Mörlenbach Travel Guide

Buergerhaus
[ source: Wikipedia]

Mörlenbach Overview

Mörlenbach is a community in the Bergstraße district in southern Hesse, Germany. The community lies in the Odenwald some 25 km north of Heidelberg (Heidelberg vacation rentals | Heidelberg travel guide) and about 30 km northeast of Mannheim (Mannheim vacation rentals | Mannheim travel guide), as well as lying 8 km southeast of Heppenheim. It is found on Bundesstraße 38 and through it flow the Weschnitz and the community’s namesake, the Mörlenbach.

Mörlenbach borders in the north on the community of Rimbach (Rimbach vacation rentals | Rimbach travel guide), in the east on the communities of Wald-Michelbach (Wald-Michelbach vacation rentals | Wald-Michelbach travel guide) and Abtsteinach, in the south on the community of Birkenau, in the west on the town of Hemsbach (Hemsbach vacation rentals | Hemsbach travel guide) and the community of Laudenbach (both in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg), and in the northwest on the town of Heppenheim. Owing to its location on the Bergstraße, a mild climate prevails in Mörlenbach, which often leads to what in Germany is a very early blossoming of the almond trees.

Things to See in Mörlenbach

On the marketplace with its village fountain are found the Old and New town halls, the Catholic church and a restored remnant of a defensive wall from the 13th century.

The Old Town Hall comes from the year 1504, according to the lintel, although the timber framing was heavily modified in the late 17th century. Until 1930 or 1931 it was used as a school and a teacher’s house, but was then built into the mayor’s administrative seat, which was moved to the newly built New Town Hall in 1978. Now renovated both inside and outside, it is now used for, among other things, performing civil marriages.

The Catholic Saint Bartholomew’s Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Bartholomäus) from the 12th and 13th centuries houses among other artworks three altars, among them one by Michel Erhart from 1494 and a 400-year-old organ from the chapel of the Friedrichsbau, a Renaissance building at Heidelberg (Heidelberg vacation rentals | Heidelberg travel guide) Castle.

Several crosses made of red sandstone, like the one before the Catholic church’s southern transept from 1822.

Bürgerhaus, completed in 1994 offers room for up to 900 persons and is used for a broad spectrum of events.

Mörlenbach church consecration festival

Mörlenbach Advent Market

[ source: wikipedia ]

Owing to Mörlenbach’s central location in the Weschnitz valley, it is a transport hub. Through Mörlenbach runs Bundesstraße 38, which is the main traffic artery in the Rhine-Neckar agglomeration. In the heart of the community, the L 3120, coming from the Überwald, meets the B 38 and runs farther on to Heppenheim. The Saukopftunnel, dedicated in 1999, links Mörlenbach directly to the Autobahn network.

The B 38a bypass is in planning and should lead to a lightening of the traffic load within the community. The planning was however delayed by discrepancies between the supporters of different alternatives for realizing the project, with environmental groups favouring a tunnel under the community (Variant W4) and the community itself advocating a detour around the community (Variant O2).