Kemmern

History

Kemmern's settlement history is very old and reaches far back into the first millennium BC, as shown by the origins of the Helenenkapelle (chapel) on the Semberg, which was a worshipping place as far back as Celtic times. In the Early Middle Ages, the border between the Germanic- and Slavic-settled areas ran through what is now known as Kemmern. Bearing witness to the Germanic-Frankish presence are the Germanic townsites – now forsaken – of Dertheim and Schiring. The earlier Bürg may have had Slavic beginnings as an important refuge and worshipping place for the Main Wends. The first time that Kemmern was mentioned in writing was in a document from 26 October 1017 AD as Camerin in the Radenzgau (a county roughly corresponding to today's Upper Franconia). In this document, Emperor Heinrich II acknowledges an exchange agreement whereby, along with Erlangen and Forchheim also, among other things, four fishermen at Kemmern were transferred by Bishop Heinrich of Würzburg to Bishop Eberhard of Bamberg. In the centuries that followed up until Secularization in 1803, Kemmern remained an Obleidorf (from Mediaeval Latin oblaia, an old term for things donated to spiritual institutions or monasteries; Dorf is "village" in German) of the Bamberg Cathedral Chapter, but it nevertheless had at its disposal quite early on a definite measure of autonomy. So Kemmern could deal with its local business under a regulation, the village charter, which required no lordly sanction. For its protection, Kemmern had at its disposal a water-filled moat and three gatehouses. In the German Peasants' War in 1525, Kemmerners actively fought on the rebels' sides. In the winter of 1631-1632, Kemmern was beset by Swedish troops. How much suffering the Thirty Years' War brought Kemmern can be seen in…

Geography

The municipality of Kemmern is situated at an elevation of approximately 245 meters on the Main River, seven kilometers north of Bamberg at the foot of the Haßberge range. It belongs to the Upper Franconia-West region in the Upper Main Valley. Kemmern is nestled in an historic cultural landscape with a path system from the High Middle Ages. Many hiking and cycling paths connect Kemmern to places of interest to visitors (such as the Main Valley, the Haßberge, the Steigerwald [forest], the "Franconian Switzerland" and the world heritage city of Bamberg). Although the municipality is not beset with heavy through traffic, the residential municipality of Kemmern is connected to the long-distance road network (Bundesstraßen 4 and 173). The municipality has one of the traditional rural land units, known in German as Gemarkungen, also named Kemmern (it is traditional for a Gemarkung to be named after a town or village lying nearby).

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  829
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  755
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  727
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  692
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  653
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  643
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  582
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  544

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2001-07-02
  3 km E of Bad Bocklet, Germany