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HISTORY OF THE TOWN >> Zaisersweiher
History of the town - Zaisersweiher
Zaisersweiher is situated in a subsidiary valley of the Metter. The village was founded during the Carolingian period by a lord belonging to the Kraichgau family of Zaisolfe who was impressed by its favourable geographical location near an old Roman road.
Zaisersweiher was first mentioned in an official document on January 6, 1100 in the founding deed of the monastery of Sinsheim. The pond located there was referred to as "Ceidolfeswilare", whose ending was later changed to "weiher" to reflect the Rhineland spelling.
For almost 600 years, Zaisersweiher was closely linked to Sinsheim monastery to which its founder, bishop Johann of Speyer, donated the village of Zaisersweiher, its church and parish. In 1152, Konrad of Zaisersweiher was the first local nobleman. The lords of Rosswag and Enzberg, however, owned manorial and worldly rights.
It was from them that in 1299 Maulbronn monastery first procured property in Zaisersweiher until it subsequently owned everything in the village, apart from the parish.
In 1504, the whole area belonging to the monastery, including therefore Zaisersweiher, was captured in the Bavarian-Palatinate war of succession by Duke Ulrich of Wuerttemberg and placed under Wuerttemberg rule. Following the Reformation in Wuerttemberg, the first protestant clergyman arrived in the village in 1551. Zaisersweiher was given its first school.
the church
Photo: Erich Blaich
After the thirty-year war, Zaisersweiher too saw its population figures decline, numbering only 85 in 1649. As a result of immigrants from Austria and Switzerland, the population grew to 159 in the year 1661. Towards the end of the 17th century, the village again suffered great losses in the wars with the French.
After war was over, Zaisersweiher's homes were left uninhabited and its fields barren. Six Waldenser families belonging to the Duerrmenz colony of southern Europeans moved in to the empty buildings.
The church as is stands today in Zaisersweiher was built in 1769 on the grounds of an old Romanesque building. The vicarage dates back to 1743, while the cemetery on the road to Maulbronn was founded around 1800. In 1860, what is now the town hall was built as a town and school hall. The people of Zaisersweiher also suffered great losses in the wars in the 20th century.
In 1945, the last year of the Second World War, three citizens of Zaisersweiher lost their life in battle, while 15 buildings were burnt to the ground and others damaged. After the War, a number of refugees settled in Zaisersweiher.
Between 1950 and December 31, 1974, the population grew steadily from 700 to 1,300. The extent to which Zaisersweiher has grown is illustrated clearly by the village and sports hall which was built, the school that was opened in 1961 and named after its honorary citizen Willy Schenk and several new residential areas which were developed.
After an act was passed reforming Germany's municipalities, which the government pushed through against the will of the vast majority of the people, Zaisersweiher became a part of the town of Maulbronn on January 1, 1975. Today, it is home to around 1,600.
In the last 15 years, the town of Maulbronn has built a chapel in the cemetery grounds and connected Zaisersweiher to the Oberes Mettertal sewage works. It has also improved the village's supply of drinking water by connecting it to the Hamberg water reservoir. The town has also expanded the sports fields and developed the Loewenkammer, Rotenberg, and Wage II and III new residential areas. Zaisersweiher's council works has been renovated and extended and the town hall turned in to Evangelical church halls. Following the completion in 1996 of a ring road taking traffic away from part of Zaiserweiher, renovation work set to bring village life back to the centre of Zaisersweiher is now almost complete.
In the year 2000, Zaisersweiher celebrated a number of events to mark its 900th jubilee anniversary.
