Abtsteinach

Abtsteinach
Coat of arms
Abtsteinach
Location of Abtsteinach within Bergstraße district
Coordinates: 49°32′0″N 8°47′0″E / 49.53333°N 8.78333°E / 49.53333; 8.78333Coordinates: 49°32′0″N 8°47′0″E / 49.53333°N 8.78333°E / 49.53333; 8.78333
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Darmstadt
District	Bergstraße
Government
• Mayor	Rolf Reinhard
Area
• Total	11.03 km2 (4.26 sq mi)
Elevation	498 m (1,634 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	2,360
• Density	210/km2 (550/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	69518
Dialling codes	06207
Vehicle registration	HP
Website	www.Absteinach.de

Abtsteinach is a community in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. The community calls itself “The Gateway to the Überwald”.

Ober-Abtsteinach lies among mountains in hilly country at 450 to 500 m above sea level. Unter-Abtsteinach and Mackenheim lie in neighbouring valleys going out from that.

In Abtsteinach rises the Steinach. The community lies among the mountains Hardberg, Waldskopf, Götzenstein and Hohberg.

As part of the Überwald, Abtsteinach borders in the north on the community of Mörlenbach, in the east on the community of Wald-Michelbach, in the south on the community of Heiligkreuzsteinach (Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg) and in the west on the communities of Gorxheimertal and Birkenau.

Abtsteinach’s Ortsteile are Mackenheim, Ober-Abtsteinach and Unter-Abtsteinach.

In pre-Roman times, the Abtsteinach area was settled by Celts. In the Middle Ages, the area was held by the Lorsch Abbey. Expansion brought about by the second settlement drive led to the villages of Ober-Absteinach and Unter-Abtsteinach arising. In 1012, Abtsteinach had its first documentary mention as possesa steinah. In 1232, the Lorsch Abbey was dissolved by Emperor Friedrich II, and ownership of its holdings passed to the Archbishopric of Mainz.

In 1267, a Castle Count (Burggraf) at Starkenburg Castle (over Heppenheim), who also governed the Amt of Starkenburg, to which Abtsteinach belonged, is mentioned for the first time. As a result of the disastrous Mainz Episcopal Feud (Mainzer Stiftsfehde), the whole higher Amt of Starkenburg was pledged to Electoral Palatinate in 1461, and things remained so until 1623. From the year 1590 there comes a documentary mention that says that by then, Abtsteinach had long been a tithe court, giving it jurisdiction over several places, and obliging it to perform compulsory labour and military service. Through the abolition of the Electorate of Mainz in 1803, Abtsteinach passed to Hesse.