LivingCountry

Situation

Roman times and the middel-ages

The area around Günthersburgpark was already settled in Roman times. Westwards of Günthersburgparks (near the Hartmann-Ibach-Straße) you can find the remains of a roman villa, built around 110 a.d. The luxury villa possessed 9 rooms, some with under-floor heating and a south facing bathroom. There's even proof of exquisite wall paintings, like the ones found in Pompeii. This large property had an Italian building style. It was located on the crossing between Niddaebene und Maintal (Main valley). There were 2 Roman roads here: one going into the direction of Nida (Römerstadt / Frankfurt-Heddernheim), the principal place of the Civitas Taunensium, the other in the direction of the current Altstadt, which was at that time a Roman checkpoint on a small island in the Main river. The villa became unused around 260 a.d., during the Alemansturms (the retreat of the romans towards Mainz). Bornheim itself was developed in the year 500 as a Frank settlement and it was mentioned for the first time as such in the year 1154. At that time Henricus of Bornheim lived in the Bornburg, a farm, surrounded by a fortified wall and a ditch. From the mayor of Frankfurt, Rulmann Weiß von Limpurg, is know that even after he relinquished power in 1327, he kept his domicile outside the city and lived in Bornburg. Unfortunately, the building is no longer there, in the area is now the Orangerie.

During the middel-ages, Bornheim built, together with 18 other villages, the "Grafschaft Bornheimer Berg" (Bornheim Mountain County - under the auspices of a viscount). This right was codified in 1303 in the “Bornheimer Weistum”. The mountain was disputed between Frankfurt and Hanau County. In 1474, Frankfurt acquired Bornheim and in 1481 a compromise was reached. Bornheim, together with Hausen and Oberrad became Frankfurt Village, without actually becoming part of the township. Frankfurt gave up the rights to the other participants, even though the county had been confirmed in over a hundred years of jurisprudence. And so, Bornheim left the county. The county court was moved to Bergen in Hanau. Around this time, the Bornheimer Landwehr (field fortification) was built. This was the basis for the Friedberg Warte, on the four remaining guard towers.

Modern times

The Bornheim Heath came into being in 1522. The archbishop of Mainz forbade the delivery of wood to Frankfurt, as a reaction to reformist ideas. The Bornheim businesses saw their chance and started mining the Bornheim woods and the heath was born. The heath was located in the current NordEnd. It was the place where many army parades too place, as well as many large meetings and events. The Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard ascended here in a hot air balloon in 1785 in front of 100.000 people and flew inside 39 minutes to Weilburg. The trip used to take 14 hours...

Recent history

Bornheim was connected to the Frankfurt water mains in December 1827, through the "High Well" (Hohen Brunnen).

The Günthersburgpark was built in 1837 after Baron Mayer Amchel von Rothschild acquired the old Bornburg. A Rothschild son, Sebastian Rinz was tasked with developing the park. Later mayor Carl Von Rothschild, replaced the Günthersburg and put a "Schlößchen" "small summer residence" in it's place. After his death in 1891 it was was taken down again in accordance with his will. The land then became the property of Frankfurt and soon after the Günthersburg became a public park.

Gaslight was introduced to Bornheim in 1863. From 1879, the Frankfurter Trambahn-Gesellschaft succeeded in starting a regular horse carriage service between Frankfurt and Bornheim, after several ill-fated attempts.

Bornheim was fused into Frankfurt in 1877.

Population

Bornheim had in the early 1600'ths around 300 inhabitants. In 1726, it had risen to about a 100. in 1810, there were 1881 and 14 years later, 2663. In 1900 the population had reached 29.000, through unlocking of large parts of the heath for building purposes.