Friesenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality

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 Mainz-Bingen

Mainz-Bingen

Mainz-Bingen is a district in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rheingau-Taunus, the district-free cities Wiesbaden and Mainz, the districts Groß-Gerau, Alzey-Worms, Bad Kreuznach, Rhein-Hunsrück.-History:During the French occupation under Napoleon the district...

 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...

.

Location

The municipality lies 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 Worms

Worms, Germany

Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...

 and is an agriculturally oriented community. The winegrowing centre belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Nierstein-Oppenheim

Nierstein-Oppenheim

Nierstein-Oppenheim is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Mainz-Bingen in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx...

, whose seat is in Oppenheim

Oppenheim

Oppenheim is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is well known as a wine town, the site of the German Winegrowing Museum and particularly for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen vineyards.- Location :...

.

History

In 803, Friesenheim had its first documentary mention in the Codex Fuldensis when the Frank

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...

 Theotbald donated estates in Dubilesheim and Friesenheim to the Lorsch Abbey

Lorsch Abbey

The Abbey of Lorsch is a former Imperial Abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km east of Worms, one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany...

. Some researchers, though, link this entry in the Codex with Friesenheim

Friesenheim, Bas-Rhin

Friesenheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-Economy:Friesenheim retains a strongly agricultural economy. The sight of old drying racks for tobacco leaves brings to mind just one of the many crops that flourish in the gently warm climate of the alluvial...

 in 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...

. The name’s meaning is “Friso’s Home”. Despite the similarity to the 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....

 word Friesen (“Frisians”), the name does not refer to any member or members of this ethnic group. The community was not founded by Frisians.

Municipal council

The council is made up of 13 council members, counting the parttime mayor, with seats apportioned thus:

	SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...	FWG	Total
2004	2	10	12 seats

(as at municipal election held on 13 June 2004)

Ortsbürgermeister

The Ortsbürgermeister – mayor of the Ortsgemeinde – is Gerhard Held.

Coat of arms

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 be described thus: Gules a lion rampant argent armed sable and crowned Or, and a chief of the second.

External links

• Municipality’s official webpage