Brendlorenzen

Brendlorenzen is a district of the town of Bad Neustadt an der Saale in the Unterfranken region of Bavaria, Germany. The over two kilometer long village projecting outward from a single main street came into being through the growth of the villages Brend and Lorenzen. It has approximately 4500 residents with several new housing development sites on encroaching on the surrounding farm land. The name of this district, Lorenzen, derives from the chapel of the same name dedicated to Saint Lawrence (Lorenzo). Brend comes from the tributary of the same name, in whose valley the district is located.

History

The existence of the community on the Brend was first documented in 742 AD, with the church of Saint Martin coming under the jurisdiction of the newly-founded diocese of Würzburg. Original texts identify the parish church in Brendlorenzen and the round church in the Marienberg Fortress in Würzburg as the oldest of the diocese. The parish church was probably concecrated by Saint Willibrord in 706 AD. The building of the church is certainly connected to the construction of the royal estates of Charlemagne in the neighboring village of Salz, at the foot of the Rhön Mountains. Its use at the time of the construction as a baptistry was probably furthermore reason for reassigning patronage from the original Saint Martin to John the Baptist, with whom the church is presently associated. Brendlorenzen hosted a settled area, however, long before this first documented mention. While laying the foundations for new construction in 2001, traces of a settlement from the La Tène culture from the Iron Age were uncovered, including cellar-like dug-outs, garbage dumps and the remnants of six pottery kilns. On the first of January, 1972, the formerly independent community of Lebenhan was annexed by Brendlorenzen. Then on the first of January, 1978, both were incorporated into the City of Bad Neustadt an der Saale.

Education

For the preschool education of Brendlorenzen residents, there are two Catholic kindergartens, St. Joseph and St. Martin, as well as a municipal nursery school available. The village has its own elementary and secondary educational facilities, which children from neighboring Lebenhan also utilize.

Clubs and Associations

The TSV (Turn- und Sportsverein, tournament and sports club) Brendlorenzen is the biggest sports club in the county, Rhön-Grabfeld, presently with around 1400 members. It consists of today eight different departments: soccer, track and field, table tennis, cycling, volleyball, triathlon, basketball and badminton. Above all, the cycling department is renowned regionally for administration of the annual Rhöner Kuppenritt, a meet on the trails through the Rhön Moutains. This event offers numerous varied bike routes (ranging from 30 to 220 kilometers long), both for the leisure and for training for cyclists of all abilities. The travel and leisure club the Franconian Freaks are also located in the village.

Events

During the first weekend in August, close to the namesake’s Saint Day (10 August), the village holds the Laurientiusfest (St. Lawrence’s Party) on the banks of the Brend with live local music and beer.

References

This English article is a translation of the unsourced German article.