Dahn
Encyclopedia
----
Dahn is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz
district, in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It is situated in the Palatinate Forest, approximately 15 km southeast of Pirmasens
, and 25 km west of Landau
. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde
("collective municipality") of Dahner Felsenland
.
, a part of the Wasgau, which is itself a part of the Palatinate Forest. A small creek
, the Lauter
, flows through Dahn, and here, in the area of its headwaters, is called the Wieslauter. The border with Alsace
(France
) is located 10 km south of Dahn.
The fir tree (ger.: Tanne [assumed as a symbol for the name of the town]) formerly stood alone as the symbol of Dahn. The new coat of arms considers the following historical points: The knights of Than, feudatories of the bishop of Speyer
, were the lords of Dahn for over four hundred years and may have called themselves after the town. This was the reason for inferring the white eagle with red background from the knight's coat of arms which showed three white eagles (maybe the symbol for the triple castle Altdahn-Grafdahn-Tannstein). After the extinction of the House of Than in 1603 Dahn was the head office of a department of the diocese of Speyer. This situation lasted until the beginning of the French revolutionary wars in 1797/98. That is why the white cross was adopted from that diocese. The fir remains as a memorial to the name of the town, the old seal of the Court and the scenic location of the city in the Palatinate Forest.
acceeded to its application which had been filed on the 24th of January, 1963.
(Elections on 7 June 2009, number of mandates: 20)
A 70 m tall rock juts above the city and is a famous destination for rock climbers
during the summer. Its name Jungfernsprung ("Virgin's Leap"), is derived from an old legend.
Even nowadays the forests and sandstone
rocks surrounding Dahn give fantastic Lebensraum to the fabulous Elwetritsche. To honour the excellent relation between inhabitants of Dahn and Elwetritsche there is an Elwetritsche lecture trail, an Elwetritsche hiking trail as well as Elwetritsche fountains and further memorials.
shows an upwards trend because nature
in the surrounding area is largely intact and frequently quite spectacular.
427 (Hinterweidenthal
-Bad Bergzabern
) passes through Dahn. The initially proposed plug-in connection of Bundesautobahn 8 (Pirmasens
-Karlsruhe
) which was planned to pass Dahn has never been realised.
Since 1997 the Wieslauterbahn calls at Dahn on Sundays and statutory holidays. It connects Hinterweidenthal and Bundenthal
. Regular public train service stopped in 1966.
.
of Dahn provides educational services for the municipality of Dahn as well as the municipalities of Schindhard
and Erfweiler
. The school centre of Dahn is within the commuter belt of a Hauptschule
, a Realschule
and the Otfried-von-Weißenburg-Gymnasium of Western-Wasgau. This gymnasium is the only one in the Südwestpfalz. Dahn also has a special needs school (the Ritter-von-Tann-Förderschule). During the years 1958 through 1994 the Catholic Church operated a boarding school
, the Studienheim St. Pirmin.
Dahn is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz
Südwestpfalz
Südwestpfalz is a district in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Saarpfalz, the district-free city Zweibrücken, the districts Kaiserslautern and Bad Dürkheim, the district-free city Landau , Südliche Weinstraße, and the French département Bas-Rhin...
district, 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 is situated in the Palatinate Forest, approximately 15 km southeast of Pirmasens
Pirmasens
Pirmasens is a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It is famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed Südwestpfalz....
, and 25 km west of Landau
Landau
Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...
. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
("collective municipality") of Dahner Felsenland
Dahner Felsenland
Dahner Felsenland is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate forest, approx. 15 km southeast of Pirmasens, and 25 km west of Landau. Its seat of administration is in its central town, Dahn...
.
Geography
Dahn is located 210 m above sea level in a valley of the Dahner FelsenlandDahner Felsenland
Dahner Felsenland is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate forest, approx. 15 km southeast of Pirmasens, and 25 km west of Landau. Its seat of administration is in its central town, Dahn...
, a part of the Wasgau, which is itself a part of the Palatinate Forest. A small creek
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
, the Lauter
Lauter
Lauter may refer to:In towns:*Lauter, Saxony, town in the district of Aue-Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Germany*Lauter, Bavaria, village in the district of Bamberg, Bavaria, GermanyIn rivers:*Lauter , tributary to the Baunach, Germany...
, flows through Dahn, and here, in the area of its headwaters, is called the Wieslauter. The border with Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
(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...
) is located 10 km south of Dahn.
Coat of arms
In 1952 the coat of arms was recreated as a result of historical research. The new shield, parted per chevron has on its dexter chief: azure (blue), a cross argent (silver); on its sinster chief: gules (red), an eagle argent (silver) and on its base: or (gold), a fir tree vert (green).The fir tree (ger.: Tanne [assumed as a symbol for the name of the town]) formerly stood alone as the symbol of Dahn. The new coat of arms considers the following historical points: The knights of Than, feudatories of the bishop of Speyer
Speyer
Speyer 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...
, were the lords of Dahn for over four hundred years and may have called themselves after the town. This was the reason for inferring the white eagle with red background from the knight's coat of arms which showed three white eagles (maybe the symbol for the triple castle Altdahn-Grafdahn-Tannstein). After the extinction of the House of Than in 1603 Dahn was the head office of a department of the diocese of Speyer. This situation lasted until the beginning of the French revolutionary wars in 1797/98. That is why the white cross was adopted from that diocese. The fir remains as a memorial to the name of the town, the old seal of the Court and the scenic location of the city in the Palatinate Forest.
Municipal law
Dahn received its municipal law on the 27th of October, 1963 after the Land 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 ....
acceeded to its application which had been filed on the 24th of January, 1963.
Policy
Aldermen:(Elections on 7 June 2009, number of mandates: 20)
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
CDU | FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
FWG Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
Summation | |
| 2009 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 20 Seats |
| 2004 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 20 Seats |
Culture and sightseeing
In the neighborhood of Dahn there is the ruin of a triple castle, the Altdahn-Grafendahn-Tannstein castle, as well as the castle of Neudahn, which is also a ruin, although a less spectacular one.A 70 m tall rock juts above the city and is a famous destination for rock climbers
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
during the summer. Its name Jungfernsprung ("Virgin's Leap"), is derived from an old legend.
Even nowadays the forests and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone 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,...
rocks surrounding Dahn give fantastic Lebensraum to the fabulous Elwetritsche. To honour the excellent relation between inhabitants of Dahn and Elwetritsche there is an Elwetritsche lecture trail, an Elwetritsche hiking trail as well as Elwetritsche fountains and further memorials.
Economy
Dahn, unfortunately, has had to get along without much industry due to the Südwestpfalz district's structural weakness. Because of this the population has declined. Only tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
shows an upwards trend because nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
in the surrounding area is largely intact and frequently quite spectacular.
Traffic
The BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
427 (Hinterweidenthal
Hinterweidenthal
Hinterweidenthal is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
-Bad Bergzabern
Bad Bergzabern
Bad Bergzabern is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, on the German Wine Route in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the south-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, approximately southwest of Landau....
) passes through Dahn. The initially proposed plug-in connection of Bundesautobahn 8 (Pirmasens
Pirmasens
Pirmasens is a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It is famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed Südwestpfalz....
-Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
) which was planned to pass Dahn has never been realised.
Since 1997 the Wieslauterbahn calls at Dahn on Sundays and statutory holidays. It connects Hinterweidenthal and Bundenthal
Bundenthal
Bundenthal is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
. Regular public train service stopped in 1966.
Healthcare
The public hospital St.-Josef-Krankenhaus closed at the end of 2005 due to cost concerns. The Felsenland-Klinik, a psychotheraputic hospital, uses its own specially developed technique of psychoanalytic hypnosis. Dahn also has an outpatient living group of the Pfalzklinikum für Psychiatrie und Neurologie ("Palatinate Hospital For Psychiatrics And Neurology"), which is situated in KlingenmünsterKlingenmünster
Klingenmünster is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.Near Klingenmünster there is a castle called "Burg Landeck".It is the birthplace of Michael Hahn, the 19th governor of Louisiana.-References:...
.
Education
The elementary schoolElementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
of Dahn provides educational services for the municipality of Dahn as well as the municipalities of Schindhard
Schindhard
Schindhard is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
and Erfweiler
Erfweiler
Erfweiler is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
. The school centre of Dahn is within the commuter belt of a Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
, a Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
and the Otfried-von-Weißenburg-Gymnasium of Western-Wasgau. This gymnasium is the only one in the Südwestpfalz. Dahn also has a special needs school (the Ritter-von-Tann-Förderschule). During the years 1958 through 1994 the Catholic Church operated a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, the Studienheim St. Pirmin.
Sons and daughters of the city of Dahn
- Stefan Baron (*1948), trust spokesman of the Deutsche Bundesbank
- Alexander Fuhr (*1969), politician, member of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate (Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)), mayor of the city of Dahn
- Theodor Kissel (*1962), historian and author
- Ingbert Naab (1885–1935), Friars Minor Capuchin and resistance fighter against National Socialism, beatified, Pater-Ingbert-Naab-street bears his name
- Theodor Schaller (1900–1993), Theologian and church president
Personalities, operated in Dahn
- Stephan Eisel (*1955), politician (Christian Democratic Union (CDU)), visited the Otfrid-von-Weißenburg-Gymnasium
- Heiner GeißlerHeiner GeißlerHeiner Geißler is a German politician with the Christian Democratic Union party.Geißler studied law and philosophy in Munich and Tübingen, where he graduated in 1960....
(*1930), politician (Christian Democratic Union (CDU)), lives in Dahn. - Fritz Korter (1892–1945), sculptor, creator of the Dahn war memorial
- Friedl Rinder (1905–2001), chess player, winner of the 1959 German Chess Women's Championship, which took place in Dahn
External links
- Municipality of Dahn(German)
- Verbandsgemeinde Dahner Felsenland(multilingual)
- Pater Ingbert Naab(German)