Kiedrich
Encyclopedia
Kiedrich is a community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Darmstadt
in Hesse
, Germany
.
on the south slope of the Taunus
, some 2 km north of the town of Eltville am Rhein
and 3 km from the banks of the Rhine.
and in the east, south and west on the town of Eltville
.
. Although the document is not dated, it is known to have come from Archbishop Frederick’s time (937-954). About 1160, building work began on Scharfenstein Castle. Winegrowing in Kiedrich was first mentioned as early as 1131.
The community belonged to Electoral Mainz (the Archbishopric), passing in 1806 to the Duchy of Nassau. In 1866 it passed to Prussia
. Kiedrich managed to avoid being amalgamated with any other municipality in the course of Hesse’s municipal restructuring.
Through political activities in the three parties that are active in Kiedrich (SPD, CDU, FDP), Kiedrichers have also been involving themselves in the framework of the local Agenda 21
.
in November 2005 with 77.7% of the vote.
in the parish church with its roughly 950 pipes is dating from the Late Gothic period and one of Germany’s oldest playable organs. The choir of boys and men, Die Kiedricher Chorbuben (lately including a few girls) has, according to documents, been practising since 1333 a special dialect of liturgical Latin plainsong
at services, the so-called Mainz choral dialect, which is only preserved here. The choir performs a Latin mass
almost every Sunday except during school vacations. Countertenor Andreas Scholl
was a member of the choir, his sister Elisabeth Scholl
was the first girl to be accepted.
With the bells – the oldest bell from 1389 – the Gothic can not only be seen in Kiedrich, but also heard.
churches, Kiedrich is also called Schatzkästlein der Gotik (“Little Treasure Chest of Gothic”).
Worth seeing are:
The local winemakers’ coöperative has existed since 1893, making it the oldest one in the Rheingau.
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Limburg-Weilburg, Hochtaunuskreis, Main-Taunus, district-free Wiesbaden, Mainz-Bingen, Rhein-Lahn.-Geography:...
in the Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
of Darmstadt
Darmstadt (region)
Darmstadt is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Hesse, Germany, located in the south of the state.- External links :*...
in Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, 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...
.
Location
The community lies in the RheingauRheingau
The Rheingau is the hill country on the north side of the Rhine River between Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the western Taunus to the Rhine. It lies in the state of Hesse and is part of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis administrative district...
on the south slope of the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
, some 2 km north of the town of Eltville am Rhein
Eltville
Eltville am Rhein is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road ....
and 3 km from the banks of the Rhine.
Neighbouring communities
Kiedrich borders in the north on the community of SchlangenbadSchlangenbad
Schlangenbad is a community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany.- Location :The community, which is a health resort , lies above sea level in a sheltered location on a valley slope on the southern slope of the Taunus from Wiesbaden, from Eltville...
and in the east, south and west on the town of Eltville
Eltville
Eltville am Rhein is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road ....
.
History
Kiedrich had its first documentary mention in a document from the Archbishopric of MainzArchbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
. Although the document is not dated, it is known to have come from Archbishop Frederick’s time (937-954). About 1160, building work began on Scharfenstein Castle. Winegrowing in Kiedrich was first mentioned as early as 1131.
The community belonged to Electoral Mainz (the Archbishopric), passing in 1806 to the Duchy of Nassau. In 1866 it passed to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. Kiedrich managed to avoid being amalgamated with any other municipality in the course of Hesse’s municipal restructuring.
Community council
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:| Parties and voter communities | % 2006 |
Seats 2006 |
% 2001 |
Seats 2001 |
|
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | 28.4 | 6 | 33.4 | 8 |
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
60.5 | 14 | 57.5 | 13 |
| FDP | Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
11.1 | 3 | 9.1 | 2 |
| Total | 100.0 | 23 | 100.0 | 23 | |
| Voter turnout in % | 49.5 | 65.9 | |||
Through political activities in the three parties that are active in Kiedrich (SPD, CDU, FDP), Kiedrichers have also been involving themselves in the framework of the local Agenda 21
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is an action plan of the United Nations related to sustainable development and was an outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992...
.
Mayor
The office of mayor in Kiedrich is currently held by Winfried Steinmacher (SPD), who was directly elected in the first voteTwo-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
in November 2005 with 77.7% of the vote.
Music
The organPipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
in the parish church with its roughly 950 pipes is dating from the Late Gothic period and one of Germany’s oldest playable organs. The choir of boys and men, Die Kiedricher Chorbuben (lately including a few girls) has, according to documents, been practising since 1333 a special dialect of liturgical Latin plainsong
Plainsong
Plainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church did not split until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong.Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a...
at services, the so-called Mainz choral dialect, which is only preserved here. The choir performs a Latin mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
almost every Sunday except during school vacations. Countertenor Andreas Scholl
Andreas Scholl
Andreas Scholl is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music.-Childhood:...
was a member of the choir, his sister Elisabeth Scholl
Elisabeth Scholl
- Professional career :Elisabeth Scholl was the first girl to sing with the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben. From 1982 to 1987 she sang the role of the First Boy in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden...
was the first girl to be accepted.
With the bells – the oldest bell from 1389 – the Gothic can not only be seen in Kiedrich, but also heard.
Buildings
Owing to its GothicGothic 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....
churches, Kiedrich is also called Schatzkästlein der Gotik (“Little Treasure Chest of Gothic”).
Worth seeing are:
- The Catholic pilgrimage church consecrated to Saint Valentine – completed in 1493 – and the neighbouring Saint Michael’s Chapel (Michaelskapelle) from1444 with its ossuaryOssuaryAn ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...
and great two-sided candlestick MadonnaMadonna (art)Images of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child or Virgin and Child are pictorial or sculptured representations of Mary, Mother of Jesus, either alone, or more frequently, with the infant Jesus. These images are central icons of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity where Mary remains...
(from about 1520) - the RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Town Hall from 1585 - at the churchyard wall, the oldest market well in the Rheingau, from 1541 with Kiedrich’s coat of arms and the old Mainz overlord, Elector and Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg’s arms.
- Burg ScharfensteinBurg Scharfenstein (Kiedrich)The Burg Scharfenstein, a ruined castle near the town of Kiedrich in Hesse, Germany, was part of Archiepiscopal Mainz’s border fortifications. It had been erected 1160 under Christian I .-Sources and external links:* in German....
(castle, built about 1160, in ruins since the 16th century) was part of Archiepiscopal Mainz’s border fortifications. The tower (keep), which is still standing, along with the Wheels of Mainz, has been borne as a chargeCharge (heraldry)In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
in the community seal from the time of the oldest known court seal of about 1420. - Benefactor and patron Baronet Sir John Sutton’s (1820–1873) house, today the well known Weil wine estate.
- Virchow-Quelle (springSpring (hydrosphere)A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
), lithium-laden saltspring with healing powers (24°).
Regular events
- Champagnerfest (first Sunday in June, organizer: Freundschaftsbund Kiedrich-Hautvillers)
- Rieslingfest (last weekend in June, organizer: Ausschuss Kiedricher Rieslingfest)
- Hahnwaldlauf (walk, early July, organizer: Turnerschaft Kiedrich)
- Adventsbasar (first day in Advent, organizer: local SPD club)
- Schnorrerrallye (Thursday before Ash WednesdayAsh WednesdayAsh Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
, organizer: Kiedricher Carneval Verein Sprudelfunken) - Rosenmontagszug (parade, Shrove Monday, organizer: Kiedricher Carneval Verein Sprudelfunken)
- Mundartmatinée (first Sunday in August, organizer: Community of Kiedrich)
- Rheingau Musik FestivalRheingau Musik FestivalThe Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
, usually a concert of sacred music in the church and a concert at Weingut Robert Weil
Winegrowing
In Kiedrich, many high-grade wines are grown. The vineyards (Weinlagen) Gräfenberg, Wasseros, Klosterberg, Sandgrub and Turmberg, as well as the greater winegrowing area (Großlage) Heiligenstock are said to be the Rheingau’s top wines. The Kiedrich winemakers’ winegrowing tradition goes back to the year 1480, when wine was already being grown by the winemaker’s house that is still in business now, under the name Adelsgut Langenhof.The local winemakers’ coöperative has existed since 1893, making it the oldest one in the Rheingau.
Public institutions
St. Valentinushaus, psychiatric hospital founded in 1884, today also a nursing home.Education
- Chorschule neben der Kirche, school endowed by Baronet John Sutton in 1865 for vocal training and promotion of plainsong.
- John-Sutton-Schule, primary school of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis: Jena plan school, set opening times, whole-day care including lunch until 16:00 through coöperation with the parent initiative Betreuende Grundschule.
- Integrative Kindertagesstätten "Hickelhäusje" und "St. Valentin": whole-day care, “wood” group
- secondary schools in Eltville am Rhein, Geisenheim and Wiesbaden.
Famous people
- John Sutton (1820–1873), patron and endower of the choral school (1865)
- Anton Raky, oil drilling pioneer, grew up in Kiedrich and developed a special boring bit during his apprenticeship
- Gerson Stern, writer, lived from 1920 to 1937 in Kiedrich and wrote his novel Weg ohne Ende (1934) here.
- Andreas SchollAndreas SchollAndreas Scholl is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music.-Childhood:...
, world-famous countertenor, former Kiedrich choirboy (Kiedricher Chorbube), Kiedrich citizen. - Elisabeth SchollElisabeth Scholl- Professional career :Elisabeth Scholl was the first girl to sing with the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben. From 1982 to 1987 she sang the role of the First Boy in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden...
, soprano, sister of Andreas Scholl, the first girl accepted in the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben
Further reading
- Clemens Jöckle: Kiedrich im Rheingau. (= Kunstführer; Nr. 1465). 9. Auflage. Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg 1997, ISBN 3-7954-6036-0
- Josef Staab: Kiedrich in alten Ansichten. Europäische Bibliothek, Zaltbommel 1992, ISBN 90-288-5174-7
- Josef Staab (publisher): St.-Valentinuskirche in Kiedrich. 1493–1993. Zur 500Jahrfeier ihrer Vollendung. Katholisches Pfarramt St. Valentin, Kiedrich 1993, ISBN 3-921865-04-2
- Josef Staab, Bruno Kriesel, Rudolf Fenzl: Kiedrich im Rheingau, das gotische Weindorf. Geschichte, Kunst, Kultur von A-Z. Förderkreis Kiedricher Geschichts- und Kulturzeugen, Kiedrich 2003, ISBN 3-9808438-4-X
- Förderkreis Kiedricher Geschichts- und Kulturzeugen e.V. "Kiedricher Persönlichkeiten aus sieben Jahrhunderten", ISBN 978-3-00-025555-7