Birkenfeld
Encyclopedia
Birkenfeld is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld
district
in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
.
and 12 km northwest of Baumholder
.
, Elchweiler
, Schmißberg
, Rimsberg
, Dienstweiler
, Ellweiler
, Dambach
, Brücken
, Buhlenberg
and Ellenberg
.
, its origin lies in another Germanic language
: Old Frankish
. It means something rather like “at the field with the birches” (it is directly cognate
with the English
words “birch field”). From the name’s Frankish roots it can be inferred that today’s town arose on a spot where there was quite a noticeable stand of birch
trees sometime about the year AD 500, and that it was founded by Frankish
-German farmers. To this day, there are a great number of birch trees in the bird conservation area at the clay quarries.
The name was originally spelt Bikenuelt (about 700) or Birkinvelt at the time when it had a documentary mention from Archbishop of Trier
Egbert in 981. From this document comes knowledge that Saint Leudwinus (Archbishop of Trier 695-713) had donated to the Saint Paulin Monastery
in Trier the churches at Birkenfeld and Brombach.
Archaeological
finds from the Iron Age
, however, bear witness to quite heavy settlement even in the 8th century BC. In the 1st century BC, Roman
legions overran the area, and for 400 years, it lay under the Roman yoke. This is known mainly from finds made in the town’s immediate vicinity. The town that is now Birkenfeld lies right on a Roman road that served as a crosslink between two important military roads, namely the Metz
-Mainz
road to the south and the Trier-Bingen
-Mainz road to the north, which was mentioned by Roman poet Ausonius
in his Mosella in AD 350, and which also corresponds along some stretches with the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück
built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
’s orders). This crosslink, also known as the Bronzestraße (“Bronze Road”), linked the Glan
, Nohen
and the Moselle with each other. The Bronzestraße crossed the Nahe in Nohen (villa Aldena) and ran farther on, right through the Wasserschieder Wald, a state forest that still stands today on the town’s outskirts, by way of Gollenberg
, by Börfink
and on towards Trier.
The Frankish settlement of Birkinvelt was held in the 13th century by the Counts of Sponheim
. In 1223, the County was split into the “Further” and “Hinder” Counties of Sponheim, and Birkenfeld passed to the latter, and was then held by the counts whose seat was at the Starkenburg (castle
, now a ruin) near Trarbach
. In 1293, Castle Birkenfeld had its first documentary mention. In 1332, Birkenfeld was granted town rights by Emperor Louis the Bavarian
.
After the last Count of Sponheim died in 1437, the “Hinder” County was inherited by the Margrave
s of Baden
and the Counts of Veldenz. In 1584, a House of Wittelsbach sideline, in the person of Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
, resided in town. In this same year, expansion work also began on the castle to turn it into a princely residence in the Renaissance
style. Exactly 140 years later, the last remnants of the Princely holding of court at Schloss Birkenfeld, as it had come to be known, were swept away. During the Thirty Years' War
(1618-1648), the town itself became in 1635 a theatre of war. Also that year, the Plague broke out in Birkenfeld and claimed 416 lives.
In 1776, under Margrave Karl Friedrich, Birkenfeld became seat of the Badish Oberamt. In this time, Birkenfeld blossomed. The town experienced an economic and cultural upswing. In 1779, for instance, the first “Higher School” was founded. In Napoleon’s
time, in 1798, the Rhine’s left bank was ceded
to France
, whereafter Birkenfeld belonged to the Department of Sarre
One night in February 1797, Johannes Bückler, known as Schinderhannes
, burgled
a cloth factory owned by the Brothers Stumm, who would later become coal
and steel
entrepreneurs on the Saar. A large part of the cloth stolen during this breakin Schinderhannes sold to a fence
in Hundheim.
After the Congress of Vienna
(1814-1815), the Principality of Birkenfeld found itself under the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg in 1817. Under Oldenburg rule, the new palatial castle, which is now the district administration’s seat, was built in 1821. Not only was this built, but so were further buildings in the Governmental Quarter (Regierungsviertel), such as the infantry barracks (until 1963, a Gymnasium
building, now the local office for the regulation of expenditures caused by stationed forces), which to this day characterize the town’s appearance with their Classicist
style from Oldenburg times.
In the time of the Third Reich
, the town became on 1 April 1937 part of the Prussia
n district of Birkenfeld, which was formed out of the former Oldenburg holdings and the Restkreis (roughly “remnant district”) of St. Wendel-Baumholder (this designation as a Restkreis had arisen from its being what had been left of the Sankt Wendel district on the Prussian side of the border once the Territory of the Saar Basin had been formed under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
). After the Second World War, Birkenfeld belonged to the French zone of occupation, and since 1946, it has been a district seat in Rhineland-Palatinate
.
and 31% were Catholic. Besides these two biggest groups, there are an Evangelical Free Church congregation (Baptists), the Mennonite Brethren Church, a New Apostolic
church and the Jehovah's Witnesses
.
, a kind of collective municipality, called the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld
.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
BFL is Birkenfelder Freie Liste (“Birkenfeld Free List”).
BfB is Bürger für Birkenfeld (“Citizens for Birkenfeld”).
Peter Nauert is the first mayor ever to be elected by direct vote by the people of Birkenfeld. Both his predecessors, Manfred Dreier and Erich Mörsdorf, headed both the town and the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld at once.
Werner Käufer was the last professional mayor of the town of Birkenfeld. Indeed, he was acclaimed in the office in 1968 with a great majority for another 12 years, but by 1970, he had to give up his professional office when, under administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate
, towns with fewer than 7,500 inhabitants were merged into Verbandsgemeinden.
The following have served as mayor of Birkenfeld:
might be described thus: Azure on a mount vert a birch tree with roots proper surmounted by an inescutcheon chequy gules and argent.
The main charge
, the birch
tree, is canting
for the town’s name (“birch” is Birke in German
). The inescutcheon with the red and silver “chequy” pattern is the coat of arms formerly borne by the “Hinder” County of Sponheim
, thus bearing witness to that time in the town’s history. This composition is based on an old court seal from 1577.
The arms have been borne since 29 October 1923, when they were approved by the Ministry of the Interior at Oldenburg
.
, Limburg
, Netherlands
Château-Salins
, Moselle
, France
known as lambdacism. For example, a Birkenfelder in those days would have said Fulerlale where Standard High German would have Futterladen (“fodder shop”). A full-sentence example can be seen in a remark made by the Birkenfeld sexton “Fuchs Karl” to the church councillor and parish priest Haag: Jo, jo, Herr Kirjerot, pririje kann e jela, awa noch lang net loule!, or in Standard High German, Ja, ja, Herr Kirchenrat, predigen kann ein jeder, aber noch lange nicht läuten! (“Yes, yes, Mr. Church Councillor, preaching is something anyone can do, but bellringing, not for long”).
Lambdacism, though, long ago vanished from the Birkenfeld dialect, having given way to the other shift that is customary in Hunsrückisch
: rhotacism
.
and Worship
”). Here, through reconstructions, archaeological finds and replicas, these people’s life is presented. Further exhibits deal with regional and territorial history of the Birkenfelder Land. Historical highlights among these exhibits are the High Middle Ages
(13th to 15th centuries) and Oldenburg times in the Principality of Birkenfeld beginning in the early 19th century. Regularly changing exhibits deal with both historical and current themes.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
but also seven gallery rooms for changing exhibitions of works by local and national artists.
.
The German Red Cross
’s (DRK) Elisabeth-Stiftung, a medical rehabilitation foundation, with its hospital
, Berufsförderungswerk Birkenfeld (an institute for retraining workers whose condition precludes their return to former occupations), private vocational schools, measures for youth and senior citizens’ home is with more than 600 employees the town’s biggest employer. Following the Elisabeth-Stiftung is the Bundeswehr (among other units, the 2nd Luftwaffe
Division) with more than 500 military and civilian personnel. The Stefan-Morsch-Stiftung, a foundation for keeping data on potential bone marrow
and stem cell
donors, has its seat in Birkenfeld.
On the lands of the former railway station, a centre for starting up
businesses (“BIG-Center”) was built in the 1990s.
n 41 (east-west, between Mainz
and Saarbrücken
) and 269 (between Bernkastel-Kues
and Saarlouis
), as well as to Autobahn A 62
, which is the most important north-south link, running between Trier
and Kaiserslautern
. Furthermore, Bundesstraße 269 links to the Hunsrückhöhenstraße, and thereby to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
, which lies 50 km away by road. This journey is covered five times each day by a bus service.
, which has a station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen
–Saarbrücken
). Saarbrücken can be reached by train in 45 minutes, and Frankfurt
in less than two hours. The former spur line leading to Birkenfeld has been abandoned, and is now a cycle path.
with a total length through the region of more than 60 km. These are the Glockenweg (roughly 16 km), the Eulenweg (roughly 9 km), the Mausweg (roughly 12.5 km), the Mühlenweg (roughly 12.5 km) and the Rehweg (roughly 12.5 km). The long-distance Nahe-Höhenweg and the Sironaweg, which leads by many Celtic-Roman
archaeological
finds, likewise run by Birkenfeld.
has been established on the grounds of a former US
military hospital in the neighbouring municipality of Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
. The Environment Campus Birkenfeld
(Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld) has, as a location of the Fachhochschule Trier, made a significant contribution to the Birkenfeld region’s economic development.
For school-age children there is a broad array of offerings.
Enjoying more than local importance is the Elisabeth-Stiftung medical rehabilitation foundation, with its specific offers of qualifications to people with either physical or mental handicaps. Alumni come from all over Germany and even from neighbouring countries.
Among other academic offerings is the Volkshochschule Birkenfeld, a folk high school
.
, the Stadion am Berg (“Stadium
at the Mountain”), several sport halls, a zoo
, two libraries, a vocational library and the youth centre. In 2000, a skatepark
was built at the youth centre, which in 2005 was expanded with a funbox
, a quarter pipe
, a ramp and an obstacle.
Many well known people went to school in Birkenfeld:
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- History :...
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 southwest 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 is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde)
Birkenfeld is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Birkenfeld....
.
Location
The town lies in the Nahegebiet (Nahe area), to the north of the namesake river, on the edge of the Naturpark Saar-Hunsrück. Birkenfeld lies roughly 13 km southwest of Idar-ObersteinIdar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...
and 12 km northwest of Baumholder
Baumholder
Baumholder is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France...
.
Neighbouring municipalities
Clockwise from the north, these are GollenbergGollenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate
Gollenberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Elchweiler
Elchweiler
Elchweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Schmißberg
Schmißberg
Schmißberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Rimsberg
Rimsberg
Rimsberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld, whose seat is in the like-named town.-Location:The municipality lies...
, Dienstweiler
Dienstweiler
Dienstweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Ellweiler
Ellweiler
Ellweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Dambach
Dambach
Dambach may refer to:* Dambach, Bas-Rhin, France* Dambach-la-Ville, Bas-Rhin, France* Dambach, Germany, a municipality in Landkreis Birkenfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate* and many others settlements and several streams in Germany...
, Brücken
Brücken, Birkenfeld
Brücken is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld, whose seat is in the like-named town.-Location:The municipality lies on the...
, Buhlenberg
Buhlenberg
Buhlenberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Ellenberg
Ellenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate
Ellenberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
History
Although the name Birkenfeld looks and sounds quite GermanGerman 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....
, its origin lies in another Germanic language
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
: Old Frankish
Old Frankish
Old Frankish is an extinct West Germanic language, once spoken by the Franks. It is the parent language of the Franconian languages, of which Dutch and Afrikaans are the most known descendants...
. It means something rather like “at the field with the birches” (it is directly cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
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...
words “birch field”). From the name’s Frankish roots it can be inferred that today’s town arose on a spot where there was quite a noticeable stand of birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
trees sometime about the year AD 500, and that it was founded by Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
-German farmers. To this day, there are a great number of birch trees in the bird conservation area at the clay quarries.
The name was originally spelt Bikenuelt (about 700) or Birkinvelt at the time when it had a documentary mention from Archbishop of Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
Egbert in 981. From this document comes knowledge that Saint Leudwinus (Archbishop of Trier 695-713) had donated to the Saint Paulin Monastery
Saint Paulin Church
Saint Paulin Church is a Baroque church in the city of Trier, Germany. Constructed between 1734 and 1753, the interior was designed by Johann Balthasar Neumann. The ceiling of the nave features a painting by the artist Christoph Thomas Scheffler...
in Trier the churches at Birkenfeld and Brombach.
Archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds from the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, however, bear witness to quite heavy settlement even in the 8th century BC. In the 1st century BC, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
legions overran the area, and for 400 years, it lay under the Roman yoke. This is known mainly from finds made in the town’s immediate vicinity. The town that is now Birkenfeld lies right on a Roman road that served as a crosslink between two important military roads, namely the Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
-Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
road to the south and the Trier-Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
-Mainz road to the north, which was mentioned by Roman poet Ausonius
Ausonius
Decimius Magnus Ausonius was a Latin poet and rhetorician, born at Burdigala .-Biography:Decimius Magnus Ausonius was born in Bordeaux in ca. 310. His father was a noted physician of Greek ancestry and his mother was descended on both sides from long-established aristocratic Gallo-Roman families...
in his Mosella in AD 350, and which also corresponds along some stretches with the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
’s orders). This crosslink, also known as the Bronzestraße (“Bronze Road”), linked the Glan
Glan (Nahe)
The Glan is a river in southwestern Germany, right tributary of the Nahe River. It is approximately long. It rises in the Saarland, northwest of Homburg. It flows generally north, through Rhineland-Palatinate, and empties into the Nahe in Odernheim am Glan, near Bad Sobernheim...
, Nohen
Nohen
Nohen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and the Moselle with each other. The Bronzestraße crossed the Nahe in Nohen (villa Aldena) and ran farther on, right through the Wasserschieder Wald, a state forest that still stands today on the town’s outskirts, by way of Gollenberg
Gollenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate
Gollenberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, by Börfink
Börfink
Börfink is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and on towards Trier.
The Frankish settlement of Birkinvelt was held in the 13th century by the Counts of Sponheim
County of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
. In 1223, the County was split into the “Further” and “Hinder” Counties of Sponheim, and Birkenfeld passed to the latter, and was then held by the counts whose seat was at the Starkenburg (castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
, now a ruin) near Trarbach
Traben-Trarbach
Traben-Trarbach on the Middle Moselle is a town in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde and a state-recognized climatic spa .- Location :...
. In 1293, Castle Birkenfeld had its first documentary mention. In 1332, Birkenfeld was granted town rights by Emperor Louis the Bavarian
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
.
After the last Count of Sponheim died in 1437, the “Hinder” County was inherited by the Margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
s of Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
and the Counts of Veldenz. In 1584, a House of Wittelsbach sideline, in the person of Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
Charles I of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld , Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke in Bavaria, Count to Veldenz and Sponheim was the Duke of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld from 1569 until 1600.-Life:...
, resided in town. In this same year, expansion work also began on the castle to turn it into a princely residence in the Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
style. Exactly 140 years later, the last remnants of the Princely holding of court at Schloss Birkenfeld, as it had come to be known, were swept away. During the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
(1618-1648), the town itself became in 1635 a theatre of war. Also that year, the Plague broke out in Birkenfeld and claimed 416 lives.
In 1776, under Margrave Karl Friedrich, Birkenfeld became seat of the Badish Oberamt. In this time, Birkenfeld blossomed. The town experienced an economic and cultural upswing. In 1779, for instance, the first “Higher School” was founded. In Napoleon’s
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...
time, in 1798, the Rhine’s left bank was ceded
Cession
The act of Cession, or to cede, is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty...
to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, whereafter Birkenfeld belonged to the Department of Sarre
One night in February 1797, Johannes Bückler, known as Schinderhannes
Schinderhannes
Johannes Bückler , nicknamed Schinderhannes, was a German outlaw who orchestrated one of the most fascinating crime sprees in German history. He was born at Miehlen, the son of Johann and Anna Maria Bückler. He began an apprenticeship to a tanner, but turned to petty theft. At 16 he was arrested...
, burgled
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
a cloth factory owned by the Brothers Stumm, who would later become coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
entrepreneurs on the Saar. A large part of the cloth stolen during this breakin Schinderhannes sold to a fence
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
in Hundheim.
After the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
(1814-1815), the Principality of Birkenfeld found itself under the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg in 1817. Under Oldenburg rule, the new palatial castle, which is now the district administration’s seat, was built in 1821. Not only was this built, but so were further buildings in the Governmental Quarter (Regierungsviertel), such as the infantry barracks (until 1963, a Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
building, now the local office for the regulation of expenditures caused by stationed forces), which to this day characterize the town’s appearance with their Classicist
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
style from Oldenburg times.
In the time of the Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, the town became on 1 April 1937 part of the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n district of Birkenfeld, which was formed out of the former Oldenburg holdings and the Restkreis (roughly “remnant district”) of St. Wendel-Baumholder (this designation as a Restkreis had arisen from its being what had been left of the Sankt Wendel district on the Prussian side of the border once the Territory of the Saar Basin had been formed under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
). After the Second World War, Birkenfeld belonged to the French zone of occupation, and since 1946, it has been a district seat 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 ....
.
Religion
In 2008, 50% of the town’s inhabitants were EvangelicalEvangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
and 31% were Catholic. Besides these two biggest groups, there are an Evangelical Free Church congregation (Baptists), the Mennonite Brethren Church, a New Apostolic
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
church and the Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
.
Politics
Birkenfeld has been a district seat since 1947 and forms together with 30 other municipalities a VerbandsgemeindeVerbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
, a kind of collective municipality, called the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde)
Birkenfeld is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Birkenfeld....
.
Town council
The council is made up of 22 council members, who were elected by proportional representationProportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
CDU | BfB | BFL | FDP Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party that is ideologically based around liberalism... |
Total | |
| 2009 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 22 seats |
| 2004 | 8 | 11 | - | 2 | 1 | 22 seats |
BFL is Birkenfelder Freie Liste (“Birkenfeld Free List”).
BfB is Bürger für Birkenfeld (“Citizens for Birkenfeld”).
Mayors
Birkenfeld’s mayor is Peter Nauert (CDU), and his deputies are Alois Kandels (CDU), Dr. Jörg Bruch (SPD) and Helmut Lorenz (BFL).Peter Nauert is the first mayor ever to be elected by direct vote by the people of Birkenfeld. Both his predecessors, Manfred Dreier and Erich Mörsdorf, headed both the town and the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld at once.
Werner Käufer was the last professional mayor of the town of Birkenfeld. Indeed, he was acclaimed in the office in 1968 with a great majority for another 12 years, but by 1970, he had to give up his professional office when, under 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 ....
, towns with fewer than 7,500 inhabitants were merged into Verbandsgemeinden.
The following have served as mayor of Birkenfeld:
- Eugen Ruppenthal from 1923 to 1933 and from 1949 to 1953
- Oswald Morenz from 1953 to 1961
- Werner Käufer from 1961 to 1970
- Erich Mörsdorf from 1971 to 1990
- Manfred Dreier from 1990 to 2000, (SPD)
- Peter Nauert since 2000, (CDU)
Coat of arms
The town’s armsCoat 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 be described thus: Azure on a mount vert a birch tree with roots proper surmounted by an inescutcheon chequy gules and argent.
The main 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...
, the birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
tree, 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 –...
for the town’s name (“birch” is Birke in 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 inescutcheon with the red and silver “chequy” pattern is the coat of arms formerly borne by the “Hinder” County of Sponheim
County of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
, thus bearing witness to that time in the town’s history. This composition is based on an old court seal from 1577.
The arms have been borne since 29 October 1923, when they were approved by the Ministry of the Interior at Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
.
Town partnerships
Birkenfeld fosters partnerships with the following places: RoerdalenRoerdalen
- Population centres :*Herkenbosch*Melick*Montfort*Posterholt*Reutje*Sint Odiliënberg*Vlodrop- External links :*...
, Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Château-Salins
Château-Salins
Château-Salins is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Moselle department...
, Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Lambdacism in the local dialect
In bygone days, the local Birkenfeld dialect was marked by the peculiarity of often replacing the sounds /d/ and /t/ – and sometimes /r/ as well – with /l/, a shiftSound change
Sound change includes any processes of language change that affect pronunciation or sound system structures...
known as lambdacism. For example, a Birkenfelder in those days would have said Fulerlale where Standard High German would have Futterladen (“fodder shop”). A full-sentence example can be seen in a remark made by the Birkenfeld sexton “Fuchs Karl” to the church councillor and parish priest Haag: Jo, jo, Herr Kirjerot, pririje kann e jela, awa noch lang net loule!, or in Standard High German, Ja, ja, Herr Kirchenrat, predigen kann ein jeder, aber noch lange nicht läuten! (“Yes, yes, Mr. Church Councillor, preaching is something anyone can do, but bellringing, not for long”).
Lambdacism, though, long ago vanished from the Birkenfeld dialect, having given way to the other shift that is customary in Hunsrückisch
Hunsrückisch
Hunsrückisch is a German dialect spoken in the Hunsrück region of Germany . This mountainous region of Germany has long been an exporter of immigrants to the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia and other parts of the world....
: rhotacism
Rhotacism
Rhotacism refers to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r :*the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r;...
.
Museums
The Landesmuseum des Vereins für Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld (“State Museum of the Association for Local History in the Rural District of Birkenfeld”) offers an overview of 2,500 years of cultural history. The centrepiece is the interactively equipped Celtic experience exhibit Kelten, Kunst und Kult erleben (“Experience Celts, ArtArt
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and Worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
”). Here, through reconstructions, archaeological finds and replicas, these people’s life is presented. Further exhibits deal with regional and territorial history of the Birkenfelder Land. Historical highlights among these exhibits are the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
(13th to 15th centuries) and Oldenburg times in the Principality of Birkenfeld beginning in the early 19th century. Regularly changing exhibits deal with both historical and current themes.
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-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 ....
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
- Castle Birkenfeld, Burgstraße 17, 19, 28, 30, 32 (monumental zone) – preserved from the actual mediaevalMiddle AgesThe 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...
castleCastleA castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
a round tower stump; from the RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
complex the gatehouse (no. 17); former Gasthaus zum ledigen Waidsack (innINNInterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
, no. 28); youth hostel, 1926, architect Wilhelm Heilig, DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
(no. 19) - EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
parish church, Am Kirchplatz 4/6 – BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
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...
, five-sided quire, 1750-1756, architects Jonas Erikson Sundahl and Johann Seiz; Romanesque RevivalRomanesque Revival architectureRomanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
west tower, 1895/1896, architect Heinrich Jester, SpeyerSpeyerSpeyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
; bells from 1554, 1717, 1961; décor - Saint James’s Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Jacobus), Maiwiese 8 – Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architectureThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
hall churchHall churchA hall church is a church with nave and side aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was first coined in the mid-19th century by the pioneering German art historian Wilhelm Lübke....
, yellow sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, 1888-1890, architect Reinhold Wirtz, TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
; tomb slab 1752; décor - Am Kirchplatz 2 – dwelling and commercial house, partly timber-frameTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
, marked 1808, essentially older - Am Kirchplatz 5 – Evangelical and Catholic public school; nine-axis Baroque Revival building with mansard roofMansard roofA mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
, 1911; characterizes square’s appearance - Am Kirchplatz 11 – dwelling and (former) commercial house; Renaissance Revival, 1881, characterizes square’s appearance
- Am Rech 2 – so-called Backhaus (“Bakehouse”); small house, partly timber-frame, partly slated, 18th or early 19th century
- An der Oelmühle 4 – former mill; quarrystone building, 1580; oilmill beginning in 1770s, expansion and higher roof 1922; technical equipment
- Auf dem Römer 5 – building with half-hipped roof, partly timber-frame (with wooden shingles), marked 1723
- Auf dem Römer 6 – Baroque house, 18th century, essentially possibly older (1665?); characterizes street’s and town’s appearance
- Auf dem Römer 9 – so-called Kußlersches Haus; corner house, marked 1590, partly with alterations from the 19th century; characterizes town’s appearance
- Bahnhofstraße 2 – Late HistoricistHistoricism (art)Historicism refers to artistic styles that draw their inspiration from copying historic styles or artisans. After neo-classicism, which could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in...
house, hewn-stone plastered surfaces, bare timber framing, late 19th century - Bahnhofstraße 4 – corner house, partly timber-frame (slated), wooden gallery, late 18th or early 19th century; characterizes street’s appearance
- Brückener Straße 8 – house with saddle hipped roof, gabled dormer, 1920s/1930s
- Friedrich-August-Straße 15 – Maler-Hugo-Zang-Haus; NeoclassicalNeoclassical architectureNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
house, 1883 (see below) - Friedrich-August-Straße 17 – museum; in the forms of a RomanAncient RomeAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
country house, 1910, architect Julius Groeschel, MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... - Across from Gollenberger Weg 3 – cast-ironCast ironCast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
fountain, late 19th century - Hauptstraße 9 – so-called Stadthaus (“Town House”); lavish Historicist corner building on a terrace, about 1900
- Before Hauptstraße 11 – so-called Apothekerbrunnen (“Apothecary’s Fountain”); great cast-iron Gothic Revival complex, last fourth of the 19th century
- Königsgasse 11 – dwarf house with barn under one roof, stable built on later and roof made higher
- Pfarrgasse 1 – Evangelical rectory; solid bungalow, biaxial dormer, 1733
- Between Rennweg 27 and 29 – warriors’ memorial for students from the Gymnasium Betuletia who fell in the First World War; cube upon a pedestal, steel-helmet relief, 1927, design by Wilhelm Heilig, Darmstadt
- Across from Rennweg 30 – so-called Steinernes Kreuz (“Stone Cross”); BildstockBildstockA wayside shrine, is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mountain. They have been a feature of many cultures,...
, tuffTuffTuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
, 16th century, possibly Pre-Reformation - Saarstraße 19 – stately Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), latter half of the 19th century
- Schadtengasse 2 – house with three-part window ensemble, marked 1838
- Schlossallee 3 – five-axis wood-shingled house, 19th century; at the south gable parts of a nursery’s sunken conservatory
- Schlossallee 11 and 13 – Neues Schloss; ClassicistClassicismClassicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
group around open cour d'honneurCour d'HonneurCour d'Honneur is the architectural term for defining a three-sided courtyard, created when the main central block, or corps de logis, is flanked by symmetrical advancing secondary wings, containing minor rooms...
, 1819-1821, architect J. W. L. Brofft, FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
; main building with triaxial middle risaltoRisalitA risalit, from the Italian risalto for "projection", is a German term which refers to a part of a building that juts out, usually over the full height of the building. In English the French term avant-corps is sometimes used. It is common in façades in the baroque period.A corner risalit is where...
, round behind, a balcony-porch; décor; one-floor side building with gabled entrance facility - Schlossallee 2, 3, 5, 9, 7, 11, 15, Schneewiesenstraße 22, 25, Friedrich-August-Straße 17, Regierungsviertel (“Governmental Quarter”; monumental zone) – in Oldenburg times, beginning in the early 19th century successively built buildings in the angle formed by Schneewiesenstraße and Friedrich-August-Straße including palatial castle (Schloss), barracks, prison, Government Building II, forester’s office, museum and GymnasiumGymnasium (school)A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
headmaster’s house - Schneewiesenstraße 3 – so-called Pirmannsches Haus; elegant Classicist building, three-floor gabled risalto, 1859
- Schneewiesenstraße 22 – former infantry barracks; so-called Altes Gymnasium, nine-axis Classicist plastered building, 1842/1843
- Schneewiesenstraße 25 – third Oldenburg public authority building; Baroque Revival building with mansard roof, three-floor gabled risalto, 1912
- Wasserschiederstraße 1 – corner house, partly slated, round behind, a sided gallery, hipped mansard roof, 1767, shop built in about 1900; characterizes town’s appearance
- Wasserschiederstraße 2/4 – double house on a high base, entrance gateway, marked 1791
- Wasserschiederstraße 6 – former inn with breweryBreweryA brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
; sandstone quarrystone building, marked 1897 - Wasserschiederstraße 7 – house, partly timber-frame (plastered), possibly from the early 19th century
- Wasserschiederstraße 16 – great house with stable facilities, mid 19th century
- Behind Wasserschiederstraße 47 – dovecoteDovecoteA dovecote or dovecot is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in...
; small wooden building, cross-shaped roof with lantern, latter half of the 19th century - Wasserschiederstraße 49 – building with hipped roof, country house style, about 1910, roofed gallery to side building in the garden
- Graveyard, Brückener Straße (monumental zone) – laid out in1810; Gothic Revival chapelChapelA chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, about 1850; grave cross 1769, on pedestal about 1900; memorial to the fallen 1870/1871; two elegant family graves (Eduard and Richard Böcking’s families); family Scherer’s tomb, 1920s - JewishJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard, southeast of the town, on the road to DambachDambachDambach may refer to:* Dambach, Bas-Rhin, France* Dambach-la-Ville, Bas-Rhin, France* Dambach, Germany, a municipality in Landkreis Birkenfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate* and many others settlements and several streams in Germany...
(monumental zone) – 34 grave steles in situ, from 1898 and later
Maler-Zang-Haus
Right next to the Birkenfeld State Museum is the Maler-Zang-Haus (“Painter Zang House”). The house, built in 1883 in the bourgeois Classicist style, is where the painter Hugo Zang (1858-1946) once lived. In 2006, restoration work began in an effort to bring the house up to a standard worthy of monumental protection. Since 2008, the building has housed not only the Birkenfeld district folk high schoolFolk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
but also seven gallery rooms for changing exhibitions of works by local and national artists.
Economy
The town’s economy is characterized mainly by small and midsize businesses. Owing to Birkenfeld’s history as a noble residence town and an administrative seat, no great industrial development ever took place here. The biggest employers, besides the administrative bodies, are thus a foundation and the BundeswehrBundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
.
The German Red Cross
German Red Cross
The German Red Cross , or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.With over 4.5 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany...
’s (DRK) Elisabeth-Stiftung, a medical rehabilitation foundation, with its hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, Berufsförderungswerk Birkenfeld (an institute for retraining workers whose condition precludes their return to former occupations), private vocational schools, measures for youth and senior citizens’ home is with more than 600 employees the town’s biggest employer. Following the Elisabeth-Stiftung is the Bundeswehr (among other units, the 2nd Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
Division) with more than 500 military and civilian personnel. The Stefan-Morsch-Stiftung, a foundation for keeping data on potential bone marrow
Bone marrow
Bone marrow is the flexible tissue found in the interior of bones. In humans, bone marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in adults weighing 65 kg , bone marrow accounts for approximately 2.6 kg...
and stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
donors, has its seat in Birkenfeld.
On the lands of the former railway station, a centre for starting up
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
businesses (“BIG-Center”) was built in the 1990s.
Road
Birkenfeld has good road links to BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 41 (east-west, between Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
and Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
) and 269 (between Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues is a well-known winegrowing centre on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Saarlouis
Saarlouis
Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located at the river Saar....
), as well as to Autobahn A 62
Bundesautobahn 62
is an autobahn in southwestern Germany, connecting the A 1 with the A 6. It also connects numerous communities throughout the central Hunsrück mountains...
, which is the most important north-south link, running between Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
and Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
. Furthermore, Bundesstraße 269 links to the Hunsrückhöhenstraße, and thereby to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
-Cargo airlines:-Other facilities:AirIT Services AG, a subsidiary of Fraport, has its head office in Building 663 at Hahn Airport.-References:*Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force,...
, which lies 50 km away by road. This journey is covered five times each day by a bus service.
Rail
Birkenfeld’s rail link is 5 km away in nearby NeubrückeHoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, which has a station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
–Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
). Saarbrücken can be reached by train in 45 minutes, and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
in less than two hours. The former spur line leading to Birkenfeld has been abandoned, and is now a cycle path.
Hiking trails
Running outwards from Birkenfeld are five local loop trails for hikingHiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
with a total length through the region of more than 60 km. These are the Glockenweg (roughly 16 km), the Eulenweg (roughly 9 km), the Mausweg (roughly 12.5 km), the Mühlenweg (roughly 12.5 km) and the Rehweg (roughly 12.5 km). The long-distance Nahe-Höhenweg and the Sironaweg, which leads by many Celtic-Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds, likewise run by Birkenfeld.
Cycle paths
The roughly 120 km-long Nahe-Radweg and the Rheinland-Pfalz-Route run right through the middle of town. They are supplemented by three local cycling circuits, R1, R2 and R3, with a total length of just under 80 km.Education
Since 1996, a vocational schoolVocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
has been established on the grounds of a former US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military hospital in the neighbouring municipality of Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
. The Environment Campus Birkenfeld
Environment Campus Birkenfeld
The Environment Campus Birkenfeld is a branch of the largest University of Applied Sciences in the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is close to the small town of Birkenfeld in Rhineland-Palatinate, close to the border of Saarland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. There are 2,200 students...
(Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld) has, as a location of the Fachhochschule Trier, made a significant contribution to the Birkenfeld region’s economic development.
For school-age children there is a broad array of offerings.
- Primary school
- Realschule plus
- GymnasiumGymnasium (school)A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
Birkenfeld - Förderschule Schwerpunkt Lernen (special school with focus on learning)
Enjoying more than local importance is the Elisabeth-Stiftung medical rehabilitation foundation, with its specific offers of qualifications to people with either physical or mental handicaps. Alumni come from all over Germany and even from neighbouring countries.
Among other academic offerings is the Volkshochschule Birkenfeld, a folk high school
Folk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
.
Authorities
Birkenfeld is the location of a number of authorities:- District administration
- Verbandsgemeinde administration
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal employment agencyEmployment agencyAn employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In all developed countries there is a publicly funded employment agency and multiple private businesses which also act as employment agencies.-Public employment agencies:...
) - Land surveying office
- Police department
- Forester’s office
Sport and leisure
Birkenfeld has, among other sport and leisure facilities, a heated outdoor swimming poolSwimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
, the Stadion am Berg (“Stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
at the Mountain”), several sport halls, a zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
, two libraries, a vocational library and the youth centre. In 2000, a skatepark
Skatepark
A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, aggressive inline skating and scooters. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets,...
was built at the youth centre, which in 2005 was expanded with a funbox
Funbox
A funbox is a standard element of a skatepark. Its main characteristic is the table component in the middle which varies by height and surface area and is usually surrounded by ramps and transitions. There are many possible compositions, with the simplest form being a table followed by a ramp...
, a quarter pipe
Quarter pipe
A Quarter pipe is a ramp used in extreme sports which resembles a quarter of the cross section of a pipe. They are most commonly found in skateparks and a skiing/snowboarding terrain park, although the trained eye of an extreme sports fan can find them in modern day architecture...
, a ramp and an obstacle.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Walter Bleicker (1909–2000), honorary citizen, managing director of the Elisabeth-Stiftung, a medical rehabilitation foundation based in Birkenfeld, from 1966 to 1980
- Alfred Eppler (1867–1923), German mineralogist
- Heiner Flassbeck (1950– ), German economist, secretary of state (ret.), UNCTADUnited Nations Conference on Trade and DevelopmentThe United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues....
chief economist - Carl Ludwig Frommel (1789–1863), German painter, etcher, copper and steel engraver
- Matthias HennMatthias HennMatthias Henn is a German footballer who plays as a defender for Eintracht Braunschweig. He spent two seasons in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Kaiserslautern.-External links:* at transfermarkt.de...
(1985– ), German footballer - Lorielle LondonLorielle LondonLorielle London is a German transsexual entertainer.Lorenzo was a contestant of Deutschland sucht den Superstar , Die ProSieben Märchenstunde, later Lorielle was a contestant in Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, Season Four.- External links :*...
(1983– ), transsexual entertainer - Otto Pick (1882–1945), German Democratic Party Member of the Reichstag
- August Rippel-Baldes (1888–1970), founder of microbiologyMicrobiologyMicrobiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
- Eugenia von Skene (1906–?), KapoKapo (concentration camp)A kapo was a prisoner who worked inside German Nazi concentration camps during World War II in any of certain lower administrative positions. The official Nazi word was Funktionshäftling, or "prisoner functionary", but the Nazis commonly referred to them as kapos.- Etymology :The origin of "kapo"...
at Ravensbrück concentration campRavensbrück concentration campRavensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück .... - Christian Warth (1836–1890), modeller and draughtsman, known for the figure “Trauernde” (“Mourning Woman”) made by Villeroy & BochVilleroy & BochVilleroy & Boch is a large manufacturer of ceramics with the company headquarters located in Mettlach, Germany.-Company history:The company began in the tiny French village of Audun le Tiche, where François Boch set up a pottery company with his three sons in 1748. Later, the company moved to...
on a make-to-stockBuild to stockBuild to stock, or make to stock, often abbreviated as BTS or MTS, is a build-ahead production approach in which production plans may be based upon sales forecasts and/or historical demand...
basis, which can be found in many graveyards
Famous people associated with the town
- Ludwig Friedrich Schmidt (1764–1857), clergyman in Birkenfeld, later cabinet preacher to Queen Caroline of BavariaCaroline of BadenCaroline of Baden of Baden was an Electress of Bavaria and later the first Queen of Bavaria as the spouse of King Maximilian I Joseph.- Biography :...
and the first EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
clergyman in Munich, said to be the father of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in BavariaEvangelical Lutheran Church in BavariaThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria is a Protestant church in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich....
.
Many well known people went to school in Birkenfeld:
- Friedrich Cassebohm (1872–1951), jurist and politician, among other things Minister-President of the Free State of Oldenburg
- Reinhard Goering (1887–1936), writer, Kleist PrizeKleist PrizeThe Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Republic, but was discontinued in 1933.In 1985 the prize...
(1930) - John Henry MackayJohn Henry MackayJohn Henry Mackay was an individualist anarchist, thinker and writer. Born in Scotland and raised in Germany, Mackay was the author of Die Anarchisten and Der Freiheitsucher . Mackay was published in the United States in his friend Benjamin Tucker's magazine, Liberty...
(1864–1933), Scottish-German writer - Gerhard Storm (1888–1942) died at Dachau, martyr in the Catholic Church
- Klaus Rüter (b. 1940 in Berlin), German jurist, administrative official and politician (SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
). - Nicole (1964– ), singer and winner at the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song ContestThe Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
with “Ein bißchen FriedenEin Bißchen Frieden"Ein bißchen Frieden" is a song in German, written by prolific German Eurovision-writing duo Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger for the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England....
”
Further reading
- Heyen, Franz-Josef und Zimmer, Theresia, „Wappenbuch des Landkreises Birkenfeld“, herausgegeben vom Landkreis Birkenfeld und der Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz, Band 6, Selbstverlag der Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz, 1966, Koblenz
- Brucker, Heinrich, „Birkenfelder Land Erinnerungen“, Geiger-Verlag, 1990, Birkenfeld
- Dr. Klar, Hugo, „Aufsätze zur Heimatkunde des Landkreises Birkenfeld“, Band II, Sonderheft 24, Hrsg. Verein für Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld, 1974, Birkenfeld