Erbach im Odenwald

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Erbach
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Erbach
Erbach im Odenwald (Germany)
Erbach im Odenwald
Administration
Country Flag of Germany Germany
State Hesse
Admin. region Darmstadt
District Odenwaldkreis
Town subdivisions 12 Stadtteile
Mayor Harald Buschmann (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area 62.67 km² (24.2 sq mi)
Elevation 250 m  (820 ft)
Population 13,608  (31/12/2006)
 - Density 217 /km² (562 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate ERB
Postal code 64711
Area code 06062
Website www.erbach.de

Coordinates: 49°39′30″N 8°59′45″E / 49.65833, 8.99583

Coat of arms of the County of Erbach, from the Scheibler Armorial (145080)
Coat of arms of the County of Erbach, from the Scheibler Armorial (145080)
Erbach castle
Erbach castle

Erbach im Odenwald is a town in Hesse, Germany. It is the capital of Odenwald district and has a population of ca. 14,000.

Contents

[edit] History

Erbach is the former seat of the Counts of Erbach-Erbach. The Counts of Erbach ruled parts of the Odenwald from their castles until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806; family members still reside in Erbach and Michelstadt.

[edit] Geography

[edit] Geographic position

Erbach has an elevation of 200 to 560 Meter in the Odenwald in the valley of the Mümling stream.

[edit] Neighboring localities

Erbach borders Michelstadt to the north, the market community Kirchzell (Miltenberg District in Bavaria) to the east, the community Hesseneck and the town Beerfelden in the south, and the community Mossautal in the west.

[edit] Town divisions

Erbach is divided into 12 parts (year of incorporation in parentheses):

  • Bullau (1972)
  • Dorf-Erbach (1972)
  • Ebersberg (1972)
  • Elsbach (1972)
  • Erbach (Odenwald) (to which belonged a settlement completely surrounded by the village of Erbach)
  • Erbuch
  • Erlenbach(1972)
  • Ernsbach-Erbuch (1972)
  • Günterfürst (1972)
  • Haisterbach (1972)
  • Lauerbach (1972)
  • Rossbach
  • Schönnen (1972 per Amtsverfügung)

[edit] Politics

[edit] Town representatives

The election of 18 March 2001 gave the following division of electoral seats:

CDU 14 seats
SPD 13 seats
ÜWG 7 seats
the Greens 3 seats

[edit] Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Erbach depicts a blue stream flowing on a red background from upper left to lower right. Three red stars representing the counts of Erbach (until 1806 regents of the Odenwald) are placed within the stream.

[edit] Twin cities

Erbach is twinned with:

[edit] Economy and infrastructure

Francis I, the last ruling Count of Erbach (1754-1823), sponsored the carving of ivory, giving the town the sobriquet Elfenbeinstadt, or "Ivory Town". Many artisans worked in Erbach; their works and activities are on display in the town's Ivory Museum opened in 1966. Especially popular as working material was elephant and mammoth ivory. Because the ivory trade was banned in 1989, horns from similar animals are used in the town instead.

[edit] Traffic

Erbach is located on the roads Bundesstraße 45 and Bundesstraße 47 and the Odenwald Rail line (Frankfurt - Hanau - / Darmstadt - Erbach - Eberbach).

[edit] Local companies

  • Bosch Rexroth AG, Werk Erbach, Geschäftsbereich Electric Drives and Controls
  • Rowenta, Werk Erbach (production of irons)
  • Koziol GmbH (plastic optical fibre producer)

[edit] Education

  • Schule am Treppenweg (Grundschule)
  • Astrid-Lindgren-Schule (Grundschule)
  • Schule am Sportpark (Hauptschule and Realschule with orientation grades)
  • Schule am Drachenfeld (school for practical skills with a department for the physically disabled)

[edit] Personalities

[edit] External links