Bereborn
Encyclopedia
Bereborn is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kelberg
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
nature conservation area, some 18 km northeast of the district seat of Daun
. North of the village rises the Elzbach
.
, Bereborn belonged to the County of Virneburg. Under Napoleonic
occupation, the village was in the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Virneburg
.
In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Bereborn was transferred in 1970 from the Mayen district to the Daun district, now known as the Vulkaneifel district.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Per fess argent seven lozenges gules, four and three, and azure a well masoned with winch and pail, all of the first.
In feudal
times, Bereborn belonged to the County of Virneburg whose lords bore the seven-lozenge charge
in their arms. This has been adopted in Bereborn’s arms. The well is canting
and refers to the placename ending —born – cognate with the English
“bourn(e)” – which in the local dialect can mean “well” (in High German
, the word is Brunnen; the English cognate means “stream” or “brook”).
”) with a memorial stone recalls the one hundredth anniversary of the victory over Napoleon
at the Battle of Leipzig
in 1813.
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kelberg
Kelberg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kelberg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Kelberg....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Kelberg
Kelberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, and is home to its seat...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the High Eifel at the foot of the HochkelbergHochkelberg
At the Hochkelberg is one of the ten highest mountains in the Vulkan Eifel in Germany. It is a former stratovolcano, at the southern foot of which lies the Mosbrucher Weiher, an explosion crater lake or maar. Below the summit of the Hochkelberg is a transmission tower.Originally the mountain...
nature conservation area, some 18 km northeast of the district seat of Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...
. North of the village rises the Elzbach
Elzbach
The Elzbach is a small river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, a left tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Eifel, near Kelberg. The Elz flows through Monreal and along the castle Burg Eltz. It flows into the Moselle in Moselkern, in the Verbandsgemeinde of Treis-Karden....
.
History
In the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Bereborn belonged to the County of Virneburg. Under Napoleonic
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
occupation, the village was in the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Virneburg
Virneburg
Virneburg is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.-Geography:Virneburg is a municipality in the Vulkaneifel. Next towns are Mayen in the East and Adenau in the West. The average height is 402 meters above NN. Virneburg is in a valley surrounded by...
.
In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Bereborn was transferred in 1970 from the Mayen district to the Daun district, now known as the Vulkaneifel district.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority votePlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Von Silber und Blau geteilt, oben 7 (4:3) rote Rauten, unten einen silbernen Ziehbrunnen.The municipality’s arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might in English heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
language be described thus: Per fess argent seven lozenges gules, four and three, and azure a well masoned with winch and pail, all of the first.
In feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
times, Bereborn belonged to the County of Virneburg whose lords bore the seven-lozenge charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
in their arms. This has been adopted in Bereborn’s arms. The well is canting
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
and refers to the placename ending —born – cognate with the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
“bourn(e)” – which in the local dialect can mean “well” (in High German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, the word is Brunnen; the English cognate means “stream” or “brook”).
Buildings
- Catholic church at Dorfstraße 11 – biaxial aisleless churchAisleless churchAn Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...
from 1777
Natural monuments
In the village centre, the Kaiserlinde (“Emperor’s limetreeTilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
”) with a memorial stone recalls the one hundredth anniversary of the victory over Napoleon
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
at the Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
in 1813.
Further reading
- Erich Mertes-Kolverath: Die Dörfer der Verbandsgemeinde Kelberg, Ihre erste Erwähnung und Nennung in der Literatur. In: Landeskundliche Vierteljahresblätter. Jahrgang 32, 1986, Heft 3