Otterberg
Encyclopedia
Otterberg is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern
in the German state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
with about 7,350 (as of 6/2006) inhabitants. It is situated approx. 7 kilometres (4 mi) north of Kaiserslautern
.
Otterberg is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde
("collective municipality") Otterberg
.
Kaiserslautern (district)
Kaiserslautern is a district in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kusel, Saarpfalz-Kreis, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Dürkheim and Südwestpfalz. The city of Kaiserslautern is almost fully enclosed by, but not belonging to the district.-History:The district of...
in the German state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
with about 7,350 (as of 6/2006) inhabitants. It is situated approx. 7 kilometres (4 mi) north of Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
.
Otterberg is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
("collective municipality") Otterberg
Otterberg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Otterberg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Otterberg....
.
History
The following events occurred, in each year:- 1143 The monasteryMonasteryMonastery 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...
was established. - 1168 Construction of the monastery began.
- 1254 The church was inaugurated on May 10.
- 1380 The monastery was in steady decline beginning about 1380 until the 15th century.
- 1504 During the Bavaria-LandshutBavaria-Landshut-History:The creation of the duchy was the result of the death of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian. In the Treaty of Landsberg 1349, which divided up Louis's empire, his sons Stephen, William, and Albert were to receive jointly Lower Bavaria and the Netherlands. Four years later the inheritance was...
War of Succession, the monastery was plundered. - 1525 During the German Peasants' WarGerman Peasants' WarThe German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...
(Bauernkrieg); the insurgent peasants fell on the remainder of the monastery. - 1556 The ReformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
was introduced to the area. - 1559 The remaining monks were instructed to convert.
- 1561 The last Abbott Wendelin Merbot left the monastery.
- 1564 The monastery was left open. The gates of Otterberg were opened.
- 1579 PfalzgrafGrafGraf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
Johann Casimir invited religious refugees from the Spanish Netherlands to settle Otterberg and there was active settlement by the WalloonsWalloonsWalloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
. They used the stones of the monastery complex for the building of their houses, so that today only the abbey church and the chapter hall remain. - 1581 Gained town privilegesTown privilegesTown privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...
from PfalzgrafGrafGraf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
(Count) Johann Casimir. - 1582 to 1593 Many previous residents of Otterberg were in FrankenthalFrankenthalFrankenthal is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.- History :Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, after the founder, as the Erkenbertruine — still stand today in the town...
. - 1618 to 1648 The Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
severely affected the area. - 1650 Existing church records in Otterberg begin.
- 1689 Many residents of Otterberg arrived in Holzappel under the leadership of Charles Faucher after a long period of wandering after fleeing Otterberg due to the War of the League of Augsburg which lasted from 1688 to 1697.
- 1708 Joint use of the church by the Protestants and Catholics led to problems. The solution was to add a wall inside the church so that the Catholic part (in the transeptTranseptFor the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
) was separated from the Protestant part (in the nave). - 1979 During a very extensive restoration project, this wall was removed. The church is now shared by both church communities.
Objects of interest
- Monastic church: Part a former Cistercian monasteryMonasteryMonastery 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...
, this abbey church is the second largest in the Palatinate (after the Speyer CathedralSpeyer CathedralThe Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St...
). The church was built between 1168 and 1254. The monastery reached its peak around the year 1340 and declined around 1561. In 1579 groups of refugees of the reformed faith arrived from the Spanish Netherlands and from northern FranceFranceThe 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...
.
Sons and Daughters of the City
- Guillaume de FeliceGuillaume de FeliceGuillaume Adam de Félice, 4th Comte de Panzutti was a Savoy nobleman, theologian and abolitionist.- Early life :Félice was born on 12 March 1803 in Otterberg and died on 23 October 1871 in Lausanne and was the grandson of Fortunato de Felice by his son Bernard...
, 4th Comte de Panzutti (1803–1871), a Savoy nobleman, theologian and abolitionist - Johann Heinrich RoosJohann Heinrich RoosJohann Heinrich Roos was a German Baroque era landscape painter and etcher.-Biography:...
(September 29, 1631 -October 3, 1685), a German Baroque era painter and etcher - Isidor StrausIsidor StrausIsidor Straus —a German Jewish American—was co-owner of the Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served briefly as a member of the United States House of Representatives...
, born February 6, 1845, owner of the Macy'sMacy'sMacy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
department store and served as a Congressional RepresentativeUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. He and his wife Ida died April 15, 1912 on board the RMS Titanic. - Nathan StrausNathan StrausNathan Straus was an American merchant and philanthropist who co-owned two of New York City's biggest department stores – R.H...
(January 31, 1848–January 11, 1931), an American merchant and philanthropist (brother of Isidor) - Oscar StrausOscar Straus (politician)Oscar Solomon Straus was United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1909. Straus was the first Jewish United States Cabinet Secretary. - Biography :...
(December 23, 1850 – May 3, 1926), United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1909 (brother of Isidor)