Nieder-Erlenbach is since 1 August 1972 the northernmost borough (''

Ortsbezirk A (; also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, usually only exist in a metropolis with more than 150,000 in ...

'') of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

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 ...

. The Anna-Schmidt-Schule, a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

, is located in Nieder-Erlenbach.

Geographic location

Nieder-Erlenbach, founded as

Haufendorf A ''Haufendorf'' () is an enclosed village with irregular plots of land and farms of greatly differing scale, usually surrounded by a stockade fence (German: ''Ortsetter''). They are typically found in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, whence the ...

, lies in the southern foothills of the

Wetterau The Wetterau (, ) is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter (river), Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda (river), Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mounta ...

on the same Erlenbach, right tributary of the Nidda. The Frankfurt

Hauptwache (Frankfurt am Main) The Hauptwache (Main Guardroom) is a central point of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is one of the most famous plazas () in the city. The original name ''Schillerplatz'' was superseded in the early 1900s. It lies to the west of Konstablerwache ...

is about 9 kilometers away,

Bad Vilbel Bad Vilbel () is a spa town in Hesse (Hessen), Germany, famous for its many mineral water springs. Bad Vilbel is the largest town in the Wetteraukreis district and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area with its city center being located 8&n ...

(town hall) about 2.5 kilometers. Petterweil is 3 miles north. To Dortelweil in the east, as well as to Nieder-Erlenbach in the west about 2 km. In the southwest lies Harheim and in the southeast Massenheim - each 2 km (1,24 miles) away.

History

In the year 779 Nieder-Erlenbach was first mentioned in the

Lorsch Codex The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Lorsch Abbey, Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwrit ...

as '' Arilbach '' (Erlenbach): a woman named Meginburc bequeathed to the Lorsch Abbey all her property there. In addition to agricultural land, commercial buildings and residential buildings, this property also included four serfs. Nieder-Erlenbach was after this entry in Gau '' Wettereiba '' (Wetterau). From 1376 the imperial city of

exercised the rule in Nieder-Erlenbach; the city could also appoint the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

and administrative offices according to the right of village rule conferred by Karl IV. In 1401, the king once more expressly commanded the Nieder-Erlenbachern to obey Frankfurt. The reason of this arrangement is not known, but does not indicate great love of the villagers towards their urban rulers. As a consequence, the officials appointed by Frankfurt called themselves (at the latest from 1403) ''Burggrafen''. In the 17th century Nieder-Erlenbach was twice destroyed by devastating fires (1602 and 1677). After the founding of the

Free City of Frankfurt Frankfurt was a major city of the Holy Roman Empire, being the seat of imperial elections since 885 and the city for Coronation of the Holy Roman emperor, imperial coronations from 1562 (previously in Free Imperial City of Aachen) until 1792. F ...

, the Nieder-Erlenbacher were represented by a deputy in the

Legislative Body A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

from 1823, but only in 1853 did the villagers receive universal suffrage. In 1866

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

occupied the Free City of Frankfurt after the

German War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

and in the

Peace Treaty of 3 September 1866 Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such a ...

gave Nieder-Erlenbach to the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

.Art. 15, Nr. 6 des Friedensvertrages, abgedruckt bei: Ernst Rudolf Huber: ''Dokumente zur deutschen Verfassungsgeschichte'' 2 = Deutsche Verfassungsdokumente 1851–1900. 3. Aufl., Stuttgart 1986. , Nr. 192, S. 260ff.

References

Districts of Frankfurt City districts in Germany {{Hesse-geo-stub