Birkenau (Odenwald)

Birkenau in the Odenwald is a community in the Bergstraße district in southern Hesse, Germany. Its nickname is Das Dorf der Sonnenuhren – “The Sundial Village”.

Geography

Location

The community lies in the Weschnitz valley in the Odenwald some 25 km north of Heidelberg and about 20 km northeast of Mannheim. It is on Bundesstraße 38, and the river Weschnitz flows through it. The land is hilly, green and dotted with horse farms and forests.

Neighbouring communities

Birkenau borders in the north on the community of Mörlenbach, in the east on the community of Abtsteinach, in the south on the community of Gorxheimertal and in the west on the towns of Weinheim and Hemsbach (both in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg).

Constituent communities

Birkenau’s Ortsteile are Birkenau, Buchklingen, Hornbach, Kallstadt, Löhrbach, Nieder-Liebersbach, Reisen and Schnorrenbach.

Climate

Owing to its location near the Bergstraße, a mild climate prevails in Birkenau, which can often be seen in what for Germany is a very early blossoming of almond trees.

History

Birkenau had its first documentary mention in 795 in the Lorsch Codex as a cell of the Lorsch Abbey. As one of the Abbey’s holdings, it passed into the ownership of the Archbishopric of Mainz in 1232. The centres of Hornbach and Balzenbach, on the other hand, belonged to Electoral Palatinate, meaning that after the Reformation, they belonged to different denominations. In 1532 the town...
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