Bärenbach, Rhein-Hunsrück
Encyclopedia
Bärenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district
) in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
about 1 km east of the river Nahe.
Rhineland-Palatinate’s geographical midpoint is found within Bärenbach’s municipal limits. A stone marks the spot at precisely 49°57′18.5"N 7°18′37.5"E where the midpoint lies.
, the Margraviate of Baden
, the “Further” County of Sponheim
and the Oberamt of Kirchberg. In this time, the Counts of Sponheim shared their holdings out in a “Further” County and a “Hinder” County. To the Oberamt of Kirchberg in the “Further” County belonged Altlay
, Bärenbach, Belg
, Büchenbeuren
, Hahn
, Niedersohren
, Niederweiler
, Rödelhausen
, Sohren
, Wahlenau
and Würrich
.
In 1437, the comital House of Sponheim died out in the male line, and thereafter, Bärenbach belonged to the Margraviate of Baden, Electoral Palatinate (Kreuznach). Over the next 355 years from 1437 to 1792, the counts’ titles changed often: Margrave at Baden, Count Palatine, Count of Beldenz. The counts’ lordship, however, was definitively swept away in 1813 after the French Revolutionary Wars
by the French
. In 1816 the area passed to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
.
n prisoners of war
were detailed to help out with agricultural
work, which was greatly needed, for so many local men were away at the fighting. With the German Army’s retreat between 16 and 30 November 1917, military personnel of all kinds were quartered in the village for days in great numbers. In early December, the French marched in and occupied the area. There was no permanent occupation in Bärenbach. French troops were quartered in the village for eight days and American
troops for only one. Curfew was nine o’clock in the evening and travel without photograph identification was forbidden.
Fourteen men from Bärenbach fell in the war, and one went missing in action
in France
.
came to power in 1933, Nazi organizations were set up in Bärenbach as they were elsewhere in Germany. Among others maintaining a presence were the Hitler Youth
(Hitlerjugend – HJ), the League of German Girls
(Bund Deutscher Mädel – BDM) and the National Socialist People's Welfare
(Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt – NSV). The Party’s Local Group Leader (Ortsgruppenleiter) was Reinhold Barth. The Hitler Youth leader was at first Rudolf Bolz and then later Walter Schuch, followed by Ernst Müller and then Kurt Bonn. The Deutsches Jungvolk
leader was Hans Weckmann, and the BDM leader was Else Litz (or Else Bonn after her marriage). The NS-Frauenschaft leader was Emma Spehr, and later Emilie Barth. The NSV leader was Reinhold Barth, and later Johann Weckmann.
In May 1938, the old schoolhouse was converted into a Party house. Furthermore, the locally well known garden, until now known as the Kaisergarten, was dubbed the Adolf Hitler Garten. An oak tree was planted to mark this occasion, and a torchlight parade was held. Later, the French dug the oak out and removed the document and the coins buried underneath as war booty. In April 1939, an NSV kindergarten
was established in the village.
In September 1939 came war. The handwritten village chronicle actually says: “Poland
declared war on us first” (Zuerst erklärte uns Polen den Krieg). This was, of course, a lie. During the 18-day Polish Campaign came the first quartering of German troops in Bärenbach.
On 24 May 1940, a great bomb fell on the Sohren
municipal area, causing considerable damage. In Kirchberg
, an airfield was established. Outgoing aircraft flying westwards overflew Bärenbach. Older people were unsettled by all the aircraft, but youngsters waved at them. Allied
fliers, for their part, dropped leaflets in the night in an attempt to unsettle the German populace.
In 1941, the RAF
began dropping small incendiary devices known to Germans as Brandplättchen. Such a drop took place on the night of 24 July 1941. This was followed by a hunt for any of those that had not ignited. Some were found. The importance of blackout
was impressed on the people.
By 1943, local people’s kin, and unrelated people, too, from bigger centres began arriving in Bärenbach seeking shelter from air raid
s; some had been left homeless.
On 2 February 1943, the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad
capitulated. Six days later, a gathering was held in the street in Bärenbach to thank the German soldiers for their efforts. On the night of 4 and 5 October 1943, Allied aircraft overflew the village. Even the next day, many planes were seen. The next night, an Allied flier had to make an emergency landing. Before the aircraft exploded, it dropped a bomb on Sohren’s outlying countryside. The aircraft crashed in Winterbach
, scattering engine parts everywhere. Only two of the crew escaped safely and were captured. They turned out to be Canadians
.
In 1944, a nightwatch was begun in Bärenbach to warn of any impending airstrikes. Rooms were set up for the watchmen at the Party house. Early on 30 January 1944, Allied aircraft flew in droves over Bärenbach. German fighters were sent to defend against them. It was not quite 11 o’clock in the morning when the sound of the aircraft’s guns burst out overhead. One plane was shot down in the exchange; the German fighter pilot crashed between Bärenbach and Würrich
and was badly wounded, dying a short while later.
In September, a Flak
unit was stationed in the village. On 30 September 1944, tank traps were built in Bärenbach. With the onset of the Battle of the Bulge
on 16 December 1944 came the stationing of Panzer
and intelligence personnel in Bärenbach.
On 2 January 1945, Hahn
was bombed with the loss of six lives, and further, almost every house was in some way damaged. Meanwhile, in Bärenbach, the number of evacuees from Prüm
, Trier
and Bonn
had risen to 58. On 5 March, the woods near the village were bombed, probably because some forest workers had lit a fire to warm their dinner. Nobody was hurt. Nor were there any casualties when Bärenbach came under fire from an Allied fighter-bomber on 15 March, although several houses were shot up, one of which caught fire.
On 18 March 1945, the war ended, at least for Bärenbach. An American tank
came into the village from the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
’s orders). Bärenbach sustained no further damage, and there was no fighting.
, but he was released after six months. Erich Herrmann, too, was arrested and taken away to Diez. He had just been released from a prisoner-of-war camp
, but was under suspicion because he had served with the Waffen-SS
. Two women were arrested and imprisoned in Traben-Trabach for allegedly burying in the woods a military weapon that they had found in a barn. One was released three months later, but the other was kept in prison longer.
Nature, too, brought misfortune to Bärenbach. A hail
storm wiped out between 70 and 75% of the local harvest. A further 10% was claimed by the local wild swine. In 1947, an unusually hot summer whose temperatures reached 50 °C, and its attendant drought
, wrought further havoc with agriculture
, both endangering livestock and reducing harvests to fractions of their usual levels (and in some cases, even to nothing); potato
es in some places were shrunk to the size of walnuts.
In 1946, Bärenbach became part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
. The following year, the state’s government took power, although the Federal Republic
had not yet been founded.
In 1980, the United States Air Force
demanded that the municipality of Bärenbach hand over 53 ha of land needed for use in the establishment of its “Roland” surface-to-air-missile defence system to be installed at, among other places, the nearby Hahn Air Base
. The municipal council, backed by CDU Member of the Landtag (state legislature) Walter Mallmann, refused to comply.
Flurbereinigung
was being undertaken at this time as well, after having begun in 1977.
On 1 December 1982, the mood at a village festival was somewhat dampened by the news that an F-16 jet from Hahn Air Base had crashed. The base commander, who was a guest at the festival, quickly left and hurried to the scene. However, he came back later with the news that the pilot had not been too badly injured.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: A bend sinister wavy azure between argent a bear rampant sinister sable armed and langued gules and chequy of twenty Or and azure.
The bend sinister wavy (slanted wavy stripe) refers to the village’s namesake stream, the Bärenbach. The bear is a canting
charge
, referring to the municipality’s name (Bär is German
for “bear”, and Bären is the form it takes in the oblique cases). The “chequy” part of the arms is from the coat of arms formerly borne by the Counts of Sponheim
.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
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 Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (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 Kirchberg
Kirchberg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kirchberg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Kirchberg.The Verbandsgemeinde Kirchberg consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Kirchberg, Rhein-Hunsrück
-History:Archaeological finds make it clear that by 400 BC, the Treveri, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic stock, from whom the Latin name for the city of Trier, Augusta Treverorum, is also derived, had settled here...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the HunsrückHunsrück
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...
about 1 km east of the river Nahe.
Rhineland-Palatinate’s geographical midpoint is found within Bärenbach’s municipal limits. A stone marks the spot at precisely 49°57′18.5"N 7°18′37.5"E where the midpoint lies.
Middle Ages and early modern times
In 1103, Bärenbach had its first documentary mention. Between 1234 and 1437, Bärenbach belonged to the Upper Rhenish CircleUpper Rhenish Circle
The Upper Rhenish Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundian duchy of Savoy....
, the Margraviate 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....
, the “Further” 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...
and the Oberamt of Kirchberg. In this time, the Counts of Sponheim shared their holdings out in a “Further” County and a “Hinder” County. To the Oberamt of Kirchberg in the “Further” County belonged Altlay
Altlay
Altlay is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Bärenbach, Belg
Belg
Belg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
, Hahn
Hahn, Rhineland-Palatinate
-History:Within Hahn’s municipal limits are traces of Roman and Frankish settlement. The placename Hahn, originally written Hagene , and later also Haan, Han, Hane, and Hain, originally meant, according to the Rhenish toponym researcher Heinrich Dittmaier, “wattled fence”, then later “enclosed...
, Niedersohren
Niedersohren
Niedersohren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town.-Location:The municipality lies...
, Niederweiler
Niederweiler
Niederweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Rödelhausen
Rödelhausen
Rödelhausen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Sohren
Sohren
Sohren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
, Wahlenau
Wahlenau
Wahlenau is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Würrich
Würrich
Würrich is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
In 1437, the comital House of Sponheim died out in the male line, and thereafter, Bärenbach belonged to the Margraviate of Baden, Electoral Palatinate (Kreuznach). Over the next 355 years from 1437 to 1792, the counts’ titles changed often: Margrave at Baden, Count Palatine, Count of Beldenz. The counts’ lordship, however, was definitively swept away in 1813 after the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
by the French
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...
. In 1816 the area passed to the Kingdom of 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...
at 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,...
.
First World War
Fifty-six men from Bärenbach were called into the military in the First World War. In the war’s later years, RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
were detailed to help out with agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
work, which was greatly needed, for so many local men were away at the fighting. With the German Army’s retreat between 16 and 30 November 1917, military personnel of all kinds were quartered in the village for days in great numbers. In early December, the French marched in and occupied the area. There was no permanent occupation in Bärenbach. French troops were quartered in the village for eight days and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
troops for only one. Curfew was nine o’clock in the evening and travel without photograph identification was forbidden.
Fourteen men from Bärenbach fell in the war, and one went missing in action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
in 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...
.
Third Reich and Second World War
When Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
came to power in 1933, Nazi organizations were set up in Bärenbach as they were elsewhere in Germany. Among others maintaining a presence were the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
(Hitlerjugend – HJ), the League of German Girls
League of German Girls
The League of German Girls or League of German Maidens , was the girl's wing of the overall Nazi party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only female youth organization in Nazi Germany....
(Bund Deutscher Mädel – BDM) and the National Socialist People's Welfare
National Socialist People's Welfare
The Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt , meaning "National Socialist People's Welfare" was a social welfare organization during the Third Reich. The NSV was established in 1933, shortly after the NSDAP took power in Germany...
(Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt – NSV). The Party’s Local Group Leader (Ortsgruppenleiter) was Reinhold Barth. The Hitler Youth leader was at first Rudolf Bolz and then later Walter Schuch, followed by Ernst Müller and then Kurt Bonn. The Deutsches Jungvolk
Deutsches Jungvolk
thumb|250px|DJ TroopThe Deutsches Jungvolk was the subdivision of the Hitler Youth for boys aged 10 to 14. It reinforced the National Socialist view of Aryan ideals and transmitted the Nazi idea of the Volksgemeinschaft...
leader was Hans Weckmann, and the BDM leader was Else Litz (or Else Bonn after her marriage). The NS-Frauenschaft leader was Emma Spehr, and later Emilie Barth. The NSV leader was Reinhold Barth, and later Johann Weckmann.
In May 1938, the old schoolhouse was converted into a Party house. Furthermore, the locally well known garden, until now known as the Kaisergarten, was dubbed the Adolf Hitler Garten. An oak tree was planted to mark this occasion, and a torchlight parade was held. Later, the French dug the oak out and removed the document and the coins buried underneath as war booty. In April 1939, an NSV kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
was established in the village.
In September 1939 came war. The handwritten village chronicle actually says: “Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
declared war on us first” (Zuerst erklärte uns Polen den Krieg). This was, of course, a lie. During the 18-day Polish Campaign came the first quartering of German troops in Bärenbach.
On 24 May 1940, a great bomb fell on the Sohren
Sohren
Sohren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
municipal area, causing considerable damage. In Kirchberg
Kirchberg, Rhein-Hunsrück
-History:Archaeological finds make it clear that by 400 BC, the Treveri, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic stock, from whom the Latin name for the city of Trier, Augusta Treverorum, is also derived, had settled here...
, an airfield was established. Outgoing aircraft flying westwards overflew Bärenbach. Older people were unsettled by all the aircraft, but youngsters waved at them. Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
fliers, for their part, dropped leaflets in the night in an attempt to unsettle the German populace.
In 1941, the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
began dropping small incendiary devices known to Germans as Brandplättchen. Such a drop took place on the night of 24 July 1941. This was followed by a hunt for any of those that had not ignited. Some were found. The importance of blackout
Blackout (wartime)
A blackout during war, or apprehended war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to navigate to their targets simply by sight, for example during the London...
was impressed on the people.
By 1943, local people’s kin, and unrelated people, too, from bigger centres began arriving in Bärenbach seeking shelter from air raid
Air raid
Air raid refers to an attack by aircraft. See strategic bombing or the smaller-scale airstrike.Air raid may also refer to:*Air Raid , by the improvisational collective Air...
s; some had been left homeless.
On 2 February 1943, the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
capitulated. Six days later, a gathering was held in the street in Bärenbach to thank the German soldiers for their efforts. On the night of 4 and 5 October 1943, Allied aircraft overflew the village. Even the next day, many planes were seen. The next night, an Allied flier had to make an emergency landing. Before the aircraft exploded, it dropped a bomb on Sohren’s outlying countryside. The aircraft crashed in Winterbach
Winterbach, Bad Kreuznach
Winterbach is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....
, scattering engine parts everywhere. Only two of the crew escaped safely and were captured. They turned out to be Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
In 1944, a nightwatch was begun in Bärenbach to warn of any impending airstrikes. Rooms were set up for the watchmen at the Party house. Early on 30 January 1944, Allied aircraft flew in droves over Bärenbach. German fighters were sent to defend against them. It was not quite 11 o’clock in the morning when the sound of the aircraft’s guns burst out overhead. One plane was shot down in the exchange; the German fighter pilot crashed between Bärenbach and Würrich
Würrich
Würrich is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and was badly wounded, dying a short while later.
In September, a Flak
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
unit was stationed in the village. On 30 September 1944, tank traps were built in Bärenbach. With the onset of the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
on 16 December 1944 came the stationing of Panzer
Panzer
A Panzer is a German language word that, when used as a noun, means "tank". When it is used as an adjective, it means either tank or "armoured" .- Etymology :...
and intelligence personnel in Bärenbach.
On 2 January 1945, Hahn
Hahn, Rhineland-Palatinate
-History:Within Hahn’s municipal limits are traces of Roman and Frankish settlement. The placename Hahn, originally written Hagene , and later also Haan, Han, Hane, and Hain, originally meant, according to the Rhenish toponym researcher Heinrich Dittmaier, “wattled fence”, then later “enclosed...
was bombed with the loss of six lives, and further, almost every house was in some way damaged. Meanwhile, in Bärenbach, the number of evacuees from Prüm
Prüm
Prüm is a town in the Westeifel , Germany. Formerly a district capital, today it is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Prüm.-Geography:...
, 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 Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
had risen to 58. On 5 March, the woods near the village were bombed, probably because some forest workers had lit a fire to warm their dinner. Nobody was hurt. Nor were there any casualties when Bärenbach came under fire from an Allied fighter-bomber on 15 March, although several houses were shot up, one of which caught fire.
On 18 March 1945, the war ended, at least for Bärenbach. An American tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
came into the village from the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück 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). Bärenbach sustained no further damage, and there was no fighting.
Postwar era
In January 1946, the military authorities ordered a census, which yielded a population figure of 282 for Bärenbach, including the evacuees. The Nazi Local Group Leader (Ortsgruppenleiter), Reinhold Barth, was seized and taken to 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...
, but he was released after six months. Erich Herrmann, too, was arrested and taken away to Diez. He had just been released from a prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
, but was under suspicion because he had served with the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
. Two women were arrested and imprisoned in Traben-Trabach for allegedly burying in the woods a military weapon that they had found in a barn. One was released three months later, but the other was kept in prison longer.
Nature, too, brought misfortune to Bärenbach. A hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
storm wiped out between 70 and 75% of the local harvest. A further 10% was claimed by the local wild swine. In 1947, an unusually hot summer whose temperatures reached 50 °C, and its attendant drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
, wrought further havoc with agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, both endangering livestock and reducing harvests to fractions of their usual levels (and in some cases, even to nothing); potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es in some places were shrunk to the size of walnuts.
In 1946, Bärenbach became part of the then newly founded state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of 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 ....
. The following year, the state’s government took power, although the Federal Republic
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
had not yet been founded.
In 1980, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
demanded that the municipality of Bärenbach hand over 53 ha of land needed for use in the establishment of its “Roland” surface-to-air-missile defence system to be installed at, among other places, the nearby Hahn Air Base
Hahn Air Base
Hahn Air Base was a frontline NATO facility in Germany for over 40 years during the Cold War...
. The municipal council, backed by CDU Member of the Landtag (state legislature) Walter Mallmann, refused to comply.
Flurbereinigung
Flurbereinigung
Flurbereinigung is the German word used to describe land reforms in various countries, especially Germany and Austria. The term can best be translated as land consolidation. Another European country where those land reforms have been carried out is France...
was being undertaken at this time as well, after having begun in 1977.
On 1 December 1982, the mood at a village festival was somewhat dampened by the news that an F-16 jet from Hahn Air Base had crashed. The base commander, who was a guest at the festival, quickly left and hurried to the scene. However, he came back later with the news that the pilot had not been too badly injured.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.Mayor
Bärenbach’s mayor is Thomas Stein, and his deputies are Wolfgang Kimmling and Gerlinde Weirich.Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Geteilt von einer schräglinken blauen Wellenleiste. Oben in Silber ein steigender, linksgewendeter, rotbewehrter und rotgezungter schwarzer Bär. Unten geschacht von Gold und Blau.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: A bend sinister wavy azure between argent a bear rampant sinister sable armed and langued gules and chequy of twenty Or and azure.
The bend sinister wavy (slanted wavy stripe) refers to the village’s namesake stream, the Bärenbach. The bear is a 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 –...
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...
, referring to the municipality’s name (Bär is 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....
for “bear”, and Bären is the form it takes in the oblique cases). The “chequy” part of the arms is from the coat of arms formerly borne 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...
.
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:
- Hahner Straße 1 – 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...
house, brick partitions, marked 1901, barn; whole complex of buildings