Kirchzell
Encyclopedia
Kirchzell is a market community in the Miltenberg district
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Lower Franconia
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
, Germany
.
lies at the three-state common point shared by Bavaria, Hesse
and Baden-Württemberg
.
Kirchzell is the biggest municipality by land area in the Miltenberg district with a great deal of woodland, and it lies in the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald. The area, whose geology is bunter
-based, is drained by the Waldbach, Gabelbach and Mud into the Main.
Nearby towns include Amorbach
, Erbach
, Michelstadt
, Miltenberg
, Mudau
and Walldürn
.
abbey in Amorbach. In 1168, the Amorbach Abbey and thereby also Kirchzell ended up under the lordship of the Lords of Dürn. This princely family built Wildenberg Castle (Burg Wildenberg) upon the Preunschener Berg, a highlight in Staufer-era castle building. One hundred years later, the Lords of Dürn sold the Archbishop of Mainz their estates. In 1700, Kirchzell was granted market rights, as it was the middle point of the Kirchzeller Grund.
The Electoral Mainz
Amt was assigned in the 1803 Reichsdeputationshauptschluss to the Princes of Leiningen, later being mediatized by Baden
in 1806 and then in 1810 ceded to the Hesse-Darmstadt
. In the Hesse-Bavaria Rezess (Frankfurt 1816) it finally passed to Bavaria.
s of Dörnbach, Breitenbach, Schrahmühle and Hofmühle into the current greater community.
might be described thus: Gules a church argent, the portal turned to the viewer, the steeple and the portal ensigned with a cross sable, in chief dexter the head of an abbot’s staff Or, in chief sinister a wheel spoked of six of the second.
The church is a canting
charge
for the community’s name (“church” is Kirche in German
). The abbot’s crook recalls the Amorbach Benedictine
abbey’s hegemony and landlordship in the community (this, incidentally, made the community a “cell” in the monastic sense of a monastery outpost, which explains the placename ending —zell; the place was originally called Celle), and the Wheel of Mainz
recalls Electoral Mainz
’s rule after that.
The arms have been borne since 1964.
on the Autobahn A 81
and roughly 50 km from the interchange on the A 3.
The nearest InterCityExpress
stop is the railway station at Aschaffenburg
, some 51 km away, but there are also Regionalbahn
trains at Amorbach only 6 km away.
As for air transport, it is roughly 89 km to Frankfurt Airport
.
The men’s and women’s choirs and VoCapella are under Hermann Trunk’s leadership. Piccolino is led by Carolin Czerny.
Miltenberg (district)
Miltenberg is an administrative district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Aschaffenburg, the districts of Aschaffenburg and Main-Spessart, and the states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse .-History:During the Middle Ages there was continuous...
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 Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany ....
(Unterfranken) 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...
.
Location
This community in the OdenwaldOdenwald
The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...
lies at the three-state common point shared by Bavaria, 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...
and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
.
Kirchzell is the biggest municipality by land area in the Miltenberg district with a great deal of woodland, and it lies in the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald. The area, whose geology is bunter
Bunter (geology)
Bunter beds are sandstone deposits containing rounded pebbles, such as can notably be found in Warwickshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Devon and Dorset in England...
-based, is drained by the Waldbach, Gabelbach and Mud into the Main.
Nearby towns include Amorbach
Amorbach
Amorbach is a town in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,100 inhabitants .- Location :...
, Erbach
Erbach im Odenwald
-Location:The town lies in the Odenwald at elevations between 200 and 560 m in the valley of the Mümling.-Neighbouring communities:Erbach borders in the north on the town of Michelstadt, in the east on the market town of Kirchzell , in the south on the community of Hesseneck and the town of...
, Michelstadt
Michelstadt
Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg.- Location :Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkreis and borders on the district seat of Erbach....
, Miltenberg
Miltenberg
Miltenberg is the seat of the like-named district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
, Mudau
Mudau
Mudau is a municipality in the Neckar-Odenwald district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. it has 5,099 inhabitants.-Geography:Mudau lies in the southeastern Odenwald mountains between the Neckar and Main rivers, 75 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main and 40 km northeast of Heidelberg...
and Walldürn
Walldürn
Walldürn is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 23 km southwest of Wertheim.Walldürn Basilica:...
.
Constituent communities
Kirchzell’s Ortsteile are Breitenbach, Breitenbuch, Buch, Kirchzell, Ottorfszell, Preunschen and Watterbach.History
Kirchzell is a community with a 1,200-year history. Kirchzell owes its founding and its name to the BenedictineBenedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
abbey in Amorbach. In 1168, the Amorbach Abbey and thereby also Kirchzell ended up under the lordship of the Lords of Dürn. This princely family built Wildenberg Castle (Burg Wildenberg) upon the Preunschener Berg, a highlight in Staufer-era castle building. One hundred years later, the Lords of Dürn sold the Archbishop of Mainz their estates. In 1700, Kirchzell was granted market rights, as it was the middle point of the Kirchzeller Grund.
The Electoral Mainz
Archbishopric 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...
Amt was assigned in the 1803 Reichsdeputationshauptschluss to the Princes of Leiningen, later being mediatized by Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
in 1806 and then in 1810 ceded to the Hesse-Darmstadt
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
. In the Hesse-Bavaria Rezess (Frankfurt 1816) it finally passed to Bavaria.
Development of the municipal area
The market community of Kirchzell merged itself in the course of municipal reform with the communities of Watterbach, Ottorfszell and Preunschen, along with their outlying centres of Breitenbuch and Buch, and with the hamletHamlet (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...
s of Dörnbach, Breitenbach, Schrahmühle and Hofmühle into the current greater community.
Community council
The council is made up of 14 council members with seats apportioned thus:- 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...
6 seats - FWG 5 seats
- SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
3 seats
Coat of arms
The community’s 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...
might be described thus: Gules a church argent, the portal turned to the viewer, the steeple and the portal ensigned with a cross sable, in chief dexter the head of an abbot’s staff Or, in chief sinister a wheel spoked of six of the second.
The church is a canting
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
charge
Charge (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...
for the community’s name (“church” is Kirche 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....
). The abbot’s crook recalls the Amorbach Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
abbey’s hegemony and landlordship in the community (this, incidentally, made the community a “cell” in the monastic sense of a monastery outpost, which explains the placename ending —zell; the place was originally called Celle), and the Wheel of Mainz
Wheel of Mainz
thumb|150px|version until 1992thumb|150px|version from 1992 - 2008thumb|150px|version from 2008The Wheel of Mainz or Mainzer Rad, in German, was the coat of arms of the Archbishopric of Mainz and thus also of the Electorate of Mainz , in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It consists of a silver wheel...
recalls Electoral Mainz
Archbishopric 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...
’s rule after that.
The arms have been borne since 1964.
Transport
Kirchzell lies roughly 45 km from the interchangeInterchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
on the Autobahn A 81
Bundesautobahn 81
is a motorway in Germany. It branches off the A 3 at the Würzburg-West triangle and ends near the border to Switzerland.The oldest part of the A 81 between the Weinsberg intersection near Heilbronn and the Leonberg triangle near Stuttgart was finished in the years 1938 to 1940...
and roughly 50 km from the interchange on the A 3.
The nearest InterCityExpress
InterCityExpress
The Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
stop is the railway station at Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
, some 51 km away, but there are also Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
trains at Amorbach only 6 km away.
As for air transport, it is roughly 89 km to Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...
.
Museums
- Forest museum at the Watterbacher Haus in the outlying centre of Preunschen: The Watterbacher Haus is a so-called Wohnstallhaus, one designed to house both a farmer and his livestock, and is said to be one of the oldest farmhouses in the OdenwaldOdenwaldThe Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...
. The Firstständerhaus (its original name) was built in 1475, and it originally stood in Watterbach. In 1982 it was moved to Preunschen. In the forest museum, the development of the Odenwald’s forest history, the forest’s use in earlier times, basketweaving and
Buildings
- Remnants of the Limes GermanicusLimes GermanicusThe Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
, once a defensive wall of the Romans against the Germanic natives. - Wildenberg Castle ruins from the High Middle AgesHigh Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
(also called the Wildenburg), built in the Staufer era, where Wolfram von EschenbachWolfram von EschenbachWolfram von Eschenbach was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of his time. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.-Life:...
is said to have written parts of his ParzivalParzivalParzival is a major medieval German romance by the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, in the Middle High German language. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, is itself largely based on Chrétien de Troyes’s Perceval, the Story of the Grail and mainly centers on the Arthurian...
. - The Odenwald’s oldest Bildstock (a post serving as a small place of worship) from 1483, in Breitenbach.
Music
Kirchzell has had since 1891 a singing club, which has since grown into four choirs.- Men’s choir (since 1891)
- Women’s choir (since 1999)
- VoCapella (since 2002)
- Piccolino (since 2005)
The men’s and women’s choirs and VoCapella are under Hermann Trunk’s leadership. Piccolino is led by Carolin Czerny.
Sport
- The TV Kirchzell (gymnastic club) is playing in the Regional Handball League (Southwest) in the 2008/2009 season.
- FC Kickers Kirchzell was founded in 1922 and in the 2008/2009 season is playing in the Aschaffenburg district class group 3
Further reading
- Gewitter über Kirchzell by Ernst Rockstroh.
- 300 Jahre Marktrecht Kirchzell by Thomas Ratzka.