Walluf

Walluf is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the "Regierungsbezirk" of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. With 5,581 residents in its 6.74 square kilometer area, it is the most densely populated community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis.
Geography.
Location.
Walluf, also known as "Pforte des Rheingaus" ("Gateway to the Rheingau"), lies on the southern slope of the Taunus Mountains and on the north bank of the Rhine River. Walluf is the Rheingau's easternmost community. It is made up of the two formerly independent communities of Niederwalluf and Oberwalluf.
Walluf lies in the valley of a creek also named the Walluf (German "Wallufbach"). The creek rises in the foothills of the Taunus southwest of Schlangenbad-Bärstadt. It flows past Eltville-Martinsthal and the Walluf district of Oberwalluf, flowing into the Rhine at Niederwalluf.
Neighbouring communities.
Walluf borders in the north and east on the boroughs of Schierstein and Frauenstein of the district-free city of Wiesbaden and in the west on the town of Eltville. In the south, the Rhine forms the boundary with the community of Budenheim (Mainz-Bingen in Rhineland-Palatinate).
History.
Walluf was formed on October 1, 1971 through the voluntary merger of the former municipalities Niederwalluf and Oberwalluf. Through this merger, Walluf was able to preserve its independence even through the territorial reform of January 1, 1977.
In 1932, the remains of a characteristic Ottonian tower castle were excavated in the immediate vicinity of the so-called "Johannisfeld" below the ruins of the "Johanniskirchen". Researchers noted the remains of Celtic, Roman and Carolingian residences and a palace. Pot shards indicated settlement dating back to the La Tène period (about 400 BC).
The first documented use of the town's name, as Waltaffa, was in about 770. Winemaking has been documented at Walluf since that time (according to a document dating from 779), making it the Rheingau's oldest winegrowing community. The name Waldaffa or Waldaffen was used until the 13th century. The name is of Germanic origin at means "forest water," referring to the "Wallufsbach" creek. In the Middle Ages, this creek formed the boundary between the Rheingau and the Königssondergau to the east. Walluf lay along an old thoroughfare that led from Mainz, across a ford of the Rhine, up into the Limburg Basin.
Near Walluf was also once found the easternmost entrance through the "Rheingauer Gebück", an impenetrable 50 to 100 meter-wide "hedge" of stunted trees which formed a kind of border defense to protect against attacks from the north. The name comes from the German word bücken, meaning "to stoop," a reference to the trees' thick, low boughs. The "Gebück", which extended as far as Lorch, was put in place by the Archbishopric of Mainz, which controlled the Rheingau. It also gave Walluf its nickname "Pforte des Rheingaus" ("Gateway to the Rheingau"). The village entrance, facing the Johannis fountain (Johannisbrunnen), was fortified with a great bulwark, which from its shape was known as the "Backofen" – "the Oven".
In the early Middle Ages, present-day Walluf was politically divided. Only the western part of the community near the present parish church belonged from the beginning to the Rheingau, under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz. The larger district was originally east of the "Wallufbach" and did not belong to the Rheingau, but to Königssondergau. It eventually became the property of the Count of Lindau. After the construction of the "Gebück", the residents gradually withdrew behind its protection on the west side of the "Wallufbach".
Another self-contained settlement arose above the riverside community of Walluf and was named Oberwalluf. The original community on the Rhine was thereafter known as Niederwalluf. Oberwalluf is first mentioned in documents from the 11th century as a branch of the Eltville parish. The town hall of the formerly independent community still remains at the market square. It was first built 1412 and rebuilt in 1616. On its front is the coat of arms of Oberwalluf – the Wheel of Mainz to the left and to the right a key.
The first mention of a church or chapel in Niederwalluf dates to the time of the Archbishop of Mainz Willigis (975-1011). The original Church of St. John (German "Johanniskirche") was built around the year 1000, but now only ruins of it remain. There may have already been a church or baptistery as early as 744, because tradition names it as the place of the baptism that year of the later Benedictine monk Gerhardus, who was given the name "Fidelis".
On December 15, 1988, Walluf was the scene of a gas explosion, apparently caused by a switching error. The accident killed two people and forced the evacuation of 200 others.
Infrastructure and economy.
Transport.
Walluf lies on the East Rhine railway ("Rechte Rheinstrecke") running between Koblenz and Wiesbaden. At Niederwalluf railway station, Regionalbahn trains from the DB Regio AG stop.
Likewise running along the Rhine's right (east) bank is "Bundesstraße" 42, which merges into Autobahn 66 just past the community's eastern limits. From "Bundesstraße" 42, "Bundesstraße" 260 branches into the Taunus.
A foot passenger and bicycle ferry operates across the Rhine between Walluf and the Budenheim quay.
Economy.
Several companies in various fields (such as the chemical industry, construction, nurseries, and wine estates) have their headquarters in Walluf. The town administration also desires to expand the industrial park with additional environmentally friendly establishments. For the tourism sector, attractions include the marina (with a base of the German Sailing Association), large stables, a riding hall, a tennis hall, and a sports park in the industrial area.
In the industrial area "Im Grohenstück/In der Rehbach" are trucking companies, as well as establishments producing construction machinery and packaging equipment. There are also various service providers, such as the Customer Service of Siemens Elektrogeräte GmbH, HSGM Heißschneidegeräte und Maschinen GmbH, ASCAD Anwendersoftware GmbH, and ISI Automation GmbH. On the link road "Am Klingenweg" is the so-called press house in which several publishers have their headquarters, and the new building of ENGEL GmbH with its production of small electric motors, precision rotating parts, and electrical systems.
Wine.
Walluf is, like all communities in the Rheingau, a winemaking community with many Straußwirtschaften and estate taverns. Vineyards in Walluf include:
Mainly Riesling grapes are grown, but there are also Pinot noir, Pinot blanc, and other grape varieties. Walluf wines are of outstanding quality, but are overshadowed by the much more widely known wines from the neighbouring town of Eltville. Among the better known winemakers or wine estates are Weingut Becker, Weingut Mehl, Weingut Russler, Weingut Klerner und Erben, Weingut Scherer and Weingut Bug, some of which also run Straußwirtschaften or estate taverns, in which is served the wine, together with typical Rheingau dishes.
Politics.
Community council.
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:
Mayor.
Mayoral elections are held every six years. The most recent mayors were:
Culture and sightseeing.
Along the "Wallufbach" between Niederwalluf and Oberwalluf, there were once numerous mills, of which only remnants remain today. This area between the former villages is now the site of the new centrally located City Hall. An ancient path in lovely parkland through by the "Distrikt Paradies" (paradise district) along the "Wallufbach" combines the two districts.
Storks.
Breeding in the nature conservation area between Walluf and Wiesbaden-Schierstein are 50 white stork pairs, which inhabit Walluf and the surrounding area. These were reinstated here by the "Schiersteiner Storchengemeinschaft" ("Schierstein Stork Association").
Wallufer Turmburg.
The remains of the Wallufer "Turmburg" (castle tower) are on the eastern outskirts of Niederwalluf, consisting of not much more than the foundation of a square tower. One well-preserved section of wall is about long and thick. Excavations in the area of the castle have indicated that was built in about the 10th century for protection against Norman attacks. Potshards found at the site date to the sixth to ninth centuries. The castle was surrounded by a wall and the tower itself was probably surrounded by a moat. The castle tower was destroyed around 1200 and in 1263 came into possession of Frank von Wiesbaden. It is not known whether the castle tower still stood at this time, but the Knights of Landau already were based about 2 km away at the Hof Armada in Frauenstein. Today, the site is open year-round to visitors and is occasionally used for choir concerts and church services.
Johanniskirche (Church of St. John).
The ruins of the "Johanniskirche" (Church of St. John) are east of Niederwalluf. Once the center of the village, the church now consists only of a square of stone walls, measuring about by , which date from the end of the 15th to the beginning of the 16th centuries. Its northern wall includes remnants of two previous structures from the 10th and 12th centuries.
The first structure was built by the inhabitants of the nearby castle tower, which dates to the 10th century and lies only a few meters southeast of the church. Built in approximately the year 1000, the original church consisted of a small hall, about by , with an attached square choir (or possibly a tower). It was about below the current ground level. The stones of this level have a red color that is evidence of a fire, in which the first church was obviously badly damaged.
In the 12th century (about 1197), the church had apparently become too small and an extension was added on the north end. To connect this addition with the original church, two arched gateways were broken through the northern wall. The stones around these gateways were not laid in conjunction with the original wall, but rather were built onto the old stones. The brighter color of the stones suggests that the arches had been broken through the wall after the fire.
The latest building dates to the 14th century. The original church had apparently been destroyed and was rebuilt, this time at the present ground level. The arches were again closed, but the floor area of the church was increased in the southwest and the walls made higher. Above the level of the first two buildings, one can see finely carved gray stones, which came from a quarry in Oppenheim and had apparently been taken from the castle tower (which had been destroyed around 1220). The last building initially had circular windows. Their irregular outbreak traces are evident in the high Gothic windows, which were built later (around 1500 to 1508).
The building served Niederwalluf as the parish church until the 18th century, even though, by this time, the village itself had migrated to the west, on the other side of the Wallufbach. In the mid-18th century, the people of Niederwalluf built a new chapel, the Adelheidkapelle, in the center of the village and dedicated it also to St. John the Baptist. The altars and artistic objects from the old parish church were transferred there. From the beginning of the 19th century, the original church, badly damaged in the war of 1793-95, was abandoned. It served only as a barn and ice cellar.
In his sketch book of 1813, the Mainz painter Caspar Schneider (1755–1839) portrayed the Church of St. John's in a westward-looking view of Niederwalluf. In the foreground of the sketch is a rubble mound under which the castle tower is buried. The small church is in a ruined state. A remainder of the plaster can also be discerned on north interior wall and the outer walls and the late Gothic tracery of the window is only partially damaged. A high arch is shown in the east wall. It had been made for a choir addition that was never completed and had been only sealed with a temporary wall of inferior construction until the church's destruction. The sketch also shows the remains of part of the high steep roof, which had once been crowned by a small bell tower.
It was probably the "Johanniskirche" which Johann Wolfgang von Goethe described in 1814, during a visit to the Rheingau: "Nearby there is a ruined chapel, which sits on a green mat with its green ivy-covered walls standing wonderfully clean, simple and pleasant."
Dr. Ferdinand Kutsch (1889–1972), director of the Museum Wiesbaden, conducted excavations in the area of the Johanniskirche in 1931 and 1932. Buried remains of the old castle tower were rediscovered and the previously unknown architectural history of the church was reconstructed.
Some restoration of the church was done in the 1970s. In 2000, at the initiative of Elmar Lorey, the Kulturinitiative Alte Johanniskirche eV (Old St. John's Church Culture Initiative) was founded to organize events for enrichment of the cultural life of Walluf. The town rehabilitated the Johanniskirche remains for use as a cultural event venue. A line of dark stones in the newly introduced floor shows the course of the first structure's walls. Outside the north wall, another line of paving stones indicates the walls of the second construction.
Churches.
Currently there are two Roman Catholic churches in Walluf (one in Niederwalluf and one in Oberwalluf) and one Protestant church in Niederwalluf.
Mills.
A number of former watermills (German "Mühle") along the Walluf millrace today recall the community's early economic development:
Sports.
Two football clubs are based in Walluf, SG Walluf 1932 e.V. and FSV Oberwalluf 1951 e.V..
As of the 2008-2009 season, SG Walluf competes in the Verbandsliga Hessen-Mitte (the second-highest level in the state). The club won the league title in 2000, earning promotion to the Oberliga Hessen (now the Hessenliga). After two seasons in the Oberliga, they were again relegated to the Verbandsliga.
FSV Oberwalluf competes in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Kreisliga A. Both clubs play at the sporting ground in the "Johannisfeld" on the Rhine.
Famous residents.
Walluf is hometown to the comic character "Karl - der Spätlesereiter", a legendary character in the story of how Spätlese wines began.