Rosbach vor der Höhe is a town in the district of Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 kilometres north of Frankfurt am Main, on the eastern side of the Taunus mountain range. The town has a population of approximately 12,000.
History
The first documented mention of Rosbach took place in 884. The district Rodheim was already mentioned in 805. Archeological discoveries dates the first settlements back to Neolithic ages and the era of the Celts.
The origin of the name Rosbach is still unknown. The town was named after the nearby stream (German: Bach) of the same name, obviously. The most accepted version of the origin of the word Rosbach itself is, that it is derived from the Middle High Germanroezen or rozen (German: rösten; to ret). The most common craft in Rosbach was the weaving of linen[3] and retting is used to describe the process of the separation of the fibre from the stem during the production of linen.
In 1912 the common district of Ober- und Nieder-Rosbach was separated. In 1970 Nieder-Rosbach was incorporated by Ober-Rosbach. In August 1972 Rodheim losts its independence in terms of local politics and is a part of the town Rosbach since.
Between 1998 and 2000, there was a discussion about an impact crater near Rosbach called Rosbach Krater.[5]
Starting with an article in the local newspaper Wetterauer Zeitung, articles in other newspapers as the Frankfurter Rundschau and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung were published. A mineralogist and his team from the University of Marburg found planare Strukturen (lit. planar structures) of the mineral quartz, arguing these are evident results to call the crater a result of a meteorite impact. Two weeks later they revised their previous interpretation, saying those planar elements are Boehmlamellae instead. Thus the "crater" with its deformed lamellae seems to have been created during the formation of the Taunus mountain range rather than by a meteorite.
Town subdivisions
Rosbach vor der Höhe consists of three separate villages—Ober-Rosbach (Upper Rosbach), Nieder-Rosbach (Lower Rosbach) and Rodheim.
The distribution of the population is as follows:
Village
Inhabitants (2004)
Ober-Rosbach
4,965
Nieder-Rosbach
2,551
Rodheim
4,780
Totals
12,296
Politics
District council
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(July 2021)
The results of the last municipal election in 2011 are listed in the table below and are compared to those of 2006 and 2001:
Blazon: Or, chevron gules, base flower rose gules, seeded or barbed vert, chief dexter brick tower azure, chief sinister plowshare azure.
In English: A red chevron on a gold sign; at the bottom a, green barbed and golden seeded, red rose; in the upper left a blue brick tower; in the upper right a blue plowshare.
Heraldry: The plowshare stands for Nieder-Rosbach; the tower stands for Rodheim; the rose, the insignia of Ober-Rosbach, stands for Rosbach as a whole.
The town is located at the motorway access Autobahn A5 directing to Frankfurt and Kassel. This motorway access has a high traffic density as the majority of the commuters from the Western Wetteraukreis working in Frankfurt travel via Rosbach to their place of work.
The train station in Nieder-Rosbach connects Friedberg and Friedrichsdorf.
Local businesses
The industrial park with an area of 0.44 km2 is quite huge in relation to the living area with 4.46 km2 in size. This relies on its location to the motorway access directing to Frankfurt.
The Kapersburg is located three kilometres to the west of Ober-Rosbach and is one of the best preserved Roman forts of the Limes Germanicus in Germany. It was excavated around the turn of the 20th century.
In 2005, as a part of the Upper Germanic limes, the remnants of the Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes were inscribed on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Thereafter an archeological park was built around the fort.
The fort was built presumably during the time of Emperor Trajan in 98, or of Emperor Hadrian in 130. The occupation withdrawed in the third century, as the occupations of other forts during that time. As a result the fort was diminished and a wall was built in the middle of the fort. The end of the fort enforced non-violently and is dated to the middle of the third century.
Wasserburg
The Wasserburg is not really a castle. It might have been built as a motte as insignia of the ministerialis.[6]
Wehrturm
The Wehrturm is a fortified tower of mediaeval times in the old center of Ober-Rosbach. It is now the location of the municipal archive from the Heimatgeschichtsverein 1984 Rosbach v. d. Höhe e.V. (Association for Local History Rosbach).
Faselstall
The Faselstall was a former stable with a tavern in the backyard of the old town hall of Rodheim. It is now the location of the municipal archive from the Rodheimer Geschichts- und Heimatverein e.V. (Association for Local History Rodheim).
Steinkopf
Steinkopf
The highest point of the Eastern Taunus edge is the Steinkopf with a height of 518 m. The mountain lies in between Ober-Rosbach and Pfaffenwiesbach, part of the town Wehrheim.
Johann Ludwig Christ (18 October 1739 in Öhringen – 18 November 1813 in Kronberg), German naturalist, gardener and pastor, worked from 1776 to 1786 as a pastor in Rodheim[7]
Frank Farian (born on 18 July 1941 in Kirn), German record producer, singer-songwriter, used his recording studio in Ober-Rosbach until 2005
Jessica Wahls (born on 2 February 1977 in Bad Nauheim), German pop singer, songwriter and television host, member of the German all-female band No Angels, grew up and lives in Rodheim
^
Rosbacher Geschichtsblätter (2000). Zunftzeichen (in German). Vol. 15. Heimatgeschichtsverein 1984 Rosbach v. d. Höhe e.V. p. 15.
^
Rosbacher Geschichtsblätter (2005). Der hessiche Großherzog Ludwig III (in German). Vol. 20. Heimatgeschichtsverein 1984 Rosbach v. d. Höhe e.V. p. 2.
^
Rosbacher Geschichtsblätter (2007). Anno 1476 unterwegs mit Wein auf der Wagenstraße (in German). Vol. 22. Heimatgeschichtsverein 1984 Rosbach v. d. Höhe e.V. p. 4.
