REISENBACH FOR BEGINNERS
The village of Reisenbach is situated at an altitude of 530 - 550 meters, making it the “roof of the Municipality of Mudau” and also the highest village in the Neckar-Odenwald county. The population is about 335. About 74% consists of forest and only 14% suitable for farmland.
A documentation of Reisenbach does not begin until 1050 when it appears on the stage of history as a fief of the Benedictine abbey of Amorbach, but they failed to keep it. The name first appears in a document dated November 2nd , 1292 where a certain “Heinricus dictus Rysenbuch” acted as a witness. However, we don’t know for certain just who that Heinricus was. Reisenbach is quite a bit older, though. Variations of the spelling such as “Reysennbach” can be found in later documents. A series of other feudal lords followed such as Duern, Mainz, Wuerzburg and finally the Leiningens.
During the Thirty Years’ War the population of the village dropped from 60-70 down to only 15 in 1648. Twenty years later there were still no more than 36 people in 6 families. Meanwhile the village had become a fief of Mainz again and most of the people were serfs of Mainz, but were allowed to take wood from the lord’s forests and drive their swine into certain forest districts to fatten them up. At that time the little brook Sondernach (a tributary of the Reisenbach brook) formed the boundaries between Mainz the Electorate of Palatine and Hirschhorn.
The nearest chemist’s and doctor were 4 hours away in Amorbach. The Napoleaonic wars and the consequent changes of the legal status of church lands following the French Revolution kept Reisenbach in its impoverished state. In 1863 was integrated into the district of Greater Mosbach (until 1939).
For hundreds of years the village of Reisenbach lay off the beaten path until finally a road to Eberbach via Grund was built in 1895. Even a rail line to Mudau along this route was talked about, but nothing came of it. In the first decade up to the First World War Reisenbach finally began to enjoy a certain amount of prosperity due to a more flourishing agriculture. The number of Gasthaeuser also grew to 3 by 1912 with now 466 people in 84 households. Grazing land increased at the expense of forest and farmland. Reisenbach lost 7 men in World War I. Between 1852 and 1925 about 500 people were forced to emigrate (a lot for a village this size!). Only one person had taken up work outside the village, whereas 64 farms provided work for the rest of the population.
Reisenbach finally got its own Catholic church in 1926. A lot of volunteer labor was donated by local people and the priest had to be picked up in the neighboring village of Scheidental. In the same year the youth hostel was built (this was confiscated after the war to become quarters for station #1).
During the Nazi era Reisenbach escaped being merged with other villages, but was integrated into the Buchen district (1939). 22 young Reisenbachers died in World War II and when the Americans marched in numerous buildings sustained bullet damage. Due to the assignment of displaced persons in the aftermath of the war, the population rose to 546 people and once again Reisenbach was among the poorest communities of the Buchen district. For example the Grund did not get electricity until 1956/7 and the nurses from Oberscheidental also had to take care of those in Reisenbach who were ill.
In the first postwar election in 1949 88% (!) of the Reisenbachers went to vote and voted as follows: 60% Christian Democrats (CDU), 4% Social Democrats (SPD), 11% Free Democrats (FDP) and 21% Disadvantaged. By comparison the vote in 1961 looked as follows: 88% CDU, 9% SPD and 2% FDP;in 1998 the picture was 55% CDU, 27%SPD, 4,5%FDP and 6% Greens.
The community’s code of arms was not awarded until relatively recently (Feb.23, 1960). In 1954 Reisenbach was designated to be an economic promotion area. The purpose of this was primarily to reduce the village’s dependence on agriculture by encouraging people to take up other trades or jobs.
By 1961 the population was 370 with 54 family farms and a total work force of 172 . 110 of these people actually worked in farm and forestry jobs and the rest in various other fields. At that time there were 62 dwellings in the village. This picture had changed considerably by 1987, when there were only 20 jobs left in farming and forestry out of a total work force of 153 but the number of dwellings had gone up to 90 and continues growing today. One factor leading to this trend was the formation of today’s Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis (NOK) in 1973. This was not popular at the time, because it meant the absorption of Reisenbach into the consolidated town of Mudau (1975).
Back When
Some dates in the recent history of Reisenbach
Ø In 1912 running water came to Reisenbach’s homes; electricity arrived 8 years later in 1922.
Ø
The village
Rathaus was built in 1914, and its church in 1926. 
Ø
The
church was consecrated in 1929. 
Ø A youth hostel was also built in 1926, which was to become station # 1 for a time.
Ø Reisenbach had a cemetery of its own just beginning in 1927.
Ø In World War II, it was not until 1944 when the Americans marched into Reisenbach.
Ø By 1947 the village had its own fire department.
Ø Nevertheless, in 1949 Reisenbach had the dubious distinction of being the poorest community in the entire county of Buchen. At about this time the following crafts had established themselves: 1 cabinet maker, 2 shoemakers, 1 saddler, 2 smiths, 2 wheelwrights, 1 carpenter and 1 baker.
Ø The schoolhouse, which went back to 1875, was enlarged in 1956 to accommodate sports and a large kitchen only to be closed down four years later.
Ø In 1957 activities at station #1 were discontinued and transferred to the newly built station #2.
Ø In1958 the ominous back road to Eberbach was paved for the first time and, only ten years later, Reisenbach’s skyline changed with the construction of its imposing TV tower on the site of #1 station.
Ø Back in the village school reorganization forced kids as of the 5th grade to continue school at Mudau, the younger ones were sent to Schlossau seven years later.
Ø Between 1976 and 1978 the village church was renovated; the same year saw the women of Reisenbach join together in forming the Frauengemeinschaft.
Ø Between 1976 and 1978 the village church was renovated; the same year saw the women of Reisenbach join together in forming the Frauengemeinschaft.
Ø In 1980 the first cross-country skiing began, in 1987 the mixed choir and the sports and gymnastics club were formed.
Ø Also in 1980 the Americans were joined in Reisenbach by the German armed forces (Bundeswehr); 2 years later the American station was closed down permanently.
