Eckstedt

Coat of arms	Map of Germany
	51.07111111111111.145833333333167Coordinates 51° 4′ N, 11° 9′ O
Basic data
State:	Thuringia
County:	Sömmerda
Administrative Community:	Gramme-Vippach
Height:	167 m above sea level
Area:	6.56 km2
Residents:	612[31 Dec, 2019][1]
Population Density:	93 Inhabitants per km2
Zip code:	99195
Area code:	036371
License plate:	SÖM
Municipal Code:	16 0 68 007
Address of the association administration:	Erfurter Str. 6 99195 Schloßvippach
Website:	www.eckstedt.de
Mayor:	Sabine Schnabel (independent)
Location of the municipality Eckstedt in the district Sömmerda

Eckstedt is a municipality in the district of Sömmerda in Thuringia. The municipality belongs to the administrative community Gramme-Vippach, which has its administrative headquarters in the municipality Schloßvippach.

Geography

Eckstedt is located in the southeast of the Thuringian Basin.

History

1191 the place was mentioned for the first time in a document. 1279 a Berthold II. Vitzthum von Eckstedt can be proven in documents. In the 13th century there was already a castle, which was destroyed again. In 1342 the archbishop bought back the Vitzthum. In 1440 a new castle was built. In 1492 a connecting ditch was built between Eckstedt and the Schwansee for its irrigation. In 1525 the peasants’ war affected Erfurt’s surroundings. In 1556 the noble family Vitzthum von Eckstedt had the Eckstedt castle rebuilt.

During the Thirty Years’ War Eckstedt had to suffer badly. In 1635 121 people died of the plague. 1640 robbery and devastation by soldiers of the imperial army took place. In 1641 a great fire raged in the village, only 6 houses remained standing. After reconstruction, the parish and school building burnt down in 1697, and the mill burnt down in 1719. From 1740 to 1744 the present church “St. Stephanus” was built. Before 1780 the castle burnt out, in 1860 it was demolished. In 1882/83 a new building of a large, castle-like villa with classicistic elements was constructed. The castle and estate had frequently changing owners, in 1927 they were acquired by Rudolf Harnisch.

From the middle of the 17th century, the noble village belonged to the Amt Großrudestedt, which was part of the Duchy of Saxony-Eisenach from 1672 and came to Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach in 1741. In 1850 the noble jurisdiction was abolished and the village belonged to the administrative district of Weimar of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach. In 1862 the construction of the new school building began. In 1884 the construction of the railway line Weimar-Großrudestedt followed. In 1905 the construction of the first water supply line began, partly still in operation today, and in the following year the electric power supply.

During the Second World War, 68 women and men from Poland, France, Yugoslavia and Italy were forced to work in agriculture.^[2]

Eckstedt was occupied by US troops in April 1945, and by the Red Army in early July. In 1945, the landowner Harnisch was expropriated without compensation and 22 new farmer positions were created. The castle was to be blown up, but this was prevented at the last moment by the community. MAS/MTS moved into the area of the farm buildings, then until 1990 the Erfurt agricultural machinery repair company, and the administration and apprentices moved into the castle. In 1952, in the course of an administrative reform, Eckstedt became part of the district of Erfurt in the newly formed district of Erfurt. In the same year the sports ground was built. 1953 a restoration of the church took place.

In 1994 an administrative reform took place, Eckstedt belonged thereby to the administrative district Sömmerda. It was connected to the Ohra long-distance water pipeline. In 1997 the gas supply was installed, before that all houses were connected to the telephone network. The castle (vacant from 1992 to 2002) and farm buildings passed into private hands in 2002. The latter are partly rebuilt for residential purposes.

Church of St. Stephen (Location→51.07032118472211.147459149444)

Castle (Location→51.06988971805611.143854260556)

Population development

Development of the number of inhabitants:

Data source: Thuringian State Office for Statistics

Politics

Local Council

The municipal council of Eckstedt consists of 8 councilwomen and councilmen.

• CDU 8 seats

(Status: local elections on 7 June 2009)

Mayor

Honorary Mayor Sabine Schnabel was elected on June 26, 2016.

Coat of arms

Blasing: “In silver on a golden, green-bordered shield base two green deciduous trees, in the middle occupied by a sixteen-rayed sun.”

Community Partnerships

Eckstedt has been twinned with the local community of Römerberg (Pfalz) since 1991.^[3]

Culture and sights

Buildings

• Eckstedt Castle from 1882/83 with large farm buildings. The extensive estate park with rare trees was laid out as a landscape park in 1836. After the reunification it was renaturalized and the castle pond was desilted.
• St. Stephan’s village church: with dome and octagonal central building unique in Thuringia, was built from 1740 to 1744 and restored with funds from the German Foundation for Monument Protection. The baroque church has a double gallery, representative boxes and a wooden baptismal font. Concerts are often given in the church, for which it is fully occupied with 300 seats. The proceeds go to the association for the preservation of the church. The church belongs to the parish of Udestedt.
• See also: List of cultural monuments in Eckstedt

Museums

• Local history rooms with historical documents and pictures of the history of the village.

Sports

Eckstedt has a sports field with a large playing field, trim trail, volleyball court and streetball facility, as well as a sportsmen’s home. The running track was removed in 2019.

Regular events

• Fair always at the beginning of September
• Carnival events

Individual references

1. ↑ Population of the municipalities from the Thuringian State Office for Statistics(help on this).
2. ↑ Thuringian Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime – League of Anti-Fascists and Study Group of German Resistance 1933-1945 (eds.): Heimatgeschichtlicher Wegweiser zu Stätten des Widerstandes und der Verfolgung 1933-1945. vol. 8: Thüringen. VAS – Verlag für Akademische Schriften, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-88864-343-0, p. 280.
3. ↑ Community partnership on the homepage of the municipality of Römerberg-Dudenhofen

Web links

Commons: Eckstedt– Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• thueringenfotos.de – Photos from the village in 1990
• www.eckstedt.de