Neroth
Encyclopedia
Neroth is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Gerolstein
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
, a part of the Eifel
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
-knightly village, the Elector of Trier was the fiefholder. With Electoral Trier’s conquest in 1794, the French
took over the administration.
As early as 1744, church books mentioned, besides the resident people, wandering families – the Jenische people. They were pedlars and took up residence in winter in Neroth. They distinguished themselves from the long established peasant families with their endogamous marriages and their own language, Jenisch
.
Little is known about the French
who settled in Neroth. Even today, several French
surnames are found in Neroth, such as Leclaire, Jaquemod and Brackonier.
In 1780, Neroth had 215 Morgen
(roughly 70 ha) of cropland and about as much again in meadowland, grazing land and woodlands. Raised here were grain, oats
and potato
es. The climate and high elevation, however, did not favour farming, and despite hard work, crops often turned out badly. Most of the population lived on potatoes, bread
and some vegetables. In the early 19th century, Neroth’s economic situation became critical, though the villagers tried to overcome their neediness by working harder and cutting back on their consumption.
In the end, Theodor Kläs, who was born in Neroth in 1802, showed his fellow villagers a way out of neediness. He had travelled, and on his many journeys he had learnt to work in wire and wooden wares. He taught people to braid wire, and they began making, for the most part, mousetrap
s and rat trap
s, which pedlars from Neroth sold everywhere. This was the beginning of a wireworking industry that persisted into the years following the Second World War.
Another thing that Neroth is known for is the Nerother Wandervogel
youth movement. It was founded on the night of New Year's Eve
1919 and New Year's Day
1920 in the old millstone quarry by the brothers Robert and Karl Oelbermann. It was known for bravely resisting the Nazi régime
during the Second World War.
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: Or balances gules and in chief a fess embattled of seven of the same, in base a mount of five vert charged with a hemispherical wire mousetrap argent.
The fess embattled (horizontal stripe with an upper edge resembling a castle’s battlements) symbolizes the castle
built by John of Bohemia on the Nerother Kopf (mountain). The red balances stand as a symbol of the old Neroth high court. The mount of five – a five-knolled hill – represents the five prominent peaks that frame the village. The silver mousetrap – the municipality’s website shows a drawing of this particular type, among others – stands for the wireworking industry of the 19th century that was an important income earner in the municipality, and for today’s unique mousetrap museum.
youth movement was founded by the brothers Robert and Karl Oelbermann on the night of New Year's Eve
1919 and New Year's Day
1920.
’s many villages insofar as it was poverty-stricken. Agriculture
was extremely scant. Commercial and artisanal opportunities were hard to come by. Some of the villagers therefore plied sidelines to their usual work, peddling
carved spoons or basket
ware. There was a further, smaller sector of the population made up of non-nomadic Jenische pedlars and tinkers. The stage was thus set for a new handicraft industry to arise, one that produced much sought-after articles: mousetraps and rat traps. The needed skills were brought to the community by a former teacher from Neroth, who saw such an industry as a way out of the otherwise intractible chronic wretchedness that had hitherto beset the village – and indeed most of the Eifel
.
Many of the poorer villagers – both Jenische and non-Jenische – then went about peddling handicrafts made of wire, among these, mousetraps. The upshot was that many families’ livelihoods improved markedly. These wire handicrafts were made mostly by women at home, while the men became travelling mousetrap salesmen, going well beyond Germany’s current borders to sell their wares, into what is now Poland
and the Czech Republic
. The pedlars used a secret language amongst themselves, Jenisch
. Growing industrialization began to hinder the trade noticeably by the early 20th century, until in 1970, it was brought to an end.
Mousetraps have become so closely identified with Neroth that the municipality has a museum dedicated to mousetraps, and a dome-shaped wire mousetrap is even one of the charge
s in the municipal arms
.
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 Vulkaneifel 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 Gerolstein
Gerolstein (Verbandsgemeinde)
Gerolstein is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Gerolstein....
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Gerolstein
Gerolstein is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde. Gerolstein is headquarters to a large mineral water firm, Gerolsteiner Brunnen...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the VulkaneifelVulkan Eifel
The Vulkan Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of the Vulkan Eifel are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava...
, a part of the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
History
In 1388, Neroth had its first documentary mention. Neroth arose out of several small centres, namely Niederroth, Hundswinkel and Oberroth. The placename ending —roth refers to clearing woods for farming, and goes back to the 12th century or thereabouts. As an ImperialHoly Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
-knightly village, the Elector of Trier was the fiefholder. With Electoral Trier’s conquest in 1794, 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...
took over the administration.
As early as 1744, church books mentioned, besides the resident people, wandering families – the Jenische people. They were pedlars and took up residence in winter in Neroth. They distinguished themselves from the long established peasant families with their endogamous marriages and their own language, Jenisch
Yeniche language
The Yeniche language, or Jenisch, is a variety of German, spoken by the Yeniche, former nomads living mostly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of France.- Components :...
.
Little is known about 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...
who settled in Neroth. Even today, several French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
surnames are found in Neroth, such as Leclaire, Jaquemod and Brackonier.
In 1780, Neroth had 215 Morgen
Morgen
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...
(roughly 70 ha) of cropland and about as much again in meadowland, grazing land and woodlands. Raised here were grain, oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
and potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es. The climate and high elevation, however, did not favour farming, and despite hard work, crops often turned out badly. Most of the population lived on potatoes, bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
and some vegetables. In the early 19th century, Neroth’s economic situation became critical, though the villagers tried to overcome their neediness by working harder and cutting back on their consumption.
In the end, Theodor Kläs, who was born in Neroth in 1802, showed his fellow villagers a way out of neediness. He had travelled, and on his many journeys he had learnt to work in wire and wooden wares. He taught people to braid wire, and they began making, for the most part, mousetrap
Mousetrap
A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch mice; however, it may also trap other small animals. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. There are various types of mousetrap, each with its own advantages...
s and rat trap
Rat trap
A rat trap is a trap designed to catch rats.Rats are suspicious of new objects and traps with only one entrance. If they see other rats have been trapped they may avoid the trap. Traps which do not address these issues are likely to catch only young, inexperienced rats, not the older ones.Spring...
s, which pedlars from Neroth sold everywhere. This was the beginning of a wireworking industry that persisted into the years following the Second World War.
Another thing that Neroth is known for is the Nerother Wandervogel
Wandervogel
Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...
youth movement. It was founded on the night of New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
1919 and New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1920 in the old millstone quarry by the brothers Robert and Karl Oelbermann. It was known for bravely resisting the Nazi régime
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
during the Second World War.
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:
| WG Schommers | WG Peters | Total | |
| 2009 | 7 | 5 | 12 seats |
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Zwischen einem durch Zinnenschnitt von Gold und Rot geteilten Schildhaupt und einem grünen Fünfberg, darin eine silberne Mausefalle, in Gold eine rote Waage.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: Or balances gules and in chief a fess embattled of seven of the same, in base a mount of five vert charged with a hemispherical wire mousetrap argent.
The fess embattled (horizontal stripe with an upper edge resembling a castle’s battlements) symbolizes the castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
built by John of Bohemia on the Nerother Kopf (mountain). The red balances stand as a symbol of the old Neroth high court. The mount of five – a five-knolled hill – represents the five prominent peaks that frame the village. The silver mousetrap – the municipality’s website shows a drawing of this particular type, among others – stands for the wireworking industry of the 19th century that was an important income earner in the municipality, and for today’s unique mousetrap museum.
Culture and sightseeing
On one of the nearby mountains, the Nerother Kopf, is found the Freudenkoppe, a castle ruin, near which is the old millstone quarry where the Nerother WandervogelWandervogel
Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...
youth movement was founded by the brothers Robert and Karl Oelbermann on the night of New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
1919 and New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1920.
Mousetraps
In the 19th century, Neroth was no exception among the EifelEifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
’s many villages insofar as it was poverty-stricken. Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
was extremely scant. Commercial and artisanal opportunities were hard to come by. Some of the villagers therefore plied sidelines to their usual work, peddling
Peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...
carved spoons or basket
Basket
A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, which can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair, baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are...
ware. There was a further, smaller sector of the population made up of non-nomadic Jenische pedlars and tinkers. The stage was thus set for a new handicraft industry to arise, one that produced much sought-after articles: mousetraps and rat traps. The needed skills were brought to the community by a former teacher from Neroth, who saw such an industry as a way out of the otherwise intractible chronic wretchedness that had hitherto beset the village – and indeed most of the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
.
Many of the poorer villagers – both Jenische and non-Jenische – then went about peddling handicrafts made of wire, among these, mousetraps. The upshot was that many families’ livelihoods improved markedly. These wire handicrafts were made mostly by women at home, while the men became travelling mousetrap salesmen, going well beyond Germany’s current borders to sell their wares, into what is now Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The pedlars used a secret language amongst themselves, Jenisch
Yeniche language
The Yeniche language, or Jenisch, is a variety of German, spoken by the Yeniche, former nomads living mostly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of France.- Components :...
. Growing industrialization began to hinder the trade noticeably by the early 20th century, until in 1970, it was brought to an end.
Mousetraps have become so closely identified with Neroth that the municipality has a museum dedicated to mousetraps, and a dome-shaped wire mousetrap is even one of 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...
s in the municipal 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...
.
Buildings
- Saint Wendelin’sWendelin of TrierSaint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...
Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Wendelin), Layenstraße 8 – former 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...
, 1782, integrated into an addition built crosswise thereto in 1962; shaft cross, apparently from 1804. - Hauptstraße – warriors’ memorial 1914-1918, soldier from 1932, addition made in 1945.
- Mühlenweg 3 – former school, stately plastered building from 1844.
Further reading
- Willi Steffens: Der Nerother Kopf. Heimatjahrbuch 1974. Weiss-Verlag, Daun 1974, S.40-41 (http://www.jahrbuch-daun.de)
- Siegfried Stahnke: Nerother Burg – Vergessene Burg?. Heimatjahrbuch 1983. Weiss-Verlag, Daun 1983, S.47–53 (http://www.jahrbuch-daun.de)
- Siegfried Stahnke: Mausefallen aus Neroth. Heimatjahrbuch 1985. Weiss-Verlag, Daun 1985, S.145–147 (http://www.jahrbuch-daun.de)
- Werner Grasediek: Vom Steffelberg rollt das Feuerrad. Heimatjahrbuch 2003. Weiss-Verlag, Daun 2003, S.113–115 (http://www.jahrbuch-daun.de)
- Hildegard Ginzler: Die "Musfallskrämer" aus der Eifel: Entwicklung des Drahtwarengewerbes in Neroth als Beispiel für Selbsthilfe in einer Mittelgebirgsregion. Gesellschaft für Volkskunde Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz 1986, ISBN 3-926052-00-7
- Hildegard Ginzler: Die Mausefallenmacher. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln 1989, ISBN 3-7927-1111-7
- Peter Honnen: Geheimsprachen im Rheinland. Eine Dokumentation der Rotwelschdialekte in Bell, Breyell, Kofferen, Neroth, Speicher und Stotzheim. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln 1998, ISBN 3-7927-1728-X
- Wolfram Windolph: Nerother Jenisch: Schriftliche Quellen und Glossar. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1998, ISBN 3-447-04044-0