Schriesheim
Encyclopedia
Schriesheim is a town located in Baden-Württemberg
, Germany
, north of Heidelberg
on the Bergstrasse ("Mountain Road") and on Bertha Benz Memorial Route
. It has a population of about 15,000, (as of mid-2009. The town's landmark is the Strahlenburg Castle. Locals refer to the town as "Schriese" (phonetically: shree-ze)
The subdivision of Altenbach includes the village of Altenbach, the hamlet of Kohlhof and the Röschbach homestead. The subdivision of Schriesheim includes the town of Schriesheim, the site of the Stam(m)berg retirement community and the houses of the Schriesheim farm. Ursenbach consists of the village of Ursenbach and the Ursenbach farm. In Altenbach, the villages of Ringes und Hohenöd have recently sprung up.[3]
Altenbach is located 7 km east of the main town of Schriesheim in the Odenwald, right at the headwaters of the Kanzelbachs stream, which there is called the Altenbach, the same name as the town (Alten Bach means "old stream"). Similarly, Ursenbach, which is located 3 km northwest of Altenbach and is also in the Odenwald, is named after a stream of the same name which flows into the Altenbach before the latter turns into the Kanzelbach and flows through Schriesheim.
and iron sulfate
in the area of the Branich.
, be one of the oldest towns in the area.
Schriesheim's municipal area covers more than 3,162 hectares (12.2 square miles). Of that, 13.1% is devoted to housing and roads, 27.7% is being used for farming, and the remaining 58.6% represents woodland.
, to the north on Hirschberg an der Bergstraße
, to the northeast on Weinheim
, to the east on Heiligkreuzsteinach
and Wilhelmsfeld
, to the southeast on Heidelberg
and to the south on Dossenheim
.
, to the warmest part of Germany. The amount of precipitation increases from west to east and ranges between 650 und 800 mm. The nearest weather station, located in Heidelberg, recorded an average temperature of 11.1 °C and average precipitation of 745 mm per year between the years 1971 and 2000. The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 20.1 °C while the coldest month is January with an average temperature of 2.5 °C.
A severe winter frost in 1956 destroyed many fruit trees, especially plum
trees. Figs have been grown within the borders of the city for many years.
). Coin discoveries dating to the years 351/353 are the most recent evidence of Roman life in the region. It was during this time that the great "Migration Period" (Völkerwanderung) took place; it was a time of turmoil, poverty and the quest for salvation.
in a document of the Cloisters Ellwangen and again in 766
, in a document of the Cloisters Lorsch in connection with gifts of land ("Frankalmoign"). These documents also formed the basis for the later seignory
of both cloisters in the area. On the basis of its being named in these docoments and its borders, Schriesheim is to be regarded as one of the first settlements in this area. Already in Roman times, there were Roman villas (villae rusticae
) with foundations that have been uncovered in various Schriesheim locations. At the time of the first written mention of Schriesheim, it was a Frankish site.
eirechten, which led to the construction of the Strahlenburg castle around 1235. The building of the castle was a clear breach of law by the Strahlenburgers, since the land on which the castle was built belonged to the Cloister Ellwangen, whose reeves the Strahlenburgers were. When it came to protecting their rights, cloisters were dependent on the efforts of others since they themselves could not attack militarily. So the abbot
obtained an imperial order
from Conrad I through the emperor that eventually led to a compromise. This compromise, agreed to in 1238, appears to have been designed to let Conrad I receive the Strahlenburg as a hereditary fiefdom, but he had to transfer all of his wealth to the cloister in order to get the hereditary fiefdom back. Since at that time feudal law was relatively weak, it would appear that Conrad I was the winner in that negotiation.
After the town's founding, a church was built on the spot where today the Evangelical Church stands. The old village church south of the Bachgasse was abandoned. In addition, a grand village courtyard was established; today, it is called the Strahlenberger Hof. This typical stone house with its nearly two meter high walled gable is, at 700 years, the oldest, still occupied secular building in the region.
After the slow decline of the Strahlenbergers, the Strahlenburg and all sovereignty rights were sold to the Count Palatine in Heidelberg on September 8, 1347. However, Schriesheim retained all rights of a township.
Ruprecht in 1410, the Electoral Palatinate was divided up amongst his four sons. At first, Schriesheim belonged to Ruprecht's son, Otto, but in 1448, it was transferred, as part of an exchange of territories, to Otto's brother, Stephan, the Count Palatine of Simmern and Zweibrücken. After the division of this line in 1459, Schriesheim became part of the Simmern
line, which was pledged to the knight, Hans von Sickingen for 4.000 guilders. Count Palatine Ludwig von Veldenz-Zweibrücken, however, released Schriesheim again in 1468.
In the course of the Weißenburger feud between Count Palatine
Friedrich I. and Ludwig von Veldenz-Zweibrücken, Friedrich I. undertook a siege
of Schriesheim and the Strahlenburg castle on May 6, 1470. On Sunday, May 13, 1470, first the castle and then the city were taken by storm. The conquerors demanded a bounty
of 400 guilders, which had to be raised from the citizens, along with the surrender of all wine stocks under threat that the city would be burned to the ground if these conditions were not met. In addition, various fortifications were razed, towers demolished, the city wall destroyed, and the trenches filled in. Since Schriesheim had never had the blood court jurisdiction, only the market right remained as the last of the three conditions needed to be recognized as a city. Finally, even the market right was rescinded. But the court of the Äpfelbacher Group of 100 was relocated to Schriesheim which from then on became known as the Schriesheim Group of 100. And in 1579, Schriesheim got its market right back, the event which provides the basis for the annual Mathias Market.
, where Frederick had accepted election as King of Bohemia
.
People in Schriesheim suspected that something bad was going to happen and in 1619, they erected a guardhouse on the Branich so that they could spot approaching troops early enough to take action. In 1621, it happened: troops of the Catholic League of 1609 under Tilly were approaching Heidelberg—and thus also Schriesheim—from the North. By November, about 10.000 men had encamped in the Schriesheim-Dossenheim-Ladenburg triangle. Once the battles, which led to the eventual capture of Heidelberg, were over, troops continued to pass through the region. Several young men from the region had been lost in the battles, the townspeople were being pressed hard to finance the war, the area had been plundered and several buildings had been destroyed. The Bavarians had even taken the church bells as booty. Since most people still had reserves at their disposal, the damages soon began to get fixed and normal life returned. The only problem was that the authorities now tried to make the land Catholic again, which forced the pastor to flee.
Alas, marauding troops still marched through the land. In 1625/1626 spotted fever
spread and exacted its toll. In 1631, another army approached from the North; this time, it was the Protestant Swedes
, who camped on a rock outcropping (the Swedish redoubt) with a commanding view over the Rhine valley and the city of Schriesheim. They gradually squeezed the city's residents out. In the middle of September 1631, the Bavarians risked a sortie out of Heidelberg, captured Schriesheim and then pulled back into Heidelberg. Schriesheim was by then a smoking pile of rubble. Most houses and the church had been burned down; only along the Kanzelbach
, where water was close at hand, had people been able to save some homes from the flames. Furthermore, soldiers were still marauding through the region.
In 1635, a Pestilence
broke out and killed off a significant part of the already weakened populace. This time, it took a while to get reconstruction started. The reserves had been used up and normal life and commerce were impossible. Only the vineyards and the cattle that had been driven into the surrounding forest made survival possible.
Then in 1643, soldiers from the Lorraine came and brought war back into the region again. In 1644, the imperial army arrived and in 1645, it was the French under Turenne. To be sure, there were no more big battles but the completely brutalized soldiers were themselves now the greatest danger. While no specific atrocity occurred in Schriesheim, the fact that after holding out for 25 years, the citizens now gave up the city speaks volumes. The populace hid in the nearby forest or fled to nearby, less damaged locations. On calm days, the survivors came from the neighboring villages in order to harvest the plants that had grown in the wild on the vineyards and fields.
When in 1648, a peace treaty was signed, the scattered survivors returned to the city. Most now had inherited land and damaged homes but they had no livestock, seeds, or building materials. Thus, wherever possible, they sold a little land or a construction site, in order to again get the means to rebuild. Barely 40 families, only 24 of them with old Schriesheim names, had come back. That was less than 20 percent of the population before the Thirty Years War. Only the immigration of a significant number of reformed Swiss allowed the population to increase again more rapidly. Nevertheless, it would still take 100 years before the population reached its former level.
The first tax rebellion began on October 21, 1789. This was put down relatively easily, thanks to concessions on the part of the authorities. But in 1791 and 1794, there was further withholding of taxes. In 1798, there was a "revolt" in Schriesheim against the Count Palatine Nikolaus Lissingolo, who stirred up a lot of trouble, the exact nature of which is not completely understood to this day. Three Schriesheimers, Balthasar Ortlipp, Wendel Müller and Heinrich Riehl wound up being sentenced to two and three years in jail, while nine others received lighter sentences.
In March 1815, there was another public rebellion by the Schriesheimers against the authority which this time, could only be suppressed with the aid of soldiers. During the revolution of 1848/49, the Schriesheimers
again lived up to their reputation and participated prominently in the revolutionary activities. Most of the residents were influenced by Frederick Hecker, who had since 1842 been the elected representative of the Ladenburg-Weinheim electoral district. After the revolt had been suppressed, three mayoral elections were declared invalid by the government of Baden in 1851/52, because the winner was a "Democrat".
to America
. While in 1848, there were still around 2.800 residents in Schriesheim, by 1858, there were only about 2,700 left. The population then dropped further reaching a low of about 2,650 in 1890. Actually, the very first emigrants to America had already left in 1724. The emigration did not stop until the second half of the 20th century.
Only about 12-15% of the populace survived the Thirty Years War. Only 24 family names from the pre-war period resurfaced after the war ended. From the wealthy milling
family Mack (see also Alexander Mack
), two grown males survived the war. Beyond those, only one other adult male family member survived.
From 1644 until 1648, the town was abandoned and empty. During the decades after the Thirty Years War, many immigrants moved in, among them a lot of Reformed Swiss. By 1698, they constituted just under one-third of the residents.
After the unsuccessful revolution of 1848, the emigration begun in 1724 got so much stronger that the population declined. It was only toward the end of the 19th century that a period of strong growth began which was strengthened further in 1945 and 1946 by the absorption of refugees and displaced persons. Since the end of the 1950s, "refugees from the city" increasingly settled in Schriesheim.
Residents of the area that was defined as Schriesheim; Altenbach und Ursenbach are not included in the figures prior to 1970:
* Green List of Schriesheim
Their term lasts for two years. Members must be between 14 and 19 years of age and live in Schriesheim. The criteria for eligibility are the same as for eligibility to vote, i.e. every person who is eligible to vote is permitted to run for election.
of the "Green List" party) narrowly won with 50,62 percent of the vote over Peter Rosenberger (supported by the CDU, FDP and "Free Constituents" parties) with 49,19 percent. Hansjörg Höfer has been in office since February 1, 2006.
Previous Mayors:
After the Second World War, the mayoral election of 1952 produced a scandal that received notice in the international press (for example, the New York Times
). Back then, Fritz Urban was victorious. Urban, who stemmed from an old Schriesheim family of lawyers, some of whom had previously stood for mayoral office, had back in 1933 become NSDAP-local group leader, then a few days after the seizure of power by the National Socialist Party, had become mayor and had held that office until 1945 when the Occupying Forces reinstalled George Rufer, who had already been mayor from 1920 until 1933. Fritz Urban then was not permitted to take office. The role of mayor was temporarily taken over by Acting Mayor Martin Ringelspacher until new elections took place in 1954.
This coat-of-arms refers back to an official seal from the year 1381. The arrows suggest (i.e. the coat of arms embodies a message) the local dominion of the Strahlenbergers, while the lion stands for the Electoral Palatinate.
The official city flag is yellow and black and was adopted by the community in 1956.
in the Electoral Palatinate. In 1556 the Reformation was launched and after 1560, the Electoral Palatinate adopted Calvinism
, but then under Count Palatine Ludwig VI, it returned to Lutheranism, only to finally end up in the Swiss Reformed Church.
Shortly after the 30-Years War, Schriesheim was pure Reformed
but in the years that followed, Catholics, Lutherans and Jews moved in alongside the Reformed Swiss.
Jews were already resident in Schriesheim during the Middle Ages
, but were driven out of the city during the year of the pestilence
in 1349. Jews were again documented in Schriesheim during the 15th century. In 1644, when the village was abandoned during the Thirty Years War, the Jews also disappeared. It was only in 1651 and 1653 that two Jewish families again settled in Schriesheim. In 1858, the Jewish community reached its peak with 125 members, only to shrink, primarily because of emigration
to the USA and relocation to Frankfurt and Mannheim
. At the start of 1933, only 38 Jews were still living in Schriesheim, almost all of whom had left by 1938. By September 1939, there were no longer any Jews living in Schriesheim. Only four were still living in Europe
at the start of the Second World War. One died a natural death of old age, two others were successful in emigrating to New York
. Only Levi Schlösser fell victim to the Holocaust.
In 1705/1706, Pietistic
community built up around Alexander Mack
, which, in 1708 led to the introduction of adult baptism in this community, which gave them the nicknames, "Dunkers
" and "dippers". Soon, as a result of growing persecution, this community had to flee and eventually emigrated to America where the formed the Church of the Brethren
with its many offshoots, among them the Old German Baptist Brethren
, who speak a language called Pennsylvania Dutch
and which still today carries overtones of the Schriesheimer dialect.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, there were increasing numbers of Pietistic groups in Schriesheim and in 1895, Ludwig Grüber established a Baptist community.
After the Second World War, a New Apostolic Community was formed in Schriesheim.
The construction of the village church, on the site of today's Evangelical Church, probably started in 1243 as coins found near the foundation suggest. In the course of the centuries, this church building had suffered so much damage that by the middle of the 18th century, either it needed an elaborate and expensive renovation or it had to be completely torn down and replaced. A decision was made in favor of the latter; the new church was built between 1748 and 1751.
The Catholic and Lutheran communities, which had gradually reconstituted themselves after the Thirty Years War, each built their own churches after holding simultaneous services in the old parish church for more than a decade. In 1711, the Catholic community, with the generous support of the authorities, built their House of God which remains today the Catholic Church of Schriesheim. This had to be expanded on its northern side shortly before the Second Vatican Council in 1959 in order to accommodate the growing number of Catholics. As a result of this expansion, the original "longboat" church design was converted into a T-shaped design. In 1996/97, the last renovation occurred: the former presbytery became a baptismal chapel featuring an unusual baptismal font with running water and the factory-made glass blocks were replaced by stained-glass windown (thanks to Rosemarie Vollmer).
Between 1708 and 1711, the Lutheran community built a small church in what is today the Lutheran Church Alley. It was to have a checkered history. After the forced merger of the Lutheran community with the Reformers into the Regional Church of Baden, the building was sold to a Jewish resident, Simon Oppenheimer and in 1839, the Jewish community erected a synagogue
in the eastern end of the building. This synagogue was plundered on November 9, 1938—something that only Seligmann Fuld, the last remaining Jew in Schriesheim had to endure. He subsequently moved to America. In 1954, the New Apostolic community built a chapel in the former synagogue.
In 1954, the Baptist
community moved into their own, newly built church in the upper Bahnhofstraße.
The Anna-Elisabeth mine is a silver and sulfate mine that is over 500 years old. It has enjoyed landmark status since 1985; tours are available.
Above Schriesheim lie the historic vineyards of Madonna's mountain with a statue of the Madonna and a sequoia as its emblem.
The Christian-Mayer public observatory offers regular lectures.
Schriesheim has many historic buildings, such as the "Gaber´schen" House, the old town hall with pillories, the "Oil Mill" on the Kanzel stream, and the so-called "Bachschlössel". Since 2001, there is a modern elevated walkway over the Kanzel stream leading from Old Town to the city fairgrounds.
The so-called Roman cellar in the new Town Hall is indeed a Roman cellar with almost completely original walls. The cellar was unearthed in Schriesheim and during construction of the new Town Hall in 1970, was moved there and has been on display there ever since.
are on display in the "Museum Théo Kerg".
, locally also referred to as "Schriesheimerisch" or "Schriesemerisch", is distinguished from the usual features of Electoral Palatinate dialect mainly by the remnants left today of Lambdazismus. This is a dialect in which every "d" between vowels is converted into an "l". Examples that are still often heard today are "Bollem" for "Boden" (floor), "Oulewald" for "Odenwald", "olla" for "oder" (or), and "dann holla" for "dann hat er". Sentences like "gewwe Se ma noch e paa fun denne guule roule Ebbl" that mean "geben Sie mir noch ein paar von diesen guten roten Äpfeln" (give me another pair of these good red apples) could still be heard in the 1970s but are not heard at all today.
Additional examples of the Schriesheim dialect may be found on the German Wikipedia entry for Schriesheim; They are impossible to translate meaningfully into English.
.
State Road 3 passes through the city. The Bundesautobahn 5
passes to the west and provides access to the national highway system.
In order to relieve the pressure on the Valley Road ("Talstraße") into the Odenwald, the relocation of State Road L 536
into the nearly 2 km long Branich tunnel has been planned. The first phase of construction began at the end of 2008.
Schriesheim also has a music school, an adult education center, and a public library.
it
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...
, 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...
, north of Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
on the Bergstrasse ("Mountain Road") and on Bertha Benz Memorial Route
Bertha Benz Memorial Route
The Bertha Benz Memorial Route is a German tourist and theme route in Baden-Württemberg and member of the European Route of Industrial Heritage...
. It has a population of about 15,000, (as of mid-2009. The town's landmark is the Strahlenburg Castle. Locals refer to the town as "Schriese" (phonetically: shree-ze)
Geography
Schriesheim is located on the Bergstrasse at the western end of a valley leading from the Odenwald. A stream known as the "Kanzelbach" flows through it. Its western boundary adjoins the Upper Rhine Valley.Subdivisions
The city of Schriesheim has three subdivisions: Schriesheim proper, Altenbach and Ursenbach. These subdivisions are geographically identical with what were previously townships of the same name. Except for Schriesheim itself, their official names appear in the form, "Schriesheim, Subdivision of …“. At the same time, these subdivisions constitute residential districts, as defined by Baden-Württemberg's Municipal Code. This means that they each have their own village council and municipal administrator overseeing their affairs.[2]The subdivision of Altenbach includes the village of Altenbach, the hamlet of Kohlhof and the Röschbach homestead. The subdivision of Schriesheim includes the town of Schriesheim, the site of the Stam(m)berg retirement community and the houses of the Schriesheim farm. Ursenbach consists of the village of Ursenbach and the Ursenbach farm. In Altenbach, the villages of Ringes und Hohenöd have recently sprung up.[3]
Altenbach is located 7 km east of the main town of Schriesheim in the Odenwald, right at the headwaters of the Kanzelbachs stream, which there is called the Altenbach, the same name as the town (Alten Bach means "old stream"). Similarly, Ursenbach, which is located 3 km northwest of Altenbach and is also in the Odenwald, is named after a stream of the same name which flows into the Altenbach before the latter turns into the Kanzelbach and flows through Schriesheim.
Geology
There is a large porphyry deposit in the area of the Ölberg, which was developed in times past. Likewise, silver was mined in the past along with bariteBarite
Baryte, or barite, is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. The baryte group consists of baryte, celestine, anglesite and anhydrite. Baryte itself is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium...
and iron sulfate
Iron sulfate
Iron sulfate may refer to:*Ferrous sulphate, Iron sulfate, FeSO4*Ferric sulphate, Iron sulfate, Fe23...
in the area of the Branich.
Development of the town
The borders of Schriesheim extend to the north and south as far as the borders of the neighboring towns. This breadth has led local historians to conclude that Schriesheim could, along with LadenburgLadenburg
Ladenburg is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Neckar, 10 km east of Mannheim, and 10 km northwest of Heidelberg.It has an old town from the Late Middle Ages...
, be one of the oldest towns in the area.
Schriesheim's municipal area covers more than 3,162 hectares (12.2 square miles). Of that, 13.1% is devoted to housing and roads, 27.7% is being used for farming, and the remaining 58.6% represents woodland.
Neighboring communities
Schriesheim borders to the west on LadenburgLadenburg
Ladenburg is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Neckar, 10 km east of Mannheim, and 10 km northwest of Heidelberg.It has an old town from the Late Middle Ages...
, to the north on Hirschberg an der Bergstraße
Hirschberg an der Bergstraße
Hirschberg an der Bergstraße is a town in the Rhein-Neckar district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Hirschberg is situated on the Bergstraße on the western rim of the Odenwald. It lies between Weinheim to the north and Schriesheim to the south. Hirschberg consists of two...
, to the northeast on Weinheim
Weinheim
Weinheim is a town in the north west of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany with 43 000 inhabitants, approximately 15 km north of Heidelberg and 10 km northeast of Mannheim. Together with these cities, it makes up the Rhine-Neckar triangle...
, to the east on Heiligkreuzsteinach
Heiligkreuzsteinach
Heiligkreuzsteinach is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
and Wilhelmsfeld
Wilhelmsfeld
Wilhelmsfeld is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis of Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Geography:Wilhelmsfeld is a state-certified climatic health resort in the hills of the southern Odenwald, between 260 and 533m above sea-level...
, to the southeast on Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and to the south on Dossenheim
Dossenheim
Dossenheim is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.It is located on Bergstrasse and Bertha Benz Memorial Route.-Location:...
.
Climate
Schriesheim belongs, as does HeidelbergHeidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, to the warmest part of Germany. The amount of precipitation increases from west to east and ranges between 650 und 800 mm. The nearest weather station, located in Heidelberg, recorded an average temperature of 11.1 °C and average precipitation of 745 mm per year between the years 1971 and 2000. The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 20.1 °C while the coldest month is January with an average temperature of 2.5 °C.
|
A severe winter frost in 1956 destroyed many fruit trees, especially plum
Plum
A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...
trees. Figs have been grown within the borders of the city for many years.
Ancient World
There was probably a settlement at the location of today's town already in Roman times, possibly as an offshoot of the former Roman administrative town of Lopodunum (today LadenburgLadenburg
Ladenburg is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Neckar, 10 km east of Mannheim, and 10 km northwest of Heidelberg.It has an old town from the Late Middle Ages...
). Coin discoveries dating to the years 351/353 are the most recent evidence of Roman life in the region. It was during this time that the great "Migration Period" (Völkerwanderung) took place; it was a time of turmoil, poverty and the quest for salvation.
Early Middle Ages
Schriesheim was mentioned for the first time in 764764
Year 764 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 764 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Empress Shōtoku succeeds Emperor Junnin on the...
in a document of the Cloisters Ellwangen and again in 766
766
Year 766 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 766 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.-Asia:* Karluks, defeat Turgesh...
, in a document of the Cloisters Lorsch in connection with gifts of land ("Frankalmoign"). These documents also formed the basis for the later seignory
Seignory
In English law, Seignory or seigniory , the lordship remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple....
of both cloisters in the area. On the basis of its being named in these docoments and its borders, Schriesheim is to be regarded as one of the first settlements in this area. Already in Roman times, there were Roman villas (villae rusticae
Villa rustica
Villa rustica was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a villa set in the open countryside, often as the hub of a large agricultural estate . The adjective rusticum was used to distinguish it from an urban or resort villa...
) with foundations that have been uncovered in various Schriesheim locations. At the time of the first written mention of Schriesheim, it was a Frankish site.
High Middle Ages
In the 13th Century, Schriesheim had been placed under local rule by the noble Strahlenburg family on the basis of a VogtVogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
eirechten, which led to the construction of the Strahlenburg castle around 1235. The building of the castle was a clear breach of law by the Strahlenburgers, since the land on which the castle was built belonged to the Cloister Ellwangen, whose reeves the Strahlenburgers were. When it came to protecting their rights, cloisters were dependent on the efforts of others since they themselves could not attack militarily. So the abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
obtained an imperial order
Reichsacht
The imperial ban was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by courts like the Vehmgericht or the Reichskammergericht, or by the Reichstag....
from Conrad I through the emperor that eventually led to a compromise. This compromise, agreed to in 1238, appears to have been designed to let Conrad I receive the Strahlenburg as a hereditary fiefdom, but he had to transfer all of his wealth to the cloister in order to get the hereditary fiefdom back. Since at that time feudal law was relatively weak, it would appear that Conrad I was the winner in that negotiation.
Founding of the city
Since ambitious nobles in those days wanted to call not only a castle but also a town their own, Conrad I began to annex a fortified town directly alongside the old village of Schriesheim on the land directly below the castle—land that was now his fiefdom. Both town and castle were integrated into a common defensive plan. There is no known date for the founding of the city but in 1256, the Strahlenbergers were members of the Rhenish Association of Towns. Various evidence places the founding date between 1240 and 1245.After the town's founding, a church was built on the spot where today the Evangelical Church stands. The old village church south of the Bachgasse was abandoned. In addition, a grand village courtyard was established; today, it is called the Strahlenberger Hof. This typical stone house with its nearly two meter high walled gable is, at 700 years, the oldest, still occupied secular building in the region.
After the slow decline of the Strahlenbergers, the Strahlenburg and all sovereignty rights were sold to the Count Palatine in Heidelberg on September 8, 1347. However, Schriesheim retained all rights of a township.
Loss of the rights of a township in 1470
After the death of KingKing
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
Ruprecht in 1410, the Electoral Palatinate was divided up amongst his four sons. At first, Schriesheim belonged to Ruprecht's son, Otto, but in 1448, it was transferred, as part of an exchange of territories, to Otto's brother, Stephan, the Count Palatine of Simmern and Zweibrücken. After the division of this line in 1459, Schriesheim became part of the Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern was one of the collateral lines of the Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach.The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided into four lines after the death of Rupert III in 1410, including the line of Palatinate-Simmern with its capital in Simmern. This line...
line, which was pledged to the knight, Hans von Sickingen for 4.000 guilders. Count Palatine Ludwig von Veldenz-Zweibrücken, however, released Schriesheim again in 1468.
In the course of the Weißenburger feud between Count Palatine
Count palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...
Friedrich I. and Ludwig von Veldenz-Zweibrücken, Friedrich I. undertook a siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
of Schriesheim and the Strahlenburg castle on May 6, 1470. On Sunday, May 13, 1470, first the castle and then the city were taken by storm. The conquerors demanded a bounty
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
of 400 guilders, which had to be raised from the citizens, along with the surrender of all wine stocks under threat that the city would be burned to the ground if these conditions were not met. In addition, various fortifications were razed, towers demolished, the city wall destroyed, and the trenches filled in. Since Schriesheim had never had the blood court jurisdiction, only the market right remained as the last of the three conditions needed to be recognized as a city. Finally, even the market right was rescinded. But the court of the Äpfelbacher Group of 100 was relocated to Schriesheim which from then on became known as the Schriesheim Group of 100. And in 1579, Schriesheim got its market right back, the event which provides the basis for the annual Mathias Market.
Schriesheim During the Thirty Years War
Just before the start of the 30-Years War it had become evident that the privileges of authority rarely worked to the advantage of the people. The marriage of Friedrichs V. to Elisabeth of England brought little glamour to the residents of Schriesheim. Instead, it required them to outfit a carriage for the procession with which Frederick wanted to bring his wife to Heidelberg. The carriage was deployed again in 1619 in order to bring the couple to PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, where Frederick had accepted election as King of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
.
People in Schriesheim suspected that something bad was going to happen and in 1619, they erected a guardhouse on the Branich so that they could spot approaching troops early enough to take action. In 1621, it happened: troops of the Catholic League of 1609 under Tilly were approaching Heidelberg—and thus also Schriesheim—from the North. By November, about 10.000 men had encamped in the Schriesheim-Dossenheim-Ladenburg triangle. Once the battles, which led to the eventual capture of Heidelberg, were over, troops continued to pass through the region. Several young men from the region had been lost in the battles, the townspeople were being pressed hard to finance the war, the area had been plundered and several buildings had been destroyed. The Bavarians had even taken the church bells as booty. Since most people still had reserves at their disposal, the damages soon began to get fixed and normal life returned. The only problem was that the authorities now tried to make the land Catholic again, which forced the pastor to flee.
Alas, marauding troops still marched through the land. In 1625/1626 spotted fever
Spotted fever
A spotted fever is a type of tick-borne disease which presents on the skin.Types include:* Mediterranean spotted fever* Rocky Mountain spotted fever* Queensland tick typhus...
spread and exacted its toll. In 1631, another army approached from the North; this time, it was the Protestant Swedes
Swedes
Swedes are a Scandinavian nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.-Etymology:...
, who camped on a rock outcropping (the Swedish redoubt) with a commanding view over the Rhine valley and the city of Schriesheim. They gradually squeezed the city's residents out. In the middle of September 1631, the Bavarians risked a sortie out of Heidelberg, captured Schriesheim and then pulled back into Heidelberg. Schriesheim was by then a smoking pile of rubble. Most houses and the church had been burned down; only along the Kanzelbach
Kanzelbach
Kanzelbach is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany....
, where water was close at hand, had people been able to save some homes from the flames. Furthermore, soldiers were still marauding through the region.
In 1635, a Pestilence
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
broke out and killed off a significant part of the already weakened populace. This time, it took a while to get reconstruction started. The reserves had been used up and normal life and commerce were impossible. Only the vineyards and the cattle that had been driven into the surrounding forest made survival possible.
Then in 1643, soldiers from the Lorraine came and brought war back into the region again. In 1644, the imperial army arrived and in 1645, it was the French under Turenne. To be sure, there were no more big battles but the completely brutalized soldiers were themselves now the greatest danger. While no specific atrocity occurred in Schriesheim, the fact that after holding out for 25 years, the citizens now gave up the city speaks volumes. The populace hid in the nearby forest or fled to nearby, less damaged locations. On calm days, the survivors came from the neighboring villages in order to harvest the plants that had grown in the wild on the vineyards and fields.
When in 1648, a peace treaty was signed, the scattered survivors returned to the city. Most now had inherited land and damaged homes but they had no livestock, seeds, or building materials. Thus, wherever possible, they sold a little land or a construction site, in order to again get the means to rebuild. Barely 40 families, only 24 of them with old Schriesheim names, had come back. That was less than 20 percent of the population before the Thirty Years War. Only the immigration of a significant number of reformed Swiss allowed the population to increase again more rapidly. Nevertheless, it would still take 100 years before the population reached its former level.
Insurrection in Schriesheim
This history, the immediate proximity of the bishopric in the Roman city of Ladenburg and the belief on the part of the Reformed Church in an environment that would one day again be Catholic resulted in a notoriously truculent attitude on the part of the people toward the authorities. This lasted well into the 19th century.The first tax rebellion began on October 21, 1789. This was put down relatively easily, thanks to concessions on the part of the authorities. But in 1791 and 1794, there was further withholding of taxes. In 1798, there was a "revolt" in Schriesheim against the Count Palatine Nikolaus Lissingolo, who stirred up a lot of trouble, the exact nature of which is not completely understood to this day. Three Schriesheimers, Balthasar Ortlipp, Wendel Müller and Heinrich Riehl wound up being sentenced to two and three years in jail, while nine others received lighter sentences.
In March 1815, there was another public rebellion by the Schriesheimers against the authority which this time, could only be suppressed with the aid of soldiers. During the revolution of 1848/49, the Schriesheimers
again lived up to their reputation and participated prominently in the revolutionary activities. Most of the residents were influenced by Frederick Hecker, who had since 1842 been the elected representative of the Ladenburg-Weinheim electoral district. After the revolt had been suppressed, three mayoral elections were declared invalid by the government of Baden in 1851/52, because the winner was a "Democrat".
Emigration during the second half of the 19th century
After that, the population began to decline because of very strong emigrationEmigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. While in 1848, there were still around 2.800 residents in Schriesheim, by 1858, there were only about 2,700 left. The population then dropped further reaching a low of about 2,650 in 1890. Actually, the very first emigrants to America had already left in 1724. The emigration did not stop until the second half of the 20th century.
20th century
On March 9, 1964, Schriesheim got its right to being called a "city" back. On January 1, 1972, Altenbach was annexed and one year later, on January 1, 1973, it was Ursenbach's turn.Population Statistics
Estimates of the population before the 15th century are not possible. The numbers up until the end of the Thirty Years War are based on an estimate of either the number of households or the number of adult males.Only about 12-15% of the populace survived the Thirty Years War. Only 24 family names from the pre-war period resurfaced after the war ended. From the wealthy milling
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
family Mack (see also Alexander Mack
Alexander Mack
Alexander Mack was one of the founders of the Schwarzenau Brethren.Alexander Mack may refer to:*Alexander Mack , Civil War Medal of Honor recipient*Alex Mack, American football player*Alex Mack...
), two grown males survived the war. Beyond those, only one other adult male family member survived.
From 1644 until 1648, the town was abandoned and empty. During the decades after the Thirty Years War, many immigrants moved in, among them a lot of Reformed Swiss. By 1698, they constituted just under one-third of the residents.
After the unsuccessful revolution of 1848, the emigration begun in 1724 got so much stronger that the population declined. It was only toward the end of the 19th century that a period of strong growth began which was strengthened further in 1945 and 1946 by the absorption of refugees and displaced persons. Since the end of the 1950s, "refugees from the city" increasingly settled in Schriesheim.
Residents of the area that was defined as Schriesheim; Altenbach und Ursenbach are not included in the figures prior to 1970:
|
|
City Council
The city council has 28 members and is elected directly by the populace for 5 year terms. The mayor is a de facto member of the council and its head. Since the 2004 election, the distribution of seats is as follows:| CDU | GL* | FW | SPD | FDP | Gesamt |
| 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 28 |
Youth City Council
Since 2001, there has also been a Youth City Council in Schriesheim which consists of 12 young people from Schriesheim.Their term lasts for two years. Members must be between 14 and 19 years of age and live in Schriesheim. The criteria for eligibility are the same as for eligibility to vote, i.e. every person who is eligible to vote is permitted to run for election.
Mayor
The mayor is chosen by direct ballot for a term of 8 years. In the run-off election at the end of 2005, Hansjörg Höfer (aldermanAlderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
of the "Green List" party) narrowly won with 50,62 percent of the vote over Peter Rosenberger (supported by the CDU, FDP and "Free Constituents" parties) with 49,19 percent. Hansjörg Höfer has been in office since February 1, 2006.
Previous Mayors:
After the Second World War, the mayoral election of 1952 produced a scandal that received notice in the international press (for example, the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
). Back then, Fritz Urban was victorious. Urban, who stemmed from an old Schriesheim family of lawyers, some of whom had previously stood for mayoral office, had back in 1933 become NSDAP-local group leader, then a few days after the seizure of power by the National Socialist Party, had become mayor and had held that office until 1945 when the Occupying Forces reinstalled George Rufer, who had already been mayor from 1920 until 1933. Fritz Urban then was not permitted to take office. The role of mayor was temporarily taken over by Acting Mayor Martin Ringelspacher until new elections took place in 1954.
| Wilhelm Heeger | 1 February 1954 until 31 January 1974 |
| Peter Riehl | 1 February 1974 until 31 January 2006 |
| Hansjörg Höfer | since 1 February 2006 |
Coat of arms
On the black background of the coat-of-arms is emblazoned a golden lion, with red claws, a red tongue, and a red crown, standing on two crossed arrows, one red and one silver.'This coat-of-arms refers back to an official seal from the year 1381. The arrows suggest (i.e. the coat of arms embodies a message) the local dominion of the Strahlenbergers, while the lion stands for the Electoral Palatinate.
The official city flag is yellow and black and was adopted by the community in 1956.
Religion
In the 16th century, Schriesheim experienced the checkered history of the ReformationProtestant Reformation
The 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...
in the Electoral Palatinate. In 1556 the Reformation was launched and after 1560, the Electoral Palatinate adopted Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, but then under Count Palatine Ludwig VI, it returned to Lutheranism, only to finally end up in the Swiss Reformed Church.
Shortly after the 30-Years War, Schriesheim was pure Reformed
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
but in the years that followed, Catholics, Lutherans and Jews moved in alongside the Reformed Swiss.
Jews were already resident in Schriesheim during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, but were driven out of the city during the year of the pestilence
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
in 1349. Jews were again documented in Schriesheim during the 15th century. In 1644, when the village was abandoned during the Thirty Years War, the Jews also disappeared. It was only in 1651 and 1653 that two Jewish families again settled in Schriesheim. In 1858, the Jewish community reached its peak with 125 members, only to shrink, primarily because of emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to the USA and relocation to Frankfurt and Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
. At the start of 1933, only 38 Jews were still living in Schriesheim, almost all of whom had left by 1938. By September 1939, there were no longer any Jews living in Schriesheim. Only four were still living in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
at the start of the Second World War. One died a natural death of old age, two others were successful in emigrating to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Only Levi Schlösser fell victim to the Holocaust.
In 1705/1706, Pietistic
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
community built up around Alexander Mack
Alexander Mack
Alexander Mack was one of the founders of the Schwarzenau Brethren.Alexander Mack may refer to:*Alexander Mack , Civil War Medal of Honor recipient*Alex Mack, American football player*Alex Mack...
, which, in 1708 led to the introduction of adult baptism in this community, which gave them the nicknames, "Dunkers
Dunkers
Dunker may refer to*Conradine Birgitte Dunker , Norwegian socialite and writer*Gösta Dunker , Swedish footballer*Jens Gram Dunker , Norwegian architect*Oļģerts Dunkers , Latvian actor and film director...
" and "dippers". Soon, as a result of growing persecution, this community had to flee and eventually emigrated to America where the formed the Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination originating from the Schwarzenau Brethren organized in 1708 by eight persons led by Alexander Mack, in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany. The Brethren movement began as a melding of Radical Pietist and Anabaptist ideas during the...
with its many offshoots, among them the Old German Baptist Brethren
Old German Baptist Brethren
Old German Baptist Brethren descend from a pietist movement in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708, when Alexander Mack founded a fellowship with seven other believers. They are one of several Brethren groups that trace themselves to that original founding body...
, who speak a language called Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
and which still today carries overtones of the Schriesheimer dialect.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, there were increasing numbers of Pietistic groups in Schriesheim and in 1895, Ludwig Grüber established a Baptist community.
After the Second World War, a New Apostolic Community was formed in Schriesheim.
Sacred buildings
Until near the end of the 18th century, the village linden tree stood next to the former village church in the triangle formed by the Bachgasse, Talstrasse and Schmaler Seite on the west side of town. It stood alongside the Gaul Bridge over the Kanzelbach in the original heart of the village. Schriesheim's patron saint during the Middle Ages was St. Vitus, after whom the old village church was named. There is nothing left of this old village church.The construction of the village church, on the site of today's Evangelical Church, probably started in 1243 as coins found near the foundation suggest. In the course of the centuries, this church building had suffered so much damage that by the middle of the 18th century, either it needed an elaborate and expensive renovation or it had to be completely torn down and replaced. A decision was made in favor of the latter; the new church was built between 1748 and 1751.
The Catholic and Lutheran communities, which had gradually reconstituted themselves after the Thirty Years War, each built their own churches after holding simultaneous services in the old parish church for more than a decade. In 1711, the Catholic community, with the generous support of the authorities, built their House of God which remains today the Catholic Church of Schriesheim. This had to be expanded on its northern side shortly before the Second Vatican Council in 1959 in order to accommodate the growing number of Catholics. As a result of this expansion, the original "longboat" church design was converted into a T-shaped design. In 1996/97, the last renovation occurred: the former presbytery became a baptismal chapel featuring an unusual baptismal font with running water and the factory-made glass blocks were replaced by stained-glass windown (thanks to Rosemarie Vollmer).
Between 1708 and 1711, the Lutheran community built a small church in what is today the Lutheran Church Alley. It was to have a checkered history. After the forced merger of the Lutheran community with the Reformers into the Regional Church of Baden, the building was sold to a Jewish resident, Simon Oppenheimer and in 1839, the Jewish community erected a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in the eastern end of the building. This synagogue was plundered on November 9, 1938—something that only Seligmann Fuld, the last remaining Jew in Schriesheim had to endure. He subsequently moved to America. In 1954, the New Apostolic community built a chapel in the former synagogue.
In 1954, the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
community moved into their own, newly built church in the upper Bahnhofstraße.
Sights Worth a Visit
The ruins of the Strahlenburg castle, built in the 13th century. There is also an inn and restaurant there.The Anna-Elisabeth mine is a silver and sulfate mine that is over 500 years old. It has enjoyed landmark status since 1985; tours are available.
Above Schriesheim lie the historic vineyards of Madonna's mountain with a statue of the Madonna and a sequoia as its emblem.
The Christian-Mayer public observatory offers regular lectures.
Schriesheim has many historic buildings, such as the "Gaber´schen" House, the old town hall with pillories, the "Oil Mill" on the Kanzel stream, and the so-called "Bachschlössel". Since 2001, there is a modern elevated walkway over the Kanzel stream leading from Old Town to the city fairgrounds.
The so-called Roman cellar in the new Town Hall is indeed a Roman cellar with almost completely original walls. The cellar was unearthed in Schriesheim and during construction of the new Town Hall in 1970, was moved there and has been on display there ever since.
Museums
The works of the Luxembourg painter and sculptor, Théo KergThéo Kerg
Théo Kerg was a Luxembourg painter and sculptor who specialized in modern art.-Life:Born to schoolmaster in Niederkorn, in south-western Luxembourg, Théo Kerg attended school in Esch-sur-Alzette. He moved to Paris, France, in 1929 to study at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, the...
are on display in the "Museum Théo Kerg".
Sport
Above Schriesheim near the Strahlenburg, there is an old stone quarry that offers many and varied opportunities for amateur rock climbers.Regular Events
Schriesheim is a wine city and in March of every year since 1579, it sponsors the first wine festival of the season, the 8-day-long Matthias Market.The Schriesheim Dialect
The Schriesheim dialectDialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
, locally also referred to as "Schriesheimerisch" or "Schriesemerisch", is distinguished from the usual features of Electoral Palatinate dialect mainly by the remnants left today of Lambdazismus. This is a dialect in which every "d" between vowels is converted into an "l". Examples that are still often heard today are "Bollem" for "Boden" (floor), "Oulewald" for "Odenwald", "olla" for "oder" (or), and "dann holla" for "dann hat er". Sentences like "gewwe Se ma noch e paa fun denne guule roule Ebbl" that mean "geben Sie mir noch ein paar von diesen guten roten Äpfeln" (give me another pair of these good red apples) could still be heard in the 1970s but are not heard at all today.
Additional examples of the Schriesheim dialect may be found on the German Wikipedia entry for Schriesheim; They are impossible to translate meaningfully into English.
Commerce
The Upper Rhine Valley Railroad, which has since 2005 been operated by the RNV, passes through Schriesheim. It is part of the fare district of the Verkehrsverbunds Rhein-NeckarVerkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar
Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar is a public transport network covering parts of the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in south-west Germany...
.
State Road 3 passes through the city. The Bundesautobahn 5
Bundesautobahn 5
is a 445 km long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the...
passes to the west and provides access to the national highway system.
In order to relieve the pressure on the Valley Road ("Talstraße") into the Odenwald, the relocation of State Road L 536
Landesstraße
Landesstraßen are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads that cross the boundary of a rural or urban district...
into the nearly 2 km long Branich tunnel has been planned. The first phase of construction began at the end of 2008.
Education
There is a primary school in Altenbach. Schriesheim has the Strahlenberg primary school and the school center of the Electoral Palatinate which consists of primary and secondary schools, the latter having an extension program leading to a diploma, a junior high school, an academic high school and the private Heinrich-Sigmund Academic High School.Schriesheim also has a music school, an adult education center, and a public library.
Famous residents
- Alexander MackAlexander MackAlexander Mack was one of the founders of the Schwarzenau Brethren.Alexander Mack may refer to:*Alexander Mack , Civil War Medal of Honor recipient*Alex Mack, American football player*Alex Mack...
(1679–1735), Pietist - Alfred Herbst (?-1943) Baptist pacifist and opponent of Hitler, murdered at Brandenburg-Görden
- Hasso PlattnerHasso PlattnerHasso Plattner is a cofounder of software giant SAP AG. Today he is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SAP AG.- Biography :Hasso Plattner is a German entrepreneur...
(* 1944), Entrepreneur - Reiner Kröhnert (* 1958), Cabaret artist
Honored Citizens
- 1993: Peter Hartmann, longtime alderman of the Free Elector party and acting mayor
- 2006: Peter Riehl, Mayor 1974–2006
it
Literature
- Hans Huth: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Landkreises Mannheim: Ohne Stadt Schwetzingen. München 1967
- Staatl. Archivverwaltung Baden-Württemberg in Verbindung mit d. Städten u.d. Landkreisen Heidelberg u. Mannheim (Hrsg.): Die Stadt- und die Landkreise Heidelberg und Mannheim: Amtliche Kreisbeschreibung.
- Bd 1: Allgemeiner Teil. Karlsruhe 1966
- Bd 3: Die Stadt Mannheim und die Gemeinden des Landkreises Mannheim. Karlsruhe 1970
- Hermann Brunn: 1200 Jahre Schriesheim. Südwestdeutsche Verlagsanstalt, Mannheim, 1964. Zum Stadtjubiläum 1964 erschienenes, bis heute gültiges Standardwerk für die Zeit bis zum 1200-jährigen Jubiläum.
- Eugen Herwig: Schriesheim. Ansichten und Pläne aus einer 400jährigen Vergangenheit 1528–1898. Schriesheim 1987.
- Eugen Herwig, Karl Schuhmann: Schriesemerisch fer Schriesemer. Eine Mundart-Sammlung mit bebilderten und heimatkundlichen Beiträgen. Schriesheim 1994.
- Hans Hecklau: Die Gliederung der Kulturlandschaft im Gebiet von Schriesheim – Bergstraße. Ein Beitrag zur Methodik der Kulturlandschaftsforschung. Berlin 1964.
- Karl Kollnig: Die Zent Schriesheim. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Zentverfassung in Kurpfalz. Heidelberg 1933.
- Peter Löffelad: Die Flurnamen der Stadt Schriesheim mit Altenbach und Ursenbach. Ellwangen 2004.
- Konstantin Groß: Vom Silvaner zum Schriesecco. Zum 75. Jubiläum der Winzergenossenschaft Schriesheim. Grall, Mannheim 2006. ISBN 3-9810851-0-8.
- Konstantin Groß: Fit für die Zukunft. 100 Jahre KSV Schriesheim. Mit einem Vorwort von Bundeskanzler Gerhard SchröderGerhard SchröderGerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
. Mannheim 2003. ISBN 3-9806908-8-1. - Evangelische Gemeinde Schrießheim: 400 Jahre Evangelische Gemeinde Schriesheim. 1556–1956. Schrießheim 1956.
- Zur Geschichte der Juden in Schriesheim: Schriesheimer Jahrbücher 2002/2003/2004/2005, hrsg. vom Stadtarchiv Schriesheim.
- Hermann Brunn: Die Bevölkerungsentwicklung Schriesheims. 1951.
- Hermann Brunn: Schriesheimer Mühlen. Schriesheim 1947.
- Karl Schuhmann: Familienbuch Schriesheim 16501900. Schriesheim 2004.
- Wilhelm Heeger: Geistergeschichten und Sagen aus Schriesheim und Umgebung. Schriesheim 1977.
External links
External links
- Official site of Schriesheim (in German)
- Schriesheim, Germany, celebrates the grape, article in Stars and StripesStars and Stripes (newspaper)Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...