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E G R Y Index

The Zabergäu History ...... Page 3

Baden-Württemberg Map ...... Page 6 Area Detail Map ...... Page 6 Zabergäu Area Detail Map ...... Page 7

Panoramic Area Photo by . Ron. . . Daum . . . . - . 1968/1969 ...... Page 78

Preface

Presented here by Ulrich (Uli) Pfingstler, is a history of the area that is known as The Zabergäu, which is part of the geography around the former Nike Guided Missile Base - Charlie Battery - 3rd Mis- sile Battalion - 71st Artillery, located on top of the .

Uli, who at the time lived in , is a friend several of us knew while stationed at the Battery in the late 50's and early 60's time frame.

We are pleased and grateful for all of Uli"s efforts, his con- tribution to the Charlie Battery historical record, which con- tinues to ever expand, and the renewal of old friendships.

!... VielanVielen Dank Uli ...!

------THETHE ZABERGÄU von UlrichUlrich (Uli) (Uli) Pfingstler Pfingstler ausaus Lauffen amam NeckarNeckar

he “Zabergäu”“Zabergäu” isis the the region region between between twotwo hill-rowshill-rows called HeuchelHeuchel- riod ofof 000 and stayed here forfor berg (in the North)North) andand StrombergStromberg (South). (South). “Charlie” “Charlie” was,was, as youyou about 200200 - -300 300 years. years. They They oc- know, installedinstalled on on the the Heuchelberg. Heuchelberg. Unfortunately Unfortunately I could I could not findnot cupiedoccupied with with their their legionslegions butbut findout the out explanation the explanation for the for names the namesfor they for seem they toseem be very to beold very ... also “civilians”“civilians” andand oldold “retired“retired old...(Strom (Strom = current, = current, Heuchel Heuchel = hypocrisy, = Hypocrisy, but this but makes this nomakes sense, no possibly sense, possibly it might soldiers” settledsettled andand farmedfarmed itgo might back togo the back Celtics}. to the Celtics}. here. There areare stillstill veryvery manymany objects of witnesses foundfound of The “Zaber”“Zaber” isis a a little little “river” “river” starting starting atat Zaberfeld runningrunning from west to east and this period. Rests ofof oldold buildbuild- flowing inin Lauffen Lauffen into into Neckar-River. - River. Gau orGau gau or (an gau old (an expression) old expression) means means ings, monuments,monuments, castles “region” - altogetheraltogether it spreads outout aboutabout 3030km. km. TheThe Zaber runsruns inin thethe middlemiddle (called Castells), statues,statues, farmsfarms etc.etc. -- EvenEven word word andand expressionsexpressions ofof theirtheir lanlan- of the “valley”,“valley”, throughthrough Pfaffenhofen,Pfaffenhofen, Guglingen,Guglingen, Brackenheim,Brackenheim, MeimsheimMeimsheim to guage (Latin)(Latin) camecame intointo our our language language till till today today - for - for instance: instance: window window - german - ger- Lauffen...Lauffen ... man= Fenster = Fenster - Latin - Latin= fenestra, = fenestra, wine wine= Wein = Wein= vino, = stonevino, stone- wall -= wall Mauer = Mauer = mura, = mura,street =street strasse = strasse = strada = stradaetc. - etc. - Kleingartach and and Niederhofen Niederhofen etc. etc. are are located located “over “over the thehill” hill”- Heuchelberg, - Heuchelberg, their theirvalley valley is the is “ theLeintal” “ Leintal” (Lein=also (Lein = a also little a “river”little “river” - Tal=valley). - Tal = valley). The Lein The alsoLein runsalso Due to thethe fertilityfertility and and also also to to the the climate climate this this region region was was preferred preferred by the by Rothe- runsto Neckar to Neckar river. river. Romansmans very very much much - ( they- ( they called called the thezabergäu Zabergäu “little “little Italy” Italy” ). - Temporarily ). - Temporarily Ger- Germanicmanic tribes tribes had hadsettled settled beside beside the Romans the Romans - they - livedthey besidelived beside each other each -other lived The regionregion has has been been settled settled since since very very ancient ancient times. times. Before Before there there was anwas origi an- -in lived peace in orpeace also notor also and notgot sometimesand got sometimes “mixed-up”, “mixed-up”, did trade, didfought trade, each fought other originalnal population population (so called (so called Stone-Age) Stone which- Age) iswhich not so is muchnot so explored. much explored. eachetc. - other etc. -

About 600600 years beforebefore ChristChrist thethe CelticsCeltics startedstarted toto settlesettle -- they they withdrewwithdrew or Generally thethe Romans Romans settled settled at preferredat preferred places: places: Along Along the rivers the (,rivers (Rhine, Neck- were chased away, oror alsoalso slavedslaved (maybe(maybe alsoalso mixedmixed up)up) byby thethe Romans whowho Neckar,ar, Donau Donau etc.) etc.)because because of fertility, of fertility, warmer warmer climate, climate, water water(very important}(very impor ....- did uniteunite for for this this purpose purpose even even with with the the Germanics Germanics at atabout about the the year year 000. 000. tant)...they built, they founded built, founded little places, little places,farms, farms,already already “towns” “towns” like for like instance for instance Kaln Kaln(Colougn?= = Köln, Lat. (Colougn? Colonia =(colony) Lat. Colonia at Rhine (colony) River atetc. Rhine - They River had etc. high - Theyculture had in The Celts lookedlooked about like the GermanicsGermanics (tall,(tall, blond-hair,blond - hair, blue-eyed) blue - eyed) but butthe higharchitecture, culture inliterature, architecture, ways literature,of life etc. ways It is ofvery life funny: etc. It isGermanics very funny: had German writing- thelanguage language was wascompletely completely different different (today (today Gallic - Gallicstill spoken- still spoken in Scotland, in Scotland, Wales ics(called had rune)writing but (called did not rune) document but did their not documentfuture like customs,their history lifestyle nor customs,etc. - All Walesand Ireland and Ireland where wherethey withdrew they withdrew via France). via France). There were There still are “witneses” still “witnesses” found lifestylethe documents etc. - All about the documentsGermanics wereabout made Germanics by the wereRomans made who by described the Romans the foundfrom their from time their .. Names time... Nameslike Zaber, like NeckarZaber, Neckarseem to seem be of to Celtic be of origin Celtic ... origin... whoGermanics described very thedetailed Germanics (Tacitus). in detail A real (Tacitus). irony of history A real irony... of history...

The RomansRomans camecame intointo thisthis regionregion (elsewhere(elsewhere partlypartly before)before) atat aboutabout thethe pe- Later - about between between 200 200 - 300- 300 p.Chr. p.Chr. - because- because of of too too much much “robbery” “robbery” and and maybe also because of too much brutality from the occupants the high cul- As mentioned before the region was (and still is) very fertile. So agriculture tured Romans were chased and driven away by the “wild and brutal Germanic, goes far back and today wine-agriculture Is dominating because of high Teutonic barbars”... rentability. Over here wine is not something to drink - it is still a tradition, religion... but also a real science. It is discussed if the Romans started it over The legions (soldiers) left but not all the Roman population (families...) was here or whether it came here later (see Wein = vino)... in fact they have pro- able to follow and so remained here... Also they had been here already since duced a very good wine in our region since ever formerly (till about the 1950’s a long time. Probably they were “slaved” by the Germanics (slavery was not -1960’s) working in the vineyards was most manual and very hard - one could Germanic - the Romans introduced it here at that time). compare some activities even as hard as manual wood-cutting. - Since about 25 years they also discovered the grapes are very good for producing cham- Later they got mixed up ... and still today (till 1945 before many other influenc- paign (called Sekt) and so they do It - Some Sekts are absolutely comparable es came in here) you could realize in the southern parts of to the champaign of the Champagne in France - but much there were much more dark haired, brown eyed This region, and also cheaper... people as in other regions like North-Germany, where no Romans were - especially along the rivers... big parts of the South- They started a very good marketing with the Haber- West, then was settled schlacht wine all over Wurttemberg (one part of our state) So you can see the foundation of the places around here In the 1950’s... 50 this wine became especially famous and and dominated by in- and also elsewhere goes far back... (see later “Birthdays of very well known... The other wines of Stockheim, Neipperg, coming Germanic tribes the places... “). Brackenheim etc. were about of the same standard but not such as the Franken, Ale- so well marked... Meanwhile all over the region around Hei- Back to the Zabergäu. This region (and also big parts of mannen and Suebians... lbronn they improved very much... Today they are all com- the South-West) then was settled and dominated by in- parable but still the (red) wines of the Zabergäu including coming Germanic tribes as the Franken, Alemannen, Sue- Lauffen gain very many prices,(golden and silver medals bians... By driving thru the country or watching the maps one may realize German wide) in competitions. that the names of very many places end with... “heim” or... “ingen”. This ending shows still today the foundation. - Places ending on “heim” (= home) were They also improved marketing like a real modern business - before it was con- founded by the Franken - on “ingen” (7) by the “Alemannen”... This population sidered and practiced as “farmer’s work” and also (except Haberschlacht) as a happened around 400 - 500 p.Chr. The dialect of our region is a mixture of very local “thing” - the Wurttembergers were much known for drinking their Trankisch, Alemannisch and Suabian... It is “Schwabisch” (suabian). wine themselves and did not “export” elsewhere... The wineries (cooperatives, also private possessions) have become very modern enterprises concerning People coming from other parts of Germany or those who have studied the business, methods, equipment, management, marketing, methods of pro- German language in the universities consider it as a real “cruel thing” for the duction etc. pronunciation is very different from the proper German and is hardly under- stood by “newcomers”... It takes them a while - many won’t learn it in a life- The settlement of the region(s) goes far back in history. When they date it on time... More about this see “general German history... “ a special year - like Haberschlacht 750 years (1229 - 1979), Stockheim 1000 years (950 - 1950), Brackenheim 700 years (1280 - 1980) etc. - So this doesn’t Also there were no wars, battles (see Haberschlacht), conflicts etc. of tactical mean the real begin of the place as population, settlement etc. but the very or strategic importance except may be - so considered - the battle (Schlacht) first mentioning in any official document, mostly in ecclesiastical titles, also near Lauffen (1534) when the Duke of Wurttemberg (Duke Ulrich) regained in documents of knights, dukes, counts or of the proprietors of the place... his territory (Duchy Wurttemberg) from Austrian regents. So people discovered the “birthday” of their place by this way as a reason for celebrating and also for reputation “... our place is older than yours... “ also in After the World War II the situations all over Germany and so also in the Za- prospects, brochures etc. etc. -- bergäu changed completely in every respect - partly abruptly, partly stepwise. Indeed each family had been touched in any way from war-influences and By the way it might be worth mentioning that Stock- also the following consequences. heim is the only place which stayed Catholic after ref- ormation far around especially due to the regime of A profound change happened with Brackenheim and the villages around German (or Teutonic) knights Order. when Hausen, Durrenzimmern, Meimsheim, Botenheim, Neipperg, Haber- schlascht, and Stockheim were united to one community with Brackenheim All the Zabergäu and also other distant regions were as the municipal center - the “Capital”- in the 1970’s. Now the places around protestant. Because of this situation they were very Brackenheim got the additional name as for instance “Brackenheim - Haber- St.Ulrich's Kirchen - Stockheim by Ron Daum - 1968/1969 isolated (only one other family in the Zabergäu was schlacht” etc. At the beginning this caused indeed much change in adminis- Catholic) and had their problems with the environs for instance for getting trations etc. Now “Big - Brackenheim” has some more than 10000 inhabitants partners to marry etc. If they did “nothing find in the village” they had to go far and is also the largest “red - wine area” of Wurttemberg... to other catholic communities... This is a general description about the origins and also some about the de- Also this situation changed completely after 1945 when very many other in- velopment of the zabergäu. All the events of history like reformation, Farmer fluences come “over the land” as people from other lands of catholic religion rebellion against knight’s etc. regimes, 30 - years - war (1618 - 1648 very cru- (whose ancestors had emigrated maybe centuries before) had to be integrat- el), Napoleon, foundation of Germany as political state, world - war I and II of ed in “protestant regions” as well... course touched the region but describing would be too voluminous for this entry.

-- - - Standort/Location Oberes/Unteres Zabergäu, Upper/Lower Zabergäu, Main-Tauber Mannheim Neckar- Odenwald Brackenheim, Lauffen

Heidelberg Rhein-Neckar Landkreis Landkreis/County - Heilbronn Hohenlohekreis Crallheim Landkreis Brackenheim Region - Franken Karlsruhe Schwäbisch Hall Buchsal Brackenheim Heilbronn Schwäbisch Hall Regierungsbezirk/State Capital - Karlsruhe Enzkreis Land/State - Baden-Württemberg Pforzheim Ludwigsburg Kornwest- Rems-Murr Ostalbkreis Rastatt heim

Stuttgart Einwohnerzahlen/Population Baden-Baden Calw Esslingen Göppingen Heidenheim Brackenheim 6,012 Böblingen Botenheim 1,332 Offenburg Clebronn 2,040 Freudenstadt Tübingen Ortenaukreis Alb- Reutlingen Donau Dürrenzimmern 1,264 Ulm

Frauenzimmern 961 Zollernalbkreis Rottweil Güglingen 4,153 Emmendingen Haberschlacht 510 Schwarzwald- Biberach Baar Freiburg im Sigmaringen Hausen 1,939 Breisgau Tuttlingen Lauffen 10,095 Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Meimsheim 2,540 Singen Konstanz Ravensburg Neipperg 580 Konstanz Lörrach Waldshut Bodenseekreis Pfaffenhofen 2,300 Lorrach Weil Rheinfelden Stockheim 1004 Zaberfeld 1,350 Baden-Württemberg The Leintal

Stetten

The Heuchelberg Niederhofen LaunchingLaunching Area Area Neipperg Nordhausen Nordheim

The Leinberg Charlie Battery Battery Kleingartach

Haberschlacht IFCIFC

Schloß StocksbergStocksberg Dürrenzimmern

Stockheim

Brackenheim Hausen

Lauffen Michelbach am Neckar Frauenzimmern Guglingen Meimsheim Pfaffenhofen Zaber River Botenheim Zaberfeld The Zabergäu

Cleebronn Kirchheim The Bönningheim am Neckar

The Zabergäu And The Leintal Detail Map The Zabergäu From The Schloß Stocksberg This is a wonderful panorama of The Zabergäu, with the village of Stockheim below. Actually this photo shows only part of the valley. If you refer to the detail map you will see it really starts around to the right and back to Zaberfeld. We can see, up and a little to the left of center, the city of Brackenheim. Then, a little further in the distance and to the right, is . The villages to the left of Brackenheim are probably Dürrenzimmern and Nordhausen. The high hills to the right is The Stromberg, and defines the other side of the valley opposite the Heuchelberg.