Kirchzell
Kirchzell is a market community in the Miltenberg district in the "Regierungsbezirk" of Lower Franconia ("Unterfranken") in Bavaria, Germany. Geography. Location. This community in the Odenwald lies at the three-state common point shared by Bavaria, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. Kirchzell is the biggest municipality by land area in the Miltenberg district with a great deal of woodland, and it lies in the "Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald". The area, whose geology is bunter-based, is drained by the Waldbach, Gabelbach and Mud into the Main. Nearby towns include Amorbach, Erbach, Michelstadt, Miltenberg, Mudau and Walldürn. Constituent communities. Kirchzell's  Ortsteile are Breitenbach, Breitenbuch, Buch, Kirchzell, Ottorfszell, Preunschen and Watterbach. History. Kirchzell is a community with a 1,200-year history. Kirchzell owes its founding and its name to the Benedictine abbey in Amorbach. In 1168, the Amorbach Abbey and thereby also Kirchzell ended up under the lordship of the Lords of Dürn. This princely family built Wildenberg Castle ("Burg Wildenberg") upon the Preunschener Berg, a highlight in Staufer-era castle building. One hundred years later, the Lords of Dürn sold the Archbishop of Mainz their estates. In 1700, Kirchzell was granted market rights, as it was the middle point of  the "Kirchzeller Grund". The Electoral Mainz "Amt" was assigned in the 1803 Reichsdeputationshauptschluss to the Princes of Leiningen, later being mediatized by Baden in 1806 and then in 1810 ceded to the Hesse-Darmstadt. In the Hesse-Bavaria "Rezess" (Frankfurt 1816) it finally passed to Bavaria. Development of the municipal area. The market community of Kirchzell merged itself in the course of municipal reform with the communities of Watterbach, Ottorfszell and Preunschen, along with their outlying centres of Breitenbuch and Buch, and with the hamlets of Dörnbach, Breitenbach, Schrahmühle and Hofmühle into the current greater community. Politics. Community council. The  council is made up of 14 council members with seats apportioned thus: Coat of arms. The community's arms might be described thus: Gules a church argent, the portal turned to the viewer, the steeple and the portal ensigned with a cross sable, in chief dexter the head of an abbot's staff Or, in chief sinister a wheel spoked of six of the second. The church is a canting charge for the community's name (“church” is "Kirche" in German). The abbot's crook recalls the Amorbach Benedictine abbey's hegemony and landlordship in the community (this, incidentally, made  the community a “cell” in the monastic sense of a monastery outpost, which explains the placename ending "—zell"; the place was originally called "Celle"), and the Wheel of Mainz recalls Electoral Mainz’s rule after that. The arms have been borne since 1964. Economy and infrastructure. Transport. Kirchzell lies roughly 45 km from the interchange on the Autobahn A 81 and roughly 50 km from the interchange on the A 3. The nearest InterCityExpress stop is the railway station at Aschaffenburg, some 51 km away, but there are also Regionalbahn trains at Amorbach only 6 km away. As for air  transport, it is roughly 89 km to Frankfurt Airport. Music. Kirchzell has had since 1891 a singing club, which has since grown into four choirs. The men's and women's choirs and VoCapella are under Hermann Trunk's leadership. Piccolino is led by Carolin Czerny.