Flein

Infobox Ort in Deutschland
image_photo = Flein Karmeliterhaeuschen 20050918.jpg
Wappen = Wappen Flein.svg
lat_deg = 49 | lat_min = 6
lon_deg = 9 | lon_min = 13
Lageplan = Flein in HN.pngLageplanbeschreibung =
Bundesland = Baden-Württemberg
Regierungsbezirk = Stuttgart
Landkreis = Heilbronn
Gemeindeverwaltungsverband = Flein-Talheim
Höhe = 212
Fläche = 8.47
Einwohner = 6561
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 74223
Vorwahl = 07131
Kfz = HN
Gemeindeschlüssel = 08 1 25 030
Straße = Kellergasse 1
Website = [http://www.flein.de/ www.flein.de]
Bürgermeister = Alexander Krüger

Flein is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

Geography

Flein is situated in the south of the district of Heilbronn and directly borders on Heilbronn in the south.

Neighbouring municipalities

Neighbouring towns and municipalities of Flein are (clockwise from north-west): "Heilbronn" (Stadtkreis), Untergruppenbach and Talheim (both in the district of Heilbronn). Flein has combined with Talheim to form a joint association of administrations.

History

The communal land of Flein already was settled during the linear pottery culture of the neolithic. The village was first mentioned in 1188 within an imperial document as "Flina". The name presumably comes from the Old High German term "flins" respectively the Middle High German "vlins", meaning something like "pebble" or "hard stone".

In 1385 the free imperial city Heilbronn bought the village from the "Lords of Sturmfeder". During the Peasants' War many insurgent farmers of the region assembled in Flein around of their head Jäcklein Rohrbach. Like almost all of Germany, Flein got hardly damaged by the
Thirty Years' War.

In 1802 Flein came to Württemberg. The enormous increase of population after Wold War II is due to the settlement of many refugees and creation of building land a few years later. In the 1970s the population of Flein voted against an incorporation to Heilbronn and for combining a joint association of administrations with Talheim.

Religions

Apart from an own Protestant parish there's a Catholic one together with Talheim (Catholic Parish Flein-Talheim). Die Protestant parish consists of 3,400 members.

Development of population

*1648: 250
*1800: 800
*1900: 1,600
*2005: 6,535

Politics

District council

Following the municipal election of 13 June 2004, the district council of Flein has 18 seats. The election result is as follows:

The mayor is also a member of the district council and its chairman.

Mayor

On June 24 2007, there were mayor elections; the previous one Jürgen Schmid didn't compete anymore after 16 years of task. Since there was no absolute maiority after the first election a second one got necessary on July 15 2007. Then Alexander Krüger got elected to be mayor for eight years with 63.9% of the votes. He started on August 15 2007. [Sabine Friedrich: "Schmid im Ruhestand, Krüger im Amt". In: "Heilbronner Stimme" from August 17 2007, p. 26]

Arms and flag

In blue on red flames a golden kettle, inside the bare, praying holy Vitus. The municipal flag is yellow and blue.

The holy Vitus is the patron saint of Flein. In Flein there's the oldest portrayal of his torture, presumably an old seal. The second oldest one is on a stone of 1699. In a description holy Vitus is named in 1865. However, in a municipal seal it's proved in 1903. Since there were no further holy cards inside of the arms since the Reformation, the arms presumably is from around 1500 or earlier, so it's one of the oldest of the whole district.

The colours of the arms were laid down in 1938 by the archive direction of Württemberg. In the same year the NSDAP party Heilbronn suggested to accept another arms without a religious meaning. The archive direction suggested a blazon containing an arms "In a splitted sign in blue a head of a lion, behind in gold a blue grape with two vine leafs". However, in June of 1939 the NSDAP informed that it's minor important and doesn't hurry. So Flein remained with its previous arms and confirmed this decision in 1956. This decision was confirmed on January 11 1957, by the ministry of the interior of Baden-Württemberg. In the same year local artist Hans Epple created a drawing used by the municipality today (see illustration). [Heinz Bardua: "Die Kreis- und Gemeindewappen im Regierungsbezirk Stuttgart". Theiss, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-8062-0801-8 (Kreis- und Gemeindewappen in Baden-Württemberg, 1). p. 64
Eberhard Gönner: "Wappenbuch des Stadt- und des Landkreises Heilbronn mit einer Territorialgeschichte dieses Raumes". archive direction Stuttgart, Stuttgart 1965 (Veröffentlichungen der Staatlichen Archivverwaltung Baden-Württemberg, 9). p. 78
Ernst Clement: "Das Wappen der Gemeinde Flein". In: Peter Wanner (Hrsg.): "Flein, Flein, du edler Fleck". Gemeinde Flein, Flein 1988. p. 13f.]

Twin municipalities

Twin municipalities of Flein are
* Onzain in the French Departement Loir-et-Cher (since March 1990)
* Steinthaleben in the Kyffhäuserkreis in Thuringia (since June 1991)

Economy and infrastructure

Flein, situated within the wine region of Württemberg, is known for its famous wine. On 180 ha of wine yards there are growing different varietals like Riesling, pinot meunier and "Samtrot". These wines are mostly commercialized by the "Weingärtnergenossenschaft Flein-Talheim", however there are also private wine-growing estates.

In 1951 Hildegard Seitz from Flein got voted to be "wine queen of Württemberg".

Traffic

Public transport in the PTE HNV is ensured by buses, besides Flein is the onliest municipality in the district to be connected with the city bus network of Heilbronn. The A 81 is available by Ilsfeld and Untergruppenbach. The next rail station is Lauffen am Neckar.

Media

The "Heilbronner Stimme" informs about happenings in Flein within its edition South-East (SO).

Education

The primary school and Hauptschule including Werkrealschule Flein is visited by 350 students (2005). Besides there's the "Johannesschule", a Förderschule being like a Waldorfschule. The Flein's library has 13,000 media at its disposal (2005).

Culture and sights

Notable Buildings

* Protestant parish church "St. Veit", first mentioned in 1233, with war memorial
* old town hall, arms of holy Vitus and initials of Schultheiß (built in 1604, rebuilt in 1834/35, 1895 and after World War II)
* "Fischerhaus" from 1592 at the "Ilsfelder Straße" (half-timbering)
* "Kornhaus" from 1595 (further half-timbering at the der "Schulstraße")
* former residence of the sculptor Friedrich Göttle at the "Ilsfelder Straße" no. 72, 1892 in style of Neo-Renaissance, planned and built by its inhabitant
* fountain in front of the mayor office
* outside of the village between vine yards there's the hut of the former "Karmeliterkloster" monastery

Building sources [Julius Fekete: "Kunst- und Kulturdenkmale in Stadt und Landkreis Heilbronn". 2nd edition. Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8062-1662-2, partly added and verified by site inspection.]

Sons and daughters of the municipality

* Friedrich Michael Münzing (* 1807 in Flein; † 1879 in Heilbronn), Stearinkerzenfabrikant, he approached the synthetic production of sulphuric acid for the first time (around 1830)
* Monika Helbing (* November 16 1953 in Flein), former member of the second generation of the Red Army Faction and involved in the Schleyer abduction 1977

References

External links

* [http://www.flein.de/ www.flein.de] (in German)