Brensbach

For the river of Hesse, Germany, see Brensbach (Gersprenz).

Brensbach is a municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany.

Brensbach
Municipality
Aerial view of Brensbach
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Brensbach within Odenwaldkreis district
Brensbach Brensbach
Coordinates: 49°46′N 08°53′E
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Darmstadt
District	Odenwaldkreis
Government
• Mayor (2020–26)	Rainer Müller (SPD)
Area
• Total	23.18 km2 (8.95 sq mi)
Highest elevation	280 m (920 ft)
Lowest elevation	180 m (590 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	5,013
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC 01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC 02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	64391–64395
Dialling codes	06161
Vehicle registration	ERB
Website	www.brensbach.de

Geography

Location

Brensbach lies in the northern Odenwald in the Gersprenz valley.

Neighbouring communities

Brensbach borders in the north on the towns of Groß-Bieberau and Reinheim (although this boundary is quite short) and the community of Otzberg (all in Darmstadt-Dieburg), in the east on the community of Höchst and the town of Bad König, in the south on the communities of Brombachtal and Reichelsheim and in the west on the communities of Fränkisch-Crumbach (all in the Odenwaldkreis) and Fischbachtal (Darmstadt-Dieburg).

Constituent communities

Brensbach’s Ortsteile are Affhöllerbach, Bierbach, Brensbach, Hippelsbach, Höllerbach, Kilsbach, Mummenroth, Nieder-Kainsbach, Stierbach, Wallbach and Wersau.

Politics

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Parties and voter communities		% 2006	Seats 2006	% 2001	Seats 2001
CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	42.9	11	37.0	11
SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	57.1	14	63.0	20
Total		100.0	25	100.0	31
Voter turnout in %		51.6		57.1

Coat of arms

The community’s arms bear three charges on a white (silver) background: in the foot of the escutcheon are some blue waves, above which is a red fire, over which is an arc of five six-pointed stars. The arms are canting, suggesting the community’s name: the verb brennen means “burn” in German, and Bach means “brook”. According to legend, the namesake brook, when seen under starlight, looked as though it might be burning. Likelier, though, it looked so at sunset rather than at night, since stars would not be bright enough to produce such an effect.

Town partnerships

The community of Brensbach has maintained a partnership arrangement since 1978 with the French community of Ézy-sur-Eure in the Eure department in Normandy.