Schlüsselfeld
Encyclopedia
Schlüsselfeld is a town on the southwestern edge of the Upper Franconia
n district of Bamberg
in the Steigerwald (forest) in the valley of the Reiche Ebrach, 299 m above sea level.
The town also has these traditional rural land units, known in German
as Gemarkungen (most are former independent communities retained as cadastral areas):
All share names with the town’s constituent communities as it is traditional for a Gemarkung to be named after a town or village lying nearby.
From 1972 to 1978, Schlüsselfeld belonged to Middle Franconia
.
Schlüsselfeld was founded on 10 June 1336 by Konrad von Schlüsselberg. He was granted the right to found a town by Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV
. After its founder’s death, Schlüsselfeld passed to the Bishops of Bamberg and Würzburg
. Through a compromise, Würzburg also acquired Bamberg’s share of the town in 1390.
In 1396, the market town of Schlüsselfeld had its town rights confirmed.
The Würzburg Bishops built Schlüsselfeld up into an Amt and chose as their Amt seat the Thüngfeld Castle (Thüngfelder Schloss).
The town hall built in 1723 declares the following in a Latin
inscription:
“This house hates unrest, loves peace, punishes crime, upholds the law, honours goodness. ”
As part of the Würzburg High Monastery, the tithing centre (Centamt) of Schlüsselfeld was secularized
in Bavaria
’s favour in 1803, passed in 1805 with the Peace of Pressburg to the newly formed Grand Duchy of Würzburg
, and then eventually, after territorial adjustments in 1810, was returned to Bavaria. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, today’s community came into being under the Gemeindeedikt (“Community Edict”) of 1818.
and 588 to other religious bodies.
/SPD
/UBG).
In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to euro
s, amounted to €2,715,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €817,000.
The key refers not only to the town’s name (“Schlüsselfeld” literally means “Key Field” in German
), but also by its charges
and tincture
s to the arms borne by the old Lords of Schlüsselberg, who have since died out, but who were once the town’s owners and founders. The town was first mentioned in history as Konrad von Schlüsselberg’s property. The current coat of arms
appeared for the first time in a seal from the 16th century. The town flag is gold, white and red.
The town of Schlüsselfeld lies at the common point of all three of Franconia’s Regierungsbezirk
e, right on the A 3 (Würzburg-Nuremberg
) with its Schlüsselfeld interchange, and is acknowledged as a smaller centre.
Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...
n district of Bamberg
Bamberg (district)
Bamberg Land is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It surrounds but does not include the town of Bamberg. The district is bounded by the districts of Lichtenfels, Bayreuth, Forchheim, Erlangen-Höchstadt, Neustadt -Bad Windsheim, Kitzingen, Schweinfurt and Haßberge.- History :The history of the...
Geography
Schlüsselfeld lies 24 km southwest of BambergBamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
in the Steigerwald (forest) in the valley of the Reiche Ebrach, 299 m above sea level.
Constituent communities
The town of Schlüsselfeld is made up of 22 Ortsteile, which for the most part were independent communities until administrative reform:- Aschbach
- Attelsdorf
- Bernroth
- Debersdorf
- Eckersbach
- Elsendorf
- Fallmeisterei
- Güntersdorf
- Heuchelheim
- Hohn am Berg
- Hopfenmühle
- Lach
- Obermelsendorf
- Possenfelden
- Rambach bei Schlüsselfeld
- Reichmannsdorf
- Schlüsselfeld
- Thüngbach
- Thüngfeld
- Untermelsendorf
- Wüstenbuch
- Ziegelsambach
The town also has these traditional rural land units, known 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....
as Gemarkungen (most are former independent communities retained as cadastral areas):
- Aschbach
- Eckersbach
- Elsendorf
- Heuchelheim
- Reichmannsdorf
- Schlüsselfeld
- Thüngfeld
- Untermelsendorf
- Ziegelsambach
All share names with the town’s constituent communities as it is traditional for a Gemarkung to be named after a town or village lying nearby.
From 1972 to 1978, Schlüsselfeld belonged to Middle Franconia
Middle Franconia
Middle Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is in the west of Bavaria and adjoins the state of Baden-Württemberg...
.
History
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
. After its founder’s death, Schlüsselfeld passed to the Bishops of Bamberg and Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
. Through a compromise, Würzburg also acquired Bamberg’s share of the town in 1390.
In 1396, the market town of Schlüsselfeld had its town rights confirmed.
The Würzburg Bishops built Schlüsselfeld up into an Amt and chose as their Amt seat the Thüngfeld Castle (Thüngfelder Schloss).
The town hall built in 1723 declares the following in a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscription:
“This house hates unrest, loves peace, punishes crime, upholds the law, honours goodness. ”
As part of the Würzburg High Monastery, the tithing centre (Centamt) of Schlüsselfeld was secularized
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...
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...
’s favour in 1803, passed in 1805 with the Peace of Pressburg to the newly formed Grand Duchy of Würzburg
Grand Duchy of Würzburg
The Grand Duchy of Würzburg was a German grand duchy centered on Würzburg existing in the early 19th century.As a consequence of the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the Bishopric of Würzburg was secularized in 1803 and granted to Bavaria. In the same year Ferdinand III, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, was...
, and then eventually, after territorial adjustments in 1810, was returned to Bavaria. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, today’s community came into being under the Gemeindeedikt (“Community Edict”) of 1818.
Religion
Of the town’s inhabitants, 4,262 belong to the Catholic Church, 1,217 to the Evangelical ChurchEvangelical Church
The term Evangelical Church may refer specifically to:* Slovak Evangelical Church* Armenian Evangelical Church* Assyrian Evangelical Church* Christian Evangelical Church of Romania* Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus...
and 588 to other religious bodies.
Population development
Within town limits, 4,780 inhabitants were counted in 1970, 5,034 in 1987 and 5,711 in 2000. Over the next six years, the population rose and on 31 December 2006, it had reached 5,824.Politics
The mayor is Georg Zipfel (FWGFWG
FWG may stand for:*Federal World Government, a concept of a democratic global government.*Forschungsanstalt der Bundeswehr für Wasserschall und Geophysik , in Germany....
/SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
/UBG).
In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s, amounted to €2,715,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €817,000.
Town council
Town council consists of:- 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...
9 seats - SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
4 seats - Freie WählergemeinschaftFWGFWG may stand for:*Federal World Government, a concept of a democratic global government.*Forschungsanstalt der Bundeswehr für Wasserschall und Geophysik , in Germany....
3 seats - Unabhängige Bürgergemeinschaft 3 seats
- Überparteilich Christliche Wählergemeinschaft 1 seat
Coat of arms
Schlüsselfeld’s arms might heraldically be described thus: In gules a key argent per bend sinister with the bit upturned, flanked per bend each side by a mullet of six Or.The key refers not only to the town’s name (“Schlüsselfeld” literally means “Key Field” 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....
), but also by its charges
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...
and tincture
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
s to the arms borne by the old Lords of Schlüsselberg, who have since died out, but who were once the town’s owners and founders. The town was first mentioned in history as Konrad von Schlüsselberg’s property. The current coat of arms
Coat 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...
appeared for the first time in a seal from the 16th century. The town flag is gold, white and red.
Culture and sightseeing
Worth seeing in the Schlüsselfeld area are the following:- in Schlüsselfeld: the Town Gate Tower with remains of the town wall and two round towers, the Petrusbrunnen (fountain), the Old Town Hall with pilloryPilloryThe pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...
, the New Town Hall, the GothicGothic architectureGothic 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....
parish church, the Klein-Mariazell im Steigerwald church (with a copy of the IconIconAn icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
of MariazellMariazellMariazell is a small city in Austria, in Styria, well known for winter sports, 143 km N. of Graz. It is picturesquely situated in the valley of the Salza, amid the north Styrian Alps....
in the Steiermark, AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
) - in Aschbach: the BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
castle, the Mariä-Himmelfahrt church, the Evangelical church with Marienaltar - in Reichmannsdorf: Dientzenhof Castle
- in Heuchelheim the DreifrankensteinDreifrankensteinThe Dreifrankenstein is a boundary stone that marks the tripoint where the three Franconian provinces of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia meet in southern Germany. As part of the regional reforms in 1972 the boundary marker was moved around 7 kilometres as the crow flies to the southeast...
Economy and infrastructure
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...
e, right on the A 3 (Würzburg-Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
) with its Schlüsselfeld interchange, and is acknowledged as a smaller centre.