Hammelburg
Encyclopedia
Bad Kissingen (district)
Bad Kissingen is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the district Main-Kinzig and Fulda in Hesse, and the districts of Rhön-Grabfeld, Schweinfurt and Main-Spessart.- History :...
, in Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany ....
, 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...
. It is situated on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...
. Hammelburg is the oldest wine-growing city Weinstadt in Franconia.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it was the site of the POW
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
Camps OFLAG XIII-B
OFLAG XIII-B
Oflag XIII-B was a German Army World War II Prisoner-of-war camp camp for officers, originally in Langwasser near Nuremberg. In 1943 it was moved to 3 km south of Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany....
and Stalag XIII-C
Stalag XIII-C
Stalag XIII-C was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp built on what had been the German Army training camp Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany....
, as well as the attempted rescue of POW's from these camps by Task Force Baum
Task Force Baum
Task Force Baum was a secret and controversial World War II task force set up by U.S. Army general George S. Patton and commanded by Capt. Abraham Baum in late March 1945. Baum was given the task of penetrating 50 miles behind German lines and liberating the POWs in camp OFLAG XIII-B, near...
in 1945. The American television sitcom Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
(which ran on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
from 1965 to 1971), featured a fictional Stalag 13, said to be near Hammelburg. The German Army's
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
Infantry School (Infanterieschule) is located in this town.
The name Hammelburg is documented for the first time on 18 April 716 as “Hamulo Castellum”. At this time, the Castell in ducal possession was itself extremely traffic-favorably because of the intersection of east-west and north-south export/import and traffic routes. As a Franconian possession in the year 777, Charlemagne donated Hammelburg with its entire "Gemarkung" to the charity of the Holly Bonifatius. The church of St. Martin (Martinskirche) had been already left in 741 by Karlmann to the Bishopric of 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....
and possession-legally to the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
. Hammelburg, because of its placement at a ford of the Franconian Saale, was of strategic importance. Directly above the river bank, the Franconian king yard was developed over the hall bank. In the 12th century, Fulda built on the height opposite on the left bank of the Saale for the protection of Hammelburg the castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
Saaleck, which particularly served for control of the Trimburg established by the Hennebergern. In 1234, Wuerzburg succeeded to appropriate the Trimburg from the Hennebergern. Fulda answered this by moving closer to the old opponent with the attachment of Hammelburg and to the stronger development of castle Saaleck. In the year 1303, under King Albrecht, municipal rights were lent to Hammelburg, the place presented itself as the pile up-richest southernmost fortress Fuldas. The old attachment plant, those with walls and ditches that surrounded the city, had three gate tower
Gate tower
A gate tower is a tower built over or next to a major gateway.Usually it is part of a medieval fortification. This may be a town or city wall, a fortress or a castle. The gate tower may be built as a twin tower on either side of an entranceway. Even in the design of modern building complexes, gate...
s (Weiher, Upper and Niedertower) and eleven military towers. From this time still exists the Guardian, Monk and Baderturm, a part of the southern city wall and the Schlossweiher received. The Hammelburger citizen had begun by selfinitiative in 1302 with the building of a church. This church of Maria (Marienkirche) at the cattle market became a symbol of civil self-sufficiency. The building of the parish church pc. Johannes in the old castle district the Hammelburger left to the national gentlemen. The Marienkirche fell victim to a fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
in 1854, a fire which also destroyed several other parts of the city. The delighted gothic parish church (1389-1461) is today an object of historical interest. Despite the support of Fulda and Würzburg, Hammelburg changed very early to the Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism 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...
teachings and only by menace did the city return to the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith in 1604. 120 Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Hammelburger families left their hometown in this year because of it.
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
, a new building made in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
style, from the architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Johannes Schöner
Johannes Schöner
Johannes Schöner was a renowned and respected German polymath...
, (1529) where the first council meeting was held therein. Only the lateral stair tower and the city hall cellar remains today. The current city hall, built after the fire in the gothic style, was occupied on December 12, 1859. The Renaissance market well, which was completed in 1541, is likewise a work of the master builder Schöner. Up to the year 1803, Hammelburg belonged to Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
. It came in the course of the secularization until 1806 at Oranien Naussau. Under Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
's brother-in-law, Marshal Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
, the city was (1806-1810) under French
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...
administration. In 1810, it assigned the mutton castle to the new Grand Duchy of Frankfurt
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...
. After a short 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...
n affiliation, the city was integrated 1816 into the new State of Bavaria. In the years after the Second World War the total population of the city was increased by refugees from both Eastern Europe and Eastern Germany and starting from 1956 by the German Federal Armed Forces reorganization. Also in those years, the edge municipalities also saw a large increase in their population. The local reorganisation let the number of inhabitants rise in Hammelburg again. The former municipalities Westheim, Pfaffenhausen, Untererthal, Obererthal, Feuerthal, Morlesau, Obereschenbach with Untereschenbach and Gauaschach attached themselves to the city of Hammelburg, which counts thus approximate 12,500 inhabitants.
The oldest Franconian wine city can be reached extremely favorably by the motorway and has a rich variety of attractions. There are several numerous and partially very well received architectural monuments, cosy restaurants and hotels. The sports center contains outdoor and indoor swimming pools, indoor tennis courts, large-sport-resounds, a soccer stadium, the special landing area for aircraft, recreation sites and good hiking possibilities in variety landscapes of Südrhön and Saaletal-valley inviting tourists to stay. Its proximity to the Autobahn A7 make Hammelburg not only interesting but also as a strategic economic place.