Translations:Emskirchen/2/en
Emskirchen benefitted from its location near the trade route between Nuremberg, Würzburg and Frankfurt. Initially, the inn "Goldener Hirsch" (Golden Deer) on Emskirchen’s central market square served as horse-changing station for the stagecoaches. In 1623, the inn was upgraded and became a coaching inn (with post house). This considerably increased the importance of Emskirchen as transportation hub. During the Thirty Years’ War, however, the town was looted several times, for the last time in 1631, and was nearly completely depopulated after that. In the aftermath of the war, 160 Protestants were displaced from Austria because of their faith; they settled in Emskirchen, which was virtually deserted at that time, and rebuilt the town. In the second half of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, a substantial number of Huguenots, persecuted in France due to their Protestant faith, also settled in Emskirchen. Its location near the trade route enabled the town to rise again in no time. In the meantime, the post had opened up to the general public, and while only letters had been sent via the post house at first, transportation of people and goods was offered from 1705.[1] Around 1746, Johannes Eckart came to Emskirchen. This is where he continued his training with the innkeeper and master brewer Friedrich Kurr in the inn "Goldener Hirsch" (Golden Deer). Following the death of the innkeeper, Johannes Eckart took over the inn in 1753 and was appointed Imperial Postmaster in 1757. This marked the beginning of the Eckarts’ "postmaster line".[2]