Vesser

Regional History		Vesser's History
The area that would later become the Duchy of Henneberg originally fell within the territory of crown and was therefore a part of the East Franconian royal province. These wide-ranging imperial possessions were administered by appointed officials who can be traced back to the year 787 A.D. The bishopric Würzburg founded in 747 A.D. gained a foothold in the area, as did the Benedictine monastery in Fulda founded in 744 A.D. which had extensive land holdings.	800 –	– 900	The first recorded mention of Vesser as "Uezzerun" occurred in deed issued by the Franconian noble Adalbarth in which he left his possessions "where iron is forged" to the Fulda monastery. According to Grimms dictionary the word "Fezzer" can be translated as shackles or chains. That is why the village which arose next to the forge was named "In the Chains". The iron forge must have had a good and wide-ranging reputation, because similar descriptions are hard to find in documents of the time.
Following the Investiture Dispute during Emperor Henry IV's reign in the second half of the 11th century, the imperial holdings in the region were dissolved. They were mostly given to loyal vassals or the church. The Counts of Henneberg were able to assert themselves against their rivals during this period of conflict arising from the break-up of the old duchies. Archival documents first mention them in 1096 A.D. under the name "von Henneberg", which is derived from their ancestral castle.	1096 –
The Counts of Henneberg founded and built the monastery at Vessra in 1131 to 1135 A.D. At the turn of the 12th century they moved their seat of power to Bertholdsburg castle in Schleusingen. The Hennebergs achieved significance under Berthold IV (1284-1340) who was an adviser to three German emperors and as such exercised strong influence in imperial politics. He thereby acquired the means to restore many lost territories into his possession, to expand his sphere of influence and to take his place as an equal among his neighbours in Thuringia and Franconia. This led to his becoming a prince.	1131 –
		– 1406	The beginnings of the village, albeit primitive shelters which arose around the mines, the smelting furnaces and the forges, can be traced to in the early 15th century. A document dated May 2, 1406, already mentions a forge in the Vesser valley, located first at the "unteres Forsthaus" (lower forester's house) until 1748, then until 1854 at what is today the "Hammerwiese" or "forge meadow". The forge is assumed to be the oldest forge in the Schleuse region, even the forge at Suhl is first mentioned in 1437.
		– 1468	Another documentary reference to the village of Vesser occurred in the tax register of 1468 where the Triebel brothers are listed as owners of the forge on the Vesser river.
		– 1539	The village was constitued according to the 1539 regional laws of the Henneberg principality. The town administration consisted of a mayor, council chairperson and property owners known as the "Zwölfern" (which means "The Twelve" in English) who were elected for life by the community.
By 1554, Count Wilhelm and his sons were able to secure a contract with Johann Friedrich of the Saxon-Ernestine family line which sold the right to inherit the duchy for the sum of 130,474 florins. This contract was confirmed by Emperor Karl V.	1554 –	– 1572	The population of Vesser is only 14.
In 1583 the duchy inheritance contract came into force when the last Henneberger Georg Ernst and his brother Poppo VII died childless. The duchy of Henneberg thereby came into the possession of the princes and electors of Saxony until 1815.	1583 –	– 1573	Two musketmen and one spearman are reported as men in arms.
		– 1631	There are now seven houses and seven men in arms.
		– 1663	On January 23, 1663, the mayor Magdalena Triebel was beheaded in Schleusingen and her remains burned after having been convicted of witchcraft. From 1597 to 1676 a total of 197 "witches" fell victim to this insanity within the Duchy of Henneberg.
		– 1710	1710 to 1711 – The Vesser church is built and is a branch of the church in Frauenwald
		– 1716	Heinrich Stubenrauch is appointed teacher and the children of Vesser, who from 1601 until this point had to attend school in the neigbouring town of Schmiedefeld, could now attend school in their hometown. His son Hans Michael followed in his footsteps in 1719.
		– 1758	19 houses are now reported with a total of 30 households.
		– 1759	Vesser, along with Schmiedefeld, Allzunah and Stützerbach, belonged to the Frauenwald religious district until 1759 and then to the district of Schmiedefeld when it became indepentent.
In 1815 the former Duchy of Henneberg was ceded to Prussia under the agreements reached at the Vienna Congress. It remained Prussian as the counties of Schleusingen and Suhl until 1945.	1815 –	– 1815	Construction of a school which, however, burned in 1834 and was reconstructed in the same year.
		– 1815	After the Prussian take-over in 1817 the Prussian State Common Law was introduced. Head of the community was now a mayor and two assessors. Annual community assemblies were called which were later in 1850 replaced by community councils.
		– 1855	22 houses, one country inn, 180 inhabitants are reported. The following occupations were exercised: 3 potters, 2 porcelain painters, a forge owner, 3 weavers, a carpenter and several woodcutters. In the valley just below the village there exist: a cutting mill, a forge, a smelting furnace, a tin forge and further down the valley, two more cutting mills, two steel forges and a sickle forge, 1 grain mill and a cutting mill.
		– 1892	The new state community law came into effect which replaced the mayor with a community director, but kept the assessors and councils.
Around 1900 many communities in the middle and eastern reaches of the Rennsteig area became active in the glass industry.	1900 –	– 1900	The first "bathing guests" were coming to Vesser by the end of the 19th century. Among those "in the know" Vesser became famous for its isolation and natural beauty. During this time Glass blowers, engravers and cutters in Vesser produced thermometers and other glass items for the chemical industry. The workshops were located within the residential houses.

		– 1919	The Orban and Kühn company is founded which produces fine mechanical items and employs at times 30 people.


		– 1935	A mayor replaces the office of community director.
		– 1937	1937–1938 Expansion of the school building
		– 1939	Formation of the Vesser Valley Natural Preserve.
Integration of county of Suhl into the state of Thuringia	1945 –	– 1945	After World War II th glass industry disappeared from the village picture.
The newly created German Democratic Republic (GDR) dissolved the existing states and created districts in order to strengthen its central authority. The former Henneberger area now belonged to the District of Suhl and was divided up amongst the counties Suhl/Zella-Mehlis, Hildburghausen and Ilmenau.	1952 –	– 1952	Vesser is apportioned to the county of Ilmenau.
		– 1969	The Vesser school is dissolved after 253 years of existence.
		– 1979	Formation of the Vesser Valley Biospheric Preserve.
Following the reunification in 1989, the states were reinstated and the county lines were again redrawn.	1994 –	– 1994	By popular vote, Vesser joined the independent county of the city of Suhl.
		Vesser today has 88 houses and a population of around 250 people. The above information was taken with permission from the brochure "1100 Years of Vesser" by Gerhard Rempt, Publisher: The Tourism and Cultural Association of Vesser, 1999.