Burgwindheim

Burgwindheim is a community with market rights in the west of the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg and a member of the administrative community (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) of Ebrach.GeographyBurgwindheim lies westsouthwest of Bamberg in the Steigerwald (forest). It is found between Ebrach in the west and Burgebrach in the east, on the Mittlere Ebrach.HistoryThe name’s meaning is unclear. Could it have something to do with an early settler named “Wind”, or does the community’s Wendish past yield the name? The leaping greyhound (a Wendish symbol) in the coat of arms might offer a clue.The community had its first documentary mention in 1140. It is believed to have been settled at the time of the Frankish taking of the land.In 1278, the knight Ludewig von Windeheim bequeathed his estate to the Cistercian Monastery at Ebrach.In 1363, Burgwindheim was granted market rights by Emperor Karl IV, making it the Steigerwald’s oldest market.Since the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the community has belonged to Bavaria. Direct Imperial authority over the Monastery at Ebrach was only recognized once Secularization had taken place, meaning that its property, unlike the Würzburg High Monastery’s belongings, never passed temporarily to the Archduke Ferdinand of Tuscany, but remained with Bavaria.