Stadtprozelten

Stadtprozelten

Coat of arms
Stadtprozelten

Coordinates: 49°47′N 9°25′E / 49.783°N 9.417°E / 49.783; 9.417Coordinates: 49°47′N 9°25′E / 49.783°N 9.417°E / 49.783; 9.417
Country Germany
State Bavaria
Admin. region Lower Franconia
District Miltenberg
Municipal assoc. Stadtprozelten
Government
  Mayor Claudia Kappes (CSU)
Area
  Total 10.84 km2 (4.19 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 1,546
  Density 140/km2 (370/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 97909
Dialling codes 09392
Vehicle registration MIL
Website www.stadtprozelten.de

Stadtprozelten is a town and municipality in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (municipal association) of Stadtprozelten.

A traditional, mainly Catholic town, it is known to its inhabitants as Stadtprozle.

Geography

Location

Stadtprozelten lies on the southern edge of the Spessart (range) and on the right bank of the Main in the middle of the south side of the Mainviereck (“Main Square”), 8 km northwest of Wertheim am Main. Stadtprozelten lies directly opposite de:Mondfeld, which is on the left bank of the Main. They are linked by a ferry.

Subdivisions

The Stadtteil of Neuenbuch lies 2 km north of the town centre.

Neighbouring communities

Stadtprozelten is bordered by (from the north, clockwise): Altenbuch, Faulbach, Wertheim (Baden-Württemberg), Dorfprozelten and Eschau.

History

In 1287, Stadtprozelten had its first documentary mention. The former Electoral Mainz Amt passed in 1803 to Prince Primate von Dalberg’s newly formed Principality of Aschaffenburg, with which it passed in 1814 (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, the current municipality came into being with the Gemeindeedikt (“Municipal Edict”) of 1818.

Six hundred and fifty years of holding town rights were celebrated in 2005. The first documentary mention, however, is not yet fully established beyond doubt.

Government

Town council

The council is made up of 12 council members, not counting the mayor, with seats apportioned thus:

Election year CSU SPD FWG Stadtprozelten-Neuenbuch Total
2008 8 4 n.a. 12 seats
2002 5 2 5 12 seats

Coat of arms

The town’s arms might be described thus: Argent a castle with a gate tower gules and roofs azure, above the gateway the letter B Or, in chief dexter the sun in his glory, and in chief sinister the moon in her increment of the last.

The oldest known town seals come down from the 16th century. The building in the arms might be the old castle held here by the Teutonic Knights. The sun and moon are presumably old town symbols. The letter B comes from another coat of arms dating from 1600 seen on a pane of glass from the Town Hall. It stands for the town’s former name, Brodselden (the name Stadtprozelten first crops up in 1319).

The arms have been borne at least since the 16th century.[2]

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The Henneburg (castle) on the Kühlberg in Stadtprozelten
Apothecary
Extraordinary performance by the Stadtprozelten Coopers’ Dancing Group on the occasion of the historic Town Festival on 9 and 10 July 2005

Looming over the town is the Henneburg castle ruin on the hill known as the Kühlberg.

Other important monuments in town are:

Regular events

Schäfflertanz

The Schäfflertanz (“Coopers’ Dance”) is put on according to tradition every seven years. The coopers’ group, possibly Germany’s biggest and the only one in white and blue, is made up of well over 60 and up to 90 actors, that is, master coopers, wineglass swingers, dancers, clowns, waiters and the boys who pull the cart. Because it is a group dance, the number of these exclusively male dancers is always a multiple of eight.

This tradition goes back to the Plague year of 1517, when in Munich the members of the coopers’ guild were the first to go back into the streets, to spread some lust for life.

Beginning about 1830, journeyman coopers brought the dance to other places such as Eggenfelden, Frontenhausen, Geiselhöring, Mainburg, Mühldorf, Murnau, Kelheim, Landshut, Partenkirchen and Wasserburg.

In 1887 the Schäfflertanz was put on in Stadtprozelten for the first time. The most recent performance was in 2013.

Doude Moo

This event has its roots in the time of the Plague, when dead bodies had to be fetched from the houses. The body gatherers would call out as they went through town “Hejo - doude Moo - moje kommd en annern droo” (roughly, “Hello, dead man, tomorrow it’ll be another’s turn”; this is dialectal, not standard High German).

Nowadays children enjoy the sweets that are thrown out into the street from all the houses as a straw doll is borne ahead of them out of the town and then burnt. Doude Moo is always held on the third Sunday before Easter.

The event is known in official circles as Todemo.

Notable people

References

External links

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