Mömbris
Encyclopedia
Mömbris is a community – since 31 January 1964 a market community – in the Aschaffenburg district
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Lower Franconia
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
, Germany
. Mömbris is the district’s fifth biggest community and comprises all together 18 centres in an area of 35.92 km². The greater share (32.81 km²) is woods, meadows and cropland. The community lies between 165 and 337 m above sea level
.
halfway between Schöllkrippen
and Alzenau
, which are linked by Staatsstraße (State Road) 2305, at the foot of the Vorspessart
(range) with its highest elevation, the Hahnenkamm at 437 m above sea level. The river Kahl
flows through Mömbris.
pokes a tongue of its territory into the market community. In 2007, a territorial exchange involving roughly 10 hectares of land was undertaken between Hesse and Bavaria, whereby the latter shrank by 1.77 hectares.
Until this time, the state boundary ran right through the FV Viktoria 1930 e. V. Brücken (football club) clubhouse. Elsewhere, the boundary also cut through a short stretch of Staatsstraße 2305 – a road administered by Bavaria – in the outlying centre of Niedersteinbach, meaning that this Bavarian-owned road ran for a short distance through Hesse; this stretch of road came to be known as the Hessenkurve.
and Hörstein and the free court to the Wilmundsheim vor der Hart (Alzenau) Markgenossenschaft (a kind of collective arrangement in which several villages jointly owned land resources). Free Märker (Markgenossenschaft dwellers) gathered every year in Alzenau to choose a Landrichter (judge) and foresters and to deal with important decisions.
The tithe courts originally had Imperial immediacy. Chairmanship was held by a tithe count chosen to serve for one year. Each village supplied, commensurately with each one’s number of freemen, Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”) whose job it was to mete out justice. In 1500, the tithe courts lost their Imperial immediacy along with its attendant privileges. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction was thereafter exercised by the Archbishopric of Mainz
.
Mömbris became under the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803 part of the newly formed Principality of Aschaffenburg
, ruled by Prince primate
Karl Theodor von Dalberg, with which it passed in 1814 (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria.
(as at municipal election held on 2 March 2008)
of Aunay-sur-Odon
, Caumont-l'Éventé
and Villers-Bocage
, Calvados
, France
might be described thus: Gules a sword argent palewise the hilt and pommel Or, dexter a wheel of the second spoked of six, sinister a crown proper with four leaves.
Mömbris was until 1500 a kingly estate, as witnessed by the crown on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side. The place was also the seat of a free court, symbolized by the sword. In 1487, Electoral Mainz
managed to acquire a share of sovereignty over the area, and in 1738, this became total. The six-spoked wheel (Wheel of Mainz
) on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side recalls this.
In 1963, Mömbris was granted market rights.
The arms were designed and introduced in 1961.
and Alzenau
). Mömbris has repeatedly been Bavaria’s most indebted municipality in proportion to its population.
According to official statistics, there were 1,038 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in agriculture
, forestry
and producing businesses in 1998. In trade and transport
this was 410. In other areas, 398 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 4,435 such workers worked from home. There were 3 processing businesses. Twenty-nine businesses were in construction, and furthermore, in 1999, there were 117 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 240 ha, of which 592 ha was cropland and 613 ha was meadowland.
Aschaffenburg (district)
Aschaffenburg is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg, Offenbach, Main-Kinzig , the districts Main-Spessart and Miltenberg, and the town of Aschaffenburg....
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...
. Mömbris is the district’s fifth biggest community and comprises all together 18 centres in an area of 35.92 km². The greater share (32.81 km²) is woods, meadows and cropland. The community lies between 165 and 337 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Location
Mömbris lies in the Bavarian Lower Main (Bayerischer Untermain) in the KahlgrundKahlgrund
The Kahlgrund is an area in the northern Spessart in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, following the valley of the Kahl.It roughly corresponds to the former district of Alzenau, which was merged into the district of Aschaffenburg in 1972.- External links :...
halfway between Schöllkrippen
Schöllkrippen
Schöllkrippen is a market community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Schöllkrippen.-Location:...
and Alzenau
Alzenau
Alzenau is a town in the north of the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. The epithet “in Unterfranken” , now dropped, was to distinguish it from another Alzenau since 1945 no longer in Germany...
, which are linked by Staatsstraße (State Road) 2305, at the foot of the Vorspessart
Spessart
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....
(range) with its highest elevation, the Hahnenkamm at 437 m above sea level. The river Kahl
Kahl (river)
The Kahl is a river in the northern Spessart in Bavaria and Hesse, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Main and is 32 km long. The name Kahl comes from the Old High German word kaldaha, which means cool and clear. The Kahl rises from two sources left and right of the road in the Spessart...
flows through Mömbris.
Constituent communities
Mömbris’s Ortsteile are as follows:
|
|
Amalgamations
- Already belonging to Mömbris in 1818 were the centres of Brücken, Strötzbach, Rappach, Heimbach, Gunzenbach, Rothengrund, Angelsberg and Molkenberg.
- The first communities merged into the market community of Mömbris, with effect from 1 January 1972, were Daxberg, Hemsbach and Mensengesäß.
- Following on 1 July 1972 was the community of Niedersteinbach.
- At 1 January 1974 came Dörnsteinbach and Hohl as well.
- The community of Reichenbach gave its autonomy up on 1 January 1976.
- Schimborn, which had already swallowed up Königshofen a.d.Kahl in 1971 to form the community of Schimborn, merged along with its outlying centre into Mömbris on 1 May 1978.
Bavaria-Hesse boundary
HesseHesse
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...
pokes a tongue of its territory into the market community. In 2007, a territorial exchange involving roughly 10 hectares of land was undertaken between Hesse and Bavaria, whereby the latter shrank by 1.77 hectares.
Until this time, the state boundary ran right through the FV Viktoria 1930 e. V. Brücken (football club) clubhouse. Elsewhere, the boundary also cut through a short stretch of Staatsstraße 2305 – a road administered by Bavaria – in the outlying centre of Niedersteinbach, meaning that this Bavarian-owned road ran for a short distance through Hesse; this stretch of road came to be known as the Hessenkurve.
History
The Mömbris tithe court belonged until 1748, along with those of AlzenauAlzenau
Alzenau is a town in the north of the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. The epithet “in Unterfranken” , now dropped, was to distinguish it from another Alzenau since 1945 no longer in Germany...
and Hörstein and the free court to the Wilmundsheim vor der Hart (Alzenau) Markgenossenschaft (a kind of collective arrangement in which several villages jointly owned land resources). Free Märker (Markgenossenschaft dwellers) gathered every year in Alzenau to choose a Landrichter (judge) and foresters and to deal with important decisions.
The tithe courts originally had Imperial immediacy. Chairmanship was held by a tithe count chosen to serve for one year. Each village supplied, commensurately with each one’s number of freemen, Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”) whose job it was to mete out justice. In 1500, the tithe courts lost their Imperial immediacy along with its attendant privileges. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction was thereafter exercised by the Archbishopric of 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...
.
Mömbris became under the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803 part of the newly formed 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....
, ruled by 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...
Karl Theodor von Dalberg, with which it passed in 1814 (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria.
Mayors
- Georg Grünewald (1876–1910)
- August Grünewald (1911–1938)
- Gottfried van Treek (1939–1945)
- Anton Volk (1945)
- Leopold Wissel (1945–1951)
- Anton Reising (CSU) (1951–1986)
- Michael Schneemeier (SPD) (1986–1998)
- Reinhold Glaser (CSU) (1998–2008)
- Felix Wissel (SPD/independent) (2008-)
Community council
The council is made up of 25 council members, counting the fulltime mayor.| CSU Christian Social Union of Bavaria The 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... | SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... | Wählergemeinschaft | Unabhängige Bürger | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 24 seats |
(as at municipal election held on 2 March 2008)
Town partnerships
Pré-Bocage with its communesCommunes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Aunay-sur-Odon
Aunay-sur-Odon
Aunay-sur-Odon is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:-Twin towns:* Holsworthy since 1976....
, Caumont-l'Éventé
Caumont-l'Éventé
Caumont-l'Éventé is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France.-Population:-Administration:Caumont-l'Éventé is the seat of the canton of Caumont-l'Éventé, which includes 14 communes with 6373 inhabitants .-References:*...
and Villers-Bocage
Villers-Bocage, Calvados
-External links:* *...
, Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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 sword argent palewise the hilt and pommel Or, dexter a wheel of the second spoked of six, sinister a crown proper with four leaves.
Mömbris was until 1500 a kingly estate, as witnessed by the crown on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side. The place was also the seat of a free court, symbolized by the sword. In 1487, 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...
managed to acquire a share of sovereignty over the area, and in 1738, this became total. The six-spoked wheel (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...
) on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side recalls this.
In 1963, Mömbris was granted market rights.
The arms were designed and introduced in 1961.
Economy and infrastructure
The high population figure belies Mömbris’s scattered, agricultural character, for since the sweeping municipal reform in the late 1970s, Mömbris has been made up of 18 constituent communities. These are mainly small centres with 200 to 1,000 inhabitants, the exceptions being Schimborn (1,800) and the namesake centre Mömbris (2,000), giving the market community of Mömbris a population of some 12,000 in 2004. Over the last few years, Mömbris has had to deal with a fall in population and economic problems (loss of buying power in the neighbouring Kahlgrund towns of SchöllkrippenSchöllkrippen
Schöllkrippen is a market community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Schöllkrippen.-Location:...
and Alzenau
Alzenau
Alzenau is a town in the north of the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. The epithet “in Unterfranken” , now dropped, was to distinguish it from another Alzenau since 1945 no longer in Germany...
). Mömbris has repeatedly been Bavaria’s most indebted municipality in proportion to its population.
According to official statistics, there were 1,038 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, forestry
Forestry
Forestry 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 producing businesses in 1998. 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...
this was 410. In other areas, 398 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 4,435 such workers worked from home. There were 3 processing businesses. Twenty-nine businesses were in construction, and furthermore, in 1999, there were 117 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 240 ha, of which 592 ha was cropland and 613 ha was meadowland.
Education
The following institutions are to be found in Mömbris (as of 1999):- 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: 495 kindergarten places with 471 children - primary schools: 5 with 46 teachers and 985 pupils
Clubs
Mömbris’s club life is multifaceted. Besides some sport clubs, there are several history and cultural clubs. Mömbris is home to the Bundesliga wrestling team RWG Mömbris-Königshofen.Honorary citizens
- since 1987 Minister Raimund Merget (former Deacon of the Alzenau deaconry)
- since 2004 Auxiliary BishopAuxiliary bishopAn auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
Helmut Bauer (of the Archdiocese of Würzburg)
Sons and daughters of the town
- Father Ivo Zeiger (b. 29 July 1898 in Mömbris; d. 24 December 1952 in MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
), Professor of Church Law, in 1939 Rector of the Germanicum in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and in 1945 Papal diplomat in Kronberg im TaunusKronberg im TaunusKronberg im Taunus is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy was absorbed into Prussia. Kronberg lies at the foot of the Taunus, flanked in the north and southwest by forests...
. In his memory, the community named the primary school built in 1959 Ivo-Zeiger-Schule and the ecclesiastical community centre Ivo-Zeiger-Haus. - Helmut Bauer, (b. 18 March 1933), Auxiliary Bishop
- Peter Behl (b 12 February 1966 in Mömbris), wrestler
Others linked to the community
- Dr. Heinrich Degen (b. 2 October 1902 in BurgbrohlBurgbrohlBurgbrohl is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
; d. 9 March 1970 in Mömbris), district councillor for the former Alzenau district - Raimund Merget, 1970-1986 parish clergyman of Mömbris, contributor and co-creator of many social institutions, for example, initiator and builder of the Ivo-Zeiger-Haus
- Anton Reising, 1951-1986 Chief Mayor in Mömbris, instrumental in the community’s restructuring; initiator of the so-called community core renovation.
- Felix Wissel (b. 1 November 1978 in Alzenau-Wasserlos) is a German Bundesliga wrestler and Chief Mayor of Mömbris.
Further reading
- Josef August Eichelsbacher: Heimatbuch des Kahlgrundes, I.Teil, Geschichte und Sagen, 1928
- Josef August Eichelsbacher: Heimatbuch des Kahlgrundes, II.Teil, Land und Leute, 1930
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Heimatforschung: Heimatjahrbuch Unser Kahlgrund, 1956–2007
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Heimatforschung: Bildstöcke und Flurdenkmäler des Landkreises Alzenau, 1971
- Emil Griebel: Chronik des Marktes Mömbris, 1982
- Geschichtsverein Mömbris: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Marktgemeinde Mömbris, 1.Heft 1991, 2.Heft 1993
- Wilhelm Bierschneider: Unterfranken Historische Daten von Städten, Gemeinden und Ortsteilen, 2003