Borgentreich

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Borgentreich


Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region	Detmold
District	Höxter
Population	9720 (30/06/2004)
Area	138.76 km²
Population density	70 /km²
Elevation	169 - 371 m
Coordinates	51°34′ N 9°15′ E
Postal code	34434
Area code	05643, 05645
Licence plate code	HX
Mayor	Bernhard Temme
Website	Stadt Borgentreich

Borgentreich is a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Constituent communities
2 History
- 2.1 Borgholz
- 2.2 Natzungen
3 Politics
- 3.1 Town council
- 3.2 Coat of arms
4 Culture and sightseeing
- 4.1 Museums
- 4.2 Other
5 Personalities
- 5.1 Sons and daughters of the town
6 Literature
7 Reference
8 External links

[edit] Geography

Borgentreich lies roughly 20 km south of Brakel and 10 km northeast of Warburg.

The constituent community of Borgholz lies on the foothill of a high ridge northeast of Borgentreich (main town).

[edit] Constituent communities

Borgentreich consists of the following 12 centres:

Borgentreich
Borgholz
Bühne
Drankhausen
Großeneder
Körbecke
Lütgeneder
Manrode
Muddenhagen
Natingen
Natzungen
Rösebeck

[edit] History

Borgentreich was mentioned for the first time in 1280 under the name Borguntriche when the Bishop of Paderborn Otto von Rietberg was granted leave by the Archbishop of Cologne Siegfried von Westerburg to fortify the town.

[edit] Borgholz

Borgholz was first mentioned in 1291 in two documents, both confirming that there was a Borcholte at this time. It has to thank for its founding – as does the main town – a dispute over sovereignty in the area between the Archbishops of Cologne and the Bishops of Paderborn in the 13th century. The Archbishops of Cologne were trying to hem the Bishops' domain in with a ring of towns and castles.

The order to fortify the village high over the Jordan Valley was issued by Bishop Otto of Paderborn in 1290. He transferred to Bertold Schuwen a position as castle overseer (Burgmannsitz), the first one in the episcopal castle of Borgholz. A document of founding, or one granting town rights, has never been found. In a document from1295, however, Borgholz is already called a town. After it was founded, roughly 500 people, according to a careful estimate, lived in the town. From an 1831 cadastral plan of the town, it is clear that the whole town, along with the castle, was ringed by a wall enclosing an area of 6.22 ha. Drawn from this is the conclusion that Borgholz had never spread beyond its original town walls. Within the walls, however, was still a fair deal of free land which could have been used for expansion.

[edit] Natzungen

Natzungen's first documentary mention goes back to the year 1036, when Bishop Bruno of Würzburg donated the Sunrike estate to the Würzburg Church and two Hufe of land to his Ministerialis Richbold and his wife Richeze; this land was in Natesingen.

Until the 15th century, Natzungen was two communities, called Obernatzungen and Niedernatzungen ("Upper" and "Lower" respectively). Niedernatzungen, which was near where Borgholz's railway station is now, is gone, and it is believed that it either fell victim to the Soest Feud or was destroyed by the Hussites, leaving only Obernatzungen, now called Natzungen.

[edit] Politics

[edit] Town council

Town council's 26 seats are apportioned as follows, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 September 2004:

CDU 16 seats
SPD 8 seats
FDP 1 seat
CWG 1 seat

Note: CWG is a citizens' coalition.

[edit] Coat of arms

Borgholz's coat of arms

Borgentreich's civic coat of arms has as one charge a rather unusual cross with a spike on the bottom. The old arms, which simply showed in gules a cross pattée Or, had this same spiked cross, although all four of the cross's arms were the same length. This kind of cross can also be seen in Verden's coat of arms, and may derive from the arms borne by the princely bishopric of Paderborn. The old composition is known from a town seal from 1341.

The newer arms, still used now, were granted on 19 July 1976, and incorporate a charge from Borgholz's coat of arms, namely the fleur-de-lis, to reflect the former town's amalgamation into Borgentreich.

The "embattled" (heraldically speaking) area in the bottom of the shield is the local variant of the widespread practice of representing in the civic coat of arms the number of constituent communities in an amalgamated municipality such as Borgentreich. There are 12 battlements shown here, one for each constituent community.[1]

[edit] Culture and sightseeing

[edit] Museums

Borgentreich Organ Museum

Since 1980, the former town hall in Borgentreich has housed Germany's first organ museum.

[edit] Other

Natzungen has a church with an unusually high and massive tower built in the 12th and 13th centuries. It was likely used as a flight tower (for refuge), and has Romanesque window openings in the belfry, as well as a remarkable Baroque altar. This was originally in the Abdinghofkirche in Paderborn, but was moved here.

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Sons and daughters of the town

Jordanus Nemorarius (also called Jordanus de Nemore; 1225-1260), mediaeval mathematician

[edit] Literature

Westfälischer Städteatlas; Band: III; 2 Teilband. Im Auftrage der Historischen Kommission für Westfalen und mit Unterstützung des Landschaftsverbandes Westfalen-Lippe, hrsg. von Heinz Stoob † und Wilfried Ehbrecht. Stadtmappe Borgentreich, Autor: Heinrich Schoppmeyer. ISBN 3-89115-122-5; Dortmund-Altenbeken, 1988.