Alzenau
Encyclopedia
Alzenau is a town in the north of the Aschaffenburg district
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Lower Franconia
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
, Germany
. The epithet “in Unterfranken” (“in Lower Franconia”), now dropped, was to distinguish it from another Alzenau since 1945 no longer in Germany. That place, now called Olszanka, is in Opole Voivodeship in Silesia
, which since the Potsdam Agreement
has been in Poland
. Until 1 July 1972, Alzenau was the district seat of the now abolished district of the same name.
. Most of its constituent communities nestle on or between the slopes of the western outliers of the Spessart
with its Hahnenkamm (437 m above sea level
). With roughly 2 600 ha of woodland and 85 ha of vineyards, one may rightly speak of the Stadt im Grünen (“Town in the Green”). Nevertheless, it is only a short drive on the A 45
or trainride on the Kahlgrundbahn to Aschaffenburg
, Hanau
or Frankfurt am Main
.
and Freigericht
, in the east and southeast on the communities of Mömbris
and Johannesberg
, in the southwest on the community of Karlstein
and in the west on the community of Kahl am Main
.
On 1 January 1972, Kälberau was amalgamated into Alzenau. Albstadt and Wasserlos followed on 1 July that same year, as likewise did Hörstein and Michelbach three years to the day later, on 1 July 1975.
(Iron Age
), graves from the Beaker culture
(2600 BC) and crematory graves from the Old Urnfield times
(about 1000 BC)
In 950 the community of Wilmundsheim on the Kahl’s left bank had its first documentary mention.
In the 12th century, the Freigericht (“Free Court”) was established by Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa
comprising the settlements of Wildmundsheim, Hörstein, Mömbris and Somborn and it was excused taxes and obligatory service
. The twigs in the town’s coat of arms symbolize this heritage. The Märker, as the townsmen sometimes called themselves, had to defend their autonomy against local noble families’ ambitions; these included the Rannenbergs and the Rienecks, and further worries came from the Archbishops of Mainz
.
These last built Alzenau Castle (Burg Alzenau) on the Kahl’s right bank, across from Wilmundsheim, between 1395 and 1399 to protect their local holdings. In 1401, the settlement below this castle was granted town and market rights by King Ruprecht of the Palatinate
, although these could not be realized. A few years later, the old centre of Wilmundsheim was destroyed and it was melded with the settlement across the Kahl, whereupon it also took the castle’s name.
In the course of striving for Imperial
reform, Emperor Maximilian I
enfeoffed both the Archbishopric of Mainz
and the Counts of Hanau in 1500 with the joint lordship over the free court, for which the two fiefholders were together to appoint the Amtmann (roughly “bailiff”). Conflicts arose from the inhabitants’ insistence on their ancestral freedoms and the denominational antagonism between the Calvinist
Counts of Hanau on the one side and the Catholic population and the Archbishop on the other.
The condominium
lasted until the Counts of Hanau died out in 1736. The Archbishop of Mainz then took over the free court as its only surviving lord, but in 1740 had to cede the Amt of Somborn to the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel, who were the Hanau Counts’ heirs, after a fierce legal battle. What was thereafter left of the free court was incorporated as the Amt of Alzenau into the Archbishopric of Mainz
. The Wheel of Mainz
in the town’s arms still recalls this time today.
The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 awarded the Amt of Alzenau to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, whose thirteen-year rule, however, was locally hardly even noticed. In 1816, the Grand Duchy of Hesse
ceded the Amt to Bavaria, to which it has belonged ever since.
In 1862, Alzenau was raised to district seat. With the building of the Kahlgrundbahn (railway), the community – and thereby the whole Kahlgrund (the countryside along the river Kahl) – was linked to the railway network as of 1898. In 1951, Alzenau was granted town rights by the Free State of Bavaria.
In the course of municipal reform, the old Alzenau and Aschaffenburg districts were merged in 1972. The communities of Albstadt, Kälberau and Wasserlos were amalgamated. In the end, Alzenau took its current shape when the market community of Hörstein and the community of Michelbach were amalgamated in 1975.
might be described thus: Gules a wheel spoked of six argent, in base two twigs Or per saltire.
The German blazon reads “In Rot über zwei gekreuzten goldenen Zweigen ein sechsspeichiges silbernes Rad”. This describes the twigs as “golden”, although they are rendered here in silver.
Until the 15th century, Alzenau was known as Wilmundsheim. When the Archbishop of Mainz built a castle on the other side of the Kahl, the name was changed to Alzenau, likely because the place lay allzu nahe (“all too near”) the castle. In 1401, King Ruprecht raised Alzenau to town, but the town never exercised its rights (until 1951) and remained a market community. From 1309 comes the first documentary record. The contents of this document deal with the Freigericht (“Free Court”) with four court regions, the so-called Hohe Mark. Since the first half of the 13th century the royal hunting forest had been owned by the Archbishopric of Mainz. In 1395, the whole market community passed to the Archbishopric. This part of Alzenau’s history is recalled by the six-spoked wheel – the so-called Wheel of Mainz
– which was a charge
borne by the Archbishops in their arms. The two twigs refer to the court officials who were chosen from among the townsmen to be on the court.
The arms have been borne since 1926.
, North Brabant
, Netherlands
Pfaffstätten
, Lower Austria
, Austria
Thaon-les-Vosges
, Vosges
, France
The town also distinguishes itself with an unusually high number of resident businesses, most of which stem from high tech
nology fields. In 1999, Alzenau was recognized as an “Economy-Friendly Community” with a special award from the Bavarian Minister of State for Economy, Transport and Technology.
and forestry
. In 1999 there were 82 agricultural businesses with a cultivated area of 1 429 ha, of which 1 096 ha was cropland and 257 ha was meadowland.
In the outlying centres of Michelbach, Wasserlos and Hörstein, Frankenwein
(Franconian wine) is grown. In Albstadt, too, there was winegrowing until the late 19th century, as witnessed by the Gemarkung (traditional rural cadastral area) of Wingertsberg. Winegrowing was brought to Alzenau by the monks from the monastery in Seligenstadt
. All in all, though, agriculture and forestry have lost importance for the community.
s on the A 45
(Dortmund
–Aschaffenburg
), the newest being the Alzenau-Mitte interchange opened on 23 November 2007, after many years in planning, joining the linking road between Alzenau and Kahl to the Autobahn, thereby affording an even better link to the industrial areas in Alzenau and Kahl.
The Kahlgrundbahn (railway) links the town with Kahl am Main
and Hanau
railway stations, where there are direct connections with the S-Bahn
to Frankfurt am Main
and long-distance trains.
The individual centres in the town are served by the City-Bus lines. One route runs hourly from Alzenau by way of Wasserlos and Hörstein as a regional bus on to Karlstein
and to Dettingen railway station, where travellers can transfer to regional trains to Aschaffenburg
and Würzburg
. These are respectively the district seat (even though it is not in the district) and the Regierungsbezirk
seat.
Frankfurt Airport
with its worldwide connections can be reached by car within 30 or 40 minutes.
s, and in some also football pitches, basketball
hoops and skating facilities. In summer, the Waldschwimmbad (“Forest Swimming Pool”) and the Meerhofsee (lake) are open. Furthermore, the pool at the Edith-Stein-Realschule is open to the public a few evenings each week. The bodies of water that arose from the former brown coal works on the Kahler Seenplatte (“Kahl Lake Plateau”) lie nearby, from 5 to 10 km away.
The football club, FC Bayern Alzenau
, is based in Alzenau.
between 2000 and 2003. On these routes, noteworthy destinations are signposted and documented. Exaples include the following:
The town’s population is overwhelmingly Catholic.
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...
. The epithet “in Unterfranken” (“in Lower Franconia”), now dropped, was to distinguish it from another Alzenau since 1945 no longer in Germany. That place, now called Olszanka, is in Opole Voivodeship in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, which since the Potsdam Agreement
Potsdam Agreement
The Potsdam Agreement was the Allied plan of tripartite military occupation and reconstruction of Germany—referring to the German Reich with its pre-war 1937 borders including the former eastern territories—and the entire European Theatre of War territory...
has been in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Until 1 July 1972, Alzenau was the district seat of the now abolished district of the same name.
Location
Alzenau is one of the eastern outliers of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region and is crossed by the river KahlKahl (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...
. Most of its constituent communities nestle on or between the slopes of the western outliers of the Spessart
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....
with its Hahnenkamm (437 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...
). With roughly 2 600 ha of woodland and 85 ha of vineyards, one may rightly speak of the Stadt im Grünen (“Town in the Green”). Nevertheless, it is only a short drive on the A 45
Bundesautobahn 45
is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Dortmund in the west with Aschaffenburg in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen and Siegen. Many people think of...
or trainride on the Kahlgrundbahn to Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
, Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
or Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
Neighbouring communities
Alzenau borders in the north on the communities of RodenbachRodenbach
Rodenbach was a brewery and a brewing family from Roeselare, Belgium. The brewery is now owned by Palm Breweries. It is noted for its production of barrel-aged sour beers in the Flemish tradition.-Brewery:...
and Freigericht
Freigericht
Freigericht is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 15 km east of Hanau, close to the Frankfurt Rhein-Main region at the foothills of the Spessart, directly at the Hesse-Bavaria border...
, in the east and southeast on the communities of Mömbris
Mömbris
Mömbris is a community – since 31 January 1964 a market community – in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia 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 ...
and Johannesberg
Johannesberg
Johannesberg may refer to:* Johannesberg, Bavaria, Germany* Jánský vrch, a castle in the Czech Republic, known as Johannesberg in German- See also :* Johannesburg * Johannisburg, a town in East Prussia, now called Pisz...
, in the southwest on the community of Karlstein
Karlstein am Main
Karlstein am Main is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.-Location:...
and in the west on the community of Kahl am Main
Kahl am Main
Kahl am Main is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
.
Constituent communities
Alzenau’s Stadtteile are Albstadt, Alzenau, Hörstein, Kälberau, Michelbach and Wasserlos.On 1 January 1972, Kälberau was amalgamated into Alzenau. Albstadt and Wasserlos followed on 1 July that same year, as likewise did Hörstein and Michelbach three years to the day later, on 1 July 1975.
History
The area was settled quite early on. There are traces of settlement and graves from Hallstatt timesHallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
(Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
), graves from the Beaker culture
Beaker culture
The Bell-Beaker culture , ca. 2400 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age...
(2600 BC) and crematory graves from the Old Urnfield times
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields...
(about 1000 BC)
In 950 the community of Wilmundsheim on the Kahl’s left bank had its first documentary mention.
In the 12th century, the Freigericht (“Free Court”) was established by Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
comprising the settlements of Wildmundsheim, Hörstein, Mömbris and Somborn and it was excused taxes and obligatory service
Socage
Socage was one of the feudal duties and hence land tenure forms in the feudal system. A farmer, for example, held the land in exchange for a clearly defined, fixed payment to be made at specified intervals to his feudal lord, who in turn had his own feudal obligations, to the farmer and to the Crown...
. The twigs in the town’s coat of arms symbolize this heritage. The Märker, as the townsmen sometimes called themselves, had to defend their autonomy against local noble families’ ambitions; these included the Rannenbergs and the Rienecks, and further worries came from the Archbishops of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
.
These last built Alzenau Castle (Burg Alzenau) on the Kahl’s right bank, across from Wilmundsheim, between 1395 and 1399 to protect their local holdings. In 1401, the settlement below this castle was granted town and market rights by King Ruprecht of the Palatinate
Rupert of Germany
Rupert of Germany from the House of Wittelsbach was Elector Palatine from 1398 and German King from 1400 until his death...
, although these could not be realized. A few years later, the old centre of Wilmundsheim was destroyed and it was melded with the settlement across the Kahl, whereupon it also took the castle’s name.
In the course of striving for Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
reform, Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
enfeoffed both 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...
and the Counts of Hanau in 1500 with the joint lordship over the free court, for which the two fiefholders were together to appoint the Amtmann (roughly “bailiff”). Conflicts arose from the inhabitants’ insistence on their ancestral freedoms and the denominational antagonism between the Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
Counts of Hanau on the one side and the Catholic population and the Archbishop on the other.
The condominium
Condominium (international law)
In international law, a condominium is a political territory in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.Although a condominium has always been...
lasted until the Counts of Hanau died out in 1736. The Archbishop of Mainz then took over the free court as its only surviving lord, but in 1740 had to cede the Amt of Somborn to the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel, who were the Hanau Counts’ heirs, after a fierce legal battle. What was thereafter left of the free court was incorporated as the Amt of Alzenau into 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...
. The 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...
in the town’s arms still recalls this time today.
The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 awarded the Amt of Alzenau to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, whose thirteen-year rule, however, was locally hardly even noticed. In 1816, the Grand Duchy of Hesse
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
ceded the Amt to Bavaria, to which it has belonged ever since.
In 1862, Alzenau was raised to district seat. With the building of the Kahlgrundbahn (railway), the community – and thereby the whole Kahlgrund (the countryside along the river Kahl) – was linked to the railway network as of 1898. In 1951, Alzenau was granted town rights by the Free State of Bavaria.
In the course of municipal reform, the old Alzenau and Aschaffenburg districts were merged in 1972. The communities of Albstadt, Kälberau and Wasserlos were amalgamated. In the end, Alzenau took its current shape when the market community of Hörstein and the community of Michelbach were amalgamated in 1975.
Landräte (“Chief District Administrators”) of the former Alzenau district
- 1946–1949 Friedrich Huth
- 1950–1970 Heinrich Degen
- 1970–1972 Karl Lautenschläger
Town council
Alzenau’s town council has 24 seats.| Alzenau town council elections | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Voter turnout | 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... | FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... | Grüne | FW/PWG | KL |
| 03.03.2002 | 58.4% | 12 seats | 6 seats | 2 seats | 2 seats | 2 seats | – |
| 02.03.2008 | 58.8% | 11 seats | 5 seats | 2 seats | 3 seats | 2 seats | 1 seat |
Coat of arms
The town’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 wheel spoked of six argent, in base two twigs Or per saltire.
The German blazon reads “In Rot über zwei gekreuzten goldenen Zweigen ein sechsspeichiges silbernes Rad”. This describes the twigs as “golden”, although they are rendered here in silver.
Until the 15th century, Alzenau was known as Wilmundsheim. When the Archbishop of Mainz built a castle on the other side of the Kahl, the name was changed to Alzenau, likely because the place lay allzu nahe (“all too near”) the castle. In 1401, King Ruprecht raised Alzenau to town, but the town never exercised its rights (until 1951) and remained a market community. From 1309 comes the first documentary record. The contents of this document deal with the Freigericht (“Free Court”) with four court regions, the so-called Hohe Mark. Since the first half of the 13th century the royal hunting forest had been owned by the Archbishopric of Mainz. In 1395, the whole market community passed to the Archbishopric. This part of Alzenau’s history is recalled by the six-spoked wheel – the so-called 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...
– which was a charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
borne by the Archbishops in their arms. The two twigs refer to the court officials who were chosen from among the townsmen to be on the court.
The arms have been borne since 1926.
Town partnerships
Sint-OedenrodeSint-Oedenrode
Sint-Oedenrode is a municipality and a city in the South of the Netherlands.-History of the city of Sint-Oedenrode:First records of the settlement called Rhode date from the year 500. Sint-Oedenrode was a small settlement on an elevated place near the river Dommel...
, North Brabant
North Brabant
North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Pfaffstätten
Pfaffstätten
Pfaffstätten is a town in the district of Baden in Lower Austria in Austria.At the heart of the town is the Lilienfelderhof, a so-called monastic grange, owned by Lilienfeld Abbey but leased to the Kartause Gaming Private Foundation for 99 years, until 2105...
, Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , 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...
Thaon-les-Vosges
Thaon-les-Vosges
Thaon-les-Vosges is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.-External links:*...
, Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
, 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...
Economy and infrastructure
High tech
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology...
nology fields. In 1999, Alzenau was recognized as an “Economy-Friendly Community” with a special award from the Bavarian Minister of State for Economy, Transport and Technology.
Agriculture, forestry, winegrowing
In 1998 there were 62 people contributors to the social welfare funds employed in agricultureAgriculture
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...
and 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...
. In 1999 there were 82 agricultural businesses with a cultivated area of 1 429 ha, of which 1 096 ha was cropland and 257 ha was meadowland.
In the outlying centres of Michelbach, Wasserlos and Hörstein, Frankenwein
Franconia (wine region)
Franconia is a region for quality wine in Germany situated in the north west of Bavaria in the district of Franconia, and is the only wine region in the federal state of Bavaria...
(Franconian wine) is grown. In Albstadt, too, there was winegrowing until the late 19th century, as witnessed by the Gemarkung (traditional rural cadastral area) of Wingertsberg. Winegrowing was brought to Alzenau by the monks from the monastery in Seligenstadt
Seligenstadt
Seligenstadt is a town in the Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Seligenstadt is one of Germany’s oldest towns and was already of great importance in Carolingian times.-Location:...
. All in all, though, agriculture and forestry have lost importance for the community.
Transport
Alzenau currently has three interchangeInterchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
s on the A 45
Bundesautobahn 45
is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Dortmund in the west with Aschaffenburg in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen and Siegen. Many people think of...
(Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
–Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
), the newest being the Alzenau-Mitte interchange opened on 23 November 2007, after many years in planning, joining the linking road between Alzenau and Kahl to the Autobahn, thereby affording an even better link to the industrial areas in Alzenau and Kahl.
The Kahlgrundbahn (railway) links the town with Kahl am Main
Kahl am Main
Kahl am Main is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
and Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
railway stations, where there are direct connections with the S-Bahn
Rhine-Main S-Bahn
The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter transport system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt...
to Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and long-distance trains.
The individual centres in the town are served by the City-Bus lines. One route runs hourly from Alzenau by way of Wasserlos and Hörstein as a regional bus on to Karlstein
Karlstein am Main
Karlstein am Main is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.-Location:...
and to Dettingen railway station, where travellers can transfer to regional trains to Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
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....
. These are respectively the district seat (even though it is not in the district) and 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...
seat.
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...
with its worldwide connections can be reached by car within 30 or 40 minutes.
Established businesses
What follows is a selection of businesses resident in Alzenau:- [Alexander Shorokhoff GmbH]
- ABBAsea Brown BoveriABB is a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, and best known for its robotics. ABB operates mainly in the power and automation technology areas. It ranked 143rd in Forbes Ranking ....
Automation Products - Applied MaterialsApplied MaterialsApplied Materials, Inc. is a capital equipment producer serving the semiconductor, TFT LCD display, Glass, WEB and solar manufacturing industries....
GmbH - Biotest Medizintechnik
- Leybold Optics GmbH
- Mahle GmbHMahle GmbHMahle GmbH is one of the 30 largest automotive suppliers worldwide. As the leading manufacturer of components and systems for combustion engines and its periphery, the Mahle Group is among the top three systems suppliers worldwide for piston systems, cylinder components, valve train systems, air...
- MSC SoftwareMSC Software-History:MSC.Software Corporation was formed in 1963 under the name MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation . The company developed its first structural analysis software called SADSAM at that time, and was deeply involved in the early efforts of the aerospace industry to improve early finite element...
- NukemNukemNukem GmbH, together with its subsidiary Nukem Inc., markets nuclear fuel components and speciality products utilities worldwide. Since the 1970s, Nukem has transitioned from playing a modest role in uranium brokerage to becoming one of the world's largest intermediaries in the international...
- Schott Solar AG
- XellaXellaXella is an international building materials firm based in Duisburg, Germany, operating in ca. 20 countries. The company is active in three business segments: Building Materials, Raw Materials and Dry Lining....
- Nikon Metrology Europe NV
Sport and leisure facilities
In each constituent community are found halls and sporting grounds for the many sport clubs. Available in each constituent community are playgroundPlayground
A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...
s, and in some also football pitches, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
hoops and skating facilities. In summer, the Waldschwimmbad (“Forest Swimming Pool”) and the Meerhofsee (lake) are open. Furthermore, the pool at the Edith-Stein-Realschule is open to the public a few evenings each week. The bodies of water that arose from the former brown coal works on the Kahler Seenplatte (“Kahl Lake Plateau”) lie nearby, from 5 to 10 km away.
The football club, FC Bayern Alzenau
FC Bayern Alzenau
FC Bayern Alzenau is a German football club based in Alzenau, Bavaria.-History:The club was initially formed as Alzenauer Fußball Club and joined gymnastics club Turn- und Sport Alzenau as that club's football department on 16 September 1922 before again becoming independent in 1923 as FC Bayern...
, is based in Alzenau.
Administrative institutions and authorities
- Aschaffenburg AmtsgerichtAmtsgerichtAmtsgericht is German for Local District Court, situated in Germany in almost every larger capital of a rural district.It mainly acts in Civil and Criminal law affairs. It forms the lowest level of the so-called ordinary jurisdiction of the German judiciary , which is responsible for most criminal...
, Alzenau branch court - Alzenau town administration
- Alzenau police force
- Aschaffenburg district administration office, Alzenau branch location and registration office
- Federal Agency for Technical ReliefTechnisches HilfswerkThe Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government...
, Alzenau chapter
Educational institutions
In 1999, the following institutions existed:- 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: 764 places with 705 children - Elementary schoolElementary schoolAn elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s: 4 with 81 teachers and 1432 students - RealschuleRealschuleThe Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
n: 1 with 45 teachers and 1000 students - Hahnenkammschule zur Lernförderung (special education)
- Spessart-Gymnasium AlzenauSpessart-Gymnasium AlzenauThe Spessart-Gymnasium Alzenau is a gymnasium in Alzenau, Bavaria. It is named after the Spessart, a wooded range of hills which stretches about 60 kilometers east of the town....
with roughly 1500 students - Städtische Musikschule Alzenau (municipal music school)
- Städtische Bibliothek Alzenau (municipal library)
- VHS Kahl-Alzenau-Karlstein (folk high schoolFolk high schoolFolk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
), Alzenau branch - “Grünes Klassenzimmer” (“Green Classroom”) in the town forest
Nature
- An important part of the landscape in Alzenau is the great area given over to Streuobstwiesen (meadow orchards), which with their tall, unclustered trees furnish an important habitat for species that have become rare, such as the Red-backed ShrikeRed-backed ShrikeThe Red-backed Shrike is a carnivorous passerine bird and member of the shrike family Laniidae.English common names include 'Wariangle' and 'worrier'.-Description:...
or the Little OwlLittle OwlThe Little Owl is a bird which is resident in much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, Asia east to Korea, and north Africa. It is not native to Great Britain, but was first introduced in 1842, and is now naturalised there...
. Planting tall-trunked fruit trees is financially promoted by the town. - Ecologically very important, too, are the sandy waste grassland areas (Sandmagerrasenflächen) in the Alzenauer Sande conservation area, on which a few threatened and endangered wasteland species find their habitat.
Alzenau
- At Alzenau Castle the Burgfestspiele (“Castle Festival Games”) and the AlzenauClassics are held in summer, and in autumn the Fränkische Musiktage (“Franconian Music Days”) within the framework of Bayerischer RundfunkBayerischer RundfunkBayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...
’s Musikzauber Franken (“Franconia Music Magic”). - To the tradition of the BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
Saint Justin’s Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Justinus) the Alzenauers have built a bridge to the year 834. At that time, Archbishop Odgar of Mainz brought Saint Justin’s bones with him from Rome. They found their way to Saint Justin’s Church in HöchstHöchst (Frankfurt am Main)Höchst is a district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the Ortsbezirk West, and is subdivided into 4 Stadtbezirke.Höchst am Main became part of Frankfurt am Main in 1928 together with its boroughs Sindlingen, Unterliederbach and Zeilsheim. It is situated 10 km west of downtown...
and thence in 1298 into St. Alban’s AbbeySt. Alban's Abbey, MainzSt. Alban's Abbey, Mainz originated as a Benedictine abbey, founded in 787 or 796 by Archbishop Richulf in honour of Saint Alban of Mainz, located to the south of Mainz on the hill later called the Albansberg. It was turned into a collegiate foundation in 1442...
in Mainz; part of the relics, however, ended up in the monastery at the Einhard-Basilika in SeligenstadtSeligenstadtSeligenstadt is a town in the Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Seligenstadt is one of Germany’s oldest towns and was already of great importance in Carolingian times.-Location:...
. Since the BenedictineBenedictineBenedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
s there were fellow caretakers of the old parish church of Wilmundsheim, which stood on what is today the graveyard lands, a link was made, and Saint Justin was worshipped in Alzenau. Of the Wilmundsheim church, which was torn down long ago, all that is left is a single capitalCapital (architecture)In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
. The current Baroque church building comes from 1758. Saint Justin’s bones have never been in Alzenau. - The Town Hall, built in 1860-62, was planned as a school, but then became the Royal Bavarian Regional Office. A new wing built in 1974 in BuntsandsteinBuntsandsteinThe Buntsandstein or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe...
brings contemporary architecture together with ClassicistClassicismClassicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
building. - The town’s oldest inn was first named as a Wirtshaus (“public house”) from the Seligenstadt Monastery’s ownership in a document in which it was sold to an Alzenau innkeeper. The current owner, who acquired the building clad in ParthenocissusParthenocissusParthenocissus , creepers, is a genus of climbing plants from the grape family, Vitaceae. It contains about 12 species, from Asia and North America. Several are grown for ornamental use....
vines in 1995, set up in 2004 a hotel with a small brewery, where according to advertising, beer is made in accordance with the ReinheitsgebotReinheitsgebotThe Reinheitsgebot , sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" or the "Bavarian Purity Law" in English, was a regulation concerning the production of beer in Germany. In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops...
of 1516. - The Villa Meßmer houses an inn today in a park with historical tree population.
- The Solarparcours illustrates the usages of photovoltaicsPhotovoltaicsPhotovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
with the help of 20 examples within the inner town area (3.5 km-long tour) and without (whole tour 12 km). What is seen along this learning path is a coöperative project by the town of Alzenau and the resident business Schott Solar (formerly ASE), which manufactures the solar modules in Alzenau.
Outlying centres, countryside
Some cycle and hiking paths around Alzenau, as Europäische Kulturwege Alzenau I, II und III (created by the Aschaffenburg project group Archäologisches Spessartprojekt), are tied into the project Pathways to Cultural Landscapes promoted by the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
between 2000 and 2003. On these routes, noteworthy destinations are signposted and documented. Exaples include the following:
- With the Kälberau pilgrimage church, having undergone several building phases (14th to 16th century) with great expansion from 1955 to 1957, is affiliated a PallottinePallottinesThe Society of the Catholic Apostolate , better known as the Pallottines, are a Society of Apostolic Life within the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman priest Saint Vincent Pallotti. Pallottines are part of the Union of Catholic Apostolate and are present in 45 countries on six...
monastery. The pilgrimage church houses as an iconic object the statue Maria zum rauhen Wind. The complex is linked with a 1.5 km-long cycle path dedicated to Our Lady of SorrowsOur Lady of SorrowsOur Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life...
to Alzenau Castle and farther on with a hiking trail to the lookout tower and inn on the Hahnenkamm. - In the Schloss zu Wasserlos (“Palace at Wasserlos”) is today found the district hospital.
- The JewishJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard between Hörstein and Wasserlos is one of the biggest in the Aschaffenburg district. It was begun in 1812, all but laid waste by the Nazis and after the Second World War restored. Two hundred and sixty-six gravestones are still on hand. - The Catholic Pfarrkirche zu Hörstein (“Parish Church at Hörstein”, 1473) has a RomanesqueRomanesque architectureRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
defensive tower. - The Burgstall Randenburg, a former castle’s site, is a monument from the Late Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe 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...
. - Historic vineyards stretch from Alzenau southwards through Wasserlos and Hörstein as well as northeastwards through Michelbach and Albstadt.
- Schloss Maisenhausen (1753) nowadays finds itself in private ownership in the outlying centre of Michelbach.
Regular events
- Orchestra concert by the music club „Concordia“ Michelbach 1923 e.V. (Palm Sunday, school gymnasium, Michelbach)
- Weinfest am Park in the summer garden of the Parkhotel in the outlying centre of Wasserlos every year in the week before Ascension Day
- Wine, cheese, and wind music (Sunday before Ascension Day, Schlösschen Michelbach)
- Brückenfest (“Bridge Festival”) by THW AlzenauTechnisches HilfswerkThe Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government...
at Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi (feast)Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in... - Town Festival around Alzenau Castle
- October-November: Franconian Music Days (choral and chamber music from several centuries)
- Melodien bei Kerzenschein (“Melodies by Candlelight”) at the Prischoßhalle (second weekend in November)
- Hoffest at the Hotel Krone, yearly on the first weekend in September
- Great Christmas Market on the first weekend in Advent
- Michelbacher Winzerfest (winemakers’ festival, September/October)
- Pannfest, oldest street festival in the heart of the Pann, the oldest part of Alzenau on Wilmundsheimer Straße, since 1978 in September, whose proceeds are always donated for various projects by the festival’s organizers, the Kolping family (actually a Catholic charity).
- Waste your time, a rock concert by the Spessart-Gymnasium in February
- Whatanoise, a concert by the JIA (Jugend Initiative Alzenau) at the Hahnenkammhalle in Wasserlos
- X-mas Rock-Konzert by the JIA at Christmastime
Religion
- Roman Catholic parish of Saint Justin (Sankt Justinus)
- Evangelical LutheranLutheranismLutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
parish of Peter and Paul - Yavuz Sultan Selim Han Mosque
The town’s population is overwhelmingly Catholic.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Johann Peter Cornelius d’Alquen (1800–1863), composer and physician
- Paul (Pablo) Michel, (1905–1977), chessmaster
- Arno Borst (1925–2007), historian (mediaevalist)
- Franz Adolf Gräbner (1944–2004), artist
- Alexander LeipoldAlexander LeipoldAlexander Leipold is a German former freestyle wrestler who won the German Championships eleven times, the European Championships three times, the World Championships in 1994, and won the tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics but was later stripped of his gold medal.-Wrestling career:Leipold won...
(1969–), freestyle wrestler famously stripped of an Olympic gold medal in 2000, Federal new-blood trainer for freestyle wrestling - Anna Bergmann (1953–), cultural scientist
- Johannes Scherer (1973–), radio and television host and comedian
- Jens Gündling (1976–), freestyle wrestler
- Heiko WestermannHeiko WestermannHeiko Westermann is a German footballer who plays as defender for Hamburger SV and the German national team. Westermann is known for his good all-round abilities and goal scoring...
(1983–), footballer - Björn ZiegenbeinBjörn ZiegenbeinBjörn Ziegenbein is a German footballer. As of 2010, he plays for F.C. Hansa Rostock. He made his debut on the professional league level in the 2. Bundesliga for TSV 1860 München on 29 March 2006 when he came on as a substitute in the 78th minute in a game against SV Wacker Burghausen.-External...
(1986–), footballer - Max Wissel (1989–), racing driver
- Svenja HuthSvenja HuthSvenja Huth is a German footballer, currently playing for 1. FFC Frankfurt and the Germany women's national under-20 football team.- External links :* *...
(1991–), footballer
People linked with Alzenau
- Ludovica des Bordes (1787–1854), Lady of Schloss Wasserlos
- Claus Mehs (1866–1946), architect, built the Villa Meßmer in 1902–1904