Stroll through the history of Harxheim
The first documented mention of the community of Harxheim is found in a deed of donation to the Lorsch Monastery from the year 776. The year 767 mentioned in another document, which in the past was always assumed to be the first mention, almost certainly refers to Harxheim/Pfrimm, 40km to the south.
However, finds such as an iron long sword or a few remains of hut clay prove that people had already settled in the area of today’s Harxheim for at least a short time in the Latène Age/Younger Iron Age (450 B.C. to 15 B.C.). After the conquest of Gaul by Caesar (58 B.C. to 51 B.C.), the area of Harxheim belonged to the Roman Empire and to the later created province of Germania superior with its capital Mogontiacum (today’s Mainz). Since four legions with auxiliary troops (according to estimates about 50,000 soldiers) were stationed here in the meantime, there was a great need for goods, which were also delivered from the surrounding countryside. In the area of the Harxheim district, a Roman settlement site with finds from the 2nd/3rd century was discovered. Century after Christ discovered.
After the withdrawal of the Roman legions (mid 4th century) and the invasion of Germanic tribes, Franks settled the area from the 6th century. In the 1950s, a Frankish cemetery from this period was discovered south of the village, so it can be assumed that a permanent settlement already existed here. The settlement, which was located in the then Wormsgau, is now mentioned for the first time by the document from the year 776 and the name Harasheim is mentioned. The part of the name heim, as in other villages in Rheinhessen ending in this part of the word, indicates a Frankish foundation. For the first part of the place name, the derivation “a place of worship surrounded by a sacred grove” (Faiß) is now considered certain. In the course of time Harasheim became for example Hararesheim (797) or Harewesheim (1135). From 1480 the place name Harxheym was in use, although the addition An der Steig was used until the 19th century.
After 776, there were further donations of land and property to the Lorsch Monastery and the Fulda Monastery. The Mainz cathedral chapter also had property in Harxheim probably from the beginning of the 9th century. Finally, in 1190, Werner II of Bolanden received property in Harxheim as a fief. After the Bolanden family split into three lines in 1222, Harxheim was awarded to the family branch of the later Counts of Falkenstein, in whose possession the village was until 1667. In 1458, Duke Johann von Lothringen received the county from Emperor Frederick III as suzerain. As a result, after the marriage of Duke Franz Stephan of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, Harxheim became part of Austria and one of the northernmost villages of this dominion. There was a short intermezzo between 1682 and 1697, when the county of Falkenstein had been occupied by the French King Louis XIV, and he gave it as a French fief to the Counts of Manderscheid and Löwenhaupt.
Since the Counts of Falkenstein had already converted to Protestantism in the 1540s, the new doctrine was introduced throughout the county – including Harxheim. Harxheim was thus an exception in a region where there were almost only Catholic parishes. Since the number of Catholics in Harxheim also increased over time, an agreement was reached in the 1690s according to which the church could also be used by the Catholic community. The Simultaneum in Harxheim – the joint use of the church – lasted until the completion of a separate Catholic church in 1871.
During the Thirty Years War (1618 – 1648) the village was temporarily occupied by Swedish troops, so the population fled. When they left, the soldiers set fire to the church, which burned down despite attempts by Ebersheim citizens to extinguish the fire.
The period of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s reign also had an impact on the village history. Thus, in 1792 as well as in 1794 the village was occupied by French troops. In 1794, French soldiers burned the interior of the church, which again caused such damage to the building that it had to be demolished and could not be rebuilt until 1803. Even though the areas on the left bank of the Rhine did not become French territory until after the Peace of Lunéville in 1801, a new political order was formed as early as 1798, according to which Harxheim was assigned to the canton of Nieder-Olm in the département of Donnersberg (Mont-Tonnerre). In order to simplify the administration of the municipalities, mayoralties of the same size were also established. For Harxheim this meant that it formed a mayoralty with Gau-Bischofsheim from 1804 to 1837. Other innovations included the introduction of the Civil Code, which resulted, for example, in the introduction of freedom of trade. Also, as early as 1798, the local headmen were given the task of keeping the local birth, marriage and death registers, which had previously been done by the respective parish priest.
After the end of Napoleonic rule, the Grand Duchy of Hesse was awarded the newly created province of Rhine-Hesse in 1816 as compensation for territories in Westphalia as part of the Congress of Vienna. Harxheim belonged to this province until the end of the 1st World War – in the course of which 20 Harxheimers lost their lives – or the deposition of the last Hessian Grand Duke in 1918. Subsequently, the areas on the left bank of the Rhine were occupied by French troops until June 1930, and French units were also quartered in Harxheim. Until 1945 Harxheim remained a part of the People’s State of Hesse.
In the Reichstag election of March 5, 1933, the majority of Harxheim’s eligible voters voted for the NSDAP. The political change also became apparent quite early in the everyday life of the people of Harxheim, because as early as the spring of 1933, the upper street was renamed “Horst-Wessel-Straße” and the lower street “Hermann-Göring-Straße”. In November 1938, the synagogue in Ebersheim was burned down. This meant the end of the Israelite community of Ebersheim with Harxheim, which had already been formed before 1830. The 2nd World War, which ended in Harxheim with the invasion of US units on March 20, 1945, cost the lives of 47 Harxheim men. After the war, the village again became part of the French occupation zone.
Since its founding in 1973, Harxheim has belonged to the municipality of Bodenheim in the district of Mainz- Bingen and today has just under 2,400 inhabitants (State Statistical Office).
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