Baerenthal
Encyclopedia
Baerenthal is a commune
in the Moselle
department in Lorraine
in north-eastern France
.
The village forms a part of the natural park of the northern Vosges
.
Frankish
counts) of the eighth to tenth centuries, Baerenthal was located in Nordgau, in Alsace. It was a part, during the Carolingian
era, of the bishopric of Strasbourg, just at the border with the bishopric of Metz
.
The medieval period of the village is very rich thanks to the presence of the châteaux of Château de Ramstein
and Château de Grand-Arnsberg on its land. The nobles of Ramstein were cited for the first time in a document dated 22 October 1291. The village of Baerenthal was mentioned later in 1318, under the name Berendal, in the valley of Bero. Regarding secular power, Baerenthal was under the rule of Ramstein, and later, starting in 1355, under that of Falkenstein
. After this began the sinister period of pillaging by robber-knights (Raubritter) for the' Berebdal unter Ramenstein' (the rock of the ravens).
By an act of sale dated 3 September 1467, Count
Louis V of Lichtenberg
became the owner of the southern half of the village as well as the chateau of Grand-Arnsberg and in 1569 the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg became the owners of the whole village. The names of several regions of Baerenthal date back to this time:
Starting from 1480, Berendal passed through the hands of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg and followed their fate. In 1606 milestone
s were placed which separated the duchy of Lorraine and the county
of Hanau-Lichtenberg from the hamlet
of Melch to that of Bannstein. In 1648, Baerenthal was a part of the baillage of Lemberg, near the Pirmasens dans le Palatinat, in the landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. Its landgrave, Louis VIII, was the son-in-law of count Johann-Reinhardt of Hanau-Lichtenberg and became his heir in 1786. In 1793, Baerenthal, as well as the neighboring territory of Philippsbourg in the canton of Bitche, were detached from Alsace and became part of the district of the Moselle. It was the Convention
that made this decision during the French Revolution
.
In the eighteenth century, the northern Zinsel river was used to supply the factories and ironworks
that brought work and life in the valley. In 1745, the first factory was built in Baerenthal. It was an armament factory (producing side arm
s) and grew rapidly. A second factory was built to transform the ore coming from Franche-Comté
into cast iron and steel. With the creation in 1807 of a steel mill, a cast-ironworks and sheetworks factories, industry grew along the length of the Zinselbach. This activity reached a peak in the middle of the nineteenth century, but slowed down at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1932 the last factory closed. The rest-stop in the village was taken by the Chaiserie Lorraine and destroyed during the Second World War. Reconstructed and again devoted to steel work, mechanics/mechanics workshops were replaced by a factory producing tableware
.
Following the imperial ordinance of 2 September 1915, the name of the village was Germanized to Bärenthal and kept this name until the return of France in 1918. From 1940 to 1944, it was Germanized again, this time to Bärental bei Bitsch.
Classified as a Station de Cure d'air (a place for people to rest and heal), Baerenthal is an important tourist center of the northern Vosges. The village has been classified as a Station verte since 1987.
company designs and produces solid steel tableware and silver-coated metal. In 2005, it was the second greatest producer of French tableware.
, Baerenthal was part of the parish
of Obersteinbach, of the archbishopric of Haut-Haguenau in the diocese of Strasbourg. In 1570, count Philippe IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg brought the Reformation
to the village and the Catholic
religion was consequently suppressed. This explains the absence of crosses by the roads in and around Baerenthal, a characteristic of Catholic regions. For the few Catholics who joined this community, the territory became a part of the bishopric of Metz
in 1802 and was annexed to the parish of Mouterhouse. The Chapel
of the Immaculate Conception
was constructed in 1885 in the northern part of the village.
. The Protestant church was restored in 1630. The village has been a Protestant district since 1739.
The region at the beginning of the 20th century:
In 1150, the landgrave Dietrich ceded the abbey
of Neuweiler
which gave its fief to the abbey of Neubourg. The village of Mühlenbach, which belonged to the nobility of Gross-Arnsburg, and then to that of Falkenstein, was finally reunited with the village of Lemberg in 1332. The assorted hamlets of Leimenthalerhof, Rothenbronnerhof, Sasselbach, Scharfeneckerhof and Wiesenlagerhof were mentioned in 1798.
The unique house which was the basis of the small village of Kroterwasen was bought by the Administration of Waters and Forests and, in 1887, was transformed to a Forestry House, taking the name of Schwarzenberg.
Situated on the border of the main road, a farm is composed of two buildings: the home, gabled on the road, dated 1770 on the door of the cellar, and the farm itself, dated 1753, developed in breadth behind the courtyard. Exceptional in the Pays de Bitche, the farm resembles the Alsatian
building style. One can see this by the separation between buildings and the farm and by the porch-roof superimposed on the main/front face of the building. The difference to the Alsatian style is that the pan-de-bois is relegated in the second part (that is, the foundations), while the house is constructed with stone and a mix of roughcast lime (pebbles were added in the mix and used to increase the surface area of the house, to increase the rate of evaporation).
of this village are: “a black bear, passant silver, chapé-ployé of gold to the star of dexter
gules
".
These are the arms of the Ramstein family, the nobles of the village in the Middle Ages, who took their name from the old château of Ramstein. The bear on the arms is taken from the name of the community, namely, the valley of bears: Bären-tal, in German.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
department in Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
in north-eastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The village forms a part of the natural park of the northern Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
.
Geography
The village is located in heavily wooded country, 15 kilometres from Bitche and 12 kilometres from Niederbronn, at the south-eastern border of the canton of Bitche. It has a population of 750 and is located at an altitude of 240 meters, in the lush green valley of the northern Zinsel river.History
When founded, during the age of the franc compté (feudalistFeudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
counts) of the eighth to tenth centuries, Baerenthal was located in Nordgau, in Alsace. It was a part, during the Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
era, of the bishopric of Strasbourg, just at the border with the bishopric of Metz
Bishopric of Metz
The Bishopric of Metz was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the Three Bishoprics that were annexed by France in 1552....
.
The medieval period of the village is very rich thanks to the presence of the châteaux of Château de Ramstein
Château de Ramstein
The Château de Ramstein is a ruined castle in the commune of Baerenthal, in the Moselle département of France.-History:This 13th century castle was built by the lords of Falkenstein on the instructions of the bishop of Strasbourg to control the Zinselbach valley, probably in 1292...
and Château de Grand-Arnsberg on its land. The nobles of Ramstein were cited for the first time in a document dated 22 October 1291. The village of Baerenthal was mentioned later in 1318, under the name Berendal, in the valley of Bero. Regarding secular power, Baerenthal was under the rule of Ramstein, and later, starting in 1355, under that of Falkenstein
Falkenstein
Falkenstein or Falckenstein is the name of several places and castles in Central Europe as well as a surname:- Places in Germany and Austria :* Falkenstein, Bavaria, district Cham...
. After this began the sinister period of pillaging by robber-knights (Raubritter) for the
By an act of sale dated 3 September 1467, Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Louis V of Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.-Overview:...
became the owner of the southern half of the village as well as the chateau of Grand-Arnsberg and in 1569 the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg became the owners of the whole village. The names of several regions of Baerenthal date back to this time:
- Reinhardshof, from the name of burgraveBurgraveA burgrave is literally the count of a castle or fortified town. The English form is derived through the French from the German Burggraf and Dutch burg- or burch-graeve .* The title is originally equivalent to that of castellan or châtelain, meaning keeper of a castle and/or fortified town...
Johann-Reinhardt - Fischerhof, where fishermen lived
- Rosselhof, where the noblemen’s stables were located
- Frohnacker (field of labor), where a great farm near the nobles’ fields was located
Starting from 1480, Berendal passed through the hands of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg and followed their fate. In 1606 milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
s were placed which separated the duchy of Lorraine and the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Hanau-Lichtenberg from the hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Melch to that of Bannstein. In 1648, Baerenthal was a part of the baillage of Lemberg, near the Pirmasens dans le Palatinat, in the landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. Its landgrave, Louis VIII, was the son-in-law of count Johann-Reinhardt of Hanau-Lichtenberg and became his heir in 1786. In 1793, Baerenthal, as well as the neighboring territory of Philippsbourg in the canton of Bitche, were detached from Alsace and became part of the district of the Moselle. It was the Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
that made this decision during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
In the eighteenth century, the northern Zinsel river was used to supply the factories and ironworks
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...
that brought work and life in the valley. In 1745, the first factory was built in Baerenthal. It was an armament factory (producing side arm
Side arm
A side arm is a weapon, usually a pistol but can be a dagger, as used in pre-modern times, which is worn on the body in a holster to permit immediate access and use. A side arm is typically required equipment for military personnel and sometimes carried by law enforcement personnel...
s) and grew rapidly. A second factory was built to transform the ore coming from Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
into cast iron and steel. With the creation in 1807 of a steel mill, a cast-ironworks and sheetworks factories, industry grew along the length of the Zinselbach. This activity reached a peak in the middle of the nineteenth century, but slowed down at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1932 the last factory closed. The rest-stop in the village was taken by the Chaiserie Lorraine and destroyed during the Second World War. Reconstructed and again devoted to steel work, mechanics/mechanics workshops were replaced by a factory producing tableware
Tableware
Tableware is the dishes or dishware , dinnerware , or china used for setting a table, serving food, and for dining. Tableware can be meant to include flatware and glassware...
.
Following the imperial ordinance of 2 September 1915, the name of the village was Germanized to Bärenthal and kept this name until the return of France in 1918. From 1940 to 1944, it was Germanized again, this time to Bärental bei Bitsch.
Classified as a Station de Cure d'air (a place for people to rest and heal), Baerenthal is an important tourist center of the northern Vosges. The village has been classified as a Station verte since 1987.
Economy
The BarenthalBarenthal
Barenthal was a steel company founded in 1947 by Eugène Schall. The company was located in Baerenthal, Lorraine. The company specialized in steel and silver-plated forks and spoons.Today, Barenthal is owned by the Sino-American holding JH International....
company designs and produces solid steel tableware and silver-coated metal. In 2005, it was the second greatest producer of French tableware.
Catholic
In the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Baerenthal was part of the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Obersteinbach, of the archbishopric of Haut-Haguenau in the diocese of Strasbourg. In 1570, count Philippe IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg brought the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
to the village and the Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
religion was consequently suppressed. This explains the absence of crosses by the roads in and around Baerenthal, a characteristic of Catholic regions. For the few Catholics who joined this community, the territory became a part of the bishopric of Metz
Bishopric of Metz
The Bishopric of Metz was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the Three Bishoprics that were annexed by France in 1552....
in 1802 and was annexed to the parish of Mouterhouse. The Chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
of the Immaculate Conception
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...
was constructed in 1885 in the northern part of the village.
Protestant
After the village embraced the Reformation, the church changed to ProtestantismProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
. The Protestant church was restored in 1630. The village has been a Protestant district since 1739.
Demographics
The population has varied considerably, from 660 inhabitants in 1817 to 1683 in 1852, and then falling to 694 in 1982.Neighboring communes
Neighboring communes, which consist of only a few houses, are relatively numerous:- Betteli from 1840
- Breitthal from 1841
The region at the beginning of the 20th century:
- Daxhof, bringing the nobility of Falkenstein, and constructed around 1740.
- Eulenkopf around 1845
- Fischerhof at the beginning of the 17th century
- Frohnacker probably after 1770
- Thalhäusen around the end of the 18th century
- Schmealenthal from the beginning of the 19th century
- Untermühlthal around 1720
In 1150, the landgrave Dietrich ceded the abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
of Neuweiler
Neuweiler
Neuweiler is a town in Germany, located in the Calw district and region of Karlsruhe of Baden-Württemberg. It is crossed by two rivers, the Enz and the Teinach.-External links:*...
which gave its fief to the abbey of Neubourg. The village of Mühlenbach, which belonged to the nobility of Gross-Arnsburg, and then to that of Falkenstein, was finally reunited with the village of Lemberg in 1332. The assorted hamlets of Leimenthalerhof, Rothenbronnerhof, Sasselbach, Scharfeneckerhof and Wiesenlagerhof were mentioned in 1798.
The unique house which was the basis of the small village of Kroterwasen was bought by the Administration of Waters and Forests and, in 1887, was transformed to a Forestry House, taking the name of Schwarzenberg.
Places and monuments
- Château de Grand-Arnsberg, constructed at the beginning of the 12th century to protect the imperial city of Haguenau.
- Château de RamsteinChâteau de RamsteinThe Château de Ramstein is a ruined castle in the commune of Baerenthal, in the Moselle département of France.-History:This 13th century castle was built by the lords of Falkenstein on the instructions of the bishop of Strasbourg to control the Zinselbach valley, probably in 1292...
, constructed in the 13th century by the Falkenstein nobility. - the church of Saint Catherine, transformed into a Protestant church in 1571 and reconstructed in the 17th century.
- the marker/milestone near Schmalenthal, dated from 1605. Delimits the old borders of the county of Bitche.
- The calvaryCalvaryCalvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
(in French, a small figurine of Christ on the cross) near Frohnacker, dated from 1790. - The tomb of Philippe Hirtz, an ironworker from Mouterhouse, dated from 1868.
- the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, built at the end of the 19th century, which is a place of pilgrimage every May.
- The bird observation post, the best place to discover the fauna of the Northern Vosges.
Situated on the border of the main road, a farm is composed of two buildings: the home, gabled on the road, dated 1770 on the door of the cellar, and the farm itself, dated 1753, developed in breadth behind the courtyard. Exceptional in the Pays de Bitche, the farm resembles the Alsatian
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
building style. One can see this by the separation between buildings and the farm and by the porch-roof superimposed on the main/front face of the building. The difference to the Alsatian style is that the pan-de-bois is relegated in the second part (that is, the foundations), while the house is constructed with stone and a mix of roughcast lime (pebbles were added in the mix and used to increase the surface area of the house, to increase the rate of evaporation).
Coat of arms
The armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of this village are: “a black bear, passant silver, chapé-ployé of gold to the star of dexter
Dexter and sinister
Dexter and sinister are terms used in heraldry to refer to specific locations in an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms and by extension also to a crest. "Dexter" means to the right from the viewpoint of the bearer of the arms, to the left of that of the viewer...
gules
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
".
These are the arms of the Ramstein family, the nobles of the village in the Middle Ages, who took their name from the old château of Ramstein. The bear on the arms is taken from the name of the community, namely, the valley of bears: Bären-tal, in German.
See also
- Communes of the Moselle department
- Baerenthal (fr)