History of Hattersheim am Main

Learn more about the city of Hattersheim am Main and its districts. You will be astonished how far back the history of the city districts goes.

The Schwarzbach stream, the fertile soil and the central location in the Main plain promoted settlement in the area around Hattersheim at an early stage.

The first mentions in deeds and other documents are often the only evidence that there were settlements at the location. Of course, these places were not created in that year. For example, historians infer from the suffix -heim in Hattersheim and Eddersheim that Frankish settlements may have been founded in the 6th or 7th century. Before that, the Romans were also represented, and other Germanic tribes are mentioned as well.

Whereas Hattersheim was still called Heideresheim in 1132, the name had changed by the second half of the 17th century. Heidirs- and Heiderßheim, Heddersheim and Haydersheim were some of the spellings found in various documents. The place was called Hattersheim for the first time in 1654, then changed to Hayderßheim and, from 1735 to modern times, Hattersheim. Hattersheim was probably founded by a Frankish nobleman named Heithar. A man named Ether, who was also Frankish, could have been the namesake of Eddersheim. That is one interpretation. Others explain the place name of Eddersheim using the Middle High German word eter = fence, which in full would mean ‘Zaun mit Eddern’ in German, which translates into English as ‘fence with posts’. The name of the village of Edirsheim only changed to Eddersheim over the course of the centuries. Okriftel’s name, like the village of Kriftel, also refers to its location on the Kriftelbach stream. This stream was also renamed Goldbach many centuries later, and it is now known as Schwarzbach.

The Hattersheim city councillors took a Solomonian decision when they were looking for a shared coat of arms for the newly created city. They left things as they were and decided to use the Hattersheim coat of arms for the city, but to offer special protection to the Okriftel and Eddersheim coats of arms. The new Hattersheim was therefore officially represented with a lion and a lily, Okriftel’s oak and Eddersheim’s wolf trap remained in place, however, and documented the fact that the three districts should continue to retain their respective characteristics.