Michelstadt
Encyclopedia
Michelstadt in the Odenwald
is a town in the Odenwaldkreis
(district) in southern Hesse
, Germany
between Darmstadt
and Heidelberg
.
, the town of Bad König
and the municipality of Lützelbach
, in the east on the town of Klingenberg
, the market municipalities of Laudenbach
and Kleinheubach
, the town of Miltenberg
, the market municipality of Weilbach
, the town of Amorbach
and the market municipality of Kirchzell
(all seven in Miltenberg district
in Bavaria
), in the south on the town of Erbach
, and in the west on the municipalities of Mossautal
and Reichelsheim
.
Carloman, Charlemagne
’s uncle.
Michelstadt is one of the oldest settlements in the inner Odenwald. Its castle
grew out of a Frankish
baronial estate. This was built into a refuge for the local inhabitants. As a royal estate, Prince Carloman donated it in 741 to Saint Boniface
’s pupil Burchard
, the first Bishop of Würzburg
. This donation was surely meant for Bishop Burchard personally, for the Michelnstat area passed back to the Frankish Crown upon Burchard’s death in 791.
In 815, the Michlinstat area was donated once again. In recognition of his great merit as confidant at Charlemagne’s court, Einhard
acquired the main town and all land within two leagues
(roughly 15 km) from Charlemagne’s son, Louis the Pious
, as a freehold. Einhard was also the one who built the Einhardsbasilika. In 819, he bequeathed his Odenwald holdings to Lorsch Abbey
and in so doing also precisely defined the boundaries of the Mark Michelstadt. Upon Einhard’s death on 14 March 840, the monastery came into its inheritance.
In the 17th century, the first houses outside the town wall were built. In 1773, a new town gate was built, called the Neutor (“New Gate”). In the 19th century, the gate towers were all torn down one after the other.
In 1806, Michelstadt, along with the County of Erbach, passed to the Grand Duchy of Hesse
.
The building of the railway line and its completion through to Darmstadt
in 1870 and then Eberbach
in 1881 brought Michelstadt a sharp economic upswing. Out of what was once a little town of gentlemen farmers with all its craftsmen and tradesmen grew a sizeable community with important industrial operations on the foundation of the centuries-old ironworking. A new economic era began. From the clothweavers’ and dyers’ guild grew a cloth factory; from foundries grew machine factories. Ivory
carving was a starting point for businesses in the souvenir industry and plastics processing.
In 2007, a decision to merge the town with the neighbouring town of Erbach was thwarted by a civic vote.
, Haute-Savoie
, France
Hulst
, Zeeuws Vlaanderen, Netherlands
might be described thus: Per fess azure two mullets Or and Or diapered.
Michelstadt was granted these arms in 1541 along with its new seal by Count Georg of Erbach. The diapering
in the lower half of the escutcheon is unhistoric, and only appeared in the 17th century. Indeed, the escutcheon on the Town Hall, pictured in this article, does not show it. The mullets (six-pointed star shapes) come from the Counts' arms, but why the parting per fess (horizontal division across the middle) was chosen is a mystery. Except for the diapering, the arms have not changed since the 16th century.
houses. Particularly worthy of mention are the following buildings, some within the old town, others in the outlying woods: The Historic Town Hall, the Diebsturm (“Thief’s Tower”) at the town wall, the Kellereihof (a Frankish, early mediaeval castle complex refurbished in an early Renaissance
style) in the Michelstadt town wall ring, the Late Gothic
town church (late 13th century), the Einhards-Basilika, the palace of the Counts at Erbach-Fürstenau (Schloss Fürstenau, within which are parts of an old moat
ed castle in Michelstadt-Steinbach), the Eulbach hunting palace with an “English” park, the Roman
bath and castra
as part of the Neckar
-Odenwald-Limes
.
Michelstadt’s timber-frame town hall, which has been immortalized on a Deutsche Post
stamp
and is known throughout the world, was built in 1484 in the Late Gothic style and later remodelled inside many times; from 1743 to 1903 it was covered in shakes
. The town hall’s main floor served from the beginning as a market hall, and was built using jettying
. The back (east) wall was originally part of the graveyard
wall, upon which the ground floor’s upper bressumer was laid. To this day it is unknown who the master builder was, although it is assumed that the driving force behind the project could have been Schenk Adolar von Erbach and Bishop Johann von Dalberg
(his adviser).
stone church by Einhard, itself built on the site of a former wooden church. The nave’s columns and the two aisles’ walls were built in 1475. The quire comes from 1461; the antechoir’s north wall is even older – Carolingian. Until the 1970s, the church housed one of the most valuable libraries in Germany in its belltower containing more than a thousand volumes that belonged to Michelstadt-born Nicolaus Matz, who was capitular in Speyer
, and who bequeathed this collection to his hometown and its citizens in the late 14th century. Since then the library has been housed in a storehouse specially converted for it at the Michelstadt coaching inn that belonged to the Thurn und Taxis
noble family, who played a key rôle in Europe
an postal services
in the 16th century. The former church on this spot was built over a brook that comes up here, called the Kiliansfloß, an early Celtic-Germanic
worship site and later a Roman Mithraic worship site. The thus channelled Kiliansfloß fed not only the baptismal font, but also all the town’s fountains. The Kiliansfloß, however, does not actually rise here, but rather far outside the town, but it then disappears into the ground not far from the graveyard, springing up again in the middle of town.
The Einhards-Basilika was built by Einhard
, Charlemagne’s chronicler and confidant. The Carolingian church built between 824 and 827 is one of the very few Carolingian buildings that have largely survived. The Basilica
’s crypt
once housed Saints Peter’s and Marcellinus’s
relic
s, which had been stolen from Rome on Einhard’s instructions by his notary Ratleik. His servants’ nightmares and the remains’ “sweating blood” there, however, made Einhard think that this arrangement did not feel right. He thus transferred himself, his wife, the relics and his seat to Ober-Mulinheim am Main, now known as Seligenstadt
, which thereby became a pilgrimage
site with a new, bigger basilica.
The story that has been handed down says that the relics hidden from Rome were transported to Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, now in Switzerland
, whence they were then brought to Michelstadt by a cheering pilgrimage procession.
The Basilica in Steinbach was converted, expanded, and rededicated many times and later served first as a hospital
and then in the 17th century as a barn. Once it was rediscovered in 1873 as being Carolingian, the exploration and safeguarding of the parts of the basilica that were still intact began.
The Einhards-Basilika was until 1967 owned by the princely Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau. The grounds are now owned by the state of Hesse.
The whole palace complex is a series of building styles well worth seeing, from remains of the old Electorate of Mainz border fortifications and moated castle (about 1300) on the north side to the Gothic works by the stonecutters who came from Strasbourg
to Steinbach, to the gigantic Renaissance-style gateway arch (1588) between the moated castle’s two western corner towers which replaced the castle wall and opened the gloomy, dank courtyard back up to the former castle garden, to the Renaissance palace mill, a former mint
(today a run-of-the-river hydroelectric station
), to the dainty Baroque
Kavaliershaus (a palace outbuilding for staff and guests) on the Mümling, to the Classicist
residential wing, the Neues Palais (1810/11) and the Late Baroque orangery
in the palace park, which was done in the English style. The orangery’s upper floor housed the small palace theatre.
Schloss Fürstenau is still a dwelling, with the head of the house of the princely Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau and his family still living there. The former Electorate of Mainz defence facility lay on the property of the Schenk of Erbach (a forefather of the noble family, which at that time had not yet branched) and passed into his ownership in 1355. Viewing the palace from the outside can be done by day. At the stylish outer bailey with its gateway arch from 1765 some prominent visual artists
have taken up residence (in among other places the former stables from after 1765).
of Würzberg, which was built about AD 100 as part of the Neckar-Odenwald-Limes
, and was used for about 60 years before the border was shifted farther east. The castrum can only be made out by an earthen wall. The Roman bathhouse, on the other hand, which stands right next to the castrum, has been partially restored; the floors have been replaced and the wall has been built back up to a height of about a metre. Despite the bath’s small size, which was only meant for the fort’s 120-man garrison, the design of a Roman bathhouse is easily recognizable.
Not far from the outlying centre of Vielbrunn, in the area around the former hunting palace of the Princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, traces of the Castrum of Hainhaus can still be found. Furthermore, on Michelstadt’s eastern outskirts can be found the Castrum of Eulbach near the Eulbacher Park, a landscaped English park
from the early 19th century with its like-named hunting palace and an adjoining wildlife park.
n 45 and 47 cross, both old trade roads from Frankfurt am Main to Augsburg
and from Worms
to Würzburg
respectively.
The town has at its disposal a railway station on the Odenwaldbahn (railway; RMV Line 65; Eberbach – Erbach – Darmstadt
– Frankfurt / Hanau
). Regionalbahn
, Stadtexpress and Regionalexpress
trains of the VIAS GmbH stop here.
Moreover, Michelstadt has at its disposal the special landing facility Flugplatz Michelstadt (airfield), which lies roughly 2 km from the town and is run by a club.
Karl E. Grözinger, Der Ba’al Schem von Michelstadt. Ein deutsch-jüdisches Heiligenleben zwischen Legende und Wirklichkeit. Mit einem Neuabdruck der Legenden aus der Hand von Judaeus und Arthur Kahn, Frankfurt / New York (Campus) 2010
Odenwald
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...
is a town in the Odenwaldkreis
Odenwaldkreis
The Odenwaldkreis is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Darmstadt-Dieburg, Miltenberg,Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis and Kreis Bergstraße. Odenwaldkreis belongs to the Rhine Neckar Area.-History:...
(district) in southern Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, 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...
between 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...
and Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
.
Location
Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkreis and borders on the district seat of Erbach.Neighbouring municipalities
Michelstadt borders in the north on the municipality of BrombachtalBrombachtal
-Neighbouring communities:Brombachtal borders in the north and east on the town of Bad König, in the south on the town of Michelstadt and in the west on the communities of Reichelsheim and Brensbach.-Constituent communities:...
, the town of Bad König
Bad König
Bad König is a town and resort in the central Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 29 km southeast of Darmstadt.- Neighbouring communities :...
and the municipality of Lützelbach
Lützelbach
-Location:The community lies in the northern Odenwald on the Hesse-Bavaria boundary in a richly wooded setting.-Neighbouring communities:Lützelbach borders in the north on the town of Breuberg and the town of Obernburg, in the east on the towns of Wörth am Main and Klingenberg , in the south on the...
, in the east on the town of Klingenberg
Klingenberg am Main
Klingenberg am Main is a town in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
, the market municipalities of Laudenbach
Laudenbach, Bavaria
Laudenbach is a community in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Kleinheubach.- Location :...
and Kleinheubach
Kleinheubach
Kleinheubach is a market community in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the like-named Verwaltungsgemeinschaft .- Location :...
, the town of Miltenberg
Miltenberg
Miltenberg is the seat of the like-named district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
, the market municipality of Weilbach
Weilbach
Weilbach is a market municipality in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :Weilbach lies in the Bavarian part of the Odenwald .- Constituent communities :...
, the town of Amorbach
Amorbach
Amorbach is a town in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,100 inhabitants .- Location :...
and the market municipality of Kirchzell
Kirchzell
Kirchzell is a market community in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
(all seven 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 town of Erbach
Erbach im Odenwald
-Location:The town lies in the Odenwald at elevations between 200 and 560 m in the valley of the Mümling.-Neighbouring communities:Erbach borders in the north on the town of Michelstadt, in the east on the market town of Kirchzell , in the south on the community of Hesseneck and the town of...
, and in the west on the municipalities 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....
and Reichelsheim
Reichelsheim (Odenwald)
Reichelsheim is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Reichelsheim lies in the middle Odenwald at elevations between 200 and 538 m in the middle of the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald....
.
Constituent communities
Michelstadt’s Stadtteile, besides the main town, also called Michelstadt, are Rehbach, Steinbach, Steinbuch, Stockheim, Vielbrunn, Weiten-Gesäß and Würzberg.History
Michelstadt had its first documentary mention in 741 from Mayor of the PalaceMayor of the Palace
Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....
Carloman, Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
’s uncle.
Michelstadt is one of the oldest settlements in the inner Odenwald. Its 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...
grew out of a Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
baronial estate. This was built into a refuge for the local inhabitants. As a royal estate, Prince Carloman donated it in 741 to Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
’s pupil Burchard
Burchard of Würzburg
Burchard of Würzburg was a Bishop of Würzburg in 741–754.He was an Anglo-Saxon who left England after the death of his kinsfolk and joined Boniface in his missionary labors, some time after 732...
, the first Bishop 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....
. This donation was surely meant for Bishop Burchard personally, for the Michelnstat area passed back to the Frankish Crown upon Burchard’s death in 791.
Einhard
Einhard was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the Vita Karoli Magni, "one of the most precious literary bequests of the early Middle Ages."-Public life:Einhard was from the eastern...
acquired the main town and all land within two leagues
League (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...
(roughly 15 km) from Charlemagne’s son, Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
, as a freehold. Einhard was also the one who built the Einhardsbasilika. In 819, he bequeathed his Odenwald holdings to Lorsch Abbey
Lorsch Abbey
The Abbey of Lorsch is a former Imperial Abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km east of Worms, one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany...
and in so doing also precisely defined the boundaries of the Mark Michelstadt. Upon Einhard’s death on 14 March 840, the monastery came into its inheritance.
In 1806, Michelstadt, along with the County of Erbach, passed to 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...
.
The building of the railway line and its completion through to 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...
in 1870 and then 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 :...
in 1881 brought Michelstadt a sharp economic upswing. Out of what was once a little town of gentlemen farmers with all its craftsmen and tradesmen grew a sizeable community with important industrial operations on the foundation of the centuries-old ironworking. A new economic era began. From the clothweavers’ and dyers’ guild grew a cloth factory; from foundries grew machine factories. Ivory
Ivory
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...
carving was a starting point for businesses in the souvenir industry and plastics processing.
In 2007, a decision to merge the town with the neighbouring town of Erbach was thwarted by a civic vote.
Politics
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:| Parties and voter communities | % 2006 |
Seats 2006 |
% 2001 |
Seats 2001 |
|
| 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... |
36.7 | 14 | 36.7 | 14 |
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | 27.4 | 10 | 27.0 | 10 |
| ÜWG | Überparteiliche Wählergemeinschaft | 22.8 | 8 | 26.8 | 10 |
| GREENS | Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | 9.4 | 4 | 9.5 | 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... |
3.7 | 1 | – | – |
| Total | 100.0 | 37 | 100.0 | 37 | |
| Voter turnout in % | 49.3 | 56.6 | |||
Mayor
The mayor, Stephan Kelbert, in office since 16 September 2009, was elected on 8 March 2009 with a share of 52.7% in the first round of voting.Town partnerships
RumillyRumilly, Haute-Savoie
Rumilly is a commune of over 12000 inhabitants in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-Geography:The Chéran forms part of the commune's eastern border, crosses the village, flows north-northwestward through the northern part of the commune, then flows into...
, Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It borders both Switzerland and Italy. The capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges and the French entrance to the Mont...
, 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...
Hulst
Hulst
Hulst is a municipality and a city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders.- History :Hulst received city rights in the 12th century....
, Zeeuws Vlaanderen, 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...
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: Per fess azure two mullets Or and Or diapered.
Michelstadt was granted these arms in 1541 along with its new seal by Count Georg of Erbach. The diapering
Diapering
Diaper is any of a wide range of decorative patterns used in a variety of works of art, such as stained glass, heraldic shields, architecture, silverwork etc. Its chief use is in the enlivening of plain surfaces.-Etymology:...
in the lower half of the escutcheon is unhistoric, and only appeared in the 17th century. Indeed, the escutcheon on the Town Hall, pictured in this article, does not show it. The mullets (six-pointed star shapes) come from the Counts' arms, but why the parting per fess (horizontal division across the middle) was chosen is a mystery. Except for the diapering, the arms have not changed since the 16th century.
Theatre
- Kleinkunstbühne Patat (cabaret)
- Michelstädter Theatersommer, yearly open-air plays in the historic Kellereihof
- Theaterkarren e.V. Odenwald, since 1998 regular events with changing groups and producers
Museums
- Odenwald- und Spielzeug-Museum (Odenwald and toys)
- Museumsmühle Michelstadt – historic mill from 1420
- Landesrabbiner Dr. l. E. Lichtigfeld-Museum (State Rabbi Lichtigfeld)
- Privates Elfenbeinmuseum Ulrich Seidenberg (private ivory museum)
- Motorrad-Museum (motorcycles)
Buildings
Michelstadt has a picturesque Old Town with many timber-frameTimber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
houses. Particularly worthy of mention are the following buildings, some within the old town, others in the outlying woods: The Historic Town Hall, the Diebsturm (“Thief’s Tower”) at the town wall, the Kellereihof (a Frankish, early mediaeval castle complex refurbished in an early 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) in the Michelstadt town wall ring, the Late Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
town church (late 13th century), the Einhards-Basilika, the palace of the Counts at Erbach-Fürstenau (Schloss Fürstenau, within which are parts of an old moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
ed castle in Michelstadt-Steinbach), the Eulbach hunting palace with an “English” park, the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
bath and castra
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
as part of the Neckar
Neckar
The Neckar is a long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse, in Germany. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the River Rhine...
-Odenwald-Limes
Limes
A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...
.
Historic Town Hall
Deutsche Post
Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL, is the world's largest logistics group. With its headquarters in Bonn, the corporation has 467,088 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide and generated revenue of € 51.48 billion in 2010...
stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
and is known throughout the world, was built in 1484 in the Late Gothic style and later remodelled inside many times; from 1743 to 1903 it was covered in shakes
Shake (shingle)
A shake is a basic wooden shingle that is made from split logs. Shakes have traditionally been used for roofing and siding applications around the world. Higher grade shakes are typically used for roofing purposes, while the lower grades are used for siding purposes...
. The town hall’s main floor served from the beginning as a market hall, and was built using jettying
Jettying
Jettying is a building technique used in medieval timber frame buildings in which an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. This has the advantage of increasing the available space in the building without obstructing the street...
. The back (east) wall was originally part of the graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
wall, upon which the ground floor’s upper bressumer was laid. To this day it is unknown who the master builder was, although it is assumed that the driving force behind the project could have been Schenk Adolar von Erbach and Bishop Johann von Dalberg
Dalberg
Dalberg is the name of an ancient and distinguished German noble family, derived from the hamlet and castle of Dalberg or Dalburg near Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate...
(his adviser).
Late Gothic Town Church
The town church, completed in 1490, was built to replace a CarolingianCarolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
stone church by Einhard, itself built on the site of a former wooden church. The nave’s columns and the two aisles’ walls were built in 1475. The quire comes from 1461; the antechoir’s north wall is even older – Carolingian. Until the 1970s, the church housed one of the most valuable libraries in Germany in its belltower containing more than a thousand volumes that belonged to Michelstadt-born Nicolaus Matz, who was capitular in Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
, and who bequeathed this collection to his hometown and its citizens in the late 14th century. Since then the library has been housed in a storehouse specially converted for it at the Michelstadt coaching inn that belonged to the Thurn und Taxis
Thurn und Taxis
The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis is a German family that was a key player in the postal services in Europe in the 16th century and is well known as owners of breweries and builders of many castles.- History :...
noble family, who played a key rôle in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an postal services
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
in the 16th century. The former church on this spot was built over a brook that comes up here, called the Kiliansfloß, an early Celtic-Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
worship site and later a Roman Mithraic worship site. The thus channelled Kiliansfloß fed not only the baptismal font, but also all the town’s fountains. The Kiliansfloß, however, does not actually rise here, but rather far outside the town, but it then disappears into the ground not far from the graveyard, springing up again in the middle of town.
Einhard’s Basilica in the outlying centre of Steinbach
Einhard
Einhard was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the Vita Karoli Magni, "one of the most precious literary bequests of the early Middle Ages."-Public life:Einhard was from the eastern...
, Charlemagne’s chronicler and confidant. The Carolingian church built between 824 and 827 is one of the very few Carolingian buildings that have largely survived. The Basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
’s crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
once housed Saints Peter’s and Marcellinus’s
Marcellinus and Peter
Saints Marcellinus and Peter were two 4th century Christian martyrs in the city of Rome.-Life:Very little is known about the two martyrs' lives. Marcellinus, a priest, and Peter, an exorcist, died in the year 304, during the persecution of Diocletian...
relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s, which had been stolen from Rome on Einhard’s instructions by his notary Ratleik. His servants’ nightmares and the remains’ “sweating blood” there, however, made Einhard think that this arrangement did not feel right. He thus transferred himself, his wife, the relics and his seat to Ober-Mulinheim am Main, now known as 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:...
, which thereby became a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
site with a new, bigger basilica.
The story that has been handed down says that the relics hidden from Rome were transported to Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, now in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, whence they were then brought to Michelstadt by a cheering pilgrimage procession.
The Basilica in Steinbach was converted, expanded, and rededicated many times and later served first as 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....
and then in the 17th century as a barn. Once it was rediscovered in 1873 as being Carolingian, the exploration and safeguarding of the parts of the basilica that were still intact began.
The Einhards-Basilika was until 1967 owned by the princely Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau. The grounds are now owned by the state of Hesse.
The Palace of the Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau in the outlying centre of Steinbach
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
to Steinbach, to the gigantic Renaissance-style gateway arch (1588) between the moated castle’s two western corner towers which replaced the castle wall and opened the gloomy, dank courtyard back up to the former castle garden, to the Renaissance palace mill, a former mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
(today a run-of-the-river hydroelectric station
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation whereby a considerably smaller water storage called pondage or none is used to supply a power station. Run-of-the-river power plants are classified as with or without pondage...
), to the dainty 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...
Kavaliershaus (a palace outbuilding for staff and guests) on the Mümling, to the Classicist
Classicism
Classicism, 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...
residential wing, the Neues Palais (1810/11) and the Late Baroque 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...
in the palace park, which was done in the English style. The orangery’s upper floor housed the small palace theatre.
Schloss Fürstenau is still a dwelling, with the head of the house of the princely Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau and his family still living there. The former Electorate of Mainz defence facility lay on the property of the Schenk of Erbach (a forefather of the noble family, which at that time had not yet branched) and passed into his ownership in 1355. Viewing the palace from the outside can be done by day. At the stylish outer bailey with its gateway arch from 1765 some prominent visual artists
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
have taken up residence (in among other places the former stables from after 1765).
Roman bath and castra
Right near Würzberg, in the middle of a clearing are found the remains of the Roman CastrumCastra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
of Würzberg, which was built about AD 100 as part of the Neckar-Odenwald-Limes
Limes
A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...
, and was used for about 60 years before the border was shifted farther east. The castrum can only be made out by an earthen wall. The Roman bathhouse, on the other hand, which stands right next to the castrum, has been partially restored; the floors have been replaced and the wall has been built back up to a height of about a metre. Despite the bath’s small size, which was only meant for the fort’s 120-man garrison, the design of a Roman bathhouse is easily recognizable.
Not far from the outlying centre of Vielbrunn, in the area around the former hunting palace of the Princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, traces of the Castrum of Hainhaus can still be found. Furthermore, on Michelstadt’s eastern outskirts can be found the Castrum of Eulbach near the Eulbacher Park, a landscaped English park
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
from the early 19th century with its like-named hunting palace and an adjoining wildlife park.
Other structures
- Würzberg Transmission Mast
- ESOC-Bodenstation Michelstadt (disused satellite ground receiving station)
Regular events
- Michelstädter Bienenmarkt (“bee market”) – Held each year at WhitsunWhitsunWhitsun is the name used in the UK for the Christian festival of Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's disciples...
, it was started by former mayor Hasenzahl in 1954. - Musiknacht – Each year, various concert productions take place in the Old Town with many different kinds of music.
- Church Consecration Festival with Weinbrunnenfest – From the Old Town’s many fountains, wine is given out by the many wine cellars and businesses at the Weinbrunnenfest (“Wine Fountain Festival”), which is actually Michelstadt’s traditional folk festivalFolk festivalA Folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music.-Canada:Alberta*Calgary Folk Music Festival*Canmore Folk Music Festival*Edmonton Folk Music Festival*Jasper Folk Festival*Wild Mountain Music FestOntario*Barriefolk...
, at which all the town’s countless fountains are decorated. - Michelstadt Christmas Market – One of Germany’s loveliest Christmas markets, with its mediaeval town as a backdrop, this is still quite a new creation of the television-sponsored Stadtmarketing (“Town Marketing”) of the late 1960s. The opening always takes place on the Friday before the onset of AdventAdventAdvent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
. The market is open Monday to Friday from 13:00 to 20:00 and weekends from 11:00 to 20:00 until the fourth day of Advent. - Nightgroove – The first Saturday in November. Many bands play in various pubs and restaurants.
- Michelstädter Theatersommer – Since 2003 a yearly open-air theatrical festival, initiated by the Michelstadt “theatremakers” Alexander Kaffenberger and Dirk Daniel Zucht.
Transport
In Michelstadt the two BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 45 and 47 cross, both old trade roads from Frankfurt am Main to Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
and from Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
to 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....
respectively.
The town has at its disposal a railway station on the Odenwaldbahn (railway; RMV Line 65; Eberbach – Erbach – 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...
– Frankfurt / 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 :...
). Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
, Stadtexpress and Regionalexpress
RegionalExpress
The term Regional-Express denotes a type of regional train in Germany and Austria .It is best compared to a semi-fast train, as it calls at fewer stations than Regionalbahn or S-Bahn trains, but stops more often than InterCity services...
trains of the VIAS GmbH stop here.
Moreover, Michelstadt has at its disposal the special landing facility Flugplatz Michelstadt (airfield), which lies roughly 2 km from the town and is run by a club.
Education
- Stadtschule Michelstadt (primary school)
- Schule am Hollerbusch (primary school)
- Einhardschule (primary school in the outlying centre of Steinbach)
- Grundschule Vielbrunn (primary school)
- Theodor-Litt-Schule (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...
and 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...
) - GymnasiumGymnasium (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...
Michelstadt - Odenwaldkreis Vocational Schools (including, among others, Berufsschule, Berufsfachschule and Berufliches GymnasiumEducation in GermanyThe responsibility for the German education system lies primarily with the states while the federal government plays only a minor role. Optional Kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years of age, after which school attendance is compulsory, in most cases for...
, nowadays known as “BSO – Europaschule”.
Famous people
- Seckel Löb Wormser (b. 1768 in Michelstadt, d. 1847 in Michelstadt), Kabbalist
- Fritz KredelFritz KredelFritz Kredel was a German graphic designer who was born in Michelstadt-im-Odenwald. In his early years, he studied under Rudolf Koch at Offenbach School of Design, and developed skills in woodcuts. Koch and Kredel collaborated on A Book of Signs and The Book of Flowers...
(b. 8 February 1900 in Michelstadt, d. 11 June 1973 in New York) - Dietrich Schenk von ErbachDietrich Schenk von ErbachDietrich Schenk von Erbach was the Archbishop of Mainz from 1434 until 1459.Theodoric was a son of Arch-Cupbearer Eberhard VI of Erbach. He was a cathedral member of Mainz when on 6 July 1434 he was elected its archbishop. Theodoric was confirmed by Pope Eugene IV on 20 October...
(d. 1459), Archbishop of Mainz (from 1434 to 1459) - Bernhard Koziol, founder of the Koziol plastics company (injection mouldingInjection mouldingInjection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity...
) - Gabriele von LutzauGabriele von LutzauGabriele von Lutzau, née Dillmann is a German heroine and sculptor. She is remembered as the "Angel of Mogadishu" for her heroic role in a notorious hijacking, and is also noted for her abstract beechwood sculptures.-Mogadishu hijacking:Gabriele Dillmann worked as a flight attendant for Lufthansa...
(b. 1954), sculptor, lives and works in Michelstadt - Nicolaus Matz, Rector of the University of Freiburg, Capitular in Speyer
- Rebecca HornRebecca HornRebecca Horn is a German installation artist and film director most famous for her body modifications such as Einhorn , a body-suit with a very large horn projecting vertically from the headpiece, and Pencil Mask, a mesh harness for the head with many pencils projecting out...
(b. 1944), artist - Stefan SeegerStefan SeegerStefan Seeger is a German chemist and professor at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.Stefan Seeger is a member of the German Society of Chemists, the Swiss Society of Chemists, the American Chemical Society, the Optical Society of America, a board member of the Paul-Karrer-foundation and...
(b. 1962), chemist, university professor and entrepreneur - 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), moderator and actress
Further reading
- Wolfgang Hartmann: Zu den frühen urkundlichen Erwähnungen von Michelstadt im Odenwald. In: Der Odenwald 40 (1993), pp. 47–57. Online publication
- Wolfgang Hartmann: Der Einhardweg von Michelstadt nach Seligenstadt. In: Odenwälder Jahrbuch für Kultur und Geschichte 1997, pp. 93–102. Online publication
Karl E. Grözinger, Der Ba’al Schem von Michelstadt. Ein deutsch-jüdisches Heiligenleben zwischen Legende und Wirklichkeit. Mit einem Neuabdruck der Legenden aus der Hand von Judaeus und Arthur Kahn, Frankfurt / New York (Campus) 2010