Kreuzwertheim
Encyclopedia
Kreuzwertheim is a market community in the Main-Spessart district
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Lower Franconia
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
, Germany
and the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (Administrative Community) of Kreuzwertheim.
, across the river from the town of Wertheim
in Baden-Württemberg
.
The community has the following Gemarkungen (traditional rural cadastral areas): Kreuzwertheim, Röttbach, Unterwittbach, Wiebelbach.
. The first known description of the settlement names Werdheim, which can be taken to mean "homestead on the safe riverbank", referring to the community's location on the Main. The community's first documentary mention came (quite likely) as early as 749 (as one of the Fulda Abbey's outlying holdings). Werdheim developed itself into the mother parish for the southeastern Spessart area, which itself was first overseen by the Bishop of Würzburg, and it is to him that the conferring of market rights by King Heinrich II on 22 October 1009 goes back. Two stone towers from the former fortifications, a prominent stone Celtic cross
on the church square-marketplace and the little fortress church, whose beginnings lie as far back as the time when Christianization began, still bear witness to this time. From the early 12th century, one branch of the Reginbodo noble family was naming itself after Wertheim. This family had a new defensive complex built on the Main's left bank, whereby, under this new protection, a new settlement arose, which soon took the name Werdheim. In 1192, today's town of Wertheim
(across the river) was first mentioned as Suburbium castri Wertheim. About 1200 it was described as an oppidum and in 1244 as a civitas.
Since this time, a new name has been found to better distinguish the community from the one just across the river, one that refers to the stone cross (Kreuz in German
) on the marketplace. It was thereafter called Crucwertheim, Heiligen-Creuzeswertheim or also simply Creütz. This last usage is, incidentally, still customary in the local speech.
After Wertheim was granted town rights in 1306, its counterpart across the Main slid into steep decline, with its market rights coming to mean less and less. The Plague quenched whatever spark was left in the community, and Kreuzwertheim fell into a centuries-long economic slumber.
The former Amt of the Counts of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg was in favour of Prince Primate
von Dalberg's
Principality of Aschaffenburg
mediatized and passed in 1814 with this short-lived principality (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria.
Worth seeing today are above all the church square with its still preserved market cross, the surrounding lanes, the old fortress church, the Schultheiß (mayor) Peter Herrschaft's house built in 1594, the well and the remnants of the old fortifications. Moreover, the Schloss (palatial castle), once built as a widow's seat, and still the Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg princely family's seat today, is a prominent feature in the community.
Municipal taxes in 1999 amounted to €2,842,000 (converted), of which net business taxes amounted to €1,021,000.
might be described thus: Per fess in chief argent a Celtic cross barby issuant from the line of partition sable, in base azure three roses of the first seeded Or.
The community's oldest surviving seal dates from 1600, and it, too, bore the Celtic cross in reference to the one that still stands in the marketplace. The community's current arms, conferred in 1958, still bear this charge
in the upper half of the escutcheon, and in the lower half are the arms once borne by the Counts of Wertheim.
this was 0. In other areas, 150 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 1,434 such workers worked from home. There was one processing business. Eight businesses were in construction, and furthermore, in 1999, there were 17 agricultural operations with a working area of 305 ha, of which 295 ha was cropland and 7 ha was meadowland.
Main-Spessart
Main-Spessart is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Bad Kissingen, Schweinfurt and Würzburg, the state of Baden-Württemberg , the districts of Miltenberg and Aschaffenburg, and the state of Hesse .-History:The district was established in 1972 by merging the former...
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...
and the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (Administrative Community) of Kreuzwertheim.
Location
The community lies in the Main valley on the edge of the SpessartSpessart
The Spessart is a low mountain range in northwestern Bavaria and southern Hesse, Germany. It is bordered on three sides by the Main River. The two most important towns located at the foot of the Spessart are Aschaffenburg and Würzburg....
, across the river from the town of Wertheim
Wertheim
Wertheim may refer to:* Wertheim vacuum cleaner, a brand of vacuum cleaner* Wertheim am Main, Baden-Württemberg, Germany* Wertheim , a chain of German department stores...
in 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...
.
Constituent communities
Kreuzwertheim's Ortsteile are (with year of amalgamation and rough population figures):- Kreuzwertheim
- Unterwittbach, 1977, 215
- Wiebelbach, 1972, 189
- Röttbach, 1978, 540
The community has the following Gemarkungen (traditional rural cadastral areas): Kreuzwertheim, Röttbach, Unterwittbach, Wiebelbach.
History
As witnessed by finds of stone hatchets, human settlement in the municipal area goes as far back as the Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
. The first known description of the settlement names Werdheim, which can be taken to mean "homestead on the safe riverbank", referring to the community's location on the Main. The community's first documentary mention came (quite likely) as early as 749 (as one of the Fulda Abbey's outlying holdings). Werdheim developed itself into the mother parish for the southeastern Spessart area, which itself was first overseen by the Bishop of Würzburg, and it is to him that the conferring of market rights by King Heinrich II on 22 October 1009 goes back. Two stone towers from the former fortifications, a prominent stone Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
on the church square-marketplace and the little fortress church, whose beginnings lie as far back as the time when Christianization began, still bear witness to this time. From the early 12th century, one branch of the Reginbodo noble family was naming itself after Wertheim. This family had a new defensive complex built on the Main's left bank, whereby, under this new protection, a new settlement arose, which soon took the name Werdheim. In 1192, today's town of Wertheim
Wertheim
Wertheim may refer to:* Wertheim vacuum cleaner, a brand of vacuum cleaner* Wertheim am Main, Baden-Württemberg, Germany* Wertheim , a chain of German department stores...
(across the river) was first mentioned as Suburbium castri Wertheim. About 1200 it was described as an oppidum and in 1244 as a civitas.
Since this time, a new name has been found to better distinguish the community from the one just across the river, one that refers to the stone cross (Kreuz 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....
) on the marketplace. It was thereafter called Crucwertheim, Heiligen-Creuzeswertheim or also simply Creütz. This last usage is, incidentally, still customary in the local speech.
After Wertheim was granted town rights in 1306, its counterpart across the Main slid into steep decline, with its market rights coming to mean less and less. The Plague quenched whatever spark was left in the community, and Kreuzwertheim fell into a centuries-long economic slumber.
The former Amt of the Counts of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg was in favour of Prince Primate
Prince primate
Prince-Primate is a rare princely title held by individual archbishops of specific sees in a presiding capacity in an august assembly of mainly secular princes, notably the following:-Germany - Confederation of the Rhine:The Rheinbund or 'Confederation of the Rhine' was founded in 1806, when several...
von Dalberg's
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Regensburg, primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Grand-Duke of Frankfurt.-Biography:...
Principality of Aschaffenburg
Principality of Aschaffenburg
The Principality of Aschaffenburg was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the Confederation of the Rhine from 1803–10. Its capital was Aschaffenburg....
mediatized and passed in 1814 with this short-lived principality (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria.
Worth seeing today are above all the church square with its still preserved market cross, the surrounding lanes, the old fortress church, the Schultheiß (mayor) Peter Herrschaft's house built in 1594, the well and the remnants of the old fortifications. Moreover, the Schloss (palatial castle), once built as a widow's seat, and still the Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg princely family's seat today, is a prominent feature in the community.
Population development
Within town limits, 3,186 inhabitants were counted in 1970, 3,562 in 1987 and in 2000 3,850.Mayors
- 1996—present Horst E. Fuhrmann, 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...
- 1984—1996 Christa Schoenberg, CSU
- 1978—1984 Dr. Gerald Amarell, Freie Wählervereinigung
- 1972—1978 Hans Schneider, CSU (d. 1978)
- 1945—1972 Philipp Günzelmann, SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
- 1925—1945 Georg Fröber
- 1906—1925 Andreas Dinkel
- 1888—1905 Georg M. Fröber
Municipal taxes in 1999 amounted to €2,842,000 (converted), of which net business taxes amounted to €1,021,000.
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: Per fess in chief argent a Celtic cross barby issuant from the line of partition sable, in base azure three roses of the first seeded Or.
The community's oldest surviving seal dates from 1600, and it, too, bore the Celtic cross in reference to the one that still stands in the marketplace. The community's current arms, conferred in 1958, still bear this 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...
in the upper half of the escutcheon, and in the lower half are the arms once borne by the Counts of Wertheim.
Economy and infrastructure
According to official statistics, there were 1,046 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in producing businesses in 1998. In trade and transportTransport
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...
this was 0. In other areas, 150 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 1,434 such workers worked from home. There was one processing business. Eight businesses were in construction, and furthermore, in 1999, there were 17 agricultural operations with a working area of 305 ha, of which 295 ha was cropland and 7 ha was meadowland.
Education
- 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...
s: 2 (150 places with 133 children) - Primary school (1st-2nd class)
- Primary school and HauptschuleHauptschuleA Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
(3rd-9th class)
Famous people
- Johann Georg Fehn (1880–1950), clergyman and politician (DDP), Member of the Landtag