Colonization The current area of the Elztal was populated by Germanic peoples in its prehistoric time. Today there are 14 burial mounds which witnesses it. The emergence of this burial mounds are dated on the middle of the 1st Millennium BC. At the time of the Romans ran the
limes through the Elz Village. The limes was strengthened from the Romans with a fort (today known as:
Fort of Neckarburken). The Germanic settlers in Elztal were shocked from this changes and relied into the security of the forests and woods of their home area. In addition, the Romans strengthened their fort with nearby inns (
Villa rustica) and a separated
Vicus (camp village) for its military troops. The Romans in the Elztal were eliminated in 260 AD by the
Alemannic Germans. In 497 AD, the
Franken conquered the territorium and founded the villages
Aue amnis (Auerbach), Dallau,
Neckar Castellum (Neckarburken) and
Miles Militis Flumen (Rittersbach). On the occasion of foundations of Frankish noblemen to the monastery Lorsch are the first written references of the four settlements in the
Franconian Lorsch Codex (Lorscher Codex). In this Codex, the villages are named: Dallau (772 AD) => Dalaheim (Talheim) Neckarburken (774 AD) => Borocheim (Burgheim) Rittersbach (783 AD) => Rodinsburon (Ruodis Bure) Auerbach (791 AD) => Urbach In the 9th century AD, the villages has connections to the catholic Cyriak Monastery (Cyriaksstift) in
Worms-Neuhausen and the
Diocese of Worms which enlarged it influence after a gift of Emperor
Otto II. So the
Diocese of Worms possessed the
Mosbach Abbey with possession in 23 cities and villages.
Middle Ages In the Middle Ages divided the society in different classes. In these time ascents some of the Elztal peoples into the 1st society class. One of them was Herr von Heinriet (1336 AD) who owned the Festivals of Dallau and a lot of land. After any years the Herr von Heinriet impoverished and developed to
robber barons. In the extermination campaign 1356 AD of the
Mainzer Archbishop
Gerlach von Nassau against Albrecht Schenk von Limpurg in
Lohrbach was the
water castle (Wasserschloß) of Dallau in order of
Karl IV conquered. In this campaign Dallau was devastated and its settlers and peoples murdered by the order from
Karl IV.
Gerlach von Nassau got the rights to reestablishment of a new city on the Dallau territory. But he never realized this right. After the Death of Gerlach in 1371 AD, the Herr von Heinriets owned now the Possessions of the Elztal villages again. These were sold to Cunz Münch von Rosenberg in 1380 AD. During this sale was Muckental in its first time mentioned. In the 14th and early 15th century was the Elztal owned by Herren von Weinsberg, Herren von Hirschhorn and Albrecht Schenk von Limpurg. The
Rineck Farm between Dallau and Muckental got 1726 AD a bad reputation and was now known as an infertile farm territory. In the
Lohrbach it got nicknames like
Wild Plants (lauther Wildnus),
Bad Odenwald Field (schlecht Odenwäldisch Feld) and
Desert Territory (Wüsteney). The farm included an area of 200
Morgen for sheep grazing. The
Royal Palatinate hereditary of Mannheim prompted the reclamation of the barren land of the Rineck Farm. Fifty years later, the territory of the farm was issued to settle. The settlers received some own land and had to submit their natural produces and yields to the
Lohrbach basement office. The old farm was now renamed in Altrineck. New nicknames were Althof and Rühlingerhof. The settlement of
Rineck was 1784 AD renamed into Neurineck. The settlers of this new settlement consisted of
tinkers, Broom binders,
basket makers, itinerant entertainers, musicians and
mole catchers. A number of them were deported from their former municipalities; they were known as
Rielinger. The first mayor of the municipality was Franz Holzschuh (29 August 1788).
Leiningen and Baden Through contributions and accommodation in the time of the French Wars and the losing of the left-side-territories of the Rhine, the Elz Valley villages are hard burdened. So the nobles led a political realignment for southwestern territories within the
Holy Roman Empire (Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation). In this way the Elz Valley villages were 1803 AD incorporated into the
Principality of Leiningen. In 1806 the Principality dissolved and was now a part of
Baden. 1803 confirmed the former reputation from the Rineck Farm. Infertile soil and negligent field orders caused a
famine. Begging, thefts, poaching and armed raids were now on the agenda and shifted the whole area into fear and turmoil. All surrounding villages complained of the robberies and thefts at the courts. But nothing was done. Until 1838, the first complaint of the
Mosbach supreme court reached the
Baden District Government. In this, the settlers of the municipality New Rineck were accused of being thieves, crooks, arsonists and vagabonds because they refused to work. From the people there were already claims to urge the settlers of New Rineck to emigrate to the USA. After lengthy negotiations with the surrounding municipalities this demand was realized. The first transport with 168 involuntary emigrants left New Rineck on 3 October 1849. The second Group left New Rineck on 11 May 1850 with 200 emigrants and the third Group left the municipality on 13 May 1850 with a group of 235 emigrants. On 2 December 1850, the municipality New Rineck dissolved. Ferdinand Scipio acquired the land in 1856 and created a farm with an area of 500
Morgen. Currently is the Rineck Grange owned by the Baron of Gemmingen-Hornberg. The road (today's
B 27) through the Elz Valley were expanded in 1847 AD to improve the local market conditions. Another important project was the Railway
Mosbach-
Neckarelz to
Osterburken which is today very frequented by students, travelers and not mobile persons. But there were no big changes after the realizing the projects. So the villages was remained agriculturally.
World Wars and post-war years Within the time of World War I, there were no changes and no happenings within the Elz Valley villages. The Second World War caused suffering and deaths in most of the settled families. A tombstone in the center of Dallau near to
Volksbank and the
water castle testify to the shocking happening of an inevitable war. The first structural changes occurred during the last three war years and in the immediate postwar period of the transitional government. by the inclusion of refugees from the destroyed cities, the population of the villages rose. In the post-war years settled again a number of displaced from the eastern territories in the Elz Valley villages. New development zones and industrial estates have now been expelled and contributed to structural change. It needed a long time to recover from the impacts of the recent World War. Every village of today's Elztal was a self-governed municipality within the Mosbach district of the North Baden county (Nordbaden). The first sports facilities were built in the late 1960s: 1967:
Sportzentrum Dallau (sports center) 1968:
Elzbergstadion and
Elzberghalle (Elzberg stadium and Elzberg gym) As part of the district reform on 1 January 1973,
Auerbach,
Dallau,
Muckental and
Neckarburken founded the new municipality
Elztal with
Dallau as district office. ==Educational facilities==