Nannhausen
Encyclopedia
Nannhausen 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 Simmern
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
at the end of the Biebertal (Bieberbach valley), roughly 3 km west of Simmern.
. Nannhausen belonged to the Ravengiersburg Monastery and in 1557, in the wake of the Reformation
, passed to the Duchy of Palatinate-Simmern
. At first, the village was Lutheran
, but then later it became Reformed
. Once the Dukes of Palatinate-Simmern had died out in 1673, the village passed to Electoral Palatinate, and in 1686, it was no longer forbidden to practise the Catholic faith. Beginning in 1794, Nannhausen lay under French
rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
. After being under French occupation again after each of the world wars, it became part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
in 1946. The current municipality came into being on 17 March 1974 through the merger of the municipalities of Nannhausen and Nickweiler.
A picture of life in the village from the time of French rule
beginning with his grandfather’s recollections and ending with his own was descriptively written by Nannhausen’s onetime reeve (Ortsvorsteher), Heinrich Weinrich.
Canonical Foundation, it has a rich heritage. The centre of Der Kauerhof (always with the article) within Nickweiler’s limits is one of the few that were mentioned at the time of the monastery’s founding in 1074. Since administrative restructuring in 1974, Nickweiler has been an Ortsteil of Nannhausen. A chronicle was published in 1985 on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Nickweiler’s first documentary mention.
On Reuß’s initiative, some Evangelical
citizens in Simmern founded the Verein der Inneren Mission (“Association of the Inner Mission”) in 1849 with the goal of building in the Hunsrück a haven for neglected children. As early as autumn 1850, work could be begun in a small farmhouse in Michelbach with a group of boys. After the acquisition of the needed lands on the Schmiedel, the group moved into the main house in 1851. At the 300th anniversary of the introduction of the Reformation in the Duchy of Palatinate-Simmern by Frederick III, Elector Palatine
, the confirmands’ institute was opened in 1857 in collaboration with the Gustav-Adolf-Werk, an Evangelical social aid organization. Both these projects are now under the umbrella of the Verein der Schmiedelanstalten e.V.
, a member of the Evangelical Church’s outreach works in the Rhineland. In 1986, the Verein der Schmiedelanstalten decided to build a home in Kastellaun for people with mental handicaps. It was opened in 1998 and named the Julius-Reuß-Wohnheim.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Sable a chevron Or, in chief two mullets of five in fess argent and in base an arming buckle of the same.
The gold chevron stands for the merger of the municipalities of Nannhausen and Nickweiler, and the two mullets (star shapes) stand for the Ortsteile. The buckle stands for the baronial family Schmidtburg, whose arms bore such a buckle as the main charge
. It was to these barons that the dwellers of Nannhausen, among other places, had to pay tithes. The tincture
s Or and sable (gold and black) refer to the village’s status as a municipality in the Verbandsgemeinde of Simmern
.
The arms have been borne since 13 July 1983.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
, a biotope
, a “sense path”, a riding
facility, a mountain biking lot, a barbecue pavilion and a supply pavilion.
and Hermeskeil
.
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 Simmern
Simmern (Verbandsgemeinde)
Simmern is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Simmern.The Verbandsgemeinde Simmern consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
, whose seat is in the like-named town
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...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the central 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...
at the end of the Biebertal (Bieberbach valley), roughly 3 km west of Simmern.
Constituent communities
Nannhausen has one outlying centre, or Ortsteil, named Nickweiler, and also belonging to the municipality are the Kauerhof (farm) and the Kauermühle (mill) west of the village, and the Schmiedel to the east.History
In 1399, Nannhausen had its first documentary mention in a document from Count Johann IV of SponheimCounty of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
. Nannhausen belonged to the Ravengiersburg Monastery and in 1557, in the wake of 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...
, passed to the Duchy of Palatinate-Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern was one of the collateral lines of the Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach.The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided into four lines after the death of Rupert III in 1410, including the line of Palatinate-Simmern with its capital in Simmern. This line...
. At first, the village was Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, but then later it became Reformed
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
. Once the Dukes of Palatinate-Simmern had died out in 1673, the village passed to Electoral Palatinate, and in 1686, it was no longer forbidden to practise the Catholic faith. Beginning in 1794, Nannhausen lay under 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...
rule. In 1814 it 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 being under French occupation again after each of the world wars, it became 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 ....
in 1946. The current municipality came into being on 17 March 1974 through the merger of the municipalities of Nannhausen and Nickweiler.
A picture of life in the village from the time of French rule
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...
beginning with his grandfather’s recollections and ending with his own was descriptively written by Nannhausen’s onetime reeve (Ortsvorsteher), Heinrich Weinrich.
Nickweiler
In 1285, Nickweiler had its first documentary mention in a document from the Ravengiersburg Monastery. As a former estate of the Ravengiersburg AugustinianAugustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Canonical Foundation, it has a rich heritage. The centre of Der Kauerhof (always with the article) within Nickweiler’s limits is one of the few that were mentioned at the time of the monastery’s founding in 1074. Since administrative restructuring in 1974, Nickweiler has been an Ortsteil of Nannhausen. A chronicle was published in 1985 on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Nickweiler’s first documentary mention.
Schmiedel
The founding of the so-called Schmiedelanstalten (roughly “Swamp Institutions” – named for this wetland area, “Auf dem Schmiedel”, where they were originally found) goes back to Johann Wichern’s ideas about saving troubled youth. His ideas were brought to the Hunsrück in 1848 by the Simmern clergyman Julius Reuß.On Reuß’s initiative, some 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...
citizens in Simmern founded the Verein der Inneren Mission (“Association of the Inner Mission”) in 1849 with the goal of building in the Hunsrück a haven for neglected children. As early as autumn 1850, work could be begun in a small farmhouse in Michelbach with a group of boys. After the acquisition of the needed lands on the Schmiedel, the group moved into the main house in 1851. At the 300th anniversary of the introduction of the Reformation in the Duchy of Palatinate-Simmern by Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine in 1559...
, the confirmands’ institute was opened in 1857 in collaboration with the Gustav-Adolf-Werk, an Evangelical social aid organization. Both these projects are now under the umbrella of the Verein der Schmiedelanstalten e.V.
Eingetragener Verein
Eingetragener Verein is a legal status for a registered voluntary association in Germany and Austria. While any group may be called a Verein, registration as eingetragener Verein holds many legal benefits because a registered association may legally function as a corporate body rather than just...
, a member of the Evangelical Church’s outreach works in the Rhineland. In 1986, the Verein der Schmiedelanstalten decided to build a home in Kastellaun for people with mental handicaps. It was opened in 1998 and named the Julius-Reuß-Wohnheim.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 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.
Mayor
Nannhausen’s mayor is Achim Wolf, and his deputies are Karl Ludwig Ochs and Reiner Wilbert.Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In Schwarz über einer silbernen Gewandschließe ein goldener erniedrigter Sparren, begleitet oben rechts und links von je einem silbernen fünfstrahligen Stern.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: Sable a chevron Or, in chief two mullets of five in fess argent and in base an arming buckle of the same.
The gold chevron stands for the merger of the municipalities of Nannhausen and Nickweiler, and the two mullets (star shapes) stand for the Ortsteile. The buckle stands for the baronial family Schmidtburg, whose arms bore such a buckle as the main 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...
. It was to these barons that the dwellers of Nannhausen, among other places, had to pay tithes. The tincture
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
s Or and sable (gold and black) refer to the village’s status as a municipality in the Verbandsgemeinde of Simmern
Simmern (Verbandsgemeinde)
Simmern is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Simmern.The Verbandsgemeinde Simmern consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
.
The arms have been borne since 13 July 1983.
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:
- Auf der Höh 3 – estate complex; 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...
house, plastered, possibly from the early 19th century - Nickweilerer Straße 2 – timber-frame house, plastered, 19th century
Parks
On the broad lands, formerly worked as farms, of the Schmiedelanstalten, the first part of the Schmiedelpark was opened on 17 May 2002 as an adventure park with playgrounds for preschoolers and school-age children, an animal pen housing a petting zooPetting zoo
A petting zoo features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo...
, a biotope
Biotope
Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community.It...
, a “sense path”, a riding
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
facility, a mountain biking lot, a barbecue pavilion and a supply pavilion.
Sport and leisure
The Biebertaler-Rundweg, a path with a total length of 26.5 km, links the villages of the Biebertal together.Transport
Nannhausen and Nickweiler both lie right on the disused Hunsrückquerbahn (railway) between LangenlonsheimLangenlonsheim
Langenlonsheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Nahe, approx. 6 km north-east of Bad Kreuznach and 9 km south of Bingen am Rhein...
and Hermeskeil
Hermeskeil
Hermeskeil is a town in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Hunsrück, approx. 25 km southeast of Trier...
.
Public institutions
The outlying centre of Schmiedel is the cradle of the Schmiedel children’s and youth home (Verein der Schmiedelanstalten e.V.), a charitable institution for youth welfare. On the property are also found a short-term care facility, which is an outpost of the Evangelical Dr. Theodor-Fricke Alten- und Pflegeheim (nursing and seniors’ home) in Simmern, and the social-paediatric centre of the deaconry of Kreuznach.Further reading
Walter Göhl (Hg.): Ein Bauer im Hunsrück, Erinnerungen und Gedanken des Hunsrücker Bauern Heinrich Weirich [aus Nannhausen], Pandion Verlag, Simmern 2000 (³2009), ISBN 978-3922929-88-8External links
- Municipality’s official webpage
- http://www.swr.de/hierzuland-rp/archiv/2007/02/21/index.htmlNannhausen in the SWR FernsehenSWR FernsehenSWR Fernsehen is a German regional television channel targeting the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is produced by Südwestrundfunk and is one of eight regional "third channels" broadcast by the ARD members....
programme Hierzuland]