Eckersdorf is a municipality

Municipalities of Germany

Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...

 in the district of Bayreuth

Bayreuth (district)

Bayreuth is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It surrounds, but does not include the city of Bayreuth. The district is bounded by the districts of Kulmbach, Hof, Wunsiedel, Tirschenreuth, Neustadt/Waldnaab, Amberg-Sulzbach, Nürnberger Land, Forchheim and Bamberg.-History:The district was established...

 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...

 in 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...

.

Geography

The municipality

Municipalities of Germany

Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...

 of Eckersdorf is located on the northern edge of an area called "Little Switzerland" (German: Fränkische Schweiz), close to the world-famous festival town of Bayreuth. The highest elevation in the region of Eckersdorf is the Sophienberg with an altitude of 593 m.

Districts

The present-day municipality of Eckersdorf was created in the course of municipal reform in 1978.

According to the information given by the local government, there are 19 official districts.

District	Population
Busbach	225
Donndorf	2099
Eckersdorf	2132
Eschen	120
Heisenstein	3
Lahm	31
Lochau	23
Melkendorf	11
Neustädtlein	163
Oberwaiz	359
Pleofen	33
Schanz	20
Simmelbuch	73
Stein	1
Tröbersdorf	65
Vorlahm	20
Waldhütte	1
Windhof	11
Wolfsgraben	4

Neighboring communities

The neighboring communities of Eckersdorf are (starting north in clockwise order):
Thurnau

Thurnau

Thurnau is a municipality in the district Kulmbach, Germany.It is known for golfing as well as its potteries.Thurnau is known for transmitter Thurnau, the medium wave transmission site for Deutschlandfunk, a German national information radio station....

, Bayreuth, Mistelbach, and Mistelgau

Mistelgau

Mistelgau is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany....

.

History

Eckersdorf was first mentioned in 1149 in the so called Giechburgvertrag. The Counts of Andechs

Counts of Andechs

The House of Andechs was a feudal line of German princes in 12th and 13th century. The Counts of Dießen-Andechs obtained territiories in northern Dalmatia on the Adriatic seacoast, where they became Margraves of Istria and ultimately Dukes of a short-lived Imperial State named Merania from 1180 to...

-Meranien (Grafen von Andechs-Meranien) owned the current area of Eckersdorf until they died off in 1248. The lords of Berg Plassenberg (Herren von Plassenberg) acquired first property in the Eckersdorf area in 1420. A hundred years later, the lords were in full possession of Eckersdorf. After the last representative of the family died in 1552, Eckersdorf came to the Lords of Lüchau, and then it fell to the Markgrafschaft Bayreuth in 1757. As part of the Prussian Principality of Bayreuth, Eckersdorf became a French possession through the Treaties of Tilsit

Treaties of Tilsit

The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France, when they met on a raft in the middle of the Neman...

, until 1810, when it became part of Bavaria. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria in 1818, today's municipality Eckersdorf was created.

Politics

The results of the last elections for mayor in 2010 were as follows:

Sybille Pichl, Free Voters

Free Voters

Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the...

: 54.7%

Manfred Präcklein, SPD: 45.3%

Sights

Johann Jacob Spindler built Schloss Fantaisie for Margravine Elisabeth Fredericka Sophie of Brandenburg-Bayreuth from 1758 to 1765. Today, there is a garden museum in this rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

palace.

St. Ägidius church was built in 1791 and the forester's house Oberwaiz in 1776.