Daun, Germany
Encyclopedia
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun
.
, a part of the Eifel
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth. Daun lies south of the High Eifel on the river Lieser. Found from 2.5 to 3.5 km southeast of Daun’s town centre are the so-called Dauner Maar
e, a group of three volcanic lakes separated almost wholly by only the walls of tuff
between them. The town is home to the Eifel-Vulkanmuseum. Daun is furthermore a spa town and has mineral water spring
s.
mountain in Daun. The Romans
, too, used this prominent hill in the Lieser valley as a watch post, as witnessed by Roman finds. The placename may have come from the Celtic-Roman word Dunum, meaning either “fence” or “fortified heights”, that is to say, a fort.
In the late 10th century, a castle complex belonging to the free Lords of Daun arose here. In 1075, Daun had its first documentary mention in a townsman named Adalbero de Duna.
In 1163, the free lords’ family died out. One of the family’s ministeriales, Richardus de Duna, took over his former Lord’s name and even the coat of arms
with the Daun fretting. In 1337, Daun is mentioned for the first time as being a town. In 1346 came a grant of town rights along with market rights, and Daun became at the same time the location of a high court.
In 1712, the Electoral-Trier Amtshaus was built by the Elector of Trier and Archbishop Karl-Josef on the Burgberg (“Castle Mountain”). After a transitory occupation by the French
beginning in 1794, the village passed in 1815 to the Kingdom of Prussia
. In 1817, Daun became seat of the district and an Amt mayoralty, and also at the same time a district administrator’s seat. Since 1947, it has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
. Beginning in 1951, Daun could once more call itself a town.
On 15 May 1895, Daun was linked to the German railway network with the Eifelquerbahn (“Cross-Eifel Railway”). On 1 December 1909, a further railway line, the Maare-Mosel-Bahn to Wittlich
came into service. All public rail transport, however, ended in Daun more than a decade ago, although a two-hourly daytime service for tourists has been running in the summertime since 2005 on part of the Eifelquerbahn. The Maare-Mosel-Bahn, on the other hand, was torn up about a decade ago and has since become the Maare-Mosel-Radweg, a cycle path.
In 1965, Daun became a garrison town, housing at the Heinrich Hertz Barracks, among others, two signal corps
units and one signals intelligence unit.
might be described thus: Or fretty gules.
The arms now borne by the town are the ones once borne by the Lords of Daun, and date from the 13th century. When the Lords died out, the town passed to the Electorate of Trier, thus explaining the Cross of Trier that appeared in seals dating from the 16th and following centuries. The current arms, however, are the Lords’ original ones.
, Trentino, Italy
since 4 April 2004
Maare are bodies of water that form in volcanic craters. There are many in the Vulkaneifel
.
” and local editions of the Trierischer Volksfreund, the Eifelzeitung and the Wochenspiegel. Daun also has a multiplex cinema, the “Kinopalast Vulkaneifel”.
Vocational:
Special schools:
Other schools:
n 421 and 257 lead through the town. The town is linked to the railway network through the railway station on the Eifelquerbahn, running from Gerolstein
to Andernach
.
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 the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun
Daun (Verbandsgemeinde)
Daun is a collective municipality in the Vulkaneifel district of Rhineland-Palatinate. The seat of the Daun Verbandsgemeinde is in the municipality of Daun.- Constituent municipalities:# Betteldorf# Bleckhausen# Brockscheid...
.
Location
The town lies in the VulkaneifelVulkan Eifel
The Vulkan Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of the Vulkan Eifel are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava...
, a part of the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth. Daun lies south of the High Eifel on the river Lieser. Found from 2.5 to 3.5 km southeast of Daun’s town centre are the so-called Dauner Maar
Maar
A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater that is caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption, an explosion caused by groundwater coming into contact with hot lava or magma. A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow crater lake. The name comes from the local Moselle...
e, a group of three volcanic lakes separated almost wholly by only the walls of tuff
Tuff
Tuff 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...
between them. The town is home to the Eifel-Vulkanmuseum. Daun is furthermore a spa town and has mineral water spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
s.
Constituent communities
The district seat of Daun has 8,514 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2005, counting only those with their main residence in the town). Besides the main town, also called Daun (4,264 inhabitants), the municipal area also includes these outlying centres (Stadtteile) that were formerly self-administering municipalities:| Centre | Population | amalgamated |
|---|---|---|
| Boverath | 564 | 7 June 1969 |
| Gemünden | 215 | 1 April 1938 |
| Neunkirchen | 547 | 7 June 1969 |
| Pützborn | 1,129 | 7 June 1969 |
| Rengen | 438 | 7 November 1970 |
| Steinborn | 410 | 7 November 1970 |
| Waldkönigen | 699 | 7 November 1970 |
| Weiersbach | 251 | 10 June 1979 |
History
The first settlement in the area came as early as the 7th century BC by which time the Celts had settled the fortified basaltBasalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
mountain in Daun. The Romans
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....
, too, used this prominent hill in the Lieser valley as a watch post, as witnessed by Roman finds. The placename may have come from the Celtic-Roman word Dunum, meaning either “fence” or “fortified heights”, that is to say, a fort.
In the late 10th century, a castle complex belonging to the free Lords of Daun arose here. In 1075, Daun had its first documentary mention in a townsman named Adalbero de Duna.
In 1163, the free lords’ family died out. One of the family’s ministeriales, Richardus de Duna, took over his former Lord’s name and even the coat of 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...
with the Daun fretting. In 1337, Daun is mentioned for the first time as being a town. In 1346 came a grant of town rights along with market rights, and Daun became at the same time the location of a high court.
In 1712, the Electoral-Trier Amtshaus was built by the Elector of Trier and Archbishop Karl-Josef on the Burgberg (“Castle Mountain”). After a transitory occupation 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...
beginning in 1794, the village passed in 1815 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...
. In 1817, Daun became seat of the district and an Amt mayoralty, and also at the same time a district administrator’s seat. Since 1947, it has been 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 ....
. Beginning in 1951, Daun could once more call itself a town.
Wittlich
The town of Wittlich is the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and thereby the middle centre for a feeder area of 56 municipalities in the Eifel and Moselle area with its population of roughly 64,000...
came into service. All public rail transport, however, ended in Daun more than a decade ago, although a two-hourly daytime service for tourists has been running in the summertime since 2005 on part of the Eifelquerbahn. The Maare-Mosel-Bahn, on the other hand, was torn up about a decade ago and has since become the Maare-Mosel-Radweg, a cycle path.
In 1965, Daun became a garrison town, housing at the Heinrich Hertz Barracks, among others, two signal corps
Military communications
Historically, the first military communications had the form of sending/receiving simple signals . Respectively, the first distinctive tactics of military communications were called Signals, while units specializing in those tactics received the Signal Corps name...
units and one signals intelligence unit.
Town council
The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the mayor as chairman.Mayor
Daun’s mayor is Wolfgang Jenssen, and his three deputies are Otmar Monschauer, Hans-Dieter Wilhelm and Manfred Krag.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: Or fretty gules.
The arms now borne by the town are the ones once borne by the Lords of Daun, and date from the 13th century. When the Lords died out, the town passed to the Electorate of Trier, thus explaining the Cross of Trier that appeared in seals dating from the 16th and following centuries. The current arms, however, are the Lords’ original ones.
Town partnerships
Daun fosters partnerships with the following places: CarisoloCarisolo
Carisolo is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 30 km northwest of Trento...
, Trentino, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
since 4 April 2004
Culture and sightseeing
Natural monuments
- Gemündener Maar
- Weinfelder Maar
- Schalkenmehrener Maar
Maare are bodies of water that form in volcanic craters. There are many in the Vulkaneifel
Vulkan Eifel
The Vulkan Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of the Vulkan Eifel are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava...
.
Buildings
- Dauner Burg (castle)
- Electoral-Trier Amtshaus (today a hotel) from 1712
- 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...
church (1865/67) - Tithe barn from 1740
- BurgmannBurgmannA Burgmann was a member of the low aristocracy in the Middle Ages who guarded and defended castles. They were hired by a lord of the castle to take on the burghut, the guarding and defense of a castle....
houses: Waldenhof, Hof Rademacher
- Railway viaduct from 1909
- Saint Nicholas’s Catholic Parish Church, west tower and crypt RomanesqueRomanesque architectureRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
, mid 13th century, new building work done between 1946 and 1969 - Railway station building, roof with half-hipped gables, 1895
- Former Evangelical graveyard with elaborate grave markers from the 19th century
- Former mayoral building (Burgfriedstraße 25)
- Kampbüchelskreuz (cross) from about 1825 (Leopoldstraße, at the marketplace)
- Former Kaiserbrunnen (“Emperor’s Fountain”), 1911, warriors’ memorial from after 1945 (Leopoldstraße, at the former district administrator’s office)
- Former district administrator’s office, 1830/31, today Vulkan-Museum (Leopoldstraße)
- Former recreation home of the department store chain Leonhard TietzLeonhard TietzLeonhard Tietz was born March 3, 1849 in Birnbaum an der Warthe, Province of Posen, Prussia and died November 14, 1914)...
(Kaufhof), 1910 - Former Amt court from 1860 (Wirichstraße, today a savings bank branch)
- Warriors’ memorial 1870/71
- Former school building from about 1910/20 (Leopoldstraße 34, today a civil registry office)
Regular events
- Every other year, the Krimi-Festival Tatort Eifel (“Crime Novel Festival Crime Scene Eifel”) is held in Daun, to which come notable crime fictionCrime fictionCrime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
authors from all over German-speaking Europe. Within the framework of this festival, the Deutsche Kurzkrimi-Preis (“German Short Crime Story Prize”) is awarded. - The St.-Laurentius-Kirmes begins each year on the Saturday after the first Wednesday in August and lasts five days. It is among the Eifel’s biggest folk festivals.
- VulkanBike Eifel-Marathon (a mountainbike marathon through the Eifel mountains, also: VulkanBike trailpark, VulkanBike extreme and VulkanBike crosscountry)
- ADAC Eifel Rallye
- Maare-Mosel-Lauf (walk)
- Flugplatzfest Ende August (“Late-August Airfield Festival”)
- Spring Festival
Bundeswehr
Near Daun are the Heinrich Hertz Barracks, which house, among other units:- Fernmeldebereich 93 (SKBStreitkräftebasisStreitkräftebasis is a branch of the German Bundeswehr established in October 2000 as a result of major reforms of the German Bundeswehr. It handles various logistics and organisational tasks of the German Armed Forces...
; Signal Corps Division 93) - Fernmeldeaufklärungsabschnitt 931 (SKB; Signal Intelligence section 931)
- Parts of the Bundeswehr Mayen service centre (WV)
- Daun Medical Centre (ZSan)
Media
In Daun there are an “open channelPublic-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
” and local editions of the Trierischer Volksfreund, the Eifelzeitung and the Wochenspiegel. Daun also has a multiplex cinema, the “Kinopalast Vulkaneifel”.
Education
General:- Primary school
- HauptschuleHauptschuleA 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...
- Leopold-von-Daun RealschuleRealschuleThe 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...
- Geschwister-Scholl-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...
- Thomas-Morus-Gymnasium
Vocational:
- Krankenpflegeschule Maria-Hilf (nursing)
- Fachschule für Altenpflege Maria-Hilf (geriatric care)
Special schools:
- St. Laurentius-Förderzentrum
Other schools:
- Music school
- Bildungszentrum der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Training centre of the Federal Agency for Labour)
Clubs
Sport:- TuS 05 Daun
- SV Neunkirchen-Steinborn
- SC Rot-Weiß Rengen
- KSC Daun-Weiersbach
Transport
Daun is linked to the Autobahn A 1. Also, BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 421 and 257 lead through the town. The town is linked to the railway network through the railway station on the Eifelquerbahn, running from Gerolstein
Gerolstein
Gerolstein is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde. Gerolstein is headquarters to a large mineral water firm, Gerolsteiner Brunnen...
to Andernach
Andernach
Andernach is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of currently about 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated towards the end of the Neuwied basin on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing village of Fornich in the north and the mouth of the...
.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Johannes Caspers (1910–1986), politician
- Oscar W. Gabriel (1947– ), sociologist and political scientist
- Karl FleschenKarl FleschenKarl Fleschen is a retired West German runner who specialized in the 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metres....
(1955– ), runner and Olympian - Sebastian Dette (1958– ), former Federal judge and president of the General Accounting Office in Thuringia
- Karin Kortmann (1959– ), politician
- Thomas Leif (1959– ), journalist and political scientist
- Franziskus Wendels (1960– ), artist
- Pascal „Pommes“ HensPascal HensPascal "Pommes" Hens is a German team handball player and World Champion. He received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with the German national team...
(1980– ), national handball player, handball world champion 2007 - Andreas SchäferAndreas SchäferAndreas Schäfer is a German footballer playing for FC Ingolstadt 04.- Career :He made his debut on the professional league level in the 2. Bundesliga for VfL Osnabrück on 10 August 2007 when he started in a game against SC Freiburg.-External links:* at transfermarkt.de...
(1983– ), footballer
Famous people associated with the town
- Ägidius von Daun, Burgmann (14th century)
- Fritz von Wille (1860–1941), professor and landscape painter, in 1911 decorated the district centre in Daun with large-format murals.
- Pitt Kreuzberg (1888–1966), painter, close to ExpressionismExpressionismExpressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, painted in 1937 on a commission from the Nazi Party for the Hitler YouthHitler YouthThe 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...
clubhouse in Daun. The work displeased Party superiors and was rejected as “degenerate artDegenerate artDegenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
”. The district administrator, however, stepped in and hung the picture in his office. - Edmund Geisen (1949– ), politician, Member of the German Bundestag, lives in Daun.
Further reading
- Martina Knichel: Gilles von Daun (1318-1358), Ritter und Räuber. Aus der Geschichte des Wanderns. - In: Jahrbuch für westdeutsche Landesgeschichte, 35 (2009), S. 73-86.
- Ingrid Schumacher, Gilles. Egidius von Daun und seine Zeit, Daun 2002
- Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz (Hrsg.): Nachrichtliches Verzeichnis der Kulturdenkmäler Kreis Vulkaneifel (PDF; 1,0 MB). Koblenz 2010.