Essen-Borbeck-Mitte
Encyclopedia
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, 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...
. Together with the other boroughs of the district, it was incorporated on April 1, 1915. Borbeck-Mitte has a population of roughly 13,500 people and a total area of 3.19 km² (1.2 sq mi). The name Borbeck derives from Bor(a)thbeki, which means either river in a fertile lowland or river of the Bructeri
Bructeri
The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany , between the Lippe and Ems rivers south of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia around 100 BC through 350 AD....
.
Early history synopsis
The first document mentioning Borbeck dates back to 869, when Borthbeki, a small rural commune, was mentioned as one of nine communes around Essen AbbeyEssen Abbey
Essen Abbey was a collegiate foundation for women of the high nobility in Essen. It was founded in about 845 by the Saxon Altfrid , later Bishop of Hildesheim and saint, near a royal estate called Astnidhi, which later gave its name to the religious house and to the town...
which were liable to tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
. In 1288, princess-abbess Berta von Arnsberg bought probably mortgaged
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
parts of the region and built the predecessor of Schloss Borbeck. By the 14th century, Schloss Borbeck had become the favorite residence of the princess-abbesses, which came along with a rise of prestige for the region. In 1339, princess-abbess Katharina von der Mark had Borbeck's old Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque 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,...
church modified so the abbesses and their entourage could adequately attend mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
.
19th and 20th centuries
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...
and became a French municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in 1808. In 1815, following the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, Borbeck came to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and was declared the center of a new independent Bürgermeisterei, which also included several townships around Borbeck. The Year without a summer
Year Without a Summer
The Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
, 1816, brought the last famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
to Borbeck, and recovery took at least until 1819. Industrialization reached Borbeck in the 1840s, and the opening coal mines attracted many unemployed people. On February 1, 1862, two of the aforementioned townships, Lipperheide and Lirich, which accounted for two-thirds (1827 ha (4,514.6 acre)) of the total area of Borbeck, were excorporated and became parts of the new city of Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
. The same happened with the townships of Altendorf, Frohnhausen and Holsterhausen, which formed the new Bürgermeisterei of Altendorf in 1874. Although having lost most of its land area and a good deal of its population, Borbeck, with a population of over 70,000 people, remained the largest administrative district in Prussia without town privileges
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
. Prior to the excorporations, the population was over 100,000, which nowadays means that Borbeck would have been a Großstadt, i.e. a major city. During the negotiations regarding the incorporation of Borbeck in 1915, Bürgermeister Rudolf Heinrich managed to use the size of Borbeck to attain several concessions from Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, such as the construction of a public indoor swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
if the new Stadtbezirk was to break 100,000 inhabitants again.
Institutions
- Bedingrade (~ 12400 inhabitants, 2.93 km² (1.1 sq mi))
- Bergeborbeck (~ 4300 inhabitants, 4.96 km² (1.9 sq mi))
- Bochold (~ 18000 inhabitants, 3.19 km² (1.2 sq mi))
- Dellwig (~ 9300 inhabitants, 3.62 km² (1.4 sq mi))
- Frintrop (~ 8700 inhabitants, 1.96 km² (0.756760230841369 sq mi))
- Gerschede (~ 8000 inhabitants, 1.51 km² (0.583014259474728 sq mi))
- Schönebeck (~ 10200 inhabitants, 3.31 km² (1.3 sq mi))
Borbeck-Mitte, as the central borough of the district, offers several central institutions for the district, including a hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, a local district court
Amtsgericht
Amtsgericht 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...
, a branch of the city's public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
, as well as social welfare and employment offices and the aforementioned public swimming pool. The central pedestrian precinct features several mid-sized shops and a street market
Street market
A street market is an outdoor market such as traditionally held in a market square or in a market town, and often held only on particular days of the week...
each Tuesday and Friday.
Culture, public life and education
Borbeck-Mitte has a distinctive cultural life, mainly on personal initiative. Several church choirsChoir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
exist, as well as six carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
and six sport-shooting
Schützenverein
A Schützenverein is in German language countries a voluntary association featuring sport-shooting either on Olympic levels or historic weapons....
associations and three amateur theater groups. The cultural historical
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
society maintains a small museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and meeting place in the Alte Cuesterey
Sexton (office)
A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...
near the central market place.
Schloss Borbeck is the central cultural institution of both borough and district. An institution of the cultural office of the city of Essen, it regularly hosts exhibitions and concerts. A permanent exhibition on the history of the abbey
Essen Abbey
Essen Abbey was a collegiate foundation for women of the high nobility in Essen. It was founded in about 845 by the Saxon Altfrid , later Bishop of Hildesheim and saint, near a royal estate called Astnidhi, which later gave its name to the religious house and to the town...
and the city
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
has been established in 2006. Essen's public music school
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
has been conducting classes here since 1999. The register office
Register office
A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...
has set up a special room for marriages. The 55 ha (135.9 acre) park is open to the public and the largest park in the northwestern part of Essen. A street nowadays separates a smaller part in front of the castle from the rest of the park; this smaller part mostly consists of hilly lawns and includes a former boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
arena, which is now used for concerts.
Steam beer
Steam beer may be defined as a highly effervescent beer made by brewing lager yeasts at warm fermentation temperatures. It has two distinct but related meanings:*Historic steam beer produced in California from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century;...
brewery near Borbeck's train station offers a variety of beers and Ruhr Area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
specialties. The brewery was founded in 1896 on the premises of the old brewery of the castle. It was later taken over by the local competitors Stern and, in the 1990s, Stauder. Brewing has continued, but has been shifted to Stauder's main facilities. The brewery has since become a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
and is popular with final years, class reunions
Class reunion
A class reunion is a meeting of former classmates, typically organized at or near their former school by one of the class on or around an anniversary of their graduation. Former teachers may be invited as well...
and corporate events, mainly from the Borbeck area.
On one corner of the new market place, a fountain commemorates the habits of shortening old trousers for the summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
months or buying clothes, especially trousers, a few sizes larger for children to grow in to. Throughout the Ruhr Area, this habit has become known as Borbecker Halblang (Borbeck's half long).
Since 1949, a weekly local newspaper called Borbecker Nachrichten reports on cultural events, sports and general news from the district. The gazette, which at times had been the largest local newspaper in Germany, remained independent until 2000, when it was acquired by Essen-based WAZ-Mediengruppe
WAZ-Mediengruppe
The WAZ-Mediengruppe is Germany's third largest newspaper and magazine publisher with a total of over 500 publications in eight countries. WAZ-Mediengruppe is privately held by the founders' families and is headquartered in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia.The group's largest paper is Westdeutsche...
.
Well-known educational institutions in Borbeck are the Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
Borbeck and the Mädchengymnasium Borbeck, the latter being the single public Gymnasium for girls only in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
; sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
classes are sometimes offered in co-operation of both schools. Two Realschulen
Realschule
The 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...
, two Gesamtschulen, several primary schools (the latter mainly run by the church) and a special school for children with speech disorders can also be found in Borbeck-Mitte.
Notable personalities
- Heinrich Uhlendahl (1868-1954), librarianLibrarianA librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
and founder of the German national bibliographyBibliographyBibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology... - Otto Doppelfeld (1907-1979), archaeologist
- Heinz-Horst DeichmannHeinrich Deichmann-Schuhe GmbH-About The Company:Deichmann Shoes is a shoe store which is the largest monger of shoes and sportswear in Europe. Established in 1913 by Heinrich Deichmann. The company is headquartered in Essen, Germany...
(1926-), entrepreneurEntrepreneurAn entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
Literature
- The periodicals of the Cultural Historical Society of Borbeck, called Borbecker Beiträge, since 1987
- Walter Wimmer: Gewachsen in 11 Jahrhunderten - Borbecker Chronik, Verlag Borbecker Nachrichten, Essen (1980 - 1993)
- Lutz Niethammer: Die Unfähigkeit zur Stadtentwicklung. Erklärung der seelischen Störung eines Communalbaumeisters in Preußens größtem Industriedorf, in: Engelhart, U. u.a. (eds.): Soziale Bewegung und politische Verfassung. Beiträge zur Geschichte der modernen Welt, Stuttgart 1976.
- Ludwig W. Wördehoff: Borbeck in seinen Straßennamen, Rainer-Henselowsky-Verlag, Essen 1987
External links
- Cultural Historical Society of Borbeck (German only)
- Old pictures and postcards from Borbeck
- Portrait of the borough on the website of the city of Essen (German only)