In the housing area, „Stadthohle III“ in Brettach there has existed for some time a Franz Häfelin street. Interested citizens aften ask who was this obviously famous man.
The idea that it could be the name of a poet, musician, politician, or some other regionally famous man isn’t true. Franz Häfelin lived and worked in Brettach for decades. When there was a new search for suitable names for new streets it was decided by the council, after very detailed research, to give Franz Jakob Häfelin the posthumous honour of having a street in Brettach named after him.
In the fist half of the previous century Franz Häfelin was Mayor and Town Clerk of Brettach. Together with these offices, and over and above the duties of his occupation, he was an historian. We are thankful to him for the knowledge of local history, and not just for that of the 19th century.
Franz Jakob Häfelin was born on 25.7.1785 in Weiler near Löwenstein. He was the son of  school teacher Johann Jakob Häfelin. We know nothing of his chiuldhood. On 23.11.1817 he married Sophie Elisabeth Ehmann (from „Schlössles“ Ehmann) of Brettach. He lived with his family in house No 44 near the old Brettach council building, the present community hall. Franz Häfelin died 21.1.1868.
Franz Häfelin was, beside his official duties , as side interests a historian, a farmer, and with total commitment a grapegrower. As such he was specially succesful. Because of his theoretical ideas and practical results in grape growing he received wide praise and even an honour from the state.
In 1815 Franz Häfelin was elected mayor and town clerk of Brettach. He held this office till 1837. From 1837 to 1861 he was town clerk in Brettach and occasionally also for several neighbouring villages. During his 22 full years of service as Mayor he not only had his normal duties, but also, as is usual for Mayors of all times, his problems. From Häfelins time of office we have an example of the history of buildings in the village. Soon after becoming Mayor he was informed of the disrepair of the Brettach school which stood next to the manse on the present site of the church hall. He strongly urged the total demolition of the old building and erect a new one. His demand created huge disagreements within the council and between him and council members. Finally, however, the old school was torn down in 1820, and as is said, „despite much annoyance and the contradiction of troubled times“ (money shortage), a new school was built for 2500 guilders.
Obviously after the Napoleon wars and the famine of 1816/17 a new school did not seem necessary for many in Brettach. In any case for many farmers the help of children at home was often more important than going to school. Some poorer farmers were not even able to pay the school fees for their children. And now they feared likely higher taxes. It was not easy for Häfelin to explain to people that better school conditions were necessary for the future of their children. 
Häfelin’s achievements are valuable in that he was able to see beyond his local secretarial duties in Brettach. During his 46 years in the village he understood situations accurately.

His writings are a storehouse of local history.

1. In his  „Statistics and Topography of Brettach“ he gives a detailed description of the current conditions and situations in and around the village boundaries.

In his book, among other things, he explains the  current situation of the village:  The place Brettach – a general description of the the important installations. Description of the most important buildings in Brettach. Description of all buildings in Brettach based on  earlier detailed siteplans of the village by surveyor Kuder. The active citizens of 1850.  The produce of the soil Wine growing and vineyards, orchards and gardens.  Water, springs, streets, bridges, rocks.  Agriculture and dairying. The forest.

2. Outline of Local History. (“Entwurf einer Ortschronik").

Here Häfelin tried to write a history from the birth of Christ till about 1850. In a broad sweeping overview we get weather observations and grain prices, which he would have found among the records of the old Brettach council buildings. Alongside the interesting local historical traditions, the remaining historical facts are mostly always correct. All in all the Häfelin records are a valuable source of local history. Because of Häfelin the knowledge of local history before the 19th century has partly survived, because we know that all the documents which lay in the old council building were destroyed in 1945.

We also acknowledge that some nice poems have survived. In his “Topography“ Häfelin has given the following motto: 

At all times history has been the truest teacher of mankind she still is, and will continue to be. Blessed is he who listens to her warning and follows her wise teaching (Häfelin) In the light of the past150 years of German history this is (almost) a prophetic warning.

aus "Rückblicke" des Heimatgeschichtlichen Vereins Langenbrettach e.V. [Nr.61]
Translated by S.M.Simpfendörfer.