Until the later decades of the last century, there were still many small commercial enterprises in the old center of Harxheim, which offered products for daily needs or services. The following article is dedicated to them.

The Rhine-Hessian Gaustraße used to lead as an important long-distance connection from the Mainz Gautor to Worms. The expansion of this connection is due to the government of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1826/27. The villages located along this road all benefited from better connections both to the larger cities and to each other. The course of the road corresponded in large parts to today’s state road L 425. Harxheim is located precisely on this long-distance connection. In earlier times, the town’s thoroughfare, coming from Mainz, ran along Mainzer Straße and turned into Gaustraße in the direction of Mommenheim. A new, straightened through road was built in 1954. The route was laid through the then garden of the Rösch family (today Schertz).

By the way, who can still remember the “Bubi Scheller Memorial Street” today? Its namesake, Bubi Scheller, lived in a small shack on what is colloquially known as “Schiefe Weg,” now Birkenstraße. He worked as a laborer on the construction of the new thoroughfare mentioned above. The people of Harxheim made him the name sponsor of this street.

Coming from Mainz, the first building on the right is striking: the Harxheim School. It was built in 1908 and used until the early 1970s. After that, the municipal administration was established here, which moved to the newly built community center in Bahnhofstraße in 2019.

Mainzer Street

Due to the changed course of the road in 1954, there is a special feature at the entrance to the village. The two residential buildings at the left-hand entrance to the town still belong to Mainzer Straße, whose actual junction is on the right-hand side opposite. The arrangement of the house numbers in the entire area of Mainzer Straße does not show any systematics, which has already led to considerable irritation for many a mail carrier and visitor.

Mainzer Street 12

Here is the former restaurant Darmstadt, which could look back on a tradition of more than sixty years. In 1924, Christian Darmstadt bought the property and shortly thereafter opened a restaurant with a dance hall, bowling alley and cinema. The daughter Katharina continued the family business with her husband Kurt Schneider. The dance hall regularly served as a practice room for local and foreign clubs. In addition to home-produced wines, Großgerau beer and later Frankfurt Henninger Bräu were served. Twice a year, the inn with its many rooms was almost bursting at the seams: for the Bremsermusik at the first Federweißen and for the dance music during the Harxheimer Kerb. Harxheimers enjoyed coming to the pub after work and also for the morning pint on Sunday. Skat was played and many an old story was exchanged. In addition, the restaurant was the regular pub of the Harxheim FCK fan club. In December 1988, the restaurant was abandoned.

In the 1950s, there were regular cinema screenings here, which is charmingly commented on in the Harxheim dialect poems by Elli Blase:

In de Fufzischer Johrn 1) , nochem 2) Kriesch, war jeden Mondach übend ins Darmstadt’s Saal Kino. Es warn net die neieste Filme, aach die Wochenschau war net me ganz aktuell. Aber es gab jo noch kaa Fernseh un so war mer halt froh dodefor 3). De Indritt 4) hod en Mark gekascht un mer hod uf ner harte Bank gesotze 5) ohne Rückelehn, des war ganz schee strabaziös. Aide un Junge sin hegange, dann jeder wollt noch dene schreck­lische Krieschsjohrn 6) mol was aneres 7) sehe. Heimatfilme warn damals de Geschmack der Zeit, mer wollt aafach wieder emol e heil Welt sehe.
Heit is es wieder umgekehrt, do sin Horror- un Gruselfilme de große Renner, sicher, weil’ s de Leit so gut geht.

1) Jahre; 2) nach dem; 3) dafür; 4) Eintritt; 5) gesessen; 6) Kriegsjahre; 7) anders

Mainzer Street 1

The estate of the Schertz family, formerly the Rösch family, is characteristic of a typical Rhine-Hessian farmstead. An inscription about a house extension dates to 1861. In 1878 there was a change in the side building and the barn. At that time, this was the largest in Harxheim. There are four cellars, one each for potatoes, beets, milk and wine. During the Second World War, the potato cellar under the barn served as an air-raid shelter for Harxheim citizens and especially for schoolchildren in case of air-raid alarms. The reason for this was the possibility of digging an escape route into the garden if necessary. Appropriate tools such as axe and shovel were kept in the basement rooms. Later, the barn of the estate became known especially for the event “Harxheim tischt auf”.

In addition, various concerts are held. The Lutheran church organ, built at the end of the 19th century (ca. 1887) and replaced by a new one in 1985, found a new home with the Schertz family. Walter Schertz dismantled the instrument he had purchased with his own hands and reassembled the gem in his barn, having given it a general overhaul. Walter Schertz also breathed new life into a piece of Harxheim history that had long been silenced and left to weather.

Renovated church clock

Image source: S. Happel

Mainzer street 8

For the Böll family, agriculture with dairy farming and viticulture formed the main focus of the business. Alice I, who was crowned Harxheim’s second wine princess in 1981, comes from this estate.

Fire department in front of the Old Town Hall

Image source: Election brochure local council election 1974

With the conversion to a medical practice in 1973, the best conditions were created for the establishment of a general practitioner. The first general practitioner in Harxheim was the Syrian physician Dr. Talal Atassi. After Dr. Atassi moved away, Dr. Jürgen Baumann continued to practice in the increasingly cramped premises for a few more years before moving into a new practice at Bahnhofsstraße 86. Later the premises were used for care of kindergarten children. In 1993, the kindergarten group “Elefanten” was housed here. For this reason, the kindergarten children of the time still affectionately call this building the Elephant House.

Under the mayoress Ursula Knüpper-Heger the internet cafe opened here in November 1999. It was located on the upper floor and was equipped with five Pentium computers – donated by the then Dresdner Bank. Eric Paproth took over the supervision. More than 500 people – from children to pensioners – familiarized themselves with the new technology on Sundays. The costs were kindly covered by the EEA. In addition, free keyboarding tutorials were offered, including one by Irene Schmitt. Whole generations of students have benefited from this. The increasing number of private Internet connections made the Internet cafe obsolete. As before, the premises are available for community and club purposes.

The village well is fed by several springs. In earlier times it served as a watering place for cattle, was the center of community life and a meeting place on various occasions. During the 1950s there were frequent interruptions in the general water supply. As a substitute, drinking water could be taken from the tube well as well as from the well of the Schertz family.

Gaustraße

Section between the beginning of Gaustraße to The Dalles; also called Plästergass or Pläschtergass, since only this area of the street was originally paved.

Gaustraße 2

Here stands the original estate of the Happel winery. Under the presidency of Ludwig Happel, the local court was located here for a time. Due to the lack of space, the Happel family moved to the Glockwieser Hof in 1972. In the period from 1972 to 2006 the Dörner laundry and dry-cleaning company operated in this property. After the closure of the laundry, the building stood empty for several years. In 2010 it changed owners and was converted into a residential building.

Gaustraße 7

This was the home of the Horz family, who operated a BP gas station on this site from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and later also operated a lottery retailer. In 1964, the Mainz District Savings Bank opened a branch in the family home. Banking operations ceased on March 14, 1974, and the Living Room branch was closed. In addition, Friedrich Horz (or Fritz as he was also known) worked as a wine commissioner. A small note from a Harxheim resident: “When one wanted to withdraw money, there was often the remark from Mrs. Horz: ‘Do you know that your account is empty now when you withdraw this?’ There were often customers who were more than embarrassed by this remark.”

Gaustrasse 11

Since about 1860, the Böhm family bakery and wine shop was located here. According to the minutes of Pastor Würth, the processing of the dough for baking bread was done electrically from January 8, 1916. The business was last run by the siblings Emilie and Mathilde Böhm. According to the stories, Max Volkmann was the last baker. After he bought his first car in 1968, he gave up the bakery and moved to Friedberg. The people of Harxheim fondly remember the time when they brought large trays of self-prepared cakes to the bakery for baking.

Gaustraße 19

Already three centuries of local history has the House Krone experienced. An inscription gives for the oldest parts of the outbuildings the date “Anno 1707, MFI GER. ACKERMANN”. Another date – 1871 – is set in stone. In the course of time there were some structural changes. In the past, the farmstead also included a so-called ” Altenteilerhaus“. Today you can find there with the address Enggasse 1 the Harxheimer wine tavern. Johanna Kühn, as the first owner and landlady, made the Harxheimer Weinstube an institution and well-known far beyond the borders of Mainz. She worked in her restaurant business from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s.

Purchase contract of September 3, 1906 Happel/Wenderoth family

Image source: G. Happel

If one takes a look at the records of the Lutheran pastor Johannes Würth for the year 1914, direct reference is made to Wenderoth’s hall as follows: “August 6, 1914: In Wenderoth’s hall the local teams (soldiers) are sworn in.” Four years later, on December 10, 1918, he noted, “In Wenderoth’s inn, French soldiers tore up, smashed, and trampled the Kaiser’s picture and that of Field Marshal General von Hindenburg.”

In 1951, the Lutheran Church exchanged the previous property with rectory at Bahnhofstraße 3 with Helene Wenderoth. The pastor Heinrich Köhler, who had come to Harxheim in 1947, moved into the Krone house. The adjoining rooms were used for the care of kindergarten children. The Reßler family rented the barn as a transitional measure. Pastor Hans Merten, successor of Pastor Köhler, moved into a newly built parsonage at today’s Gaustraße 32 in 1958. The Krone house stood empty for three years. In 1961, the Klippel family acquired the property and installed a plant for the processing of films. Among other things, tinsel, Easter grass and garlands were produced. The company ceased its activities in the mid-1970s.

In 1980, the Bodenheim association municipality bought the completely dilapidated Krone House. The association municipality renovated and converted the house into living space and function rooms. The newly created living quarters were first occupied by homeless people and later by asylum seekers. In the 2nd half of 2005, the association municipality sold the property. Unfortunately, the municipality of Harxheim was not awarded the contract it had hoped for. The property passed into the ownership of the Eckert family. On occasions such as the Kerb or the Christmas market, the Eckert family thankfully opens its farm gates on a regular basis. It thus makes a valuable contribution to social interaction in our community. By the way, the name Haus Krone comes from a little crown above the archway.

Gaustrasse 16

The Frieß family’s mixed farm was located here. Two generations later, the Stefan family is spoken of. A special feature in this farm was the “community bull” for covering the cows. A childhood memory was described as follows: “Whenever cows were mated, it also attracted us boys. We wanted to watch this event with pleasure. But since the priest could see exactly across the street who was watching the event, we got into a lot of trouble at home. One of the boys then said to his parents: ‘But the priest was also watching from the window!
The property was later taken over by the Schickert family and then by the Wolf family, today Wine hotel Weinstube Wolf.

Original Harxheim kiosk advertising: enamel advertising sign, around 1925

Image source: Siegfried Schäfer

Obergasse

Here was the Happel winery. It was formerly a farmhouse. Around 1890 it was bought by the farmer and winegrower Johann Georg Happel III, former owner of Crown House. He died already quite young. His wife rebuilt the building in 1908/1909. The present floor plan essentially dates from this period. At the beginning of the 1970s the winery was leased out and at the turn of the millennium part of the residential house and the farm buildings were converted and extended for residential purposes

Obergasse 3

The estate Winery of the city of Mainzis known beyond the borders of Harxheim. It should be noted that the older Harxheim citizens tell each other that the winery was actually supposed to be inherited by the municipality of Harxheim. However, since the latter unfortunately declined the inheritance, the city of Mainz had its turn.

Record of the auctions

Image source: G. Happel

According to the terms of the auction, bids were to be submitted in gold marks. The lowest resale bid was RM 10. Piece: In those days, a piece was a piece of a barrel. This is equivalent to 1,200 liters or 1 1/2 Fuder (cartload). The unit of measurement piece is still used today. The grape must harvest of one acre (1/4 hectare; 2,500 m2) of vineyard was equivalent to about one piece at that time. Thus, on one hectare could be produced 4,500 – 5,500 liters of grape must. Today, the yields are higher and are about 9,700 liters per hectare. Later, the Hammen family ran an estate tavern in the former Peter Lotz winery until 2021

Obergasse 12

The Fritzsch butcher’s shop and restaurant was located here.

The Harxheim blacksmith and wagon maker Martin Happel, who was later also responsible for the maintenance of the water house, hydrants and water pipes, had his forge here. However, Martin Happel fell ill with pneumonia and died quite young. His wife Katharina married Friedrich Meyer, who continued the business. His trademark was that he lit his pipe with a piece of ember that he took out of the chimney with his bare hand. Martin Happel, son of Martin and Katharina, returned from the Second World War as a war invalid and for this reason could not continue the family tradition. But that craftsmanship was in the family’s blood is proven by the following picture with the old forge in the background.

Werner Happel likes to think back to a special childhood experience for him. The bells for the Lutheran church, cast in 1955 by the Schilling company near Heidelberg, were picked up by a cart from the train station and brought to the smithy, where they were stored until their final installation.

It has always been cramped in the family home. Three generations each had only one room to sleep in. For this reason, a small cottage was built in the garden in 1945 and extended depending on financial possibilities. This cottage is still preserved today and testifies to the cramped living conditions at that time.

In the early 1970s, the Pirot family took over the property and used it privately. In 2012, the Reßler family acquired the building and converted it into a guest house. The expansion was ceremoniously opened on April 21, 2013.

Obergasse 15

Helene Lahr owned the property in Obergasse. It is known that Philip Darmstadt I’s bakery was located there from 1887 to 1894. Martin Frieß bought the property from the Lahr community of heirs on February 1, 1935. The farmstead was designed for agricultural operation with viticulture. After that, the next generation with Martin and Emmi Kerz (née Frieß) also lived on the estate. In 1980, the daughter of Martin and Emmi Kerz was crowned the first Harxheim Wine Princess Astrid I. It still has its home here today.

Obergasse 18

For the estate of the Roßbach family a changeful history is documented. Jakob Heinrich Roßbach operated a dairy here until the time of the Third Reich. The goods were brought by his second wife Helene with a “Handwäjelsche” or in a basket to Mainz for sale. Due to the lack of party affiliation, Jakob Heinrich Roßbach had to close the dairy. He founded a fuel and fertilizer business after the war. As a joint child of Jakob and Helene, Horst Roßbach and his wife Edith took over the property. In 2006, the Reßler family bought the building and carried out extensive renovation work. Then, in 2007, the opening of a modern guest house took place. In 2017, the Reßler family celebrated 10 years of business in their estate.

Obergasse 21

Another farm with livestock and viticulture was operated here by the Rösch family. Since the marriage of Maria and Werner, it has been known as Reßler. Welcome to the residence of the Harxheim Wine Princess Simone II in 1999 and Rheinhessen Wine Queen in 2000.

In front of the post office, Obergasse; on the left Christian Bach, other persons unknown

Image source: E.-L. Happel

Centrally located here is the bakery Darmstadt. Philip Darmstadt I, born on February 19, 1864, founded his own bakery in 1887 at the age of 23 after completing his apprenticeship as a baker. The bakery was initially located at what is now Obergasse 15, at the home of his sister Helene Lahr. Seven years later – in 1894 – he bought the property in today’s Obergasse 25 and moved the bakery and the grocery store there.

After Philip Darmstadt I, Philip Darmstadt II took over the bakery. The family tradition could be continued with Egon and Erika Darmstadt. The bakery with food assortment closed in 1969. This year also saw the dismantling of the old German baking oven, which had a baking surface measuring 3.20 meters by 2.60 meters and was heated with briquettes.

During the Second World War, so-called pushed bread was produced, i.e. the loaves were baked close together without spacing. The aim here was to produce a maximum of bread with the lowest possible fuel input. With this baking method, 80 loaves of bread could be placed in the oven at the same time. After the war, the bread was baked normally again. It had a wonderful crust all around again.

Untergasse

or “Rue de Princess”, as the street with the largest number of Harxheim wine princesses is affectionately called.

Untergasse 10

The Roßbach family has lived here for several generations. The family history is characterized by agriculture and viticulture. Among other things, Friedrun Roßbach was responsible for the local scales as weighmaster.

Untergasse 12

Friedrich Ackermann ran a store (“der Konsum”) for agricultural products and related articles in addition to his agricultural business. Until his tenure as mayor (1946-1958), he was also a consumer accountant. As a quasi agricultural advisor, he calculated for his customers, for example, the quantities of seed or fertilizer required for a certain area of arable land and prepared a price calculation on this basis.

Untergasse 14

Here is the Frieß estate, which is still owned by the family. The company’s origins are – as with many Harxheim businesses – agriculture, animal husbandry and later viticulture, today Weingut Frieß.

Winery Wilhelm Lambinet, Untergasse 18

Image source: The Rhine Front 3 “Winegrowing community Harxheim 1968”.

Untergasse 19

Seat of the “Massa of Harxheim”. Emil Bölli bought the property from a Jewish fellow citizen who moved with his family to Frankfurt in 1934 and died there. The remaining family members later managed to escape to the USA.

Emil Bölli continued the existing grocery store. In a classified ad he writes: “The department store for articles of daily use. Mask costume rental.” As there was not enough space inside the department store, the merchant stored his goods in a barn in Obergasse. Emil Bölli even rode his bicycle as far as the Black Forest to sell his goods. Later, with the purchase of an Opel P 4, he visited his customers all over Rheinhessen.

Edeka market in the Untergasse (persons unknown)

Image source: E. Bölli

Untergasse 28 resp. 31

A cooperage was located here. In addition, cellar work was offered on a daily wage basis. The operators were called Emde.

Untergasse 33

A shoemaker’s shop, run by the Klingenberger family, could not be missing from the wide range of products on offer in the old town center. Today the building is part of the Schenk winery.

Untergasse 37

A tailor shop was operated here by the Jungbluth family. This was later followed by beverage sales, which were discontinued around 1968.

Station Road

Station road 3

The Lutheran parsonage had its seat here. In the aftermath Helene Wenderoth (previously House Krone) moved into the premises in 1951 and continued to run a grocery store there for several years. After that, the building was temporarily rented. The establishment of a branch of Volksbank Mommenheim resulted in a new use. The cooperative bank later abandoned this branch and moved to the new bank building at Bahnhofstrasse 62. Today, the property belongs to the Kleißer family. The commercial use is on the one hand by the energy consulting company, on the other hand Mrs. Kleißer operated a florist store here for several years.

Welcome to’s “Milk Hamme”. In this way, many surnames received an addition to make a name distinction. The Hammen family ran a milk collection center here. Luise Hammen summarizes the company’s history as follows: “From 1936, the Hammen family had a milk collection point from the dairy at Bahnhofstraße 5. Before that time, the dairy farmers drove the milk in 30-liter cans by handcart to the train station, from where it was taken by train to the dairy in Mainz. From 1936, the milk cans were collected from the collection point by a large truck.

After the war, a large stainless steel tank was then placed in the collection center, where the milk was collected from evenings and mornings. It was then driven to the dairy by tanker truck. In this collection point the people of Harxheim also had the opportunity to buy cheese, curd, butter and other dairy products. However, because the price of milk was so low and farmers were getting rid of their cows, the Harxheim collection center was closed in 1969. However, since the dairy wanted to continue selling its products, all of REWE’s food products were also offered. Thus, the branch of the dairy continued to exist. The store was centrally located and the people of Harxheim were glad that they did not have to go to the ‘greenfield’ where larger stores were being built. Then in 1978, nevertheless, came the end for the corner store.”

This report refers to the economic and service center area “Old place”. It remains to mention that there were also other smaller businesses, such as the hairdressing salon Nani Gersdorf and the lottery retailer Heinrich Dieter. Along today’s Bahnhofstraße there were other businesses such as Kohlen Darmstadt, the Scharucki haulage company (Willi Deiß), the Lenz rose nursery and later seed shop, and the Mann family restaurant, with an outdoor bowling alley. The apprenticing businesses of carpenter Hans Pusch, tailor Katharina Pusch, the blacksmith and locksmith business of Walter Sparwasser also settled on Bahnhofstraße. The Bücking locksmith’s shop with its Bücking vineyard plow was also known far beyond our region.

Insight into the lower alley

Image source: W. Hammen

References:

Heimatbuch Landkreis Mainz. 1967.

The Rhine front 3. winegrowing community of Harxheim 1968.

State Statistical Office. My home Harxheim.

Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Mainz-Bingen. 1999.

Records of pastor Johannes Würth in the chronicle of the Protestant parish from 1909 – 1920

Records of Ursula Knüpper-Heger (former mayor of Harxheim)

Report by Gerhard Krämer on Haus Krone

Contemporary Witnesses

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