Neckarsteinach

Neckarsteinach
Neckarsteinach
Town
	View from the Hinterburg
	Coat of arms
	Location of Neckarsteinach within Bergstraße district <imagemap>File: Neckarsteinach in HP.svg \| 240x240px poly 165 34 175 53 194 43 199 50 219 59 276 59 288 71 233 95 185 105 185 101 159 101 141 88 136 68 Groß-Rohrheim poly 326 52 311 64 328 82 348 67 374 68 378 79 421 58 Zwingenberg poly 135 67 144 93 181 101 190 105 231 92 246 147 222 138 203 162 173 147 129 141 58 175 34 125 68 92 Biblis poly 221 319 257 362 292 408 334 408 375 374 359 285 294 300 251 295 Viernheim poly 144 142 148 175 127 200 110 200 120 208 136 225 181 248 258 236 276 236 328 217 319 246 332 246 346 286 300 297 254 295 221 317 170 291 125 298 53 177 127 141 Lampertheim poly 145 144 145 178 127 200 114 203 125 211 133 221 182 249 257 233 239 178 257 165 257 157 240 157 236 166 224 171 Bürstadt poly 289 71 322 131 291 166 280 196 248 202 242 178 259 160 243 159 237 168 219 165 218 169 203 162 219 139 243 145 233 93 Einhausen poly 316 134 338 128 341 136 328 148 329 162 340 160 353 182 350 197 356 252 343 264 335 243 319 251 328 215 282 236 259 234 249 203 282 196 289 166 Lorsch poly 289 71 322 128 335 131 338 136 326 145 340 159 351 184 512 136 507 113 488 108 467 113 437 105 461 58 409 59 380 77 375 67 347 65 325 83 307 50 Bensheim poly 497 7 469 25 479 47 457 61 437 99 467 113 488 107 509 117 512 136 524 138 532 126 532 113 596 56 587 52 552 64 521 33 503 24 Lautertal poly 621 37 532 111 526 134 596 151 620 129 607 114 627 105 636 92 610 67 623 49 Lindenfels poly 353 181 525 135 524 160 535 182 526 190 531 200 526 217 482 237 357 251 Heppenheim poly 488 233 481 258 466 267 449 239 Heppenheim poly 526 136 599 151 620 122 656 147 667 147 673 165 697 169 715 178 740 172 740 187 679 194 669 178 656 200 635 228 620 236 544 214 561 196 547 172 528 154 Fürth poly 721 188 682 194 666 177 636 220 633 260 696 273 700 263 722 260 730 245 736 233 724 209 713 200 Grasellenbach poly 529 157 553 177 559 197 541 211 621 236 632 231 632 264 633 282 608 298 565 277 571 255 553 248 553 236 507 224 528 220 Rimbach poly 501 224 552 234 549 248 567 249 567 274 624 312 610 317 592 352 578 340 567 350 555 352 562 314 532 300 521 304 488 270 483 249 Mörlenbach poly 635 261 694 271 699 264 722 260 722 246 746 261 728 263 740 313 733 326 749 393 774 405 758 436 691 441 661 460 647 435 647 403 624 399 636 384 608 319 626 319 610 298 635 282 Wald-Michelbach poly 492 274 521 303 529 298 559 317 553 353 568 353 577 340 596 360 589 384 498 363 467 310 Birkenau poly 604 319 590 415 618 421 632 401 635 383 Abtsteinach poly 498 363 592 381 589 417 501 417 Gorxheimertal poly 756 467 801 485 820 522 765 549 758 544 746 576 702 534 691 524 667 528 654 501 691 476 703 504 733 494 Hirschhorn poly 664 525 691 522 697 570 715 581 719 595 690 624 667 601 651 622 626 608 657 587 672 556 Neckarsteinach poly 696 533 745 567 719 589 700 571 Michelbuch poly 200 0 12 1 4 644 221 651 228 550 159 533 181 498 107 355 129 306 36 120 135 70 Rhineland-Palatinate poly 126 298 181 292 216 319 288 405 344 408 384 366 365 282 347 280 347 264 449 242 466 266 485 266 485 286 470 289 495 386 501 414 611 423 639 403 647 432 661 463 749 438 756 470 704 507 713 488 690 473 651 498 669 559 620 613 645 624 669 605 690 626 755 564 826 522 799 495 837 442 939 441 936 644 224 650 Baden-Württemberg poly 199 0 166 37 176 55 197 42 200 52 276 58 288 71 310 43 303 0 Groß-Gerau (district) poly 304 0 310 43 461 58 476 49 472 22 498 7 509 31 526 33 550 61 581 52 624 39 673 1 Darmstadt-Dieburg poly 673 0 626 37 626 47 613 59 635 85 629 110 607 113 664 145 682 171 743 174 740 190 713 199 728 211 739 234 730 248 748 263 731 264 742 314 736 331 749 390 773 406 758 467 805 485 837 442 937 441 940 0 Odenwaldkreis desc bottom-left </imagemap>
	Neckarsteinach Neckarsteinach
	Coordinates: 49°24′N 8°50′E / 49.400°N 8.833°E
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Darmstadt
District	Bergstraße
Government
• Mayor (2024–30)	Lutz Spitzner
Area
• Total	17.22 km2 (6.65 sq mi)
Elevation	120 m (390 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	4,016
• Density	230/km2 (600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	69239
Dialling codes	06229
Vehicle registration	HP
Website	www.neckarsteinach.de

The four-castle town of Neckarsteinach lies on the Neckar in the Bergstraße district in the southernmost part of Hesse, Germany, 15 km east of Heidelberg.

Geography

Location

Both by way of transport and culture, Neckarsteinach's location in the Neckar valley more tightly links it with the North Baden area around Heidelberg than with the rest of Hesse. It is furthermore one of the municipalities belonging, like the ones in the surrounding districts, to the Rhine Neckar Area. It lies mainly on the Neckar's north bank along the B 37 and the Neckartalbahn (railway) and is Hesse's and the Bergstraße district's southernmost town, 15 km east of Heidelberg. Along the former railway spur line to Schönau, a further population centre was built to the northwest, that is to say, behind the Burgberg (“Castle Mountain”). In the east of town lies a smaller industrial area, a shipyard that arose out of shipbuilding, south of the B 37 on the Neckar marsh.

Neckarsteinach's core lies southeast of and below the Vorderburg – one of four castles in town – and beginning in the 14th century it and the castle were girded by the same wall with the current town centre serving as the castle hamlet. The community was bordered in the north and east by the river Steinach, in the south by the Neckar and in the west by the Burgberg. The landscape near Neckarsteinach is in particular characterized by the cone of the Bergfeste Dilsberg lying across the Neckar (in Neckargemünd, Baden-Württemberg), around which the Neckar flows in a broad bend.

Constituent communities

Neckarsteinach's outlying centres of Darsberg and Grein are old settlements uphill to the north in the Odenwald; the outlying centre of Neckarhausen lies 3 km upstream in the Neckar valley. It should not be confused with the like-named place, also in the Neckar valley, west of Heidelberg and across the river from Ladenburg; that Neckarhausen is a constituent community of Edingen-Neckarhausen.

Population: (as at: 31 December 2003)

Neckarsteinach: 3,160

Darsberg: 547

Grein: 142

Neckarhausen: 266

Total: 4,115

Neighbouring communities

Neckarsteinach borders in the north on the town of Hirschhorn and the unincorporated area of Michelbuch, in the east on the town of Hirschhorn and the community of Schönbrunn, in the south on the town of Neckargemünd, and in the west on the town of Schönau (all three in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg).

History

The earliest human habitation of what is now Neckarsteinach presumably took place in prehistoric times, for the water- and wood-rich area was ideal for hunting and fishing, and afforded a place sheltered from the cold north and east winds. In the 7th century, the area around Neckarsteinach belonged to the Lobdengau, and passed along with it to the high monastery at Worms, when its fiefholder Bligger von Steinach was first mentioned. Worms or Bligger and his sons and grandsons build the four Neckarsteinach castles, whose history is so tightly bound to the town's.

In the 14th century, the town was surrounded with defensive walls by the Landschad family of Steinach, turning the Vorderburg (one of the castles) and the town together into an enclosed fortification. Nevertheless, the town itself was only half owned by the keepers of the Vorderburg, while those of the Hinterburg (another of the castles) owned the other half. In 1377, Neckarsteinach was mentioned as a town for the first time, and at the same time it became an “open house” of Count Palatine Ruprecht, who could then use it in case of a feud against anyone other than the Bishop of Worms as though he were the town's fiefholder. In 1381 the first town hall was built, and in the early 15th century, Neckarsteinach received a town charter, which in the years that followed was changed and expanded. The oldest preserved town charter dates from 1537.

Since Hans III Landschad von Steinach became Lutheran in 1522, the Reformation was already fully in place in Neckarsteinach quite early on. In 1526, the Lutheran preacher Jakob Otter was working in town.

In the Thirty Years' War, the town suffered heavily. The Catholic League under Tilly, after conquering Ladenburg in the autumn of 1621 also took Neckarsteinach, whence the Dilsberg mountain fortress across the river was besieged in April 1622. After retreating for a short while to Sinsheim, the Catholic troops came back for the Battle of Wimpfen and quartered themselves in the town, where the Plague then broke out. In 1631, the Bavarian occupation troops were driven out by Swedish troops, before, in 1634, there were Imperial troops in town. Then once more came another wave of the Plague.

After the Landschad family of Steinach died out in 1653, the Bishoprics of Worms and Speyer at first oversaw the fief, with the latter living at the Hinterburg. In 1657, the episcopal fief was given to Wolf Heinrich Metternich von Burscheid, who had kinship with the Archbishop of Mainz, and who also acquired the allodial properties from the Landschads’ legacy. Metternich was old-school – that is to say, Catholic – and encouraged other Catholics to come and settle in town. The Evangelical church in Neckarsteinach therefore ended up housing up to three denominations from 1662 to 1908. In the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), French, Saxon, Brandenburgish and Bavarian troops passed through the Neckar valley and quartered there and are said to have made contributions.

After 1685, many Huguenots – known locally as Welsche – who had been driven out of France for their beliefs, came to settle in Neckarsteinach. They were clothmakers and tanners, and with their skills, the town underwent an upswing offsetting some of the losses from the wars that had taken their toll.

In the early 18th century, Neckarsteinach was quarters and a field hospital site in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738) and the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) for troops engaged in these wars.

In 1699, ownership of Neckarsteinach passed by matrilineal inheritance to Caspar Hugo von Metternich zu Müllenark. His heirs later pledged the ownership of Neckarsteinach in 1738 to the baronial von Hundheim heirs, who were likewise set up as local lords once it became clear that the Metternichs could no longer redeem their pledge. Each lord then hired his own Schultheiß (roughly, “sheriff”), resulting in bitter quarrels, not only between the lords, but also among the townsfolk, over just who was in charge. Only in 1750 did Hugo Franz Wolfgang Metternich manage to allay the town's concerns by uniting lordly authority in himself. He, however, died only four years later, whereupon both the Electorate of the Palatinate and the Bishopric of Worms laid claim to the town, each taking palpable measures to ensure its claim. The town passed first to the Electorate of the Palatinate, though through Imperial mandate it was given to the monasteries at Worms and Speyer in 1763. With mediatization in 1803, Neckarsteinach became part of Hesse.

In 1842 and 1843, the state road from Eberbach to Heidelberg was built, for which the town wall had to be breached. In 1878 chain-driven shipping began on the Neckar, and the next year, the Neckartalbahn (railway) reached town.

Politics

Town council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Parties and voter communities		% 2006	Seats 2006	% 2001	Seats 2001
CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	25.8	5	31.2	7
SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	42.8	8	46.4	11
FWG	Freie Wählergemeinschaft	31.4	6	22.4	5
Total		100.0	19	100.0	23
Voter turnout in %		55.4		57.9

The town executive (Magistrat) is made up of 6 councillors. Two seats each are allotted to the SPD, the FWG and the CDU.

Mayor

Mayor Eberhard Petri was reelected on 26 March 2006 with 73.8% of the vote. Herold Pfeifer, (SPD) was elected in March 2012, and re-elected in 2018.

The chief councillor and deputy mayor is Elisabeth Hinz (FWG).

Name and coat of arms

The town draws its name from a feature in the local geography. It is here that the Steinach, a brook from the Odenwald, empties into the Neckar, and the town's name is simply a compound of those two names.

The town's arms refer to the Minnesänger Bligger von Steinach (fl. 1200), who was also a local nobleman, and even at the time bore arms with the harp as a charge.

Town partnerships

Pargny-sur-Saulx, Marne, France
Grein an der Donau, Perg, Austria

Culture and sightseeing

Four castles

Neckarsteinach's foremost sights are its four castles, which stand on crags or the slope leading down to the Neckar. They are the Vorderburg (“Fore-castle” or “Further Castle”), the Mittelburg (“Middle Castle”), the Hinterburg (“Hind-castle” or “Hinder Castle”) and the Schadeck (also called the Schwalbennest, or “Swallows’ Nest”). The castles were built between 1100 and 1230 by the Landschad von Steinach family, partly as a Worms or Speyer fief, partly as an allodial holding. In the Late Middle Ages, some were owned by various other lords of the lower nobility. In the 16th century, they all found themselves back in the Landschads’ ownership. After the family died out in 1653, they were owned by a line of the von Metternichs, and after they, too, died out in 1753, the castles were held by the Bishoprics of Worms and Speyer. Eventually, with mediatization in 1803, they passed to Hesse, which sold the Vorderburg into private ownership and relinquished the Mittelburg along with the now ruined Hinterburg to those who had inherited the allodial property, the Barons of Dorth, who later also acquired the Vorderburg, whereas they chose to give the Hinterburg ruin back to the state. The Mittelburg, which was built into a Renaissance palace in the 16th century and Gothicized in the 19th century, is nowadays home to the von Warsberg-Dorth family; the Vorderburg is the Warsberg forest administration's seat. The Hinterburg and Schadeck are freely visitable to the public. Particularly worth seeing at the Schadeck is the view over the bow in the Neckar and the Dilsberg mountain fortress over on the other side.

Mittelburg
Hinterburg

Other buildings

The Neckarsteinach Evangelical Church goes back to the town's original church and was newly built in 1483 in the Late Gothic style by Blicker XIV Landschad von Steinach. The church was reformed in the early 16th century, but then from 1662 to 1908 it was used as an interdenominational church for up to three denominations. Among the church's most important art treasures are many epitaphs of the Landschad von Steinach family and replicas of the stained glass windows from 1483.

Quire vaulting
Landschad von Steinach grave marker
Window from 1483

The Catholic Herz-Jesu-Kirche (“Jesus’s Heart Church”) was built in Neo-Baroque style between 1906 and 1908 by Prof. Friedrich Pützer. The main altar from 1750 shows Saint Stephen in the middle and came originally from Saint Stephen's Church (Catholic) in Mainz-Gonsenheim. The side altars were originally in the church now used as an Evangelical church, but formerly as an interdenominational church before the Catholic Church was built, and date from 1711.

Inside view
Herz-Jesu-Kirche from the southeast

The town hall was built in 1861 and 1862 on the same site as the old one from the 16th century which had burnt down. The first town hall, from the 14th century, is believed to have stood elsewhere.
Neckarsteinach has a wealth of historic buildings. Besides remains of the town wall from the 14th century, the mediaeval Bliggergasse (lane) can be named, as can the timber-frame house Ambtmann, the old synagogue on Hirschgasse and the historic timber-frame ensemble on Kirchenstraße. The lower town has been flooded many times, witnessing which are the high-water marks that can be seen on Hirschgasse. The highest flood came in 1824; the latest in 1993.
In the outlying centre of Darsberg is found the historic Sebastianskapelle (“Sebastian’s chapel”).

Old Synagogue
Section of the Steinach
High-water marks

Park

Nibelungen-Park, remodelled in 1998 with sandstone sculptures by sculptor Paul August Wagner from the Seckach Sculpture Park.

Regular events

On the first weekend in March, the Kleine Buchmesse im Neckartal (book fair) is held at the Bürgerhaus zum Schwanen (community centre).
In the outlying centre of Darsberg on the Thursday during Carnival – known locally as Fastnacht – a witches’ parade is staged. To a witches’ dance and Guggenmusik, a Feuerrad – a “firewheel” made of straw – is rolled.
A fortnight before Easter, the traditional Sommertagszug (“Summer Day Parade”) is held.
A fortnight after Whitsun (the first Sunday after Trinity Sunday) comes the Kerwe (church consecration festival) with a baked-fish festival.
On the last Saturday in July, Tag des Gastes (“Guest’s Day”) is celebrated with floodlighting on the four castles.
On the first weekend in Advent, the Christmas Market is held in the lower Old Town.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Neckarsteinach and the outlying centre of Neckarhausen lie on the Neckartalbahn opened in 1879 and running from Heidelberg by way of Mosbach to Bad Friedrichshall, and since 2003 also served half-hourly by the RheinNeckar S-Bahn’s Lines 1 and 2. Between 1928 and 1981 there was a spur running along the Steinach up to Schönau, but passenger service on it ended in 1969.

The predominant traffic artery today is Bundesstraße 37.

Established businesses

Goods transport on the Neckar has a long tradition in town. There are still shipowner families.

Tourism is run on the Neckar between Heidelberg and Eberbach (and sometimes as far as Heilbronn). Many guesthouses and overnight operations earn a living this way.

Education

Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule, with primary school, Hauptschule and Realschule.

Personalities

Bligger II of Steinach († after 1209), medieval minstrel
Jakob Otter (1485-1547), Reformation theologian, first Lutheran priest of Neckarsteinach
Otto Bartning (1883-1959), architect and church builder, lived for seven years in Neckarsteinach and planned the upper settlement for the expellees
Valentin Peter Feuerstein (1917-1999), art painter and glass painter from Neckarsteinach
Kai Herdling (born 1984), football player (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, SV Waldhof Mannheim) grew up in Darsberg

References

^ "Ergebnisse der jeweils letzten Direktwahl von Landrätinnen und Landräte sowie (Ober-)Bürgermeisterinnen und (Ober-)Bürgermeister in Hessen" (XLS) (in Deutsch). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. 21 May 2024.
^ "Bevölkerung in Hessen am 31.12.2022 nach Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. June 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

External links

Town’s official webpage (in German)
Darsberg (in German)
Tourist information, events (in German)
Neckarsteinach at Curlie (in German)

[1] "Ergebnisse der jeweils letzten Direktwahl von Landrätinnen und Landräte sowie (Ober-)Bürgermeisterinnen und (Ober-)Bürgermeister in Hessen" (XLS) (in Deutsch). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. 21 May 2024.

[2] "Bevölkerung in Hessen am 31.12.2022 nach Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. June 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

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