Hillscheid
Encyclopedia
Hillscheid is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
– in the Westerwaldkreis
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
on the edge of the Nassau Nature Park. The community belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Höhr-Grenzhausen
, a kind of collective municipality.
s show that there were already Celtic settlers here in Hallstatt
and La Tène
times. With the building of the Limes
came the Romans
. They built not only walls, moats and watchtowers, whose traces can still sometimes still be made out, but also a small fort
, whose outer foundations, however, may now only be viewed in reconstruction.
It is assumed that the community of Hillscheid came into being sometime between 959 and 994. The community’s first documentary mention, as Hiensceit, appears in a document uttered by Archbishop of Trier Ludolf (994-1008) about the year 1000. At the request of Abbess Mathilde zu Essen (974-1011), daughter of Swabia
n duke Liudolf
and granddaughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
and Swabian duke Hermann I
, who himself was Count of the Engersgau and lord of a great area around Montabaur
, the Archbishop of Trier Ludolf transferred to St. Florin’s Monastery at Koblenz tithing rights to Hana (Höhn
), Hiensceit (Hillscheid), Mannechenrot (Mangeroth, now abandoned) and Agerin (Niederähren), and in return exchanged Aschebach (Eschelbach). Hillscheid, however, was not in the monastery
’s hands for long.
Vallendar
was the mother church for the surrounding area and thereby also for Hillscheid and places nearby. Hillscheid belonged, along with Vallendar to the Engersgau, which had its first documentary mention in 773. It was coëxtensive with the Deanery of Engers, to which Vallendar with Hillscheid and the parish’s other communities belonged.
Near Hillscheid lay the two now forsaken villages of Cudilbach (Kühlbach) and Felderhusen (Pfarrhausen). They found their place in Hillscheid’s coat of arms
, represented by two jugs.
Hillscheid itself was largely destroyed in the Thirty Years' War
, recovering rather quickly, however, and from 1683, it had a chapel
. It only remained part of the parish of Vallendar until 1812. For the most part, Vallendar had two lords: Sayn
-Wittgenstein and the Electorate of Trier. Once France
had conquered the areas on the Rhine’s left bank and the Electorate of Trier had been beaten, the Electorate’s former territories on the Rhine’s right bank, and thereby also Vallendar and Hillscheid, passed under Napoleon to the Duchy of Nassau-Weilburg in 1803 as a result of the so-called Reichsdeputationshauptschluss.
After Napoleon was overthrown, Vallendar became Prussia
n with the creation of the Rhine Province
, whereas Hillscheid and Höhr near Nassau
remained in the Duchy of Nassau and were assigned to the Amt of Montabaur.
After Prussia’s conquest and occupation of the Duchy of Nassau, Hillscheid became part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, and in 1867, through restructuring of authority, part of the new Unterwesterwaldkreis (district).
In the Second World War, Hillscheid was mostly spared any great war damage, although there was a rocket launching site near Hillscheid (Hillscheider Stock) from which many V-2 rocket
s were launched. Furthermore, artillery
and flak units were stationed in Hillscheid. Late in the war, these engaged in a heavy firefight with the US
artillery near Koblenz, resulting in several deaths in Hillscheid.
In 1946, the Unterwesterwaldkreis and along with it the community of Hillscheid were assigned to the new Bundesland
of Rhineland-Palatinate, belonging at first to the Regierungsbezirk
of Montabaur. Through its dissolution in 1968, administrative reform in 1971 and district reform in 1974, Hillscheid is today part of the Verbandsgemeinde of Höhr-Grenzhausen within the Westerwaldkreis, itself formed out of the old districts of the Unterwesterwaldkreis and the Oberwesterwaldkreis.
49 linking Koblenz
and Montabaur
lies 5 km to the south. The A 48 with its Höhr-Grenzhausen
interchange
(AS 12) lies 6 km away.
s.
owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, which bears the nickname Alarmstange (roughly, “signal mast”).
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
– in the Westerwaldkreis
Westerwaldkreis
The Westerwaldkreis is a district in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
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
Hillscheid lies northeast of KoblenzKoblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
on the edge of the Nassau Nature Park. The community belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Höhr-Grenzhausen
Höhr-Grenzhausen (Verbandsgemeinde)
Höhr-Grenzhausen is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Westerwaldkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Höhr-Grenzhausen....
, a kind of collective municipality.
History
Many finds in the area of the village meadowMeadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
s show that there were already Celtic settlers here in Hallstatt
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
and La Tène
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
times. With the building of the Limes
Limes
A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...
came the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. They built not only walls, moats and watchtowers, whose traces can still sometimes still be made out, but also a small fort
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
, whose outer foundations, however, may now only be viewed in reconstruction.
It is assumed that the community of Hillscheid came into being sometime between 959 and 994. The community’s first documentary mention, as Hiensceit, appears in a document uttered by Archbishop of Trier Ludolf (994-1008) about the year 1000. At the request of Abbess Mathilde zu Essen (974-1011), daughter of Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
n duke Liudolf
Liudolf, Duke of Swabia
Liudolf was the duke of Swabia from 950 until 954. He was the only son of Otto I, king of Germany, from his wife Eadgyth, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of England....
and granddaughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
and Swabian duke Hermann I
Herman I, Duke of Swabia
Herman I was the first Conradine Duke of Swabia , the son of Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine, and a cousin of King Conrad I of Germany....
, who himself was Count of the Engersgau and lord of a great area around Montabaur
Montabaur
Montabaur is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the Verbandsgemeinde of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to which 24 other communities belong...
, the Archbishop of Trier Ludolf transferred to St. Florin’s Monastery at Koblenz tithing rights to Hana (Höhn
Höhn
Höhn is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
), Hiensceit (Hillscheid), Mannechenrot (Mangeroth, now abandoned) and Agerin (Niederähren), and in return exchanged Aschebach (Eschelbach). Hillscheid, however, was not in the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
’s hands for long.
Vallendar
Vallendar
Vallendar is a municipality in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 4 km north-east of Koblenz. Vallendar is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Vallendar. A city named "Vallendar" is included in the PC game Call of...
was the mother church for the surrounding area and thereby also for Hillscheid and places nearby. Hillscheid belonged, along with Vallendar to the Engersgau, which had its first documentary mention in 773. It was coëxtensive with the Deanery of Engers, to which Vallendar with Hillscheid and the parish’s other communities belonged.
Near Hillscheid lay the two now forsaken villages of Cudilbach (Kühlbach) and Felderhusen (Pfarrhausen). They found their place in Hillscheid’s 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...
, represented by two jugs.
Hillscheid itself was largely destroyed in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, recovering rather quickly, however, and from 1683, it had a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
. It only remained part of the parish of Vallendar until 1812. For the most part, Vallendar had two lords: Sayn
Sayn
Sayn was a mediæval German County located in the Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. There were two Counties of Sayn: the first County emerged in 1139. It became closely associated with the County of Sponheim early in its existence. Count Henry II was notable for being accused of...
-Wittgenstein and the Electorate of Trier. Once 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...
had conquered the areas on the Rhine’s left bank and the Electorate of Trier had been beaten, the Electorate’s former territories on the Rhine’s right bank, and thereby also Vallendar and Hillscheid, passed under Napoleon to the Duchy of Nassau-Weilburg in 1803 as a result of the so-called Reichsdeputationshauptschluss.
After Napoleon was overthrown, Vallendar became 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...
n with the creation of the Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
, whereas Hillscheid and Höhr near Nassau
Nassau, Germany
Nassau is a town located in the German Land of Rhineland-Palatinate. It lies in the Lahn River valley between the cities of Bad Ems and Limburg an der Lahn. Nassau is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Nassau. The town is on the German-Dutch holiday road, the Orange Route...
remained in the Duchy of Nassau and were assigned to the Amt of Montabaur.
After Prussia’s conquest and occupation of the Duchy of Nassau, Hillscheid became part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, and in 1867, through restructuring of authority, part of the new Unterwesterwaldkreis (district).
In the Second World War, Hillscheid was mostly spared any great war damage, although there was a rocket launching site near Hillscheid (Hillscheider Stock) from which many V-2 rocket
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
s were launched. Furthermore, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and flak units were stationed in Hillscheid. Late in the war, these engaged in a heavy firefight with the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artillery near Koblenz, resulting in several deaths in Hillscheid.
In 1946, the Unterwesterwaldkreis and along with it the community of Hillscheid were assigned to the new Bundesland
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, belonging at first to the Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
of Montabaur. Through its dissolution in 1968, administrative reform in 1971 and district reform in 1974, Hillscheid is today part of the Verbandsgemeinde of Höhr-Grenzhausen within the Westerwaldkreis, itself formed out of the old districts of the Unterwesterwaldkreis and the Oberwesterwaldkreis.
Community council
The council is made up of 20 council members, including the extraofficial mayor (Bürgermeister), who were elected in a municipal election on 7 June 2009.| CDU | SPD | FWG | Total | |
| 2004 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 20 seats |
Culture and sightseeing
Museums
- In the community is found a small but thoroughly interesting local museumMuseumA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
. - At the edge of the community, a LimesLimes GermanicusThe Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
tower has been reconstructed. - A short walk into the forestForestA forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
are the reconstructed foundations of the small Roman fort that stood at this spot. ArchaeologicalArchaeologyArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
digs have brought to light information about the structure’s original condition.
Music
There are three music clubs in Hillscheid, the MGV Eintracht, the MGV Edelweiß and the Musikverein Hillscheid. (MGV = Männergesangverein, or “men’s singing club”)Transport
BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
49 linking Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
and Montabaur
Montabaur
Montabaur is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the Verbandsgemeinde of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to which 24 other communities belong...
lies 5 km to the south. The A 48 with its Höhr-Grenzhausen
Höhr-Grenzhausen
Höhr-Grenzhausen is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a centre for the ceramic industry in the Kannenbäckerland with a professional college for ceramics, another for ceramic form, and many others, hence the nickname Kannenbäckerstadt .Together with the...
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...
(AS 12) lies 6 km away.
Education
In Hillscheid there is a primary school with a sport hall. Also there are Catholic and communal 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...
s.
Other
At 50°25′27"N 7°43′55"E is found a 99-m-tall transmitterTransmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, which bears the nickname Alarmstange (roughly, “signal mast”).