OBERKALBACH, HESSEN, GERMANY
Village of My Berthold and Ullrich Ancestors
INCLUDES INFORMATION ABOUT SURROUNDING VILLAGES
History
Year Event
826 first mention of Oberkalbach in written history
1004 famine in all Germany
1167 official year of first mention of Oberkalbach in written history
1235 floods
1250 Brandenstein Castle erected
1280 Schwarzenfels Castle first mentioned
1306 floods
1315 famine in all Germany
1322 floods
1348 Black Death in Europe
1395 plague in all Germany
1407 plague and harsh winter in whole area
1507 a comet causes great fear
1539 floods
1542 plague
1563 first crowning of emperor (Maximillian II) in Frankfurt
1577 record keeping begins in the church books of Schluechtern, oldest records in the area
1579 a fire begins in a carpenter's house and destroys many homes as well as the church and parish building
1596 Calvinism (Reformed Religion) becomes dominant religion in this area
1618 Beginning of 30-Years War in Germany. During this war, "food was so scarce that parents even ate their small children, fresh graves had to be guarded from being robbed. The cadavers of horses, mice, cats, donkeys and other animals also became food for the poor. The villages, towns and cities appeared not as homes of humans but of rabbits and wolves as residents hid in the forests or scattered here and there. The number of deaths was impossible to count." (Bergwinkel Chronik by Wilhelm Praesent page 81)
1625-1630 hundreds in the county are burned as result of witch trials
1628 revolt in Schluechtern and area against the quartering of soldiers in homes
1632 65 families live in Oberkalbach, among them 7 widows
1634 destructive fire during war; vicerage, parish records, and the greater part of the village are burned; school-age children in the area kidnapped by soldiers, some die of hunger and grief
1635 all farmers of nearby Elm desert their village; plague deaths: Steinau 564, Seidenroth 178, Schluechtern 474; soldiers quartered in Elm, Hutten, Gundhelm and Oberkalbach
1638 bands of robbers active in the county
1640 some Jews banished from the area, sent to Hanau
1646 residents of most villages around Schuechtern flee to the their respective castles for safety: residents of Heubach, Mottgers, Weichersbach, Oberzell, Sterbfritz, Breunings and Zuentersbach to castle Schwarzenfels; residents of Elm, Gundhelm, Hutten and Oberkalbach to Brandenstein; residents of Ramholz, Vollmerz and Sannerz to Steckelberg; the castles were so crowded with people and animals that some villagers fled their villages to hide in the forests; Schluechtern was plundered by thousands of foot soldiers and cavalry and the people scattered; Steinau totally plundered, including its castle
1648 end of the 30-Years War
1653 34 households; before the War there were 70 households
1654 parish records were started again
1655 Wolves roam the area. In several nearby villages, young children die from wounds after being attacked and dragged by wolves.
1658 harsh winter in which many animals and people froze to death
1676/7 many young children die of measles
1694 strong earthquakes
1696 harsh winter
1698 41 Reformed families, 5 widows
1705 39 Reformed families, 2 Lutherans, 1 Catholic, 2 widows
1720 harsh winter
1737 new vicerage built
1739 Uttrichhausen becomes part of the Oberkalbach parish
1748-1783 church services held alternately in Oberkalbach and Heubach
1756-1763 Seven-Years War
1758 floods
1763 some area residents accept Catherine the Great's invitation to colonize Russia
1770 first house numbers assigned - 65 houses
1809 smallpox epidemic in the area; Oberkalbach death records show that at least 12 people die in the month of February, half of the total deaths in 1809
1813 17 Oberkalbachers take part in the war against Napoleon
1817 Kaiser Friedrich II requires the Reformed and the Lutheran churches to merge
1846+ potato famine in the area is the cause of considerable emigration to America
1847 788 inhabitants (786 Lutherans, 2 Catholics). Of these, 382 are farmers and have animals, 200 work as daylaborers, 185 work as skilled laborers, 15 receive assistance from the state, 6 receive assistance from the church and the state.
1850 new church is built
1875 new cemetery begun
1885 808 inhabitants
1888 new school house built; two classrooms; two teacher quarters
1907 running water system built
1910 114 residences; 136 families; 325 males, 362 females; 687 total; 686 Lutheran; 1 Catholic
1914-1918 WW I; 20 Oberkalbach soldiers die; 3 missing
1917 618 inhabitants; 247 males; 371 females
1930 electricity installed in the church
1939 546 inhabitants; 1939 -1945 WW II; 35 Oberkalbach soldiers died; 18 missing
1943-1944 98 refugees taken in from Offenbach, Hanau and Frankfurt am Main for protection from the heavy bombing in the big cities
1945 5 April - U.S. troops come through Oberkalbach, damage 6 homes, 33 businesses; 70 people were left homeless, 6 were killed, 59 animals burn to death; the pastor negotiated with the troops and the devastation stopped
1946 748 inhabitants, incl. refugees from Poland, Hungary and other eastern countries
1948 - 1967 a sports center was built, the dirt streets were paved in asphalt, and additional water lines were added. The streets were named and new house numbers were assigned. A refrigeration facility was built for use by 3 communities. But by 1967, there were fewer than 600 inhabitants. There were 55 students in the local school in grades 1 through 6. Those in grades 7 through 9 attended school in Mittelkalbach.
Reasons for the declining population in Oberkalbach in this century include the lack of opportunities for gainful employment, a result of the industrial revolution, and also the inability of farmers to support their families as the land was divided into smaller and smaller portions through inheritance. In the mid-1800s, many villagers from here as well as the surrounding villages emigrated to America. In the 1900's, some families moved to Westphalia and the Ruhr area to obtain employment. At the beginning of the 20th century, numerous families also left for the area around Hanau and Frankfurt am Main. By 1967, only 12 full time farmers remained, as well as 1 blacksmith, 1 bricklayer, 2 whitewashers, 1 saddler, 1 shoemaker, 1 tailor, 1 butcher and 6 merchants. The remainder of the wage earners still living in Oberkalbach worked elsewhere.
In the past, each small village had its own town government. In 1971, many of these were consolidated. Oberkalbach was consolidated with Eichenried, Heubach, Mittelkalbach, Niederkalbach, Uttrichshausen and Veitsteinbach, with the government seat in Mittelkalbach. As a result of this consolidation, the area comprised of these villages is now called Kalbach, but each village still has its own identity on a map. Each one has a road sign indicating which village you are entering. The approximate total population of Kalbach today is 6,155.
In 1999, Oberkalbach no longer displayed the poverty that I recall seeing when I visited there as a child in the 1940's. This community and others in the area had undertaken a project called "Unser Dorf Soll Schoener Werden". In English that means: "Our Town Will Become More Beautiful." The village has had a wonderful renewal. All streets have been paved and sidewalks constructed. Fences are mended and homes remodeled. The air is fresh. City-dwellers drive here to enjoy this lovely area and peaceful setting. Oberkalbachers are rightly proud of this beautiful transformation. In June 1999, while I was visiting, a street fest was held to celebrate the attainment of these beautification goals.
In recent years, the population of the village has been building up again. Dirk Frohberg, a native Oberkalbacher, wrote to me to share his ideas of the reasons for this trend. He feels that since the Berlin Wall crumbled and this area became more the heart of Germany instead of being on the edge of it, new markets have opened up for doing business with Thueringen, the sister state of Hessen. The building of the nearby Autobahn 66, as well as commuter accessibility to the high- speed express trains in Fulda, have made it possible for workers in the cities, tired of crowding, noise and ugly buildings, to move back to this and other nearby smaller villages.
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Copyright 2000-2022 by Sue (Ursula Kaiser) Foster. Please contact me for permission to copy. I would love to know why this information interests you. :-)