Konnersreuth is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the district of

Tirschenreuth Tirschenreuth (; Northern Bavarian: ''Dirschnrad'', ''Diascharad'') is the capital city of the district of Tirschenreuth (district), Tirschenreuth. It is located in the northeast of Bavaria, very close to the Czech-Bavarian border. Geography Tirs ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is situated in the northeast foothills of the Steinwald mountains between the

Fichtel Mountains The Fichtel Mountains (, ; ) is a mountain range in Germany and the Czech Republic. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River in northeastern Bavaria to the Karlovy Vary Region in western Czech Republic. The Fichtel Mountains contain an ...

and the

Upper Palatinate Forest The Upper Palatine Forest ( or ''Böhmischer Wald''; , ) is a mountain range in Central Europe that is divided between the Czech Republic and Germany. It is a part of the larger Bohemian Massif and the German Central Uplands. Geography Th ...

, close to the Czech border. The village is best known as the home of the 20th-century Catholic stigmatist

Therese Neumann Therese Neumann (9 April 1898 – 18 September 1962) was a German Roman Catholic, Catholic Christian mysticism, mystic and Stigmata, stigmatic. Neumann has been considered Servant of God by the Catholic Church since 2005. She was born in the vil ...

History

The historical record first mentions Konnersreuth in 1218, in a chronicle kept at

Waldsassen Abbey Waldsassen Abbey (German: ''Abtei Waldsassen'') is a Cistercian nunnery, formerly a Cistercian monastery, located on the River Wondreb at Waldsassen near Tirschenreuth, Oberpfalz, in Bavaria, Germany, close to the border with the Czech Republic ...

. In 1468 the village was granted the right to hold regular markets. In 1780, the population was 954. The market rights were held by Waldsassen Abbey until about 1803, when the monastery holdings were

secularized In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

. The present municipal boundaries were set in the 1818 Bavarian administrative reforms. The coat of arms was awarded in 1468. Three green fir trees stand on a silver background behind a leaping red deer. The coat of arms was renewed in 1978.

Therese Neumann

In the early 20th century, Konnersreuth was the home of the stigmatist

(Resl of Konnersreuth). After a supposedly miraculous healing from partial paralysis while in her twenties, Therese Neumann reportedly developed stigmata on her hands, feet and side and every Friday for years, and relived the passion of Christ in visions. She also purportedly abstained from food for 40 years. The village is still a Catholic pilgrimage centre with two abbeys: the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales at Fockenfeld and the Carmelite abbey of Theresianum.

Economics and demographics

In 1999, the municipality contained 51 farms with a total farmed area of 1395 hectares. There are also small businesses in the town, and some residents work in forestry. As of 2009, the village had 1915 residents.Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland – Online Abfrage
May 2011 There are three schools: a kindergarten with (in 1999) 79 pupils, an elementary school with (in 1999) 162 students and a private high school for boys located in Fockenfeld Abbey with (in 1999), 58 students.

Notable people

(1898–1962) Resl of Konnersreuth *

Dietmar Hamann Dietmar Johann Wolfgang "Didi" Hamann (; born 27 August 1973) is a German football pundit and former professional player. Throughout his career, he played for Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City primarily in a defen ...

(born 1973) (football player and coach * Cardinal Aloys Grillmeier (1910–1998), Catholic theologian

Gallery

Image:Geburtshaus-T-N.jpg, House where Therese Neumann was born Image:Grabstaette-T-N.jpg, Grave of Therese Neumann Image:Konnersreuth-Kloster-WJP.jpg, Theresianum Abbey Image:Konnersreuth-WJP-1.jpg, View of Konnersreuth

References

{{Authority control Tirschenreuth (district)