Ebrach
Encyclopedia
Ebrach is a community with market rights in the Upper Franconia
n district of Bamberg
and the seat of the administrative community (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) of Ebrach.
in the east and Würzburg
in the west. It is found in the Steigerwald (forest) on the Mittlere Ebrach. In Ebrach stands the former Cistercian Monastery
of Ebrach.
The community also has five traditional rural land units, known in German
as Gemarkungen, named Buch, Ebrach, Großbirkach, Großgressingen and Neudorf bei Ebrach, the same names as five of the constituent communities (it is traditional for a Gemarkung to be named after a town or village lying nearby).
noblemen. In 1147, twelve monk
s from the mother monastery, Morimond, moved here. In 1200, Abbot Hermann I set to work on building the church, which was finished in 1280. It is 86 m long and is said to be one of the loveliest monumental buildings built in the Gothic
style. More than 50 windows, 26 altar
s and, above the portal, a rose window
adorn the building. The windows were newly painted in 1887. The organ, with its 36 stops, is hailed as a masterwork. The monastery was dissolved in 1803 in the course of Secularization
. Since the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the community has belonged to Bavaria
. The Ebrach Monastery only fell under direct Imperial authority once it had been shut down. Until 1803, this had been successfully disputed by the High Monastery at Würzburg
. The monastery church became a parish church. Since 1851, the monastery buildings have served as a prison
, nowadays known as Justizvollzugsanstalt Ebrach.
The community council is made up of 12 members, listed here by party or voter community affiliation, and also with the number of seats that each holds:
s, amounted to €969,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €353,000.
is a significant economic factor.
According to official statistics, there were 23 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in agriculture or forestry, 330 in producing businesses in 1998, and in trade and transport
36. In other areas, 100 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 476 such workers worked from home. In processing businesses and in construction there was one business each. Furthermore, in 1999, there were 52 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 077 ha, of which 766 ha was cropland and 310 ha was meadowland.
22. The railway line towards Bamberg was abandoned and has since been torn up.
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...
n district of Bamberg
Bamberg (district)
Bamberg Land is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It surrounds but does not include the town of Bamberg. The district is bounded by the districts of Lichtenfels, Bayreuth, Forchheim, Erlangen-Höchstadt, Neustadt -Bad Windsheim, Kitzingen, Schweinfurt and Haßberge.- History :The history of the...
and the seat of the administrative community (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) of Ebrach.
Etymology
The name of Ebrach is not coming from german Eber "wildpig" but from a very old stem *ebr- meaning "water" or "valley" and cognate with basque ibar "valley" (H. Bahlow, Th. Vennemann, M. Morvan).Geography
Ebrach lies between BambergBamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
in the east and Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
in the west. It is found in the Steigerwald (forest) on the Mittlere Ebrach. In Ebrach stands the former Cistercian Monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of Ebrach.
Constituent communities
Ebrach’s main and namesake centre is by far the biggest of its Ortsteile with a population of 1,078. The market community furthermore has these outlying centres, each given here with its own population figure:- Buch bei Ebrach: 55
- Eberau bei Ebrach: 122
- Großbirkach: 68
- Großgressingen: 251
- Hof bei Ebrach: 15
- Kleinbirkach: 36
- Kleingressingen: 40
- Meierei bei Ebrach: 7
- Neudorf bei Ebrach: 93
- Schmerb: 4
- Winkelhof: 6
The community also has five traditional rural land units, known in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
as Gemarkungen, named Buch, Ebrach, Großbirkach, Großgressingen and Neudorf bei Ebrach, the same names as five of the constituent communities (it is traditional for a Gemarkung to be named after a town or village lying nearby).
History
The Ebrach Monastery was founded in 1127 as one of the first Cistercian monasteries east of the Rhine by Berno and Richwin von Eberau, FrankishFranks
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...
noblemen. In 1147, twelve monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s from the mother monastery, Morimond, moved here. In 1200, Abbot Hermann I set to work on building the church, which was finished in 1280. It is 86 m long and is said to be one of the loveliest monumental buildings built in the Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style. More than 50 windows, 26 altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
s and, above the portal, a rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
adorn the building. The windows were newly painted in 1887. The organ, with its 36 stops, is hailed as a masterwork. The monastery was dissolved in 1803 in the course of Secularization
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...
. Since the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the community has belonged to 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...
. The Ebrach Monastery only fell under direct Imperial authority once it had been shut down. Until 1803, this had been successfully disputed by the High Monastery at Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
. The monastery church became a parish church. Since 1851, the monastery buildings have served as a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, nowadays known as Justizvollzugsanstalt Ebrach.
Population development
Within municipal limits, 1,403 inhabitants were counted in 1900, 2,471 in 1970, 1,774 in 1987 and 2,017 in 2000. By 30 June 2007, however, the figure had fallen to 1,839.Politics
The mayor is Max-Dieter Schneider (SPD). In 2002 he became Alfons Keller’s (CSU) successor.The community council is made up of 12 members, listed here by party or voter community affiliation, and also with the number of seats that each holds:
- Ebracher Neue Liste 3 seats
- CSUChristian Social Union of BavariaThe Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany...
3 seats - SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
3 seats - Freie Wähler Ebracher Umland 2 seats
- Freie Wählerliste 1 seat
Coat of arms
Ebrach’s arms might heraldically be described thus: Party per fess downwards Or and gules, in Or a boar sable springing, in his mouth an abbot’s crozier argent bendwise, in gules a bend argent wavy.Municipal taxes
In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to euroEuro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s, amounted to €969,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €353,000.
Partner communities
- Eisbach in the Steiermark, AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
- GeorgenthalGeorgenthalGeorgenthal is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany....
in ThuringiaThuringiaThe Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
Public institutions
- Naturbad (a swimming poolSwimming poolA swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
fed by a natural water source, opened 2005) - Communal bookshop
- CaravanTravel trailerA travel trailer or caravan is towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent . It provides the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation, without relying on a motel or hotel, and enables them to stay in places...
park (nearby) - Justizvollzugsanstalt Ebrach
Regular events
- Ebracher Musiksommer
- Ebracher Kirchweih (church consecration festival)
Economy and infrastructure
Owing to the community’s location in the Steigerwald, woodWood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
is a significant economic factor.
According to official statistics, there were 23 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in agriculture or forestry, 330 in producing businesses in 1998, and in trade and transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
36. In other areas, 100 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 476 such workers worked from home. In processing businesses and in construction there was one business each. Furthermore, in 1999, there were 52 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 077 ha, of which 766 ha was cropland and 310 ha was meadowland.
Transport
Ebrach lies on BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
22. The railway line towards Bamberg was abandoned and has since been torn up.
Education
In 1999, the following institutions existed in Ebrach:- 50 kindergartenKindergartenA kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
places with 36 children - Primary school with 8 teachers and 142 pupils
- Steigerwaldschule (state Realschule) with 35 teachers and 682 students
Sons and daughters of the town
- Max Jobst (b. 9 February 1908, missing since January 1943), German composer
- Heinrich AignerHeinrich AignerHeinrich Aigner was a German politician, representative of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria.-References:...
(b 25 May 1924; d. 24 March 1988), German politician (CSUChristian Social Union of BavariaThe Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany...
), MdBMDBMDB may refer to:In computing:* .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases* MDB or MDB2, PHP database abstraction layers* Message Driven Bean, a special type of Enterprise JavaBean...
, MdEP
Persons connected with the community
- Georg Sperber (b. 1933 in NurembergNurembergNuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
), foresterForestryForestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
and specialized book author, lives in Ebrach. He was from 1972 to 1998 leader of the Ebrach Forest Office.