Gimbweiler
Encyclopedia
Gimbweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld
district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
, on the boundary with the Saarland
.
origin, as the now vanished hamlet
of Frudesweiler may have been, too, but this cannot be proved.
Gimbweiler’s history unfolded much like neighbouring Wolfersweiler’s (nowadays an outlying centre of Nohfelden
). Gimbweiler always belonged to to that village’s high court
and parish, while the lords through the Middle Ages
were the Bishops of Verdun
, the Counts of Veldenz and the Dukes of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
.
In the 13th century, the Lords of Oberstein tried to gain a foothold in the villages that lay between Wolfersweiler and Baumholder
. They renewed these attempts in the centuries that followed, bolstered by their enfeoffments from the Duchy of Lorraine.
The Obersteins had had holdings in Gimbweiler from days of yore. The Veldenzes and the Zweibrückens, though, held some lordly rights and ownership, too, jealously guarding and forcefully expanding them. In 1397, for instance, Count Friedrich von Veldenz bought from the Lords of Broich, besides landholdings, interests and rights at Eckelnhusen (Eckelhausen, nowadays an outlying centre of Nohfelden), Hanwilre (Hahnweiler
), and Moysberg, an estate and some paupers at Gumpwiler.
After 1432, Gimbweiler and Frudesweiler, along with the neighbouring villages of Freisen
, Hoppstädten
, Hahnweiler and Reitscheid (nowadays an outlying centre of Freisen), belonged to the Obersteins’ great Lotharingian fief; the enfeoffment document laying out this arrangement was first put into force in this year, and was continually renewed until 1667. The Lotharingians, as well as their fiefholders, the Obersteins, always held on to their claims to Gimbweiler, even after the Oberstein-Falkensteins further enfeoffed the Lord of Schillards of Feigniss with the village in 1599. In reality, however, Palatinate-Zweibrücken hegemony over Gimbweiler was not questioned.
In Napoleonic
times, Gimbweiler and neighbouring Wolfersweiler belonged to the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Nohfelden, which in turn belonged to the canton of Baumholder.
In 1640, it seems that Frudesweiler was still in existence, but by 1740, the historical record reports that it was in decay. The people of Gimbweiler and Weiersbach exercised grazing rights here, the legal disputes over which continued into the 19th century. The question was settled with a compromise: Weiersbach got two fifths of Frudesweiler’s area, mostly woodland, while the other three fifths, mostly cropland and meadow, went to Gimbweiler.
Church.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Walter Kreulich was the first mayor to be elected by direct vote
by Gimbweiler’s voters. Gimbweiler’s current mayor is Martin Samson, and his deputies are Günter Bruch and Gerd Linn.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Per fess Or five trees eradicated in fess vert, the second and fourth taller, and sable issuant from base a demilion Or armed, langued and crowned gules.
The tree charge
above the line of partition is an heraldic representation of the beech
trees in the municipal area, while the lower charge is a reference to the village’s former allegiance to the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.
The arms have been borne since 17 February 1965.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
operations.
41 (an east-west link between Mainz
and Saarbrücken
), Bundesstraße 269 (between Bernkastel-Kues
and Saarlouis
) and the Autobahn A 62
(Kaiserslautern
–Trier
), which is the most important north-south link. Furthermore, the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, Bundesstraße 327, a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
’s orders), and thereby Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
too, can easily be reached on Bundesstraße 269 (50 km). Running five times each day between Frankfurt-Hahn Airport and Birkenfeld
is a bus service.
, 3 km away. This station, on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen
–Saarbrücken
), is 45 minutes from Saarbrücken and less than two hours from Frankfurt
.
military hospital in the neighbouring municipality of Hoppstädten-Weiersbach. The Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld
, being a location of the Trier University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Trier), contributes strongly to the Birkenfeld region’s economic development.
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 Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- History :...
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 Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde)
Birkenfeld is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Birkenfeld....
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...
.
Location
The municipality lies on the Mörschbach in the Schwarzwälder Hochwald (forest) 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...
, on the boundary with the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
.
History
The oldest forms of Gimbweiler’s name are Gumbweiler (1397), Gompwiler (1480) and Gympwiler (1480). Gimbweiler may be of RomanAncient 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....
origin, as the now vanished hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Frudesweiler may have been, too, but this cannot be proved.
Gimbweiler’s history unfolded much like neighbouring Wolfersweiler’s (nowadays an outlying centre of Nohfelden
Nohfelden
Nohfelden is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km north of Sankt Wendel, and 20 km southwest of Idar-Oberstein....
). Gimbweiler always belonged to to that village’s high court
Blood court
Blood Court or high justice in the Holy Roman Empire referred to the right of a Vogt to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty.Not every Vogt held the blood court...
and parish, while the lords through the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
were the Bishops of Verdun
Bishopric of Verdun
The Bishopric of Verdun was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire; it was located at the western edge of the Empire and was bordered by France, the Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Duchy of Bar. It was annexed to France in 1552; this was recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Westphalia of...
, the Counts of Veldenz and the Dukes of Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Palatinate-Zweibrücken is a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Zweibrücken.-Overview:→ History before 1394 see main article County of Zweibrücken→ History before 1444 see main article County of Veldenz...
.
In the 13th century, the Lords of Oberstein tried to gain a foothold in the villages that lay between Wolfersweiler and Baumholder
Baumholder
Baumholder is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France...
. They renewed these attempts in the centuries that followed, bolstered by their enfeoffments from the Duchy of Lorraine.
The Obersteins had had holdings in Gimbweiler from days of yore. The Veldenzes and the Zweibrückens, though, held some lordly rights and ownership, too, jealously guarding and forcefully expanding them. In 1397, for instance, Count Friedrich von Veldenz bought from the Lords of Broich, besides landholdings, interests and rights at Eckelnhusen (Eckelhausen, nowadays an outlying centre of Nohfelden), Hanwilre (Hahnweiler
Hahnweiler
Hahnweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
), and Moysberg, an estate and some paupers at Gumpwiler.
After 1432, Gimbweiler and Frudesweiler, along with the neighbouring villages of Freisen
Freisen
Freisen is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel , in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 12 km northeast of Sankt Wendel, and 20 km southwest of Idar-Oberstein. The greater Freisen/Oberkirchen area is noted for its Turkish Cuisine, particularly the Donner Kebab...
, Hoppstädten
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Hahnweiler and Reitscheid (nowadays an outlying centre of Freisen), belonged to the Obersteins’ great Lotharingian fief; the enfeoffment document laying out this arrangement was first put into force in this year, and was continually renewed until 1667. The Lotharingians, as well as their fiefholders, the Obersteins, always held on to their claims to Gimbweiler, even after the Oberstein-Falkensteins further enfeoffed the Lord of Schillards of Feigniss with the village in 1599. In reality, however, Palatinate-Zweibrücken hegemony over Gimbweiler was not questioned.
In 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...
times, Gimbweiler and neighbouring Wolfersweiler belonged to the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Nohfelden, which in turn belonged to the canton of Baumholder.
In 1640, it seems that Frudesweiler was still in existence, but by 1740, the historical record reports that it was in decay. The people of Gimbweiler and Weiersbach exercised grazing rights here, the legal disputes over which continued into the 19th century. The question was settled with a compromise: Weiersbach got two fifths of Frudesweiler’s area, mostly woodland, while the other three fifths, mostly cropland and meadow, went to Gimbweiler.
Religion
Most of the residents belong to the Wolfersweiler EvangelicalEvangelical Church in Germany
The 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.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by majority votePlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayors
- 1947–1961 Emil Schweig
- 1961–1970 Willy Jungblut
- 1971–1990 Manfred Wommer (SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) - 1990–2004 Walter Kreulich (SPD)
- 2004– Martin Samson
Walter Kreulich was the first mayor to be elected by direct vote
Direct election
Direct election is a term describing a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the person, persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen depends upon the...
by Gimbweiler’s voters. Gimbweiler’s current mayor is Martin Samson, and his deputies are Günter Bruch and Gerd Linn.
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In geteiltem Schild oben in Gold fünf bewurzelte grüne Bäume, von denen der zweite und der vierte die anderen überragen, unten ein rotbewehrter, -gezungter und -gekrönter wachsender goldener Löwe in Schwarz.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: Per fess Or five trees eradicated in fess vert, the second and fourth taller, and sable issuant from base a demilion Or armed, langued and crowned gules.
The tree 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...
above the line of partition is an heraldic representation of the beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
trees in the municipal area, while the lower charge is a reference to the village’s former allegiance to the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.
The arms have been borne since 17 February 1965.
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:
- Hauptstraße 12 – stately Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), latter half of the 19th century
Economy and infrastructure
The municipality’s economy was characterized until the 1960s by agriculturalAgriculture
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...
operations.
Road
Affording Gimbweiler good links to the log-distance road network are BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
41 (an east-west link 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 Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
), Bundesstraße 269 (between Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues is a well-known winegrowing centre on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Saarlouis
Saarlouis
Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located at the river Saar....
) and the Autobahn A 62
Bundesautobahn 62
is an autobahn in southwestern Germany, connecting the A 1 with the A 6. It also connects numerous communities throughout the central Hunsrück mountains...
(Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
–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....
), which is the most important north-south link. Furthermore, the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, Bundesstraße 327, 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), and thereby Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
-Cargo airlines:-Other facilities:AirIT Services AG, a subsidiary of Fraport, has its head office in Building 663 at Hahn Airport.-References:*Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force,...
too, can easily be reached on Bundesstraße 269 (50 km). Running five times each day between Frankfurt-Hahn Airport and Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...
is a bus service.
Rail
Gimbweiler is linked to the railway network by the station at Neubrücke, an outlying centre of Hoppstädten-WeiersbachHoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, 3 km away. This station, on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
–Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
), is 45 minutes from Saarbrücken and less than two hours from Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
Education
Since 1996, a Fachhochschule campus has been established on what was once the grounds of a United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military hospital in the neighbouring municipality of Hoppstädten-Weiersbach. The Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld
Environment Campus Birkenfeld
The Environment Campus Birkenfeld is a branch of the largest University of Applied Sciences in the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is close to the small town of Birkenfeld in Rhineland-Palatinate, close to the border of Saarland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. There are 2,200 students...
, being a location of the Trier University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Trier), contributes strongly to the Birkenfeld region’s economic development.