Oberstreit
Oberstreit is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rüdesheim, whose seat is in the municipality of Rüdesheim an der Nahe.
Geography
Location
Oberstreit lies north of the River Nahe east of Bad Sobernheim and just north of the former Disibodenberg Abbey at an elevation of 200 m above sea level. The municipal area measures 1.01 km².Neighbouring municipalities
Clockwise from the north, Oberstreit's neighbours are the municipalities of Waldböckelheim, Boos and Staudernheim, all of which likewise lie within the Bad Kreuznach district.History
Oberstreit's history goes back to Roman times. Oberstreit is believed to have formerly been only a Meierhof. On 23 October 1305, Oberstreit was first mentioned in a document issued by Abbot Werner of Disibodenberg as Ebenstryt, describing it as a Hof lying roughly three fourths of an hour from Sobernheim, whose owner, Jakob von Ebenstrit, transferred ownership as a donation to Disibodenberg Abbey. Otherwise, little is known about Oberstreit's history. It was established on an old road coming up from the Nahe and leading to Bockenau and was divided like Boos and Steinhardt : the northeast half belonged to the greater municipal area of Böckelheim, while the southwest half belonged to that of Sobernheim-Disibodenberg-Odernheim. The village's name, “Oberstreit”, is interpreted as Obere Strut, meaning a village on boggy ground in a hollow, with the prefix indicating the upper of two such villages. The lower one would then by Boos. It is likely that there was a lot of woodland hereabouts that was later cleared. When the first farm was established here is unknown. In line with the division mentioned above, the two halves were ruled, like Boos, by either the Salians and later the Counts of Sponheim in the case of the northeast half or by an Archbishopric of Mainz holding in the case of the southwest half. The latter passed in 1471 to Electoral Palatinate, which then took the whole Böckelheim Complex over from the Bishop of Mainz and the Duke of Palatinate-Zweibrücken. The Christians were parochially united with Staudernheim and Waldböckelheim. Records from 1491 mention both a chapel and a “chaplaincy”. The chapel was consecrated to Saint Bartholomew and stood near what is today the graveyard. It may well have been a pilgrimage hub. In 1714, the dispute between the Electorate of Mainz and Electoral Palatinate over Böckelheim and its appurtenances that had been simmering for decades was settled. Henceforth, Oberstreit was to belong wholly to the Unteramt of Böckelheim in the Oberamt of Kreuznach. A few holdings were nevertheless granted to the Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken. Furthermore, there were properties held by the Counts of Degenfeld, as in Boos. After the conquest and takeover of the land by French Revolutionary troops, there came an administrative reform in January 1798 that swept all the foregoing feudal administrative bodies aside. Belonging thereafter to the new mairie were the villages of Sobernheim, Waldböckelheim, Thalböckelheim, Schloßböckelheim, Steinhardt, Oberstreit, Boos, Bockenau, Sponheim and Burgsponheim. On 28 May 1815, as a result of agreements reached at the Congress of Vienna, the Nahe region passed to the Kingdom of Prussia, which retained they system of French mairies, although they were thereafter known by the German word Bürgermeistereien. As of 14 May 1816, Oberstreit belonged to the new Kreuznach district, whose population at that time numbered all together 4,928; the village of Sobernheim had 1,948, Bockenau 577, Boos 279, Burgsponheim 201, Oberstreit 138, Sponheim 539, Thalböckelheim 238 and Waldböckelheim 1,008. In 1888, Sobernheim, which since 1857/1858 had once more been a town, was split away from the Bürgermeisterei, whose seat was then moved to Waldböckelheim. The Evangelical church was built in the village's west end in 1959, while the Catholics had built their own chapel in 1956/1957. Today, Oberstreit belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rüdesheim.Population development
Oberstreit's population development since Napoleonic times is shown in the table below. The figures for the years from 1871 to 1987 are drawn from census data:At the census conducted on 1 December 1885, the census takers counted, according to the school chronicle, 190 inhabitants. These broke down as follows:
PoliticsMunicipal councilThe council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.MayorOberstreit's mayor is Rudolf Sutor.Coat of armsThe municipality's arms might be described thus: Per pale countercompony azure and Or and gules a salmon palewise argent.In the Middle Ages, Oberstreit was divided between two lordships, and this is reflected in the coat of arms. The “countercompony” pattern on the dexter side are a reference to the village's former allegiance to the Counts of Sponheim, while the charge on the sinister side, the fish, is a reference to the other half's former allegiance to the Counts of Salm, Salm being a German word for “salmon”. Culture and sightseeingBuildingsThe following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
ClubsThe following clubs are active in Oberstreit:
TransportRunning through the village is Landesstraße 234, leading northeast to neighbouring Waldböckelheim where it meets Landesstraße 108 and Bundesstraße 41, which itself leads to both Bad Sobernheim and the district seat, Bad Kreuznach. Landesstraße 234 also leads southwards to neighbouring Staudernheim, which is served by a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway, which also offers direct connections to Mainz and Frankfurt am Main. Three kilometres north of the village lies the Bad Sobernheim-Domberg recreational airfield.Established businessesThere are today in the municipality organic winegrowing, an automotive workshop and a country inn with adjoining guesthouse. Also found in the village are a sound studio and a series of small businesses in the service sector. |