Ebrach is a municipality with market rights in the

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a '' Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle ...

n district of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

and the seat of the ''

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''sti ...

'' (municipal association) of Ebrach.

Geography

Ebrach lies between

in the east and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the '' Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzbur ...

in the west. It is located in the Steigerwald on the river

Mittlere Ebrach Mittlere Ebrach (also: ''Mittelebrach'') is a river of Bavaria, Germany. The name translates to Mean or Middle Ebrach, in order to distinguish it from three other rivers called Ebrach nearby: the Reiche Ebrach, the Ebrach (also called Geiselwind ...

Constituent communities

Ebrach’s main and namesake centre is by far the biggest of its ''

Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

e'' with a population of 1,078. The market community furthermore has these outlying centres, each given here with its own population figure: *Buch bei Ebrach: 55 *Eberau bei Ebrach: 122 *Großbirkach: 68 *Großgressingen: 251 *Hof bei Ebrach: 15 *Kleinbirkach: 36 *Kleingressingen: 40 *Meierei bei Ebrach: 7 *Neudorf bei Ebrach: 93 *Schmerb: 4 *Winkelhof: 6 The community also has five traditional rural land units, known in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

as ''Gemarkungen'', named Buch, Ebrach, Großbirkach, Großgressingen and Neudorf bei Ebrach, the same names as five of the constituent communities (it is traditional for a ''Gemarkung'' to be named after a town or village lying nearby).

History

The former

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

'' Kloster Ebrach'' was founded in 1127 as one of the first Cistercian monasteries east of the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

by Berno and Richwin von Eberau, Frankish noblemen. In 1147, twelve

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s from the mother monastery,

Morimond Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Cis ...

, moved here. In 1200, Abbot Hermann I set to work on building the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

, which was finished in 1280. It is 86 m long was built in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. More than 50 windows, 26

altar An altar is a Table (furniture), table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of wo ...

s and, above the portal, a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window ...

adorn the building. The windows were newly painted in 1887. The organ, with its 36 stops, is hailed as a masterwork. The abbey was dissolved in 1803 in the course of

Secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses t ...

. Since the ''

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

'' of 1803, the community has belonged to

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

. Ebrach Abbey only fell under direct Imperial authority once it had been shut down. Until 1803, this had been successfully disputed by the ''

Hochstift In the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church, the German term (plural: ) referred to the territory ruled by a bishop as a prince (i.e. prince-bishop), as opposed to his diocese, generally much larger and over which he exercised only spir ...

'' of

. The abbey church became a parish church. Since 1851, the abbey buildings have served as a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, nowadays known as ''Justizvollzugsanstalt Ebrach''.

Demographics

Within municipal limits, 1,403 inhabitants were counted in 1900, 2,471 in 1970, 1,774 in 1987 and 2,017 in 2000. By 30 June 2007, however, the figure had fallen to 1,839.

Governance

The mayor is Daniel Vinzens, elected in March 2020. The community council is made up of 12 members, listed here by party or voter community affiliation, and also with the number of seats that each holds, since the 2020 local elections:KoW 2020: Ergebnis der Gemeinderatswahlen in Oberfranken (kreisangehörige Gemeinden)

Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik The statistical offices of the German states ( German: ''Statistische Landesämter'') carry out the task of collecting official statistics in Germany together and in cooperation with the Federal Statistical Office. The implementation of statisti ...

, accessed 26 July 2021. *Ebracher Neue Liste: 4 seats * CSU: 3 seats * Freie Wähler Ebrach und Umland: 2 seats * SPD: 2 seats *Junge Ebracher Liste: 1 seat

Coat of arms

Ebrach’s arms might heraldically be described thus: Party per fess downwards Or and gules, in Or a boar sable springing, in his mouth an abbot’s crozier argent bendwise, in gules a bend argent wavy.

Town twinning

* Eisbach in the

Steiermark Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Georgenthal Georgenthal is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germ ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

Economy

In 1999, municipal tax revenue, converted to

euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s, amounted to €969,000 of which business taxes (net) amounted to €353,000. Owing to the community’s location in the Steigerwald,

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...

is a significant economic factor. According to official statistics, there were 23 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in agriculture or forestry, 330 in producing businesses in 1998, and in trade and

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipel ...

36. In other areas, 100 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls were employed, and 476 such workers worked from home. In processing businesses and in construction there was one business each. Furthermore, in 1999, there were 52 agricultural operations with a working area of 1 077 ha, of which 766 ha was cropland and 310 ha was meadowland.

Infrastructure

* ''Naturbad'' (a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

fed by a natural water source, reopened 2005) * ''Justizvollzugsanstalt Ebrach''

Transport

Ebrach lies on ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' ( German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraße ...

'' 22. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

line to Bamberg was abandoned and has since been torn up.

Culture and sightseeing

Sightseeing

* Ebrach Abbey * ''St. Johanniskirche'' (church) in Großbirkach

Regular events

* '' Ebrach Summer Music Festival'' * ''Ebracher Kirchweih'' (church consecration festival)

Education

In 1999, the following institutions existed in Ebrach: *50

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

places with 36 children *

Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

with 8 teachers and 142 pupils *''Steigerwaldschule'' (state ''Realschule'') with 35 teachers and 682 students

Notable people

Sons and daughters of the town

* (b. 9 February 1908, missing since January 1943), German composer *

Heinrich Aigner Heinrich Aigner (25 May 1924 – 24 March 1988) was a German politician, representative of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria. He was born in Ebrach and died in Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper ...

(b 25 May 1924; d. 24 March 1988), German politician ( CSU), MdB, MdEP

Persons connected with the community

* (b. 1933 in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests ...

and specialized book author, lives in Ebrach. He was from 1972 to 1998 leader of the Ebrach Forest Office.