Gimbsheim
Encyclopedia
Gimbsheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
and Mainz
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Eich
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
, in the west on the municipality of Alsheim
and in the south on the municipality of Eich
. In the east, the municipality of Gimbsheim is bordered by the Rhine.
were settling the land under Clovis I
by a Frank named Gimmund.
In the beginning, the place was called Gimmundheim. Over the course of the years, the name changed in historical sources, yielding the current name Gimbsheim from Gimmundheim.
On 13 May 766, Gimbsheim, then called Gimmenheim, had its first documentary mention in the Lorsch codex
. Two of the villagers donated cropland and vineyards to Lorsch Abbey
for their salvation. In 813, another donation, this one to Fulda Abbey, was registered. From 1194 comes the first documentary mention of a church in Gimbsheim. In 1208, a Gimbsheim clergyman by the name of Heinrich was mentioned as being a member of the Cathedral Chapter at Worms.
In 1402, the Gimbsheim court seal, the Mauricius Siegel was mentioned for the first time. In 1499, Gimbsheim burnt to the ground.
In 1662, Gimbsheim became an Electoral Palatinate holding. Only four years later, in 1666, Gimbsheim was stricken with the Plague.
On 17 October 1704, another great fire in Gimbsheim destroyed a great many homesteads.
Beginning in 1798, all important municipal business was handled through the town hall, not, as it heretofore had been, through the parish register. In 1800 came the first mention of a doctor in Gimbsheim.
Between 1798 and 1814, Gimbsheim was in the Department of Mont-Tonnerre
(or Donnersberg in German
), belonging at that time to Napoleonic
France
. In 1830, the Rhine straightening project was carried out along the reach of the river that borders Gimbsheim. The project would eventually encompass the Rhine’s course from Basel
all the way down to Worms
.
In 1974, Gimbsheim opened its outdoor swimming pool. In 1977, the areas left high and dry by the Rhine straightening project in 1830, known as the Altrhein (“Old Rhine”), were made a conservation area.
In 1997, the television series Himmelsheim was filmed in Gimbsheim for Südwestrundfunk
. The same year, the Niederrheinhalle (“Lower Rhine Hall”) came to be as a centre for sport and culture.
In 2000, the so-called Pfarrwiesensee, a former gravel quarry that had become a pond, was converted into a bathing lake.
community. The Jewish population peaked around the years 1900 and 1905 when there were 72 Jews in the municipality (3% of the total population). On 27 August 1892, a synagogue
was dedicated. After 1933, it was sold and converted into a house, which still stands now. At least eight of Gimbsheim’s Jews lost their lives after the deportations in National Socialist times
.
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:
might be described thus: Gules on a bend argent a cramp sable, in a chief of the third, a bunch of grapes palewise, flanked by four rye stalks, two each side, growing from the top of the bunch of grapes, from which also grow two vine stems, on each side, each ending in a grape leaf, the two leaves further flanking the rye stalks, all Or.
The grain has been blazoned here as rye because Parker identifies rye as being “distinguished from other grain by representing the ear drooping”. Heraldry of the World, on the other hand, identifies the grain as wheat, which along with the grapes appears in the arms to represent the municipality’s two main crops.
The charge
s in the chief
, though, seem to be all that there is in the arms that can be directly linked with Gimbsheim. Although the cramp, usually identified in German blazon as a Wolfsangel
, was already appearing as a municipal heraldic
charge in the 18th century, its origin is unknown. Earlier municipal seals had shown Saint Maurice
.
Furthermore, another proposal for municipal arms in 1958, the year when the current arms were adopted, was quite a different design which might be blazoned thus: Argent a cross gules, in dexter chief a roundel Or surmounted by a Moor’s head proper. This would have shown a silver shield covered by a red cross, and in the silver space left in the upper dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left), a gold circle overlaid with a Black man’s head, representing Saint Maurice (who was himself Black).
The Gimbsheim kermis is held each year on the last weekend in September. This begins with the traditional raising of the kermis tree by the volunteer fire brigade and the crowning of “Her Majesty”, the new kermis princess. Indeed, it is she who takes on the job of actually opening the Kerwe.
. Active in the municipality are 28 winegrowing businesses, and vineyards under cultivation amount to 116 ha. Some 69% of the winegrowing involves white wine varieties of grape (as at 2007). In 1979, there were still 84 such businesses, and vineyards under cultivation amounted to 191 ha.
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 Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the district Groß-Gerau , the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen.- History :...
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 in Rhenish Hesse between WormsWorms, 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 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...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Eich
Eich (Verbandsgemeinde)
Eich is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Eich....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Eich, Rhineland-Palatinate
Eich is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
.
Neighbouring municipalities
Gimbsheim borders in the north on the municipality of GuntersblumGuntersblum
Guntersblum is an Ortsgemeinde– a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, in the west on the municipality of Alsheim
Alsheim
Alsheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
and in the south on the municipality of Eich
Eich, Rhineland-Palatinate
Eich is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
. In the east, the municipality of Gimbsheim is bordered by the Rhine.
History
Gimbsheim is believed to have been founded about 500 while the FranksFranks
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...
were settling the land under Clovis I
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
by a Frank named Gimmund.
In the beginning, the place was called Gimmundheim. Over the course of the years, the name changed in historical sources, yielding the current name Gimbsheim from Gimmundheim.
On 13 May 766, Gimbsheim, then called Gimmenheim, had its first documentary mention in the Lorsch codex
Lorsch codex
The Lorsch Codex is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. It consists of 460 pages in large format containing more than 3800 entries...
. Two of the villagers donated cropland and vineyards to 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...
for their salvation. In 813, another donation, this one to Fulda Abbey, was registered. From 1194 comes the first documentary mention of a church in Gimbsheim. In 1208, a Gimbsheim clergyman by the name of Heinrich was mentioned as being a member of the Cathedral Chapter at Worms.
In 1402, the Gimbsheim court seal, the Mauricius Siegel was mentioned for the first time. In 1499, Gimbsheim burnt to the ground.
In 1662, Gimbsheim became an Electoral Palatinate holding. Only four years later, in 1666, Gimbsheim was stricken with the Plague.
On 17 October 1704, another great fire in Gimbsheim destroyed a great many homesteads.
Beginning in 1798, all important municipal business was handled through the town hall, not, as it heretofore had been, through the parish register. In 1800 came the first mention of a doctor in Gimbsheim.
Between 1798 and 1814, Gimbsheim was in the Department of Mont-Tonnerre
Mont-Tonnerre
Mont-Tonnerre is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Germany. It is named after the highest point in the Rhenish Palatinate, the Donnersberg. It was the southernmost of four départements formed in 1798, when the west bank of the Rhine was annexed by France...
(or Donnersberg 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....
), belonging at that time to Napoleonic
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due 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...
. In 1830, the Rhine straightening project was carried out along the reach of the river that borders Gimbsheim. The project would eventually encompass the Rhine’s course from Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
all the way down to 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...
.
In 1974, Gimbsheim opened its outdoor swimming pool. In 1977, the areas left high and dry by the Rhine straightening project in 1830, known as the Altrhein (“Old Rhine”), were made a conservation area.
In 1997, the television series Himmelsheim was filmed in Gimbsheim for Südwestrundfunk
Südwestrundfunk
The Südwestrundfunk is a public broadcasting company for the southwest of Germany, specifically the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The company has main offices in three cities: Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Mainz, with the director's office being in Stuttgart. It is an...
. The same year, the Niederrheinhalle (“Lower Rhine Hall”) came to be as a centre for sport and culture.
In 2000, the so-called Pfarrwiesensee, a former gravel quarry that had become a pond, was converted into a bathing lake.
The Jewish community
From the latter half of the 19th century until 1933, Gimbsheim was home to a small JewishJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
community. The Jewish population peaked around the years 1900 and 1905 when there were 72 Jews in the municipality (3% of the total population). On 27 August 1892, a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
was dedicated. After 1933, it was sold and converted into a house, which still stands now. At least eight of Gimbsheim’s Jews lost their lives after the deportations in National Socialist times
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...
.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 20 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:
| CDU | SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
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... |
OLfG | Total | |
| 2009 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 20 seats |
Mayors
- Günther Debusi - SPD (… - 1999)
- Jakob Scheller - FWG (1999–2009)
- Peter Kölsch - SPD (since 2009)
Coat of arms
The municipality’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: Gules on a bend argent a cramp sable, in a chief of the third, a bunch of grapes palewise, flanked by four rye stalks, two each side, growing from the top of the bunch of grapes, from which also grow two vine stems, on each side, each ending in a grape leaf, the two leaves further flanking the rye stalks, all Or.
The grain has been blazoned here as rye because Parker identifies rye as being “distinguished from other grain by representing the ear drooping”. Heraldry of the World, on the other hand, identifies the grain as wheat, which along with the grapes appears in the arms to represent the municipality’s two main crops.
The 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...
s in the chief
Chief (heraldry)
In heraldic blazon, a chief is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the top edge of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by the chief, ranging from one-fourth to one-third. The former is more likely if the...
, though, seem to be all that there is in the arms that can be directly linked with Gimbsheim. Although the cramp, usually identified in German blazon as a Wolfsangel
Wolfsangel
The Wolfsangel is a symbol. It is also known as the Wolf's Hook or Doppelhaken. The upright variant is also known as "thunderbolt" and the horizontal variant as "werewolf"....
, was already appearing as a municipal 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"...
charge in the 18th century, its origin is unknown. Earlier municipal seals had shown Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice
Saint Maurice was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms...
.
Furthermore, another proposal for municipal arms in 1958, the year when the current arms were adopted, was quite a different design which might be blazoned thus: Argent a cross gules, in dexter chief a roundel Or surmounted by a Moor’s head proper. This would have shown a silver shield covered by a red cross, and in the silver space left in the upper dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left), a gold circle overlaid with a Black man’s head, representing Saint Maurice (who was himself Black).
Regular events
For more than 30 years now, Gimbsheim has had a further representative besides its mayor, namely a young and most pretty lady, the Kerweprinzessin (kermis princess). Originally a representative of the Gimbsheim church’s consecration, this ecclesiastical custom later grew into the kermis (church consecration festival, locally known as the Kerb or Kerwe). Each kermis princess holds the title for a year, during which she represents her home municipality in other regions. She then has at her side two Festdamen (“festival ladies”) who attend her at many festivals, parades and receptions.The Gimbsheim kermis is held each year on the last weekend in September. This begins with the traditional raising of the kermis tree by the volunteer fire brigade and the crowning of “Her Majesty”, the new kermis princess. Indeed, it is she who takes on the job of actually opening the Kerwe.
- 2011/2012 Melissa Anna Metzger
- 2010/1011 Marie-Luise Scheller
- 2009/2010 Isabelle Krehl
- 2008/2009 Christina Krost.
- 2007/2008 Christina Staschik
- 2006/2007 Marlie Baglio
- 2005/2006 Bianca Nostadt
- 2004/2005 Nicole Ackermann
- 2003/2004 Jasmin Thiel
- 2002/2003 Marina Wucher
Winegrowing
Gimbsheim belongs to the Weinbaubereich Nierstein in Rhenish HesseRheinhessen (wine region)
Rheinhessen is the largest of 13 German wine regions for quality wines with under cultivation in 2008. Named for the traditional region of Rhenish Hesse, it lies on the left bank of the River Rhine between Worms and Bingen in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate...
. Active in the municipality are 28 winegrowing businesses, and vineyards under cultivation amount to 116 ha. Some 69% of the winegrowing involves white wine varieties of grape (as at 2007). In 1979, there were still 84 such businesses, and vineyards under cultivation amounted to 191 ha.
Transport
- Running right near the municipality is BundesstraßeBundesstraßeBundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
9, which links Ludwigshafen am Rhein with MainzMainzMainz 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...
. - Until 1969, Gimbsheim had a railway link on the OsthofenOsthofenOsthofen is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the middle of the Wonnegau in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
–Rheindürkheim–GuntersblumGuntersblumGuntersblum is an Ortsgemeinde– a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
line. - Gimbsheim is well linked by bus route 432, run by Busverkehr Rhein-Neckar to GuntersblumGuntersblumGuntersblum is an Ortsgemeinde– a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, the other Altrhein-Gemeinden (“Old Rhine Municipalities”) and WormsWorms, GermanyWorms 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...
.
Established businesses
- MGL Metro GroupMetro AGMetro AG is a diversified retail and wholesale/cash and carry group based in Düsseldorf, Germany. It has the largest market share in its home market, and is one of the most globalised retail and wholesale corporations. It is the fourth-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues . In English...
Logistics GmbH Co. KG (MGL) with a 50 000 m² central food warehouse for 8,500 articles.