Laufersweiler
Encyclopedia
Laufersweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district
) in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
roughly 8 km southwest of Kirchberg
and 16 km southwest of Simmern
.
finds from prehistory
and protohistory
, the Laufersweiler area might have been settled as early as the Bronze Age
and Hallstatt times
. Along what is now the municipal limit between Laufersweiler and Niederweiler
ran the Via Ausonia (or Ausoniusstraße in German
) in Roman
times. This led from Trier
to Bingen am Rhein
. Archaeological finds bear witness to a settlement in Roman times.
s. In the 14th century, the ownership arrangements changed in such a way that part of the village became an Electoral-Trier fief and another became subject to the Barons of Schmidtburg. Beginning in the Late Middle Ages
, Laufersweiler belonged to the High Court
of Rhaunen
. In 1563, Laufersweiler had 34 or 35 households that were subject to various lords.
consecrated to Mary
. It is unknown, however, when Saint Lawrence’s Church, which burnt down in 1839, was built. This church was subject first to the parish of Hausen
. After the Reformation
had been lastingly established in the 1560s by the Wild- and Rhinegraves, Laufersweiler became an autonomous Evangelical
parish by 1602. The first rectory was built in 1617. Already by about 1645, towards the end of the Thirty Years' War
, the Hunsrück was occupied for the first tome by the French
, as it later was once again in King Louis XIV’s
wars of conquest. About 1685, on French demands, Saint Lawrence’s Church (Kirche St. Laurentius) was made a simultaneous church
in which both Evangelical
and Catholic services were to be held.
(Poststation) on the Dutch Postal Route (Niederländischer Postkurs) from Brussels
to Augsburg
, Innsbruck
, Trento
, Venice
, Milan
and Rome
. This postal way station was first mentioned in the documents about the 1561 mail robbery, when the horse-borne post was attacked on the way from Laufersweiler to Eckweiler (now a ghost village
). According to these documents, in 1561, a man named Hans from Wittlich
was the innkeeper. His successor in the late 16th century was Niclas Faust, who founded a “dynasty of innkeepers”. The inn lasted even through the 18th century. In 1867, Laufersweiler lay on a newly established postal route from Kirn
to Büchenbeuren
. In 1886, the inn was reorganized as a Deutsche Reichspost
postal agency (Postagentur; run not by the postal service, but by a private agent). This lasted until 1994.
, the Rhine’s left bank, and thereby Laufersweiler too, were ceded to France
in 1794. In 1815 Laufersweiler was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
. After the great fire of 1839, which also destroyed the church, a new simultaneous church was built in 1842. Only in 1892 and 1893 did the Evangelicals finally have their own church, built in Romanesque Revival
style.
By the 18th century, Laufersweiler had a Jewish community. The first synagogue
was built before 1832. The one built in 1910 and 1911 was extensively vandalized
by Nazi hooligans on Kristallnacht
(9–10 November 1938). In the years that followed, 24 Jewish inhabitants fell victim to the Holocaust
. In 1986, the synagogue was restored.
Since 1946, Laufersweiler has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
. Since administrative reform in 1970, Laufersweiler has belonged to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg
.
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:
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Per fess argent a cross gules and sable an arming buckle of the first.
The Cross of Trier in the upper part of the escutcheon recalls Laufersweiler’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier, which bore this device in its arms. Likewise, the charge
below this, the buckle, refers to a former lord, the Schenk of Schmidtburg, whose arms bore this device.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
of Jewish history in the Hunsrück
. A document collection, which forms part of the permanent exhibit, can be viewed here.
In the Lower Village (Unterdorf) and on Kirchgasse are found timber-frame buildings with carved doors that are worth seeing.
The former town hall comes from the 17th century. Particularly worthy of mention here is the jetty on the upper floor with the former quarters for vagabonds
.
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 Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (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 Kirchberg
Kirchberg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kirchberg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Kirchberg.The Verbandsgemeinde Kirchberg consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Kirchberg, Rhein-Hunsrück
-History:Archaeological finds make it clear that by 400 BC, the Treveri, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic stock, from whom the Latin name for the city of Trier, Augusta Treverorum, is also derived, had settled here...
.
Location
The municipality lies 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...
roughly 8 km southwest of Kirchberg
Kirchberg, Rhein-Hunsrück
-History:Archaeological finds make it clear that by 400 BC, the Treveri, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic stock, from whom the Latin name for the city of Trier, Augusta Treverorum, is also derived, had settled here...
and 16 km southwest of Simmern
Simmern
Simmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...
.
Prehistory and antiquity
Going by archaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, 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...
finds from prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
and protohistory
Protohistory
Protohistory refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings...
, the Laufersweiler area might have been settled as early as the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Hallstatt times
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...
. Along what is now the municipal limit between Laufersweiler and Niederweiler
Niederweiler
Niederweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
ran the Via Ausonia (or Ausoniusstraße 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....
) in Roman
Ancient 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....
times. This led from 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....
to Bingen am Rhein
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...
. Archaeological finds bear witness to a settlement in Roman times.
Middle Ages
In 1283, Laufersweiler had its first documentary mention as Leuferswilre, and was owned by the WaldgraveWaldgrave
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. In the 14th century, the ownership arrangements changed in such a way that part of the village became an Electoral-Trier fief and another became subject to the Barons of Schmidtburg. Beginning in the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....
, Laufersweiler belonged to the 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...
of Rhaunen
Rhaunen
Rhaunen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...
. In 1563, Laufersweiler had 34 or 35 households that were subject to various lords.
Ecclesiastical history
The first documentary mention of any church building in Laufersweiler comes from 1405 and tells of a chapelChapel
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,...
consecrated to Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
. It is unknown, however, when Saint Lawrence’s Church, which burnt down in 1839, was built. This church was subject first to the parish of Hausen
Hausen, Birkenfeld
Hausen 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 Rhaunen, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Location:The municipality lies in...
. After 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...
had been lastingly established in the 1560s by the Wild- and Rhinegraves, Laufersweiler became an autonomous Evangelical
Evangelical 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...
parish by 1602. The first rectory was built in 1617. Already by about 1645, towards the end of 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....
, the Hunsrück was occupied for the first tome by 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...
, as it later was once again in King Louis XIV’s
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
wars of conquest. About 1685, on French demands, Saint Lawrence’s Church (Kirche St. Laurentius) was made a simultaneous church
Simultaneum
A shared church, or Simultankirche, Simultaneum or, more fully, simultaneum mixtum, a term first coined in 16th century Germany, is a church in which public worship is conducted by adherents of two or more religious groups. Such churches became common in Europe in the wake of the Reformation...
in which both Evangelical
Evangelical 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...
and Catholic services were to be held.
Coaching inn
Beginning in the mid 16th century, there was in Laufersweiler a coaching innCoaching inn
In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
(Poststation) on the Dutch Postal Route (Niederländischer Postkurs) from Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
to Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
, Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. This postal way station was first mentioned in the documents about the 1561 mail robbery, when the horse-borne post was attacked on the way from Laufersweiler to Eckweiler (now a ghost village
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
). According to these documents, in 1561, a man named Hans from Wittlich
Wittlich
The town of Wittlich is the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and thereby the middle centre for a feeder area of 56 municipalities in the Eifel and Moselle area with its population of roughly 64,000...
was the innkeeper. His successor in the late 16th century was Niclas Faust, who founded a “dynasty of innkeepers”. The inn lasted even through the 18th century. In 1867, Laufersweiler lay on a newly established postal route from Kirn
Kirn
Kirn is a town in the district of Bad Kreuznach, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Nahe, roughly 10 km north-east of Idar-Oberstein and 30 km west of Bad Kreuznach....
to Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
. In 1886, the inn was reorganized as a Deutsche Reichspost
Reichspost
- Imperial Reichspost :* The Imperial Reichspost was the name of the postal service of the Holy Roman Empire, founded by Franz von Taxis in 1495...
postal agency (Postagentur; run not by the postal service, but by a private agent). This lasted until 1994.
After the French Revolution
After the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, the Rhine’s left bank, and thereby Laufersweiler too, were ceded 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 1794. In 1815 Laufersweiler was assigned to the Kingdom of 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...
at 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,...
. After the great fire of 1839, which also destroyed the church, a new simultaneous church was built in 1842. Only in 1892 and 1893 did the Evangelicals finally have their own church, built in Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
style.
By the 18th century, Laufersweiler had a Jewish community. The first 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 built before 1832. The one built in 1910 and 1911 was extensively vandalized
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
by Nazi hooligans on Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
(9–10 November 1938). In the years that followed, 24 Jewish inhabitants fell victim to the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. In 1986, the synagogue was restored.
Since 1946, Laufersweiler has been part of the then newly founded 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 ....
. Since administrative reform in 1970, Laufersweiler has belonged to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg
Kirchberg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kirchberg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Kirchberg.The Verbandsgemeinde Kirchberg consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 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:
| SPD | WG Schneider | FWG Laufersweiler | Total | |
| 2009 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 seats |
Mayor
Laufersweiler’s mayor is Günter Heck (FWG Laufersweiler e.V.), and his deputies are Rudi Schneider (WG Schneider) and Uschi Körner (SPD).Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In geteiltem Schild oben in Silber ein rotes Balkenkreuz, unten in Schwarz eine silberne Schnalle.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 argent a cross gules and sable an arming buckle of the first.
The Cross of Trier in the upper part of the escutcheon recalls Laufersweiler’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier, which bore this device in its arms. Likewise, 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...
below this, the buckle, refers to a former lord, the Schenk of Schmidtburg, whose arms bore this device.
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:
- 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, Kirchgasse 7 – Romanesque RevivalRomanesque Revival architectureRomanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
slate quarrystone aisleless churchAisleless churchAn Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...
, 1892/1893 - Saint Lawrence’s Catholic Church (Kirche St. Laurentius), Die Fahrt 1 – Romanesque Revival aisleless church, 1842
- Auf der Linde 1 – community centre and bakehouse; one-floor timber-frameTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
building, partly slated, 18th century - Burenbach 14 – bakehouse; one-floor plastered building, 19th century
- Kirchgasse 6 – former synagogueSynagogueA 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...
, Putzbau, 1911 (see also below) - Unterdorf 3/5 – former Thurn und TaxisThurn-und-Taxis-PostThe Thurn-und-Taxis-Post was a private company and the successor to the Imperial Reichspost of the Holy Roman Empire. The Thurn-und-Taxis-Post was operated by the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis between 1806 and 1867...
coaching innCoaching innIn Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
; timber-frame building, partly solid or slated, mansard roofMansard roofA mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
, marked 1786 - Unterdorf 11 – timber-frame Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), partly solid, 19th century
- JewishJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard, on village’s northwest outskirts (monumental zone) – 58 gravestones, 19th and 20th centuries
More about buildings
Housed in the former synagogue is a museumMuseum
A 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...
of Jewish history in the Hunsrück
Hunsrück
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...
. A document collection, which forms part of the permanent exhibit, can be viewed here.
In the Lower Village (Unterdorf) and on Kirchgasse are found timber-frame buildings with carved doors that are worth seeing.
The former town hall comes from the 17th century. Particularly worthy of mention here is the jetty on the upper floor with the former quarters for vagabonds
Vagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
.
Clubs
Laufersweiler has several clubs:- Theaterfreunde Laufersweiler (theatreTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
) - SG Gösenroth - Laufersweiler (team handballTeam handballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
) - Akkordeonorchester & Musikfreunde Hunsrück (accordeon and musicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
) - Heimat- und Wanderverein (heritage and hikingHikingHiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
) - TV 1911 Laufersweiler (gymnastic club)
- Gemischter Chor Frohsinn (mixed choir)
Further reading
- Fritz Schellack: Laufersweiler, Geschichte und Alltag eines Hunsrückdorfes; Argenthal, 1994
- Ernst-Otto Simon: Der Postkurs von Rheinhausen bis Brüssel im Laufe der Jahrhunderte; in: Archiv für deutsche Postgeschichte 1/1990, S. 14–41