Buttenheim
Encyclopedia
Buttenheim is a market town
in the Upper Franconia
n district of Bamberg
and lies in the Regnitz
Valley between Bamberg
and Nuremberg
.
Buttenheim is Levi Strauss
’s birthplace; the future inventor of blue jeans
emigrated from here to the United States
in 1847.
to Würzburg
in 793, Charlemagne
ordered churches to be built in the Regnitz area to convert the Slavs. It is assumed that one of Charlemagne’s 14 “Slavic Churches”, which were built about 800 in the Radenzgau (a county roughly corresponding to today’s Upper Franconia), stood in Buttenheim.
Until the mid-17th century, Buttenheim was the most important place between Bamberg and Forchheim. Through Buttenheim ran the old trade road from Regensburg
to Bamberg/Hallstadt
and on to Magdeburg
. Furthermore, the Saxon Road, another old connection, this one east-west, ran from the Steigerwald (forest) by way of Hirschaid
to the “Franconian Switzerland
”. Parts of that road are still used, having been incorporated into the modern road Staatsstraße 2260.
The Lords of Schlüsselberg, who had their first documentary mention in 1304, were resident in Buttenheim and until 1762 held an estate, the court and lordship over the village. These, however, later belonged to the Barons of Seefried. By the Act of the Confederation of the Rhine
in 1806, the community passed to Bavaria
.
that calls itself the CSU /Zum Wohl der Gemeinde/Neue Wählergemeinschaft and furnishes the mayor. The SPD
, FDP and Greens are not represented on municipal council, but instead various other voter communities are, such as Bürgerblock Gunzendorf, WG Dreuschendorf, WG Ketschendorf or WG Frankendorf.
In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to euro
s, amounted to €1,896,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €789,000.
gules per pale, sinister in argent the chief gules, thereunder a knife azure per pale.
The black and silver half of the shield is a reduced form of the arms borne by the old Lords of Stiebar, who were resident in Buttenheim. Their arms were parted and out of the parting line sprouted a Schweinsfeder (“swine’s feather” – a spearlike war weapon somewhat similar to the boar spear mentioned in the blazon, which itself in German
has a similar name: Saufeder, or “sow’s feather”) with a golden bend.
The tinctures
gules and argent (red and silver) are the old Bamberg High Monastery’s colours. This monastery had holdings in the community. The blue knife is an attribute of Saint Bartholomew, the patron saint of the Buttenheim church.
, the St-Georgen-Bräu and the Löwenbräu. Moreover, the outlying centres of Gunzendorf and Dreuschendorf each have one brewery.
and Ermreuth. The Stiebar noble family can be traced back to 1253 and belonged to the former knighthood of the canton of Gebürg, which was under direct Imperial authority, and which stretched among Kronach
, Nuremberg, Buttenheim and Kulmbach
. This noble family put many abbesses, Teutonic Knights
and capitulars in the High Monasteries of Bamberg and Würzburg. Between 1377 and 1560, at least fourteen members of this family were capitulars in the High Monasteries of Bamberg and Würzburg.
The Oberes Schloss (square with wall and four corner towers) was burnt down during the German Peasants' War
in 1525 and never built again.
The castle that still stands today in Buttenheim is the so-called Unteres Schloss, which originally served the von Lichtenstein family as a bower, was taken over by the Stiebars, along with other pieces of real estate in Buttenheim in 1438.
The Stiebars had at their disposal in Buttenheim at that time jurisdiction over life and death, having inherited this from the von Schlüsselbergs. Under the Stiebars’ ownership, the Lower Castle was burnt down several times: in 1492 in “bloody feud between Albrecht Stiebar the Younger and Prince-Bishop Heinrich III of Bamberg”, in 1525 by “rebellious people from out of town” and once again in 1561 through a castle servant’s carelessness when he went to bed, forgetting to put the light in his room out. Hans Joachim von Stiebar, who in 1574 was elected to the First Knightly Council (Erster Ritterrat) of the canton of Gebürg for the Bamberg and Forchheim area, thereby enjoying great prestige, repaired the damage.
The Stiebars embraced the Lutheran faith
quite early on, as witnessed by, among other things, the appointment of an Evangelical preacher at Schloss Buttenheim, which was mentioned in a document as early as 1591.
In 1630, the Stiebars were stripped of their holdings at Imperial behest for having taken part in the Protestant Union
’s struggles, putting Buttenheim, and thereby the Lower Castle, under Prince Georg Ludwig von Schwarzenberg’s ownership. The Stiebars, however, got their belongings back in 1648 under the Peace of Westphalia
.
In 1741, the chapel
, which still stands today, was built next to the rubble of the castle, which had been destroyed by war. The castle lords, however, had to live in a side building.
In 1762, with Imperial Baron Johann Georg Christoph Wilhelm von Stiebar’s death, this noble family’s main Franconian
line died out. Their fiefdom
went to the High Monasteries of Bamberg and Würzburg, and also partly back to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg
. Ownership stayed with the heirs, the widow and the daughters.
In 1761 the Kammerjunker (variously translated as “page” or “chamberlain”) Wilhelm Christian Friedrich von Seefried wed Elisabeth Sofie von Stiebar, whom he had come to know while he was a student of jurisprudence
in Erlangen
. A few years later, they moved to Buttenheim. Since the Lower Castle “...had been destroyed or wiped out by fire (down to) the mediaeval, massive, square tower topped with a mansard roof
...”, Wilhelm Christian Friedrich von Seefried built the current Baroque
castle in 1774 onto the one tower that still stood, and in which is still found the Evangelical castle chapel.
Wilhelm Christian saw to it that the Evangelical castle parish was newly confirmed. In 1790, Wilhelm Christian, who had set himself all his life to strengthening the Evangelical faith, was raised to the Imperial Barony. In 1814, a “Protestant castle parish” from the “Castle Chaplaincy” was consecrated, and on 27 August 1826, the castle chapel was consecrated as a communal House of God.
Even today, the castle chapel still serves the Buttenheim Evangelical parish, which since that time has been put in the care of the parish of Hirschaid, as a House of God.
Since Wilhelm Christian’s time, the castle has been occupied almost uninterruptedly by his descendants.
begins the Georgiritt (roughly “George’s Ride”) to the Senftenberg, a nearby mountain.
houses became the winner of the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village ought to become lovelier”) in 1981. The district evaluation jury came to this conclusion in 1980:
It goes on to say:
About the landscape, this was stated:
Levi Strauss
, the inventor of blue jeans was born in Buttenheim on 26 February 1829 as Löb Strauß. The house where he was born is now a museum
. Built in 1687, the timber-frame structure was expanded in 1733 to house two families. Among the permanent exhibits can be seen the Strauss family’s emigration
documents and the publication of their emigration in the official journal.
s, graphics
, sculpture
s and photograph
s by East European
artist
s.
to Saint George
traditionally done on horseback.
267. In other areas, 104 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 1,139 such workers worked from home. In processing businesses there were no businesses, and in construction three. Furthermore, in 1999, there were 75 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 661 ha, of which 1 226 ha was cropland and 429 ha was meadowland.
built in 1973 (coördinates: 49°51'10"N, 11°3'37"E) stands on the Sommeranger Berg.
(1829–1902), German-American industrialist, company founder and inventor of blue jeans
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in the Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...
n district of Bamberg
Bamberg (district)
Bamberg Land is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It surrounds but does not include the town of Bamberg. The district is bounded by the districts of Lichtenfels, Bayreuth, Forchheim, Erlangen-Höchstadt, Neustadt -Bad Windsheim, Kitzingen, Schweinfurt and Haßberge.- History :The history of the...
and lies in the Regnitz
Regnitz
The Regnitz is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length.The river is formed by the confluence of the rivers Rednitz and Pegnitz, which meet in the city of Fürth. From there the Regnitz runs northwards through the cities of Erlangen and Forchheim...
Valley between Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
and Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
.
Buttenheim is Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co., began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.-Origins:...
’s birthplace; the future inventor of blue jeans
Blue Jeans
"Blue Jeans" is a sentimental popular song written by Harry D. Kerr and Lou Traveller in 1920. In the song, the singer is reminiscing about a long-ago young love that happened somewhere in the "hills of the old Cumberland." The chorus echoes the singer's longing:* The Parlor Songs Collection.* by...
emigrated from here to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1847.
Constituent communities
The market community of Buttenheim has the following constituent communities:- Buttenheim, the namesake community
- DreuschendorfDreuschendorfDreuschendorf is a small village located in Bavaria, Germany. It is in Upper Franconia, in the Bamberg district. Dreuschendorf is a constituent community of Buttenheim.In 2007, the village had a population of 327.-Geography:...
- FrankendorfFrankendorf (Buttenheim)Frankendorf is a small village located in Bavaria, Germany. It is in Upper Franconia, in the Bamberg district. Frankendorf is a constituent community of Buttenheim. In 2007, the village had a population of 146.-Geography:...
- Gunzendorf
- Hochstall
- Kälberberg
- Ketschendorf bei Buttenheim
- Senftenberg
- StackendorfStackendorf (Buttenheim)Stackendorf is a small village located in Bavaria, Germany. It is in Upper Franconia, in the Bamberg district. Stackendorf is a constituent community of Buttenheim...
- TiefenhöchstadtTiefenhöchstadtTiefenhöchstadt is a small village located in Bavaria, Germany. It is in Upper Franconia, in the Bamberg district. Tiefenhöchstadt is a constituent community of Buttenheim.In 2007, the village had a population of 90.-Geography:...
History
Buttenheim – “Botho’s Home” – had its first documentary mention in 1017. It lies on the north-south Regnitz Valley transport axis and was probably founded about 550. During a river journey from ForchheimForchheim (Oberfranken)
Forchheim is a large town in Upper Franconia in northern Bavaria, and also the seat of the administrative district of Forchheim. Forchheim is a former royal city, and is sometimes called the “Gateway to the Franconian Switzerland”, as the region is known. Its population, as of October 2008, was...
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....
in 793, 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...
ordered churches to be built in the Regnitz area to convert the Slavs. It is assumed that one of Charlemagne’s 14 “Slavic Churches”, which were built about 800 in the Radenzgau (a county roughly corresponding to today’s Upper Franconia), stood in Buttenheim.
Until the mid-17th century, Buttenheim was the most important place between Bamberg and Forchheim. Through Buttenheim ran the old trade road from Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
to Bamberg/Hallstadt
Hallstadt
Hallstadt is a town in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg on the left bank of the Main, 4 km north of Bamberg.-Geography:Hallstadt borders in the south on the city of Bamberg and in the west on the Main. There are two constituent communities named Hallstadt and Dörfleins...
and on to Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
. Furthermore, the Saxon Road, another old connection, this one east-west, ran from the Steigerwald (forest) by way of Hirschaid
Hirschaid
Hirschaid is a community with market rights in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg and lies roughly twelve kilometres south of Bamberg on the Regnitz and the Main-Danube Canal.-Location:...
to the “Franconian Switzerland
Franconian Switzerland
The Little Switzerland is an upland in Upper Franconia, northern Bavaria and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the Pegnitz River in the east and the south, the Regnitz River in the west and the Main River in the north, its relief reaches 600 metres in height.The Franconian Switzerland is...
”. Parts of that road are still used, having been incorporated into the modern road Staatsstraße 2260.
The Lords of Schlüsselberg, who had their first documentary mention in 1304, were resident in Buttenheim and until 1762 held an estate, the court and lordship over the village. These, however, later belonged to the Barons of Seefried. By the Act of the Confederation of the Rhine
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
in 1806, the community passed to 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...
.
Population development
Within municipal limits, 2,619 inhabitants were counted in 1970, 2,786 in 1987 and 3,092 in 2000. In early 2005 it was 3,442.Politics
The community’s politics is dominated by a coalitionCoalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
that calls itself the CSU /Zum Wohl der Gemeinde/Neue Wählergemeinschaft and furnishes the mayor. The SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
, FDP and Greens are not represented on municipal council, but instead various other voter communities are, such as Bürgerblock Gunzendorf, WG Dreuschendorf, WG Ketschendorf or WG Frankendorf.
In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s, amounted to €1,896,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €789,000.
Coat of arms
Buttenheim’s arms might heraldically be described thus: Party per pale, dexter party per fess argent and sable, in argent a boar spearBoar spear
A boar spear is a spear used for boar hunting. It is relatively short and heavy and has two "lugs" or "wings" on the spearsocket behind the blade, which act as a barrier to prevent an injured and furious boar from working its way up the shaft of the spear to attack the hunter.The boar spear also...
gules per pale, sinister in argent the chief gules, thereunder a knife azure per pale.
The black and silver half of the shield is a reduced form of the arms borne by the old Lords of Stiebar, who were resident in Buttenheim. Their arms were parted and out of the parting line sprouted a Schweinsfeder (“swine’s feather” – a spearlike war weapon somewhat similar to the boar spear mentioned in the blazon, which itself in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
has a similar name: Saufeder, or “sow’s feather”) with a golden bend.
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...
gules and argent (red and silver) are the old Bamberg High Monastery’s colours. This monastery had holdings in the community. The blue knife is an attribute of Saint Bartholomew, the patron saint of the Buttenheim church.
Breweries
In Buttenheim there are currently two bigger breweriesBrewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, the St-Georgen-Bräu and the Löwenbräu. Moreover, the outlying centres of Gunzendorf and Dreuschendorf each have one brewery.
Parish church in Buttenheim
The Pfarrkirche St. Bartholomäus in Buttenheim was likely among the 14 “Slavic Churches” built in the Radenzgau by the Bishop of Würzburg at Charlemagne’s behest.Schloss Buttenheim
In Buttenheim, two castles were once to be found: the Oberes Schloss (“Upper Castle”, also called Deichselburg) and the Unteres Schloss (“Lower Castle”). Both were owned by the Imperial Barons of Stiebar, who further owned three others in Aisch, PretzfeldPretzfeld
Pretzfeld is a municipality in the district of Forchheim in Bavaria in Germany....
and Ermreuth. The Stiebar noble family can be traced back to 1253 and belonged to the former knighthood of the canton of Gebürg, which was under direct Imperial authority, and which stretched among Kronach
Kronach
Kronach is a town in Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, located in the Frankenwald area. It is the capital of the district Kronach.Kronach is the birthtown of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Maximilian von Welsch, as well as Johann Kaspar Zeuss and Josef Stangl....
, Nuremberg, Buttenheim and Kulmbach
Kulmbach
Kulmbach is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town is famous for Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier museum in the world, and for its famous sausages, or Bratwürste.-Location:...
. This noble family put many abbesses, Teutonic Knights
Teutonic 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 capitulars in the High Monasteries of Bamberg and Würzburg. Between 1377 and 1560, at least fourteen members of this family were capitulars in the High Monasteries of Bamberg and Würzburg.
The Oberes Schloss (square with wall and four corner towers) was burnt down during the German 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 never built again.
The castle that still stands today in Buttenheim is the so-called Unteres Schloss, which originally served the von Lichtenstein family as a bower, was taken over by the Stiebars, along with other pieces of real estate in Buttenheim in 1438.
The Stiebars had at their disposal in Buttenheim at that time jurisdiction over life and death, having inherited this from the von Schlüsselbergs. Under the Stiebars’ ownership, the Lower Castle was burnt down several times: in 1492 in “bloody feud between Albrecht Stiebar the Younger and Prince-Bishop Heinrich III of Bamberg”, in 1525 by “rebellious people from out of town” and once again in 1561 through a castle servant’s carelessness when he went to bed, forgetting to put the light in his room out. Hans Joachim von Stiebar, who in 1574 was elected to the First Knightly Council (Erster Ritterrat) of the canton of Gebürg for the Bamberg and Forchheim area, thereby enjoying great prestige, repaired the damage.
The Stiebars embraced the Lutheran faith
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
quite early on, as witnessed by, among other things, the appointment of an Evangelical preacher at Schloss Buttenheim, which was mentioned in a document as early as 1591.
In 1630, the Stiebars were stripped of their holdings at Imperial behest for having taken part in the Protestant Union
Protestant Union
The Protestant Union or Evangelical Union was a coalition of Protestant German states that was formed in 1608 to defend the rights, lands and person of each member....
’s struggles, putting Buttenheim, and thereby the Lower Castle, under Prince Georg Ludwig von Schwarzenberg’s ownership. The Stiebars, however, got their belongings back in 1648 under the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
.
In 1741, the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, which still stands today, was built next to the rubble of the castle, which had been destroyed by war. The castle lords, however, had to live in a side building.
In 1762, with Imperial Baron Johann Georg Christoph Wilhelm von Stiebar’s death, this noble family’s main Franconian
Franconian
Franconian may refer to:*anything related to Franconia , a historic region in Germany, now part of Bavaria, Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg*Franconian languages*Franconian , a stage in North American stratigraphy...
line died out. Their fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
went to the High Monasteries of Bamberg and Würzburg, and also partly back to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg
Saxe-Coburg
Saxe-Coburg was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany.After the Division of Erfurt in 1572, Coburg was part of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach, ruled by the Ernestine duke John Casimir jointly with his brother John Ernest. In 1596...
. Ownership stayed with the heirs, the widow and the daughters.
In 1761 the Kammerjunker (variously translated as “page” or “chamberlain”) Wilhelm Christian Friedrich von Seefried wed Elisabeth Sofie von Stiebar, whom he had come to know while he was a student of jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
in Erlangen
Erlangen
Erlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Untere Schwabach.Erlangen has more than 100,000 inhabitants....
. A few years later, they moved to Buttenheim. Since the Lower Castle “...had been destroyed or wiped out by fire (down to) the mediaeval, massive, square tower topped with a mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
...”, Wilhelm Christian Friedrich von Seefried built the current Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
castle in 1774 onto the one tower that still stood, and in which is still found the Evangelical castle chapel.
Wilhelm Christian saw to it that the Evangelical castle parish was newly confirmed. In 1790, Wilhelm Christian, who had set himself all his life to strengthening the Evangelical faith, was raised to the Imperial Barony. In 1814, a “Protestant castle parish” from the “Castle Chaplaincy” was consecrated, and on 27 August 1826, the castle chapel was consecrated as a communal House of God.
Even today, the castle chapel still serves the Buttenheim Evangelical parish, which since that time has been put in the care of the parish of Hirschaid, as a House of God.
Since Wilhelm Christian’s time, the castle has been occupied almost uninterruptedly by his descendants.
Curacy Church in Gunzendorf
From the Baroque Kuratie-Kirche St. NikolausSaint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
begins the Georgiritt (roughly “George’s Ride”) to the Senftenberg, a nearby mountain.
Senftenberg with St. George’s Chapel
The Baroque community chapel of St. George on the Senftenberg is the destination of the Georgiritt.“Golden Village” of Frankendorf with climbing park
Frankendorf, a village of 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 became the winner of the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village ought to become lovelier”) in 1981. The district evaluation jury came to this conclusion in 1980:
- “The almost fully preserved timber-frame ensemble with its 31 one-floor farmers’ houses under memorial protection is without peer in Upper Franconia.”
It goes on to say:
- “The townsfolk’s community spirit and readiness to sacrifice were always exemplary for the district.”
About the landscape, this was stated:
- “OrchardOrchardAn orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s green the place in exemplary fashion; the valley is covered with groves of trees. The transition to free landscape is fluid.”
Levi-Strauss-Museum
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co., began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.-Origins:...
, the inventor of blue jeans was born in Buttenheim on 26 February 1829 as Löb Strauß. The house where he was born is now a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
. Built in 1687, the timber-frame structure was expanded in 1733 to house two families. Among the permanent exhibits can be seen the Strauss family’s emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
documents and the publication of their emigration in the official journal.
Museums
The Kleines Haus der Kunst (“Little House of Art”) shows paintingPainting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, graphics
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s and photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s by East European
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s.
Regular events
The tradition-rich Georgiritt takes place on 23 April – Saint George's Day – and leads from Gunzendorf up onto the Senftenberg. This is a kind of pilgrimagePilgrimage
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...
to Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
traditionally done on horseback.
Economy and infrastructure
According to official statistics, there were 334 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in producing businesses in 1998, and in trade and transportTransport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
267. In other areas, 104 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 1,139 such workers worked from home. In processing businesses there were no businesses, and in construction three. Furthermore, in 1999, there were 75 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 661 ha, of which 1 226 ha was cropland and 429 ha was meadowland.
Transport
Buttenheim lies right on Bundesautobahn 73 with its own interchange. It further lies on the Bamberg–Nuremberg railway line with its own station.Telecommunications
The 142-m tall Deutsche Telekom AG transmission towerTransmission tower
A transmission tower is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. They are used in high-voltage AC and DC systems, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes...
built in 1973 (coördinates: 49°51'10"N, 11°3'37"E) stands on the Sommeranger Berg.
Education
In 1999, the following institutions existed in Buttenheim:- 150 kindergartenKindergartenA kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
places with 135 children - Primary school with 15 teachers and 322 pupils
Sons and daughters of the town
Levi StraussLevi Strauss
Levi Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co., began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.-Origins:...
(1829–1902), German-American industrialist, company founder and inventor of blue jeans
Further reading
- H. Weigelt: Luthers Erbe in Buttenheim und Umgebung, Sonderdruck aus Einzelarbeiten aus der Kirchengeschichte Bd.73
- Otto Graf Seefried: Die Seefried aus dem Riesgau. Eine Familiengeschichte. Görlitz 1910
- Bernhard Bickel: Senftenberg und der Georgiritt. Unibuch Erlangen-Jena ISBN 978-3789605468