Hochborn
Encyclopedia
Hochborn is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
This Ortsgemeinde earned a Germany-wide media presence in early 2001 when a television spot from the 1970s made by the then Südwestfunk was broadcast by Stefan Raab
on his show TV total
; it was about the place called Blödesheim. Stefan Raab then visited Hochborn during Carnival
(locally known as Fastnachtszeit) and for a few weeks thereafter campaigned for a return to the name Blödesheim.
It is worth noting that blödes Heim in German
means “dimwitted home”.
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
At 290 m above sea level
, Hochborn is among the highest places in the Rheinhessisches Hügelland (Rhenish-Hessian Uplands). Even so, the municipality nevertheless has a wealth of water, which might account for the choice of the new name: the placename ending —born is a form of the German word Brunnen, which can mean “spring”, “fountain” or “well”. The word hoch means “high”.
in Hochborn amounts to 541 mm, which is very low, falling into the lowest tenth of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 9% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations are even lower figures recorded. The driest month is February. The most rainfall comes in July. In that month, precipitation is 1.9 times what it is in February. Precipitation varies moderately. At 34% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.
of cropland and a meadow to Lorsch Abbey
on 23 April that year. They further made over other holdings of theirs in Blatmarsheim to the Abbey, as noted on 9 October 788. It is believed that the village’s original name might have derived from the kin of a Frankish
settler named Blatmar or Blitter.
Over the last 1,200 years, the municipality’s name has changed several times. The last name change came on 1 March 1971 when the old name Blödesheim was dropped in favour of Hochborn. The change was approved by local voters with a margin of 96%. The old name had not only led to annoyance and teasing, but had also been hindering wine sales. Here are the names borne by the village over the ages:
Not much else is known about Hochborn’s history, likely because it was not only a very small place in days gone by, but also a very poor one.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
until 1832. All the municipality’s mayors since then are listed here:
might be described thus: Per fess sable a demi-lion rampant Or armed and langued gules, and argent five oakleaves erect in fess, the second and fourth abased, vert.
The lion is the Palatine Lion.
that have no winegrowing within their own limits.
can be reached by way of Alzey
.
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...
.
This Ortsgemeinde earned a Germany-wide media presence in early 2001 when a television spot from the 1970s made by the then Südwestfunk was broadcast by Stefan Raab
Stefan Raab
Stefan Konrad Raab is a German entertainer, television host, comedian and musician. Raab began his television career hosting the comedy show Vivasion in 1993 and has been hosting the late-night comedy show TV total since 1999. He became well-known in 1994 after composing a hit single spoofing...
on his show TV total
TV total
TV total is a German late-night television comedy talk show that has run since 8 March 1999 on ProSieben, and is currently aired at around 23:15 from Monday to Thursday....
; it was about the place called Blödesheim. Stefan Raab then visited Hochborn during Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
(locally known as Fastnachtszeit) and for a few weeks thereafter campaigned for a return to the name Blödesheim.
It is worth noting that blödes Heim 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....
means “dimwitted home”.
Location
The municipality lies in Rhenish Hesse and has roughly 500 inhabitants. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of WesthofenWesthofen (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 :...
.
At 290 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, Hochborn is among the highest places in the Rheinhessisches Hügelland (Rhenish-Hessian Uplands). Even so, the municipality nevertheless has a wealth of water, which might account for the choice of the new name: the placename ending —born is a form of the German word Brunnen, which can mean “spring”, “fountain” or “well”. The word hoch means “high”.
Climate
Yearly precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
in Hochborn amounts to 541 mm, which is very low, falling into the lowest tenth of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 9% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations are even lower figures recorded. The driest month is February. The most rainfall comes in July. In that month, precipitation is 1.9 times what it is in February. Precipitation varies moderately. At 34% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.
History
In 782, Hochborn had its first documentary mention when Theo and Anthilde von Blatmarsheim (the last word being the village’s original name) donated 15 MorgenMorgen
A morgen was a unit of measurement of land in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the Dutch colonies, including South Africa and Taiwan. The size of a morgen varies from 1/2 to 2½ acres, which equals approximately 0.2 to 1 ha...
of cropland and a meadow 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...
on 23 April that year. They further made over other holdings of theirs in Blatmarsheim to the Abbey, as noted on 9 October 788. It is believed that the village’s original name might have derived from the kin of a Frankish
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...
settler named Blatmar or Blitter.
Over the last 1,200 years, the municipality’s name has changed several times. The last name change came on 1 March 1971 when the old name Blödesheim was dropped in favour of Hochborn. The change was approved by local voters with a margin of 96%. The old name had not only led to annoyance and teasing, but had also been hindering wine sales. Here are the names borne by the village over the ages:
- 782: Blatmarsheim
- 788: Blatmarisheim
- 789: Blittersheim
- 1070: Blettenesheim
- 1261: Bleidinsheim
- 1341: Bledinsheim
- 1348: Bledensheim
- 1427: Plödesheim
- 1497: Bledesheim
- 1602: Blödeßheim
- 1613: Blödesheim
- 1971: Hochborn
Not much else is known about Hochborn’s history, likely because it was not only a very small place in days gone by, but also a very poor one.
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
The office of mayor in Blödesheim, as it was then known, was not reinstituted after the Congress of ViennaCongress 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,...
until 1832. All the municipality’s mayors since then are listed here:
- 1832–1837: Georg Ochs
- 1837–1843: Christian Jene
- 1843–1853: Jacob Claß
- 1853–1882: Georg Ochs (the first-named mayor’s son)
- 1883–1899: Philipp Schaffner
- 1899–1914: Peter Schaffner (Philipp’s son)
- 1914–1930: Jacob Jene II
- 1930–1945: Ludwig Claß
- 1945–1946: Jacob Flörsch and Peter Blum (provisional, after the defeat and before new elections)
- 1946–1974: Joh. Georg Dürkes
- 1974–1999: Ludwig Abel
- 1999–2004: Kurt Knell
- 2004 – present: Herwarth Mankel
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: Per fess sable a demi-lion rampant Or armed and langued gules, and argent five oakleaves erect in fess, the second and fourth abased, vert.
The lion is the Palatine Lion.
Buildings
- Saint Lawrence’s 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 (Laurentiuskirche) was built or at least first mentioned in the historical record in 1070 as the Kapelle von Blettenesheim (“Chapel of Blettenesheim”). - On Langgasse (lane) is found a warrior’s memorial.
Economy and infrastructure
Hochborn is one of only three places 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...
that have no winegrowing within their own limits.
Transport
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....
can be reached by way of 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....
.
External links
- Municipality’s official webpage
- Hochborn in the collective municipality’s Web pages
- Versuch einer vollständigen Geographisch-Historischen Beschreibung der Kurfürstl. Pfalz am Rheine. 4 Bände. Frankfurt und Leipzig 1786-1788 by Johann Goswin Widder on the pages of the University of Mainz