Gundersheim
Encyclopedia
Gundersheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
(Rhenish Hesse) wine region. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Westhofen
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
(Codex Laureshamensis Nr. 920). Even the Weißenburg Monastery in Alsace
owned a lordly estate in the municipality in the 9th century, of which there is documentary proof. In the late 10th century, the Weißenburg holding became Salian
property, and then a Staufer holding. From the High Middle Ages
, the ownership passed from one noble family to another at a quicker pace. Among others, the Raugraves, Waldgrave
s and Rhinegraves, the Palatine Electors, the Dukes of Nassau
and the Counts of Sponheim
each had a share in the municipality. In 1475, Gundersheim became a wholly Electoral Palatinate holding, governed as part of the Oberamt of Alzey. With the French
occupation of the Palatinate on the Rhine’s left bank in 1797, the municipality became part of the Department of Mont-Tonnerre
(or Donnersberg in German
). After the Congress of Vienna
, it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Hesse
, and as of 1918 it was part of the People's State of Hesse. In 1946, it passed along with the former Hessian province of Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen) to the newly formed state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
.
church and a Catholic church. The Reformation
was established by Frederick II, Elector Palatine
in 1546. The greater part of the population is overwhelmingly Evangelical.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
might be described thus: Argent a prong hoe bendwise azure between two bunches of grapes of the same slipped and leafed vert.
, jazz dance
, gymnastics
and health sports and badminton
. Since 1920, there has also been the Verein für Leibesübungen (VfL) Gundersheim (“Club for bodily exercise”), which currently has about 430 members, and departments for football, table tennis
and gymnastics.
and has at its disposal its own interchange
southeast of the Alzey Autobahn cross, through which the A 63
can also be reached. It also has its own railway station with half-hourly trains to either Alzey
or Worms
. At the sporting ground is one of the municipality’s two bus stops.
factories, although these both went out of business about 1890. Of greater importance was the limestone
quarry
, which until 1955 was run as the Gundersheimer Kalkwerke by Südzucker AG
in Offstein, and until then was the biggest employer in the municipality.
As well, there is a commercial development with various businesses in, among other things, logistics, services and production.
which is triggered in an emergency, bringing all available firefighters – a number that can be reduced by commuters or by employers who will not comply – to the fire station to be ready to move out.
Furthermore, the Gundersheim volunteer fire brigade also has at its disposal a Helfer vor Ort group, a team of certified first responder
s who also spring into action through pager alerts to deal with medical emergencies in their emergency medical vehicles, which they get from the German Red Cross
’s Alzey district chapter. These certified first responders currently number 16 – 15 men and 1 woman – and also form part of the Schnelleinsatzgruppe (SEG – “Fast Deployment Group”) with the German Red Cross’s Alzey district chapter, along with which the Helfer vor Ort are called to duty and health service.
, which owing to recent increased interest has been expanded.
as well as Gundersheim.
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
As a winegrowing centre, Gundersheim lies in Germany’s biggest winegrowing district and in the middle of the RheinhessenRheinhessen (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...
(Rhenish Hesse) wine region. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Westhofen
Westhofen (Verbandsgemeinde)
Westhofen is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Westhofen....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Westhofen
Westhofen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
.
Constituent communities
Gundersheim has an outlying centre called Enzheim, which was once a separate municipality.History
In 769, Gundersheim had its first documentary mention in a donation document from Lorsch AbbeyLorsch 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...
(Codex Laureshamensis Nr. 920). Even the Weißenburg Monastery 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...
owned a lordly estate in the municipality in the 9th century, of which there is documentary proof. In the late 10th century, the Weißenburg holding became Salian
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...
property, and then a Staufer holding. From the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
, the ownership passed from one noble family to another at a quicker pace. Among others, the Raugraves, Waldgrave
Waldgrave
The noble family of the Waldgraves or Wildgraves descended of a division of the House of the Counts of Nahegau in the year 1113....
s and Rhinegraves, the Palatine Electors, the Dukes of Nassau
House of Nassau
The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled Count of Nassau, then elevated to the princely class as...
and the Counts of Sponheim
House of Sponheim
The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a noble family of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages. They were Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269 and Counts of Sponheim until 1437...
each had a share in the municipality. In 1475, Gundersheim became a wholly Electoral Palatinate holding, governed as part of the Oberamt of Alzey. With 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...
occupation of the Palatinate on the Rhine’s left bank in 1797, the municipality became part of 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....
). After the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Hesse
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
, and as of 1918 it was part of the People's State of Hesse. In 1946, it passed along with the former Hessian province of Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen) to the newly formed 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 ....
.
Religion
Gundersheim has at its disposal an 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 and a Catholic church. The Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
was established by Frederick II, Elector Palatine
Frederick II, Elector Palatine
Frederick II, Count Palatine of the Rhine , a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was Prince-elector of the Palatinate from 1544 to 1556.- Biography :...
in 1546. The greater part of the population is overwhelmingly Evangelical.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected 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:
| 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... |
Total | |
| 2009 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 16 seats |
| 2004 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 16 seats |
| 1999 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 16 seats |
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: Argent a prong hoe bendwise azure between two bunches of grapes of the same slipped and leafed vert.
Buildings
- Catholic church with Late GothicGothic architectureGothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
chancel and sacristy from 1492. The tower is from the years 1521 to 1524. The church’s three-naved main body was built in 1911 in Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architectureThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style. - 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 built in 1726, and the tower in 1891. - Warriors’ memorial from 1870 to 1871, created by sculptor J. Sipp with a statue of GermaniaGermania (personification)Germania is the personification of the German Nation or the Germans as a whole, most commonly associated with the Romantic Era and the Revolutions of 1848, though the figure was later used by Imperial Germany. She is usually shown wielding the "Reichsschwert" . Additionally, she is sometimes shown...
on the pedestal.
Natural monuments
In the former limestone quarries is found the Rosengarten (“Rose Garden”) Conservation Area.Sport
The Turnverein Gundersheim 1863 e.V. (gymnastic club) is the oldest club in the municipality. It has departments for, among other things, aerobicsAerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...
, jazz dance
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
and health sports and badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
. Since 1920, there has also been the Verein für Leibesübungen (VfL) Gundersheim (“Club for bodily exercise”), which currently has about 430 members, and departments for football, table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
and gymnastics.
Regular events
- At Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi (feast)Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
, the local volunteer fire brigade and its associated promotional club have a one-day open house. - During the summer, several winemakers take turns opening their wineries for visitors to come and look, and taste the wines.
- Each year on the last weekend in August, the Rotweinkerwe (“Red Wine Fair”) is held.
Transport
Gundersheim lies on the Autobahn A 61Bundesautobahn 61
is an autobahn in Germany that connects the border to the Netherlands near Venlo in the northwest to the interchange with A 6 near Hockenheim. In 1965, this required a re-design of the Hockenheimring....
and has at its disposal its own interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
southeast of the Alzey Autobahn cross, through which the A 63
Bundesautobahn 63
is an autobahn in southwestern Germany. It connects the Mainz area to Kaiserslautern and the A 6 and is therefore an important connection between the Rhine/Main and the Saar areas...
can also be reached. It also has its own railway station with half-hourly trains to either Alzey
Alzey
Alzey is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fourth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, and Bingen....
or 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...
. At the sporting ground is one of the municipality’s two bus stops.
Economy
The municipality has been characterized by winegrowing over the ages. Even today there are a few wineries. In the latter half of the 19th century there were two matchMatch
A match is a tool for starting a fire under controlled conditions. A typical modern match is made of a small wooden stick or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by frictional heat generated by striking the match against a suitable surface...
factories, although these both went out of business about 1890. Of greater importance was the limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
, which until 1955 was run as the Gundersheimer Kalkwerke by Südzucker AG
Südzucker
Südzucker AG is a German company, the largest sugar producer in Europe with an annual production of around 4.8 million tonnes.-Sugar segment:The company has 30 sugar factories and 3 refineries in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania Slovakia and...
in Offstein, and until then was the biggest employer in the municipality.
As well, there is a commercial development with various businesses in, among other things, logistics, services and production.
Freiwillige Feuerwehr Gundersheim
The volunteer fire brigade currently has at its disposal more than 32 active and 10 youth members. The active department practises every fortnight with the four available firefighting vehicles (LF 8/6, STW 1000, TSF, HVO-PKW). Moreover, there is here, as there is throughout almost all of Germany, a readiness on the brigade’s part to be called to duty at any time. That is to say, the brigade’s active members carry a pagerPager
A pager is a simple personal telecommunications device for short messages. A one-way numeric pager can only receive a message consisting of a few digits, typically a phone number that the user is then requested to call...
which is triggered in an emergency, bringing all available firefighters – a number that can be reduced by commuters or by employers who will not comply – to the fire station to be ready to move out.
Furthermore, the Gundersheim volunteer fire brigade also has at its disposal a Helfer vor Ort group, a team of certified first responder
Certified first responder
A certified first responder is a person who has completed a course and received certification in providing pre-hospital care for medical emergencies. They have more skill than someone who is trained in basic first aid but they are not a substitute for advanced medical care rendered by emergency...
s who also spring into action through pager alerts to deal with medical emergencies in their emergency medical vehicles, which they get from the German Red Cross
German Red Cross
The German Red Cross , or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.With over 4.5 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany...
’s Alzey district chapter. These certified first responders currently number 16 – 15 men and 1 woman – and also form part of the Schnelleinsatzgruppe (SEG – “Fast Deployment Group”) with the German Red Cross’s Alzey district chapter, along with which the Helfer vor Ort are called to duty and health service.
Kindergarten
There is one kindergartenKindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, which owing to recent increased interest has been expanded.
Grundschule Gundersheim
The primary school in Gundersheim is attended by children from BermersheimBermersheim
Bermersheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
as well as Gundersheim.
Further reading
- Gundersheim 769-1969. Aus der Geschichte eines rheinhessischen Weindorfes. Festschrift zur 1200-Jahrfeier, Gundersheim 1969