the 12th century, the

archbishops of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

in the

Diemel The Diemel () is a river in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a western and orographically left tributary of the Weser. It is the first, and therefore southernmost, of the larger Weser tributaries after its formation by the confluen ...

and upper

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

area built a fortress on top of a mountain high, just west of where the village stands today. Today, the castle stands in ruins.

Lords of Schöneberg

The

lords Lords may refer to: * The plural of Lord Places *Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina *Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club People *Traci Lords (born 19 ...

of Schöneberg appeared in the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

in northern

and bore the title

nobilis ''Nobilis'' is a contemporary fantasy tabletop role-playing game created by Jenna K. Moran. Early editions were published under Moran's previous names, Rebecca Sean Borgstrom and R. Sean Borgstrom. The player characters are "Sovereign Powers" ...

Dominus. Their domain stretched through scattered seats from Schöneberg to the

Reinhardswald The Reinhardswald () is a range of hills up to and covering an area of over 200 km²
in the W ...

. The castle was built by Count Hermann II of

Winzenburg Winzenburg () is a village and a former municipality in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2016, it is part of the municipality Freden. It comprises four smaller communities, including the ...

.Friedhelm Biermann
" Die Adelsherrschaften an Ober- und Mittelweser des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts: im Kräftespiel zwischen einer neu formierten welfischen Hausmacht und expandierenden geistlichen Territorien"
(PDF) Westfälischen Wilhelms - Universität zu Münster (Westfalen). Dissertation (2005). Page 407. Retrieved February 5, 2011. In the 12th century, the archbishopric of Mainz hired them to guard and defend Schöneberg castle.Albert Fraustadt
''Geschichte des Geschlechtes von Schönberg Meissnischen Stammes''
Google Books. Volume 1, Verlag von Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig (1869) After the death of Hermann II,

margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Margraviate of Meissen, Meissen, a March (territorial entity), march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the S ...

, they were given

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

rights as well and the castle became their

family seat A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...

. The counts of Dassel held Schöneberg as a

from

circa Circa is a Latin word meaning "around, approximately". Circa or CIRCA may also refer to: * CIRCA (art platform), in London * Circa (band), a progressive rock supergroup * Circa (company), an American skateboard footwear company * Circa (contempora ...

1220 to 1273."Förderverein Museum »Grafschaft Dassel« unterwegs"
''Einbecker Morgenpost'' (May 15, 2010) Retrieved February 4, 2011 Hofgeismar De Merian Hassiae

In the 13th century, the counts tried to extend their territory. As a part of their strategy, they founded villages in the

Reinhardswald The Reinhardswald () is a range of hills up to and covering an area of over 200 km²
in the W ...

, between the Diemel river and the

Solling The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hill ...

. At the same time, conflicts emerged with the archbishops of Mainz and prince-bishops of Paderborn, as well as with the

landgraves of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early ...

. At the urging of the people of Hofgeismar, Ludolf VI sold Schöneberg castle to the archbishopric of Mainz in 1272 and with it, the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

over numerous localities, which were later abandoned. The sale ended the reign of the counts of Dassel over the Reinhardswald, which they had had for decades. This caused a dispute between Ludolf VI and his brother, Adolf V, who was firmly against the sale and refused to approve it. The

deed A deed is a legal document that is signed and delivered, especially concerning the ownership of property or legal rights. Specifically, in common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right ...

of sale was prepared in 1273 and Ludolf VI put it in writing that he would continue to fight him, if he did not relent. The lords then moved to

Trendelburg Trendelburg () is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany with a population of 5,282 on 30 September 2009. It is situated on the river Diemel, near where the Esse joins the Diemel, and is north of Kassel. The town is twinned with ...

castle. A lack of heirs caused them to disappear in the beginning of the 15th century.

Village

The village of Schöneberg was founded in 1699 by French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Charles of Hesse-Kassel (; 3 August 1654 – 23 March 1730), member of the House of Hesse, was the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1670 to 1730. Childhood Charles was the second son of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and Hedwig Sophi ...

gave them land around Hofgeismar to build new settlements after they had been expelled from France by the

Edict of Fontainebleau The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to prac ...

in 1685. Likewise, were

Waldensians The Waldensians, also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi, or Vaudois, are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the l ...

also welcomed to settle in the region after they were expelled in 1698 by

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. The village of Schöneberg came into being after Charles I picked a site for a new colony to be built on the land of a former village, which was first mentioned in historical documents in 965. Building began in 1700.

Paul du Ry Jean Paul du Ry (1640 – 21 June 1714) was a French architect and Huguenot refugee who was responsible for a number of baroque buildings in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. Origins Jean Paul du Ry came from a family of French architects. His father was ...

, also a Huguenot and refugee, was responsible for planning. In 1685, Charles I appointed him court architect. The

half-timber Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

ed church was built from 1705-06. David Clément was the

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

until his death. Clément dies on January 29, 1725 in Hofgeismar. From 1686, Clément had been pastor of the French

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

congregation at the Neustädter church in Hofgeismar. There were 24 founding families in Schöneberg. Because of the high mortality rate of children at that time, their numbers did not show significant increase until the 1779

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, when a total of 124 people in 28 families were counted. The main income of the village was from farming, but over the course of time, other trades and businesses were established, including a brickworks, a few potteries, two tailors, two shoemakers, a

hosier Hosiery, (, ) also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically ...

and a soap maker. In 1730, the route of the Bremen post road was moved from passing through a neighboring village to passing through Schöneberg, apparently to improve travel to new baths at Hofgeismar. This change may have altered the development of the village. By the time of the 1779 census, there were already 12 German families living in Schöneberg, as well as 16 French households. The special status accorded to villages founded by French religious refugees was abolished by a landgrave regulation in 1822.

Sources

* Albert Fraustadt
''Geschichte des Geschlechtes von Schönberg Meissnischen Stammes, Vol. 1''
Google Books. Verlag von Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig (1869) beginning p. 566 * Kreis Hofgeismar, ''Handbuch des Heimatbundes für Kurhessen, Waldeck und Oberhessen III,'' Marburg/Lahn (1966) p. 192 * Rudolf Knappe, ''Mittelalterliche Burgen in Hessen,'' Gudensberg-Gleichen (1995) * Jochen Desel, ''Französische Dörfer - deutsche Zuwanderer 1669-1779: 300 Jahre Kelze und Schöneberg,'' Band II, Hofgeismar (1999)

References

External links

City of Hofgeismar, official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoneberg Villages in Hesse