Bindlach
Encyclopedia
Bindlach is a municipality
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...

 in the district of Bayreuth
Bayreuth (district)
Bayreuth is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It surrounds, but does not include the city of Bayreuth. The district is bounded by the districts of Kulmbach, Hof, Wunsiedel, Tirschenreuth, Neustadt/Waldnaab, Amberg-Sulzbach, Nürnberger Land, Forchheim and Bamberg.-History:The district was established...

 in Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...

 in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. The town is adjacent immediately north of the town of Bayreuth. The population count of December 2006 was 7197 inhabitants.

History

The name Bindlach is derived from the Slavic Pnetluky containing the verb tlouki which means "to chop". Thus Bindlach can be translated with "Village of the people chopping trunks" as the village is situated in an area rich with woods and a clearance had to be created prior to settlement.

More recent research traces the name back to the Old Saxon
Old Saxon
Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, is the earliest recorded form of Low German, documented from the 8th century until the 12th century, when it evolved into Middle Low German. It was spoken on the north-west coast of Germany and in the Netherlands by Saxon peoples...

 word Binutlaka meaning "Small, standing lake overgrown with juncus
Juncus
Juncus is a genus in the plant family Juncaceae. It consists of some 200 to 300 or more species of grassy plants commonly called rushes...

". Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 has supposedly resettled deported Saxons in the area.

Archaeological excavations have produced Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic leftovers as well as remains from the Urnfield culture
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields...

 and the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 giving proof of settlement as early as 1300 bc.

The first official mentioning in modern times occurred in a private charter on April 6. 1178 as bintlvke.

Being part of the Prussian Principality of Bayreuth
Principality of Bayreuth
The Principality of Bayreuth or Brandenburg-Bayreuth was a reichsfrei principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Bavarian city of Bayreuth. Until 1604 its capital city was Kulmbach; then the margraves used their palaces in Bayreuth as their residence...

, Bindlach had to be ceded to France in 1807 following the Treaties of Tilsit
Treaties of Tilsit
The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France, when they met on a raft in the middle of the Neman...

. In 1810 it became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...

. Today's town was formed in 1818.

Culture

Bindlach's Protestant church St. Bartholomew was built in the baroque style between 1766 and 1768 by Carl Phillip von Gontard
Carl von Gontard
Carl von Gontard was a German architect; he worked primarily in Berlin, Potsdam, and Bayreuth....

 and Rudolf Heinrich Richter. The altar with integrated pulpit and the organ are of extraordinary beauty.

Infrastructure

Bindlach is situated on the Bayreuth–Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg line and is served by local trains. The Autobahn A9 crosses through Bindlach at the western edge of the old part of the town, separating it from the newer parts built in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Bundesstraße 2 runs though the old part of the town linking Bayreuth and Bad Berneck
Bad Berneck
Bad Berneck is a spa town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the White Main river, in the Fichtelgebirge mountains, 13 km northeast of Bayreuth. Its official title is Bad Berneck im Fichtelgebirge. It lies in the northern part of the Bavarian province of Upper...

. Bayreuth Airport is on top of the hills on the eastern side of town; despite the name on Bindlach territory.

Military

Overlooking Bindlach from the east, a large American military base was maintained on top of the hills east of Bindlach. Its official name was Christensen Barracks but it was jocularly called The Rock by the soldiers stationed there. The main function of the base was securing the borders to the GDR and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, both borders being only 70 km (43 mls) away. This was home to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States) from the late 50's into the 90's. The base closed down in the early 90s after German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

and the opening of the borders to the east.

External links

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