Sulzbach am Main
Encyclopedia
Sulzbach am Main is a market municipality
in the Miltenberg district
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Lower Franconia
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
, Germany
.
on the western edge of the Spessart
(range).
(Altenburg) on the Schlossberg (mountain) between the outlying centre of Soden and Ebersbach served in Roman times
(about the 2nd century AD) as a refuge fort – for the protection of civilians in time of war – and in the Early Middle Ages
it was fortified with a masonry castle.
During Roman times, the Main and the Limes Germanicus
formed Germania’s border with the then Roman-occupied Odenwald
area across the river. In the time that followed, several tribes lived in the Sulzbach valley: the Chatti
, the Alamanni
, the Burgundians
and the Franks
. It was likely in Charles Martel
’s time (714–741) that the municipality of Ruchelnheim, which lay within what are now Sulzbach’s municipal limits and which was forsaken in the Thirty Years' War
, was founded. As far back as Carolingian
times, such places lying on the Sulzbach or Leidersbach as Sulzbach, Ebersbach, Leidersbach and Roßbach came into being; it is also likely that Soden’s founding goes back to late Carolingian times.
Sulzbach and Soden were assigned to the parish of Ruchelnheim, itself subordinate to Saints Peter’s and Alexander’s Collegiate Church in Aschaffenburg
. Sulzbach had its first documentary mention in a document from Pope Lucius III
, in which a curtem in Sulzibah (estate in Sulzbach) was listed among the Aschaffenburg Collegiate Church’s holdings.
From the mid 13th century, Sulzbach belonged to the Centena Ascaffinburg – the tithing area of Aschaffenburg – whose place was taken in the 15th century by the Cent vorm Spessart. Until the 1803 Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, Sulzbach stood under Electoral Mainz’s
lordship. Thereafter, it was part of Prince Primate
von Dalberg’s
newly formed Principality of Aschaffenburg
, with which it passed in 1814, after the War of the Sixth Coalition
and the Congress of Vienna
(by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt), to Bavaria, of which it has been part ever since.
As in all other areas in the Spessart, farmland was splintered by Mainz inheritance law in the 18th and 19th centuries pulling Sulzbach, too, into an economic downswing with its attendant consequences for living conditions. Only with the onset of industrialization in Aschaffenburg and the opening of the Aschaffenburg-Miltenberg railway line in 1876 did things begin to get better.
The formerly self-administering municipalities of Dornau and Soden were amalgamated with Sulzbach on 1 July 1971 and 1972 respectively. The municipality was raised to market on 15 May 1973.
industry: Ibelo, Europe’s biggest lighter producer, had its production facility in Sulzbach and employed more than 300 workers. Today the firm’s building is nothing more than a ruin and is described by many locals as an eyesore.
The firm was refounded after the war by Hermann Zahn, after the original owners, who were Jewish, had emigrated to England, where they founded another lighter firm. The firm was expanded to several times its former size, with the number of employees also steadily rising.
Owing to cheaper lighters from Japan, the company became insolvent
in 1985 and was sold to another owner, who cut back production bit by bit until in the end, in 2000, he let the remaining workers go because the outside marketing company likewise ended up going bankrupt
. Today, remaindered stock is being sold worldwide through a North German company.
Group and is still in operation today in Sulzbach’s outlying centre of Soden.
The firm Möbel Kempf made the leap in Sulzbach from a small business to a nationally known furniture shop. Given the bad connection with Hesse
, though, the management decided to move the company to Aschaffenburg. Today a subsidiary still sells furniture and other consumer items at a cash-and-carry shop.
On 2 March 2008, the latest council election was held. The Freie Wähler – “Free Voters” – were handed a three-seat increase in their mandate. Especially surprising was that from the FWG list, three candidates under 30 years old got into the municipal parliament.
might be described thus: Gules two salthooks in saltire between a wheel spoked of six in dexter and a fleur-de-lis in sinister argent, in chief an inescutcheon of the second with three chevronels of the field.
The salthooks refer to the saltmining that gave Sulzbach and Soden their names. The Wheel of Mainz
stands for the centuries-long Electoral Mainz
hegemony in Sulzbach. The heraldic lily goes back to the arms borne by the local Mainz noble family, the Lords of Sulzbach. The inescutcheon is the arms formerly borne by the Lords of Eppstein
, who from the 12th to 15th century were the most important landlords in Sulzbach. The tinctures
argent and gules (silver and red) are both Electoral Mainz’s and Franconia’s colours.
The arms have been borne since 1955.
Bundesliga are the Rhein-Main Bienen (“Bees”, formerly known as HSG Sulzbach/Leidersbach). The first women’s team rose within only four years from the Verbandsliga to the Handball Bundesliga, to which it has belonged since the 2007-2008 season. Also playing in matches as well as the Bundesliga team are two men’s teams, a further women’s team and several youth teams.
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
in the 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 the Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
of Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany ....
(Unterfranken) 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...
, 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...
.
Location
Sulzbach lies on the rivers Main and Sulzbach, roughly 7 km south of AschaffenburgAschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
on the western edge of the Spessart
Spessart
The Spessart is a low mountain range in northwestern Bavaria and southern Hesse, Germany. It is bordered on three sides by the Main River. The two most important towns located at the foot of the Spessart are Aschaffenburg and Würzburg....
(range).
Constituent communities
Sulzbach’s Ortsteile are Sulzbach, Soden (formerly also called Bad Sodenthal) and Dornau.History
Finds from the New Stone Age show that the Sulzbach valley was settled as early as 3500 BC. A circular rampartCircular rampart
A circular rampart is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering....
(Altenburg) on the Schlossberg (mountain) between the outlying centre of Soden and Ebersbach served in Roman times
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
(about the 2nd century AD) as a refuge fort – for the protection of civilians in time of war – and in the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
it was fortified with a masonry castle.
During Roman times, the Main and the Limes Germanicus
Limes Germanicus
The Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
formed Germania’s border with the then Roman-occupied Odenwald
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...
area across the river. In the time that followed, several tribes lived in the Sulzbach valley: the Chatti
Chatti
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
, the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
, the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
and the Franks
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...
. It was likely in Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
’s time (714–741) that the municipality of Ruchelnheim, which lay within what are now Sulzbach’s municipal limits and which was forsaken in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, was founded. As far back as Carolingian
Carolingian
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...
times, such places lying on the Sulzbach or Leidersbach as Sulzbach, Ebersbach, Leidersbach and Roßbach came into being; it is also likely that Soden’s founding goes back to late Carolingian times.
Sulzbach and Soden were assigned to the parish of Ruchelnheim, itself subordinate to Saints Peter’s and Alexander’s Collegiate Church in Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
. Sulzbach had its first documentary mention in a document from Pope Lucius III
Pope Lucius III
Pope Lucius III , born Ubaldo, was pope from 1 September 1181 to his death.A native of the independent republic of Lucca, he was born ca. 1100 as Ubaldo, son of Orlando. He is commonly referred to as a member of the aristocratic family of Allucingoli, but this is not proven...
, in which a curtem in Sulzibah (estate in Sulzbach) was listed among the Aschaffenburg Collegiate Church’s holdings.
From the mid 13th century, Sulzbach belonged to the Centena Ascaffinburg – the tithing area of Aschaffenburg – whose place was taken in the 15th century by the Cent vorm Spessart. Until the 1803 Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, Sulzbach stood under Electoral Mainz’s
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
lordship. Thereafter, it was part of Prince Primate
Prince primate
Prince-Primate is a rare princely title held by individual archbishops of specific sees in a presiding capacity in an august assembly of mainly secular princes, notably the following:-Germany - Confederation of the Rhine:The Rheinbund or 'Confederation of the Rhine' was founded in 1806, when several...
von Dalberg’s
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Regensburg, primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Grand-Duke of Frankfurt.-Biography:...
newly formed Principality of Aschaffenburg
Principality of Aschaffenburg
The Principality of Aschaffenburg was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the Confederation of the Rhine from 1803–10. Its capital was Aschaffenburg....
, with which it passed in 1814, after the War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
and 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,...
(by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt), to Bavaria, of which it has been part ever since.
As in all other areas in the Spessart, farmland was splintered by Mainz inheritance law in the 18th and 19th centuries pulling Sulzbach, too, into an economic downswing with its attendant consequences for living conditions. Only with the onset of industrialization in Aschaffenburg and the opening of the Aschaffenburg-Miltenberg railway line in 1876 did things begin to get better.
The formerly self-administering municipalities of Dornau and Soden were amalgamated with Sulzbach on 1 July 1971 and 1972 respectively. The municipality was raised to market on 15 May 1973.
Lighter industry
Sulzbach became well known above all for its lighterLighter
A lighter is a portable device used to generate a flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable fluid or pressurized liquid gas, a means of ignition, and some provision for extinguishing the flame.- History :...
industry: Ibelo, Europe’s biggest lighter producer, had its production facility in Sulzbach and employed more than 300 workers. Today the firm’s building is nothing more than a ruin and is described by many locals as an eyesore.
The firm was refounded after the war by Hermann Zahn, after the original owners, who were Jewish, had emigrated to England, where they founded another lighter firm. The firm was expanded to several times its former size, with the number of employees also steadily rising.
Owing to cheaper lighters from Japan, the company became insolvent
Insolvency
Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
in 1985 and was sold to another owner, who cut back production bit by bit until in the end, in 2000, he let the remaining workers go because the outside marketing company likewise ended up going bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. Today, remaindered stock is being sold worldwide through a North German company.
Textile industry
A great number of Sulzbach dwellers worked in the Sulzbach textile industry. Given this field’s general situation, only a few of these companies have survived.Other industries
The drink manufacturer Sodenthaler was founded in 1950. Since 1996 the business has belonged to the Coca-ColaCoca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
Group and is still in operation today in Sulzbach’s outlying centre of Soden.
The firm Möbel Kempf made the leap in Sulzbach from a small business to a nationally known furniture shop. Given the bad connection with 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...
, though, the management decided to move the company to Aschaffenburg. Today a subsidiary still sells furniture and other consumer items at a cash-and-carry shop.
Mayor
On 12 March 2006, Sulzbach elected a new mayor. With 58.8% of the vote, the Freie Wähler candidate Peter Maurer (Soden) was the chosen one.Municipal council
The council is made up of 20 council members, not counting the mayor, with seats apportioned thus:- FWG: 9 seats
- CSUChristian Social Union of BavariaThe Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany...
: 8 seats - SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
: 3 seats
On 2 March 2008, the latest council election was held. The Freie Wähler – “Free Voters” – were handed a three-seat increase in their mandate. Especially surprising was that from the FWG list, three candidates under 30 years old got into the municipal parliament.
Youth council
In November 2002, the Sulzbach Youth Council (Jugendrat) was founded to represent local youth’s interests. The board’s first chairwoman was René Wendland, who held the office until 2004. After a change in bylaws, Michael Lebert and Markus Krebs were elected as her successors. In 2005, Lebert resigned for job-related reasons and Anna-Lena Höcker succeeded him. At the election in October 2006, Stefan Götz and Mareen Wendland were elected the new speakers. The Youth Council has seven members, according to its bylaws.Coat of arms
The municipality’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: Gules two salthooks in saltire between a wheel spoked of six in dexter and a fleur-de-lis in sinister argent, in chief an inescutcheon of the second with three chevronels of the field.
The salthooks refer to the saltmining that gave Sulzbach and Soden their names. The Wheel of Mainz
Wheel of Mainz
thumb|150px|version until 1992thumb|150px|version from 1992 - 2008thumb|150px|version from 2008The Wheel of Mainz or Mainzer Rad, in German, was the coat of arms of the Archbishopric of Mainz and thus also of the Electorate of Mainz , in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It consists of a silver wheel...
stands for the centuries-long Electoral Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
hegemony in Sulzbach. The heraldic lily goes back to the arms borne by the local Mainz noble family, the Lords of Sulzbach. The inescutcheon is the arms formerly borne by the Lords of Eppstein
Lords of Eppstein
The Lords of Eppstein were a family of German nobility in the Middle Ages. From the 12th century they ruled extensive territories in the Rhine Main area from their castle in Eppstein, northwest of Frankfurt, Germany.-History:...
, who from the 12th to 15th century were the most important landlords in Sulzbach. The tinctures
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
argent and gules (silver and red) are both Electoral Mainz’s and Franconia’s colours.
The arms have been borne since 1955.
Mountainbiking
The Mountainbike Club 26 Zoll Sulzbach e.V. was founded as early as 1993. It stages monthly outings for everyone. There is also the yearly MTB Cross Country Tour for ambius bikers and biker parties.Team handball
Representing the market municipality in the women’s First HandballTeam handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
Bundesliga are the Rhein-Main Bienen (“Bees”, formerly known as HSG Sulzbach/Leidersbach). The first women’s team rose within only four years from the Verbandsliga to the Handball Bundesliga, to which it has belonged since the 2007-2008 season. Also playing in matches as well as the Bundesliga team are two men’s teams, a further women’s team and several youth teams.
Football
The two football teams are SV Sulzbach and TSV Soden. The former currently plays in the district class with its first team and the latter plays in the A class.Artistic cycling
Another nationally known club is RV Adler Soden, who in their history have already produced German, European and world champions from amongst the men (Korn/Fries; Jurisch/Dreher) and the women (Claudia Dreher).Famous people
- Hermann Zahn, 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...
(IBELO lighters) and recipient of the BundesverdienstkreuzBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
(awarded 1972) - Werner Zahn, entrepreneur (IBELO lighters) and former husband of Marika KiliusMarika KiliusMarika Kilius is a two-time Olympic silver medalist and two-time World champion in pair skating....
- Franz Joseph DölgerFranz Joseph DölgerFranz Joseph Dölger was a German Catholic theologian and church historian who was a native of Sulzbach am Main....
, religious scholar and Christian archaeologist - Henriette Catharina von GersdorffHenriette Catharina von GersdorffHenriette Catharina, Baroness von Gersdorff , was a German Baroque religious poet, an advocate of Pietism and also a supporter of the beginnings of the Moravian Church...
, m.n. von Friesen, grandmother of Count von Zinzendorf