Werneck
Encyclopedia
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 district of Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt (district)
Schweinfurt is a Kreis in the northwestern part of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kissingen, Rhön-Grabfeld, Haßberge, Bamberg, Kitzingen, Würzburg and Main-Spessart. The district-free city Schweinfurt is completely surrounded by the district.-Geography:Primary rivers in the...
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...
.
Geography
Werneck is in the Main-Rhön region of Bavaria, approximately 12 km from SchweinfurtSchweinfurt
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 :...
and 25 km from 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....
. It is located on a bend in the Wern
Wern
Wern is a river of Bavaria, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Bavaria...
, a tributary of the Main, on the edge of the plateau above the river. Its highest point is at 337.20 m of elevation, its lowest at 212.50 m. The total area of the municipality is 73.65 km², of which approximately 9 km² are wooded.
Subsections
Werneck includes the following divisions:- Eckartshausen
- Egenhausen
- Ettleben
- Eßleben
- Mühlhausen
- Rundelshausen
- Schleerieth
- Schnackenwerth
- Schraudenbach
- Stettbach
- Vasbühl
- Werneck
- Zeuzleben
History
The first written record of Werneck is dated 10 August 1223, as a fief granted by Bodo of Ravensburg, confirmed by the Pope on 9 April 1223. Between 1224 and 1250, possession of the fief was shared between first the Teutonic KnightsTeutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
and later Conrad of Reichenberg and Conrad of Schmiedefeld, until it finally passed to the Bishopric of Würzburg
Bishopric of Würzburg
The Bishopric of Würzburg was a prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire, located in Lower Franconia, around the city of Würzburg, Germany. Würzburg was a diocese from 743. In the 18th century, its bishop was often also Bishop of Bamberg...
. A fort located there was sacked in the Peasants' War
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...
in 1525 and then seized and burnt down by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Albert Alcibiades was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, also known as Brandenburg-Bayreuth.Because of his bellicose nature Albert received the cognomen Alcibiades after his death; during his lifetime Albert was known as Bellator .He was a member of the Franconian branch of the House of...
in 1553. It was rebuilt in 1601 under Prince Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn was a Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Echter was born in Mespelbrunn Castle, Spessart and died in Würzburg....
, but was again destroyed by fire in 1723 and merely patched up in 1724.
The current 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...
palace, Schloss Werneck, designed by Balthasar Neumann
Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann , also known as Balthasar Neumann, was a [German] military artillery engineer and architect who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Italian, and French elements to design some of the most impressive buildings of the period,...
, was built in 1733–45 by Prince Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn. For half a century it was, with Veitshöchheim
Veitshöchheim
Veitshöchheim is a municipality in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Main, 6 km northwest of Würzburg. In the town is Schloss Veitshöchheim; this summer palace of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg was built in 1680-82, and was enlarged to its...
, a summer residence of the Bishops of Würzburg. On 28 November 1802, the last Prince Bishop of Würzburg, Georg Karl von Fechenbach, released his vassals there from their oaths of service and recommended them to the new regional overlord, Maximilian, Prince-elector of Bavaria.
In 1803, following secularisation, Werneck became a Bavarian possession. In 1805 it was transferred to Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1790 to 1801 and, after a period of disenfranchisement, again from 1814 to 1824. He was also the Prince-elector and Grand Duke of Salzburg and Grand Duke of Würzburg .-Biography:Ferdinand was born in Florence, Tuscany, into the...
as part of the formation of the Grand Duchy of Würzburg
Grand Duchy of Würzburg
The Grand Duchy of Würzburg was a German grand duchy centered on Würzburg existing in the early 19th century.As a consequence of the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the Bishopric of Würzburg was secularized in 1803 and granted to Bavaria. In the same year Ferdinand III, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, was...
. The Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1814)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 May between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies...
in 1814 returned it to Bavaria.
Beginning in 1853, the palace was converted into a hospital for the mentally ill, the Unterfränkische Landes-Irrenanstalt (Lower Franconian State Asylum), which opened on 1 October 1855. Its first director was Bernhard von Gudden
Bernhard von Gudden
Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden was a German neuroanatomist and psychiatrist born in Kleve.In 1848 he earned his doctorate from the University of Halle, and became an intern at the asylum in Siegburg under Carl Wigand Maximilian Jacobi...
(who later wrote the clinical assessment which justified deposing King Ludwig II
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...
and drowned with him in Lake Starnberg
Lake Starnberg
Lake Starnberg , 25 kilometers southwest of Munich in southern Bavaria, is Germany's fifth largest freshwater lake and, due to its large average depth, the second richest in water...
). The hospital is thus one of the oldest psychiatric institutions in Germany.
In 1940, the approximately 800 patients were murdered on the orders of Otto Hellmuth
Otto Hellmuth
Otto Hellmuth was a member of the Nazi Party.Born at Markt Einersheim, he was Gauleiter of the German region of Lower Franconia from 1928 to 1945. His home and office were in Würzburg, the capital of the Gau Mainfranken. By 1935, Hellmuth had his Gau renamed as Mainfranken...
, Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of Mainfranken
Gau Mainfranken
The Gau Mainfranken , was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, from 1933 to 1945...
, as part of the Nazi elimination of mentally ill and handicapped people, Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
.
Today the psychiatric clinic (Krankenhaus für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatische Medizin Schloss Werneck) is operated by the Administrative Region
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 and serves northeast Lower Franconia (Schweinfurt, Hassberge, Rhön-Grabfeld, Bad Kissingen and Kitzingen, with a total population of 500,000) with a modern 290-bed building, while the palace houses the Lower Franconia orthopaedic
Orthopedics
Orthopedics is the study of the musculoskeletal system. The Greek word 'ortho' means straight or correct and 'pedics' comes from the Greek 'pais' meaning children. For many centuries, orthopedists have been involved in the treatment of crippled children...
clinic (Orthopädische Klinik Schloss Werneck), one of the largest such facilities in Germany, with 153 beds. There are also care homes for psychiatric and senile dementia patients (Albert-Schweitzer-Haus, Haus Erthal and Haus Schönborn) on the grounds. Together these facilities are the largest source of employment in Werneck.
The grounds of the palace, including the baroque garden and English-style park, may be visited, as may part of the palace, chiefly the chapel, which dates to 1744.
Buildings
- Schloss Werneck
- Former palace in Vasbühl, built in 1677
- Fortified churches in Schleerieth und Schnackenwerth
Music
The Musikverein Werneck has a wind band and a young people's wind band, and a variety of beginners' musical groups.The Bayerische Kammerorchester Bad Brückenau (Bad Brückenau
Bad Brückenau
Bad Brückenau is a spa town in Bad Kissingen district in northern Bavaria. It is situated in the Rhön Mountains, 30 kilometers south of Fulda.-Geography:Bad Brückenau is located in the valley of the River Sinn, in the western part of the Rhön Mountains...
Chamber Orchestra of Bavaria) was founded in 1979 as the Kammerorchester Schloß Werneck (Schloss Werneck Chamber Orchestra) and was formerly based in Werneck.
Economy
Although the villages within the municipality of Werneck are still agricultural in character, there have been several decades of economic dependency on industries in Schweinfurt, to which many residents commute. In 1998, the municipality had 8 agricultural and forestry jobs, 595 production jobs and 228 trade and transport jobs subject to social insuranceSocial insurance
Social insurance is any government-sponsored program with the following four characteristics:* the benefits, eligibility requirements and other aspects of the program are defined by statute;...
; 1,555 were employed there in other fields. A total of 3,559 residents held jobs subject to social insurance. There were 2 businesses engaged in the harvesting of natural resources (such as mining and quarrying) and 10 in construction. In addition in 1999 there were 195 agricultural businesses, utilising 6,382 km², of which 5,681 km² was cropland and 672 km² permanently planted (pasturage, orchards, etc.)
Transport
Werneck is located at the Werneck Autobahn junction, where the A 7 and A 70 merge; in addition, the A 71Bundesautobahn 71
is an Autobahn under construction in Germany. When completed, it will connect the A 38 and Erfurt to the A 70 near Schweinfurt.Construction on the A 71, supervised by DEGES, began in 1996, most parts were being opened by December 2005. Completion is projected for 2008...
has passed close by since its Werntal connection to the A 70 opened in November 2005. Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n B 19, B 26 and B 26a pass through Werneck. On 16 December 2007 the Werneck bypass
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....
on the B 19 was opened.
There is a railway station on the Schweinfurt - Würzburg line in the centre of Eßleben and another very close to Werneck proper, on its border with Waigolshausen
Waigolshausen
Waigolshausen is a municipality in the district of Schweinfurt in Bavaria, Germany....
. The Werntalbahn (Wern Valley Railway), now used mainly for goods traffic, runs through the municipality.
Education
In 1999, Werneck had 459 kindergarten spaces with 434 pupils, two VolksschuleVolksschule
A Volksschule was an 18th century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire and Prussia . Attendance was supposedly compulsory, but a 1781 census reveals that only one fourth of school-age children attended. At the time, this was one of the few examples...
n with 973 pupils and the Lower Franconian school of nursing.
Religion
Werneck is predominantly Roman Catholic. The palace church was consecrated in 1745. The tithe barnTithe barn
A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing the tithes - a tenth of the farm's produce which had to be given to the church....
(built in 1628) was converted into a church in 1856. There has been a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
since 1910; a new parish church was consecrated in 1967. The Church of St. Bartholomew in Zeuzleben was built in 1753–1754.
A Jewish congregation existed in Werneck from the 16th century until 1904.
Notable people born in Werneck
- Winfried Bonengel (born 1960), film and tv director
- Friedrich Fehr (1862–1927), artist
- Gerhard LaunerGerhard LaunerGerhard Launer is one of the best known aerial photographers in Germany.- Life :Gerhard Launer was born in 1949 in Werneck. From early on he received violin lessons and was invited at the age of nine by the world renowned violin soloist and teacher Tibor Varga to spend three months with him at...
(born 1949), aerial photographer - Tobias Oertel (born 1975), actor
- Sebastian Remelé (born 1969), Mayor of Schweinfurt
- Christopher Schadewaldt (born 1984), ice hockey player
- Christian WückChristian WückChristian Wück is a retired German football player and a football manager currently managing Holstein Kiel.-External links:...
(born 1973), former footballer and now coach
Sources
- Manfred Fuchs. Chronik der jüdischen Gemeinde von Werneck. Spuren jüdischen Lebens 1677–1904. Werneck: Historisches Verein Markt Werneck, 2010
External links
- Official site
- Historischer Verein Markt Werneck (Historical Society)
- Denkmale in Werneck (Monuments) (requires agreement with terms of service)
- Werneck in Meyers Konversations-LexikonMeyers Konversations-LexikonMeyers Konversations-Lexikon or Meyers Lexikon was a major German encyclopedia that existed in various editions, and several titles, from 1839 until 1984, when it merged with the Brockhaus encyclopedia....
, 4th ed. (1885–1892)