Erbach im Odenwald
Encyclopedia
Location
The town lies in the OdenwaldOdenwald
The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...
at elevations between 200 and 560 m in the valley of the Mümling.
Neighbouring communities
Erbach borders in the north on the town of MichelstadtMichelstadt
Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg.- Location :Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkreis and borders on the district seat of Erbach....
, in the east on the market town of Kirchzell
Kirchzell
Kirchzell is a market community in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
(in Miltenberg district
Miltenberg (district)
Miltenberg is an administrative district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Aschaffenburg, the districts of Aschaffenburg and Main-Spessart, and the states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse .-History:During the Middle Ages there was continuous...
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 the south on the community of Hesseneck
Hesseneck
Hesseneck is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany. With only just under 700 inhabitants, Hesseneck is Hesse’s smallest self-governing community.-Location:...
and the town of Beerfelden
Beerfelden
Beerfelden is a town in the Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km northeast of Heidelberg. The region around Beerfelden has for touristic reasons been dubbed the Beerfelder Land.-Location:...
and in the west on the community of Mossautal
Mossautal
Mossautal in the Odenwald is a community and a state-recognized health resort in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:The community lies at elevations of between 300 and 500 m above sea level....
(all three in the Odenwaldkreis). A foreseen merger with the neighbouring town of Michelstadt was blocked in November 2007 by a civic vote (Bürgerentscheid). For the time being, ways are being sought to deepen the two towns’ coöperation, and possibly consider a merger once again in a few years’ time. http://www.hr-online.de/website/fernsehen/sendungen/index.jsp?rubrik=3058&key=standard_document_33392026&msg=1987
Constituent communities
Since the amalgamations within the framework of municipal reform in 1972, the district seat of Erbach has been made up of 12 Stadtteile:| Stadtteil | Area | Inhabitants | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullau | 9.98 km² | 410 | with the hamlet Hamlet (place) A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village... of Eutergund |
| Dorf-Erbach | 4.08 km² | 1,610 | with the hamlet of Habermannskreuz |
| Ebersberg | 3.59 km² | 250 | |
| Elsbach | 3.01 km² | 120 | |
| Erbach | 10.89 km² | 8,410 | with the hamlet of Roßbach |
| Erbuch | 130 | with Ernsbach | |
| Erlenbach | 4.28 km² | 900 | |
| Ernsbach | 110 | with Erbuch | |
| Günterfürst Günterfürst Günterfürst is a village in Erbach im Odenwald, Germany. As of 2009, it had a population of 700. Günterfürst lies south of Erbach and west of the river Mümling. The founding of a village named Gundersfirst dates from 1347. In 1806 it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Hesse... |
4.08 km² | 760 | |
| Haisterbach Haisterbach Haisterbach is a village in Erbach im Odenwald, Germany. im hessischen Odenwaldkreis. It also incorporates the hamlet of Marbach.Haisterbach lies in the Odenwald, southeast of city center. It was first mentioned in 1353. In 1939 the village had a population of 232.The bus line 34 of the... |
5.88 km² | 420 | with the hamlet of Marbach |
| Lauerbach | 2.27 km² | 400 | |
| Schönnen | 5.53 km² | 320 |
Politics
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:| Parties and voter communities | % 2006 |
Seats 2006 |
% 2001 |
Seats 2001 |
|
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | 36.7 | 11 | 39.3 | 14 |
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
37.9 | 12 | 35.4 | 13 |
| GREENS | Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | 7.9 | 3 | 7.4 | 3 |
| FDP | Free Democratic Party 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... |
4.0 | 1 | – | – |
| ÜWG | Überparteiliche Wählergemeinschaft der Kreisstadt Erbach e.V. | 13.5 | 4 | 17.9 | 7 |
| Total | 100.0 | 31 | 100.0 | 37 | |
| Voter turnout in % | 52.4 | 55.4 | |||
Mayor
At the election on 26 March 2006, Harald Buschmann (CDU) was confirmed in office as mayor with 51.8% of the vote.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 heraldically be described thus: Gules a bend wavy azure, thereon three mullets of six gules.
The wavy bend is taken to be a brook, and the mullets of six (six-pointed stars) were inspired by the arms formerly borne by the princely Counts of Erbach, who were lords of the Odenwald until 1806.
Town partnerships
Erbach has partnerships with four towns in Europe: AnsiãoAnsião
Ansião , is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 176.2 km² and a total population of 13,673 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 8 parishes, and is located in Leiria District....
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Jičín
Jicín
Jičín is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It lies approximately 85 km northeast of Prague in the scenic region of the Bohemian Paradise under the Prachov Rocks ....
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Königsee
Königsee
Königsee is a town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 12 km east of Ilmenau, and 35 km south of Erfurt....
, Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin
Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin, Isère
Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Isère department...
, (Isère) and Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin
Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin, Savoie
Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-References:*...
(Savoie), 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...
Castle of the Counts of Erbach-Erbach
The antique collections at the castle have remained almost unchanged since Count Franz I’s time (1754–1823).
In 2005, the state of Hesse bought the castle for €13,000,000.
Within the castle complex is the likewise Late Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque 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...
orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
with the castle garden.
Citizen initiatives
In the area of the orangery and the castle garden, a citizen initiative in the 1970s managed to thwart plans to tear the orangery down and build a highrise hotelHotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
on the site
The memorial on the castle square to Count Franz I – the last ruling count – that was knocked off its pedestal and thereby broken was repaired and set back in place with support from two Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
artists and some Erbach citizens. The work was financed through grants from the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (“State Office for Care of Monuments”) as well as donations.
Erdbach’s disappearance
One geological peculiarity is the Erdbach’s complete disappearance within Dorf-Erbach’s community area. The Erdbach reappears near Stockheim. There are several places where the Erdbach disappears into the ground.Wiesenmarkt/Eulbacher Markt
The Erbacher Wiesenmarkt (“meadow market”) was originally called the Eulbacher Markt or Eulbacher Wiesen(Vieh-)markt. Eulbach is an outlying centre of the neighbouring town of Michelstadt. It was once a regionally very important livestockLivestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
, horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
and farm market.
The livestock and farm market was only moved to Erbach sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century by the Counts of Eulbach. Until about 1960, the livestock and horse market with its associated horseracing and other horse sports was the main part of the Eulbacher Markt. The Schützenhaus (“Marksmen’s House”) standing on the way into the Wiesenmarkt, however, suggests that the Eulbacher Markt, at least in part, must already have been held in Erbach as early as the mid 19th century: it was here that the Democratic Revolutionaries met in 1848 and on what is now the market grounds beside the Schützenhaus that the Odenwald “Moot” (Volksversammlung) was held under the Michelstadt revolutionary and lawyer Ludwig Bogen’s leadership.
Museums
The Deutsches Elfenbeinmuseum Erbach (“Erbach German Ivory Museum”) has been in existence since 1966 and is unique in Europe. Its exhibits are almost exclusively ivoryIvory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
. Visitors can also watch the resident carvers as they go about their artistic work.
Economy and infrastructure
Franz I, the last ruling count (1754–1823), introduced ivory carving in 1783, thus giving the town the nickname Elfenbeinstadt (“Ivory Town”). Many artists made their homes here and today their works and activities can still be admired at the town’s Deutsches Elfenbeinmuseum Erbach. Owing to widespread bans since 1989, aimed at protecting animals, on dealing in ivory, nowadays comparable materials such as animal horns are used. Very popular as a material is prehistoric mammoth tusk, which is still found from time to time in Siberia. Besides the slightly different colour, this is comparable to elephant tusk ivory.Transport
Erbach lies on BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 45 and 47, and also on the Odenwald Railway (RMV Line 65; Frankfurt–Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
/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 :...
–Erbach–Eberbach
Eberbach (Baden)
Eberbach is a town in Germany, in northern Baden-Württemberg, located 33 km east of Heidelberg. It belongs to the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. Its sister city is Ephrata, United States.- Location :...
). A planned Bundesstraße 45 bypass proposed since the 1970s has once again been included in Hesse state planning.
Established businesses
- Bosch RexrothBosch RexrothBosch Rexroth is an engineering firm based in Lohr am Main in Germany. It is the result of a merger on 1 May 2001 between Mannesmann Rexroth AG and the Automation Technology Business Unit of Robert Bosch GmbH, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH. Rexroth in turn consisted of a...
AG, Erbach works, Electric Drives and Controls division - RowentaGroupe SEBGroupe SEB is a large French consortium that produces small appliances. Notable brand names associated with Groupe SEB include Krups, Moulinex, Rowenta, and Tefal. According to the Groupe SEB website, they have faced considerable competition from low-price Chinese competitors, but have managed to...
, Erbach works (clothes ironIron (appliance)A clothes iron, also referred to as simply an iron, is a small appliance used in ironing to remove wrinkles from fabric.Ironing works by loosening the ties between the long chains of molecules that exist in polymer fiber materials. With the heat and the weight of the ironing plate, the fibers are...
manufacturing) - Koziol GmbH, plasticPlasticA plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
articles
Schools
- Schule am Treppenweg (primary school)
- Astrid-Lindgren-Schule (primary school)
- Schule am Sportpark (HauptschuleHauptschuleA Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
and 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...
with transition level) - Schule am Drachenfeld (special school with department for physically handicapped learners)
Sons and daughters of the town
- Oka NikolovOka NikolovOka Nikolov ; born 25 May 1974 in Erbach im Odenwald) is a Macedonian football goalkeeper. Nikolov has played for Eintracht Frankfurt since 1991 and has been capped five times for Macedonia.-Career:...
(b. 1974), Macedonian footballer - Timo BollTimo BollTimo Boll is a German professional table tennis player who currently plays with Borussia Düsseldorf and is the German No.1 of the German Table Tennis National League...
(b. 1981), professional table tennisTable tennisTable tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
player - Meike Weber (b. 1987), footballer
- Heinrich List, farmer from Ernsbach, hid Ferdinand Strauss, a Jew, during the Nazi dictatorshipNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, was betrayed and in 1942 murdered at Dachau. He and his wife have been recognized as being among the Righteous among the NationsRighteous Among the NationsRighteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
at Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
.
People connected with the town
- Serap Çileli (b. 1966), author
- Jessica SchwarzJessica Schwarz-Biography:Schwarz was born and grew up in the small town of Michelstadt, Germany. She won a contest of the German teen magazine Bravo in 1993. Subsequently, she worked as a model and VJ for the music channel VIVA. In 2000 she started her acting career and occasionally hosts events, e.g. the German...
(b. 1977), actress