Lich Things to Do Tips by Weissdorn

Ober Bessingen

This area was settled back in the Bronze Age. You can still see the old Germanic graves on "Hässels" Hill.

The name of this village (Beizhingen superior) was first mentioned in 1260. The church standing within it's quaint church walls was built around 1500 in the Gothic Period. It used to be the local castle.

In 1954 the city fathers discovered a Late Gothic mural inside the church.

The upper gatehouse burnt down one Christmas in 1675, along with most of the village. It was rebuilt in 1782 on the exact same spot and declared a monument.

Nieder Bessingnen

Artifacts from the Stone Age and Germanic hill graves from the Bronze Age offer proof of very early human settlement in Nieder Bessingen.

The community was first mentioned, though, in the 9th century, and called "Bessingestat".

The settlement was associated with the army church and the House of Nassau. The church tower is Late Gothic architecture. You can see old guild symbols on the west and north sides of the church. The main nave of the church was built in 1738.

The coat of arms in the church windows is from the 16th century.

Muschenheim

Muschenheim was first mentioned in 774 A.D. in the Lorsch Codex. One of the oldest written documents known to mankind designates Muschenheim as "Place of the Holy Stone", a 4000 to 5000 year old burial ground tablet.

There are 40 Germanic hill graves originating from later periods in the surrounding forest. For a period of 2000 years, people have lived here and have buried their dead. In the graves scientists found rare bronze swords, which depict Muschenheim's coat of arms.

The Romanic church was built at the start of the 13th century. The gate leading into the church courtyard was built in 1767 and the dome of the church tower was built in 1750.

Langsdorf

Langsdorf was first mentioned in 771 A.D., when the Lorsch Monastery received 20 acres of farming land in "Lanotorp".

The forest in Langsdorf has a Germanic grave, called the "Heidenkippel" which dates back to the La Tène Period, Other signs of early European settlement were found around this area.

The church is well worth a visit, which was built between 1780 and 1782 with it's tower from the 12th century. The city hall which was built in 1698 and other half-timbered houses built in the Frankish-Hessian Style form the 16th through the 18th centuries are also worth the time for taking pictures.

In the village cemetary, there is a well-preserved gravestone, which goes back to 1793.

Eberstadt

Eberstadt was first mentioned in 788 A.D. as a donation to Lorsch Monastery in the Lorsch Codex.

The church was built in 1692/93, and the wooden vestibul was built in 1770. Other inscriptions on Eberstadt building go back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

The noble house "Pfaffenhofes" (bay window and the door are from 1266) was built in 1698; the building in the courtyard was added in 1757.

Birklar

The part of the town known as Birklar was first noted in 764 A.D. in the property lists of Lorsch Monastery.

The church was originally the library for Arnsburg Monastery (built in 1755) and was lowered by one story and sent to Birklar to serve as a church in 1819. The building was sent upon the the foundation of another building which was torn down.

The church organ is one of the items that originates from the late Baroque period. It was built by the famous organ maker, Bürgy. The altar, pulpit and organ form a complete ensemble.

Around the fountain in the Hundsgasse (Dog Lane) you can see the keystones from the old concave cellars from Arnsburg Monastery.

Bettenhausen

Bettenhausen was first recorded in 771 A.D. in the Lorsch Codex. The village has a wonderful Baroque church, which was influence by the nearby Arnsburg Monastery.

The church has an ornate gallery, a relief plastered ceiling, an ornate pulpit and a marble altar, built in the Years 1747/48. One of the remarkable works of art is the Crown of Death from the 18th century. The organ was built in 1854 by Johann G. Förster.

The house located at Obergasse 10 goes back to the year 1789, and the attached building goes back to 1664. The house located at Obergasse 14 is a wonderful example of half-timbered construction from the 17th century.

Arnsburg Monastery

As a slight side trip, a visit to the Arnsburg Monastery is recommended. The oldest signs of human settlement in Arnsburg were found in excavations in 1961. They found a large urn of grain left over from the bronze age (1200-800 B.C.). Today you can see in the display case in the Bursenbau.

When the Romans began to expand their empire towards the north during the first century A.D., they settled in the rich valley of the Wetterau and erected the Limes wall, to protect them from the “barbarian” tribes in the north, including a fort, which was not very far away from this monastery.

After the Romans departed in the year 260 A.D. and abandoned the Limes Wall, numerous of uneventful centuries passed by , until around the year 800 A.D., when the first medieval castles were erected here, upon whose ruins the monastery was built. Remainders of the moats of these castles, such as the so-called "Spornburg" can still be seen today on the Northwest corner of the monastery wall. Two wooden bridges lead over the old double moat through the wall into the courtyard.

Around 1000 A.D. the Lords of Arnsburg resided within the monastery (before it was a monastery). Leftovers from the rest of their castle can be seen on the Hainfeld field. Pretty soon this noble house became more and more famous, and decided to move their residence to the newly built Münzenburg (Coin Minting Castle – the locals call it the "Wetterauer Ink Well"). Instead of abandoning the castle, because they didn’t need it anymore, they founded a Cistercian Monastery in 1174, where they used the old castle as the main part of the monastery, before they started to build monastery out buildings down in the valley.

The Cistercian Order was founded in 1098 in Burgundy as a reformation Order. Farming was especially important, and they lived strictly according to the laws laid down by St. Benedict of Nursia.

Arnsburg Gates

In a sort of snowball system they established a chain of around 1500 monasteries within a few centuries throughout Europe, where every subsidiary monastery was controlled by every managing monastery, who kept a close watch on their finances, who were also controlled by the mother monastery through the annual convention in the city of Cîteaux, but other than the money thing, the monasteries were pretty much independent.

And this is how they set up shop: 1098 – the mother monastery was founded in Cîteaux, 1115 in Clairvaux (from St. Bernhard of Clairvaux), 1135 in Eberbach in the Rheingau, which sent 12 monks in 1174, including their Abby , books and tools to found Arnsburg. The name “Cistercian” originally came from the mother monastery in Cîteaux, which is known in Latin as “Cistercium”, which is near the French city of Dijon.

Thanks to their hard work, and the piety in the area, the Arnsburger monks were able to gain property in 253 places in this area (everything was documented in testaments and documents, and kept as civil records). Some individual monastery collective farms were huge, and covered vast portions of the area, making the Order a local power.

The number of monks fluctuated between 200 and 10 (including the novices). They had hard times to cope with: economy crises in the 14th and 15th centuries, dire times during the Farmers’ Revolt, the Reformation in the surrounding area, the great destruction in the 30 Years’ War and long feuds with the Licher Dukes.

A new age dawned in the 18th century (new abbey buildings, prelate building, kitchens, main gates and a garden house) followed the when the monastery was secularized in 1803. The entire property fell into the hands of the Lords of Solms: the Braunfels, Lich, Rödelheim and Laubach family lines received possession, where the latter are still in possession of the monastery today. Many of the monastery building decayed after the property was divided up, or were demolished for their building materials. Arnsburg, though, became a domain property

Rathaus

In 1848 the Rathaus (city hall) was built, which was expanded in 1980 through 1982 with two buildings.