Burgebrach

Burgebrach
Coat of arms
Burgebrach
Location of Burgebrach within Bamberg district
Coordinates: 49°49′N 10°45′E / 49.817°N 10.750°E / 49.817; 10.750Coordinates: 49°49′N 10°45′E / 49.817°N 10.750°E / 49.817; 10.750
Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Admin. region	Oberfranken
District	Bamberg
Municipal assoc.	Burgebrach
Government
• Mayor	Johannes Maciejonczyk
Area
• Total	87.88 km2 (33.93 sq mi)
Elevation	267 m (876 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	6,673
• Density	76/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	96138
Dialling codes	09546
Vehicle registration	BA
Website	www.burgebrach.de

Burgebrach (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˈbʊʁk ˈeːbʁax]) is a market town in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg and the seat of the administrative community (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) of Burgebrach.

Burgebrach is said to be the eastern gateway to the Steigerwald (forest), where the Mittlere Ebrach empties into the Rauhe Ebrach. It is to be found on Bundesstraße 22 halfway between Bamberg and Ebrach.

Lisberg, Stegaurach, Frensdorf, Pommersfelden, Mühlhausen (Erlangen-Höchstadt district), Schlüsselfeld, Burgwindheim, Schönbrunn im Steigerwald and Walsdorf all border on Burgebrach.

Burgebrach’s main and namesake centre is by far the biggest of its Ortsteile with a population of 3,316. The market town furthermore has these outlying centres, each given here with its own population figure:

The first known name for the place was Urbs Ebraha in 1023. Emperor Heinrich II donated it to the Bishopric of Würzburg, which then sold it to the High Monastery at Bamberg. Burgebrach was the original parish for more than 40 outlying places. It was granted market rights on 21 August 1472 by Bamberg Bishop Georg von Schaumburg.

In 1499, on the Bishop’s demands, three defensive towers had to be built, for which the Bishop exempted the market town from taxes. Walls were needless, as the boggy meadows and the Ebrach’s two arms had long been thwarting enemy attacks. Thus Burgebrach was spared the fury of the Hussite and German Peasants' Wars. Only in 1550 was it beset by the notorious Margrave Albrecht Alkibiades’s, and on 16 February 1632 in the Thirty Years' War by the Swedes’ plundering and pillaging. In 1706, a great deal of money and goods were forced out of the townsfolk by the French.