There is little interesting to report about the 1200 people who lived in 192 houses at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The people of Frankfurt and the neighbors in the Taunus cities experienced the inhabitants of the agricultural community primarily as suppliers of fresh milk for the breakfast table.
Eschborn had 22 milk traders in 1904. Young women who traveled in horse carts went from house to house with large milk cans.
2400 liters were sold daily, a central milk collection point organized the distribution.
How this poor village in the Main-Taunus district became one of Germany's top office locations is explained by an exhibition designed last year to commemorate the first mention 1250 years ago, which had to be postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic.
Heike Lattka
Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Taunus-Kreis.
Follow I follow
Photos, documents and texts provide information about the archaeological beginnings in the Eschborn district, the Middle Ages, the knights of Eschborn with their castle and the recent past.
Today the city with around 21,000 inhabitants and five prospering industrial areas is primarily perceived as a modern office city.
Eschborn has undergone an exemplary development, from a small, rural settlement on the Westerbach to a trading metropolis in the Rhine-Main area that is second to none, says Mayor Adnan Shaikh (CDU).
One vineyard and 43 serfs
In the year 770 this was certainly not to be suspected. At that time, the strictly Catholic brothers Risolf and Hadalmar donated lush lands in Eschborn, a vineyard and 43 serfs to the Lorsch Monastery. In return, the monks should pray for the salvation of the brothers and their descendants. This resulted in the first written mention of "Aschenbrunne" in the so-called Lorsch Codex on June 12, 770. This collection of donation deeds is kept in the Würzburg State Archives; A facsimile volume can be seen in the Eschborn Museum.
Finds from the Alemannic graves of the fourth and fifth centuries and the knights of Eschborn with their tower castle are also mentioned in the show. The history of the brickworks and the old mill on Westerbach is also discussed, as is the railway connection in 1874 and the Protestant church on Eschenplatz. The international significance of the Schiele company and the beginnings of the Second German Television in a barrack near the Eschborn train station are further stages in history that city archivist Gerhard Raiss put together in painstaking detailed work and research.
Rather dark chapters are connected with the two world wars, the French occupation between 1918 and 1930, the "foreign workers" and the former airfield, which, according to Raiss, was even a "world airport" for a short time in the post-war years.
In 1970 Eschborn finally received city rights.
Motorway connection was crucial
The boom had long since begun. After inexpensive commercial areas had been designated along the Frankfurt district on the Eschborn side and the new Autobahn 66 offered a quick connection to Frankfurt Airport, Eschborn's unstoppable rise began. Many well-known international companies and the Deutsche Börse are at home in Eschborn today, and the electronics group Samsung will soon be moving to the boomtown of the Main-Taunus district, whose trade tax income continues to bubble even in pandemic times.
Every morning, more than 30,000 commuters take their cars and trains to work in Eschborn's office towers.
But the economic upswing also has its price: the city suffers from the high volume of traffic and farmers who till their fields have become rare.
A dairy trade like it used to be a long time ago - in 1984 the last cow disappeared from an Eschborn stable.
The anniversary exhibition
can be seen in the city museum until October 3, currently ten people are allowed to come at the same time - with a face mask and the address provided.
Opening times: Wednesdays and Saturdays 3–6pm, Sundays 2–6pm and by prior arrangement (0 61 96/490232).
City archivist Raiss offers free guided tours after registering by telephone.