Niederburg
Encyclopedia
Niederburg 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 Sankt Goar-Oberwesel
, whose seat is in the town of Oberwesel
.
near the Rhine with a view of three of the Middle Rhine’s famous castles, standing in Oberwesel: the Schönburg
, the Burg Gutenfels
and the Burg Pfalzgrafenstein
. The municipal area measures 6.78 km², of which 3.17 km² is wooded.
In the 14th century, the village had special privileges. Even in the time around 1550, it was second in population in the Electoral-Trier Amt of Oberwesel only to Oberwesel itself.
A disagreement between Prince-Archbishop-Elector Werner von Falkenstein and the town of Oberwesel escalated in 1390 into an armed confrontation, the so-called Weseler Krieg (“Wesel War” – Oberwesel was known as Wesel in those days). For the first time in the Rhineland
’s history, fighting here involved cannon. These were emplaced on the nearby Niederenberg (mountain). The town lay under siege for more than a year before it finally gave up on 9 October 1391. Shortly thereafter, Niederburg acquired the form of its name that is still used now. Because of the war, Niederburg’s status as part of Oberwesel was abolished. There are even clues in documents from 1414 (“oppidum Nydernberg prope dictam Wesaliam”) that Niederburg had been raised to town.
In 1434, though, Niederburg’s autonomy was revoked, and through Archbishop Raban von Helmstatt’s actions, it was once again merged with the town of Oberwesel. Niederburg has formed a self-administering municipality since 1786. Beginning in 1794, it lay under French
rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
. After the First World War, Niederburg was once again occupied by the French. In the Second World War, 52 bombs were dropped in and around Niederburg in an Allied
air-raid shortly after 13:00 on 21 November 1944. The target is believed to have been the railway line that ran through a dale by Niederburg. Two of the bombs fell in the village centre, killing two people. Since 1946, Niederburg has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
.
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: Argent in base a mount of three vert, above which a castle house embattled of six gules with five windows in fess of the field and two arrowslits, one each side of a gateway with half-open portcullis, above which an escutcheon of the field charged with a cross of the third.
The main charge
in these arms refers to the municipality’s name, and is thus canting
. “Castle” in German
is "Burg". The charge is the Niederburg castle house, where cannon were deployed for the first time in military action in the Rhineland. The small inescutcheon above the gateway symbolizes the village’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier. The “mount of three”, a charge called a Dreiberg in German, refers to the hilly countryside around Niederburg.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Niederburg’s village church, whose patron by visitation protocol in 1657 is Saint Stephen, and which was first mentioned in 1309, still has its original Romanesque
tower. This houses two bells from the Middle Ages
which were poured in 1427 and 1477 by bellfounder Tyllmann von Hachenburg and which survived both the Thirty Years' War
and the Second World War. The heavier bell, which weighs 1 350 kg, is named Maria, while the lighter one, weighing only 1 000 kg, is named Stephanus. In 1954, when the church was expanded, the municipality got two further bells. These came from the Mabilon Bellfoundry in Saarburg
and weigh 520 kg and 500 kg. They are dedicated to Saint Joseph
, Saint Lawrence and Saint Maria Goretti
.
In the Middle Ages, Niederburg belonged to the archdeaconry of Karden and the rural chapter of Boppard. In 1802, Niederburg passed as a curacy in the newly formed canton of St. Goar to the Diocese of Aachen
, although in 1824, it was transferred back to the Diocese of Trier
. Since 1827, Niederburg has belonged to the deaconry of St. Goar.
Of the former castle
complex of Niederburg, there are only remnants left today. These are from the enclosing wall and the wall-lined moat. When and by whom the castle was destroyed is knowledge that has been lost to history.
has been made in the municipality since.
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 Sankt Goar-Oberwesel
Sankt Goar-Oberwesel
Sankt Goar-Oberwesel is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 30 km southeast of Koblenz...
, whose seat is in the town of Oberwesel
Oberwesel
Oberwesel is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Sankt Goar-Oberwesel, whose seat is in the town.-Location:...
.
Location
The clump village of Niederburg lies at the edge of 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...
near the Rhine with a view of three of the Middle Rhine’s famous castles, standing in Oberwesel: the Schönburg
Schönburg (Rhein)
The Schönburg is a castle above the town of Oberwesel in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Sources and external links:*...
, the Burg Gutenfels
Burg Gutenfels
The Burg Gutenfels is a castle 110m above the town of Kaub in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.It was build in 1220.-Sources and external links:*...
and the Burg Pfalzgrafenstein
Burg Pfalzgrafenstein
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle is a toll castle on the Falkenau island, otherwise known as Pfalz Island in the Rhine river near Kaub, Germany. Known as "the Pfalz", this former stronghold is famous for its picturesque and unique setting....
. The municipal area measures 6.78 km², of which 3.17 km² is wooded.
History
Niederburg is believed to have arisen sometime in the 10th century. Only in 1286, however, did Nyderinberc have its first documentary mention. The first settlers were charcoal makers, farmers and craftsmen. In 1309, it is known from evidence that there was a church in Niederburg, which Prince-Archbishop-Elector Werner von Falkenstein raised to parish church in 1386.In the 14th century, the village had special privileges. Even in the time around 1550, it was second in population in the Electoral-Trier Amt of Oberwesel only to Oberwesel itself.
A disagreement between Prince-Archbishop-Elector Werner von Falkenstein and the town of Oberwesel escalated in 1390 into an armed confrontation, the so-called Weseler Krieg (“Wesel War” – Oberwesel was known as Wesel in those days). For the first time in the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
’s history, fighting here involved cannon. These were emplaced on the nearby Niederenberg (mountain). The town lay under siege for more than a year before it finally gave up on 9 October 1391. Shortly thereafter, Niederburg acquired the form of its name that is still used now. Because of the war, Niederburg’s status as part of Oberwesel was abolished. There are even clues in documents from 1414 (“oppidum Nydernberg prope dictam Wesaliam”) that Niederburg had been raised to town.
In 1434, though, Niederburg’s autonomy was revoked, and through Archbishop Raban von Helmstatt’s actions, it was once again merged with the town of Oberwesel. Niederburg has formed a self-administering municipality since 1786. Beginning in 1794, it 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 the First World War, Niederburg was once again occupied by the French. In the Second World War, 52 bombs were dropped in and around Niederburg in an Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
air-raid shortly after 13:00 on 21 November 1944. The target is believed to have been the railway line that ran through a dale by Niederburg. Two of the bombs fell in the village centre, killing two people. Since 1946, Niederburg 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 ....
.
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
Niederburg’s mayor is Hermann-Josef Klockner, and his deputies are Reinhold Rüdesheim and Regina König.Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In silbernem Schild, über grünem Hügel (Dreiberg) ein rotes zinnengekröntes Burghaus mit 5 Fenstern und 2 Schießscharten, über dem Tor mit Fallgitter, in silbernem Schildchen ein rotes Kreuz.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: Argent in base a mount of three vert, above which a castle house embattled of six gules with five windows in fess of the field and two arrowslits, one each side of a gateway with half-open portcullis, above which an escutcheon of the field charged with a cross of the third.
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...
in these arms refers to the municipality’s name, and is thus canting
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
. “Castle” 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....
is "Burg". The charge is the Niederburg castle house, where cannon were deployed for the first time in military action in the Rhineland. The small inescutcheon above the gateway symbolizes the village’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier. The “mount of three”, a charge called a Dreiberg in German, refers to the hilly countryside around Niederburg.
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:
- Saint StephenSaint StephenSaint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
’s Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Stephan), Kirchstraße – west tower, early 13th century, quire about 1380, nave 1746, after 1945 expanded into three-naved church; whole complex of buildings with graveyard (see also below) - Brunnenstraße – fountain, Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architectureThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
, RheinböllenRheinböllenRheinböllen is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, and also belongs to it.-Location:...
Ironworks, latter half of the 19th century - Brunnenstraße/corner of Rheingoldstraße – warriors’ memorial; small complex with relief and plaques, 1920s
- Near Burgstraße 3 – remnants of the Castle Niederburg: in the north a round corner tower, in the south a tower foundation, inbetween a two-floor piece of wall with arches and niches (see also below)
- Rheingoldstraße 22 – house with single roof peak, 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...
, marked 1732; whole complex of buildings - Ringstraße 10 – former schoolSchoolA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
and bakehouse; plastered building, marked 1822, brick addition, 1901; fountain, 19th century, possibly from the Rheinböllen Ironworks; whole complex of buildings - ChapelChapelA 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,...
, west of the village Auf dem Leh unter dem Helligenweg – 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...
, marked 1882
Saint Stephen’s Church
Niederburg’s village church, whose patron by visitation protocol in 1657 is Saint Stephen, and which was first mentioned in 1309, still has its original Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
tower. This houses two bells from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
which were poured in 1427 and 1477 by bellfounder Tyllmann von Hachenburg and which survived both 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....
and the Second World War. The heavier bell, which weighs 1 350 kg, is named Maria, while the lighter one, weighing only 1 000 kg, is named Stephanus. In 1954, when the church was expanded, the municipality got two further bells. These came from the Mabilon Bellfoundry in Saarburg
Saarburg
Saarburg is a city of the Trier-Saarburg district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany, on the banks of the Saar River in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the Moselle....
and weigh 520 kg and 500 kg. They are dedicated to Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
, Saint Lawrence and Saint Maria Goretti
Maria Goretti
Maria Goretti is an Italian virgin-martyr of the Roman Catholic Church, and is one of its youngest canonized saints. She died from multiple stab wounds inflicted by her attempted rapist after she refused him...
.
In the Middle Ages, Niederburg belonged to the archdeaconry of Karden and the rural chapter of Boppard. In 1802, Niederburg passed as a curacy in the newly formed canton of St. Goar to the Diocese of Aachen
Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen
The Diocese of Aachen is one of 22 dioceses in Germany. It is also one of 7 dioceses that has a population that is in majority Catholic, in this case 57.6 %...
, although in 1824, it was transferred back to the Diocese of Trier
Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier
The Roman Catholic diocese of Trier is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Germany. As former archbishopric and Electorate of Trier it was one of the most important as both an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and as a diocese of the church...
. Since 1827, Niederburg has belonged to the deaconry of St. Goar.
Castle Niederburg
Of the former 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...
complex of Niederburg, there are only remnants left today. These are from the enclosing wall and the wall-lined moat. When and by whom the castle was destroyed is knowledge that has been lost to history.
Economy and infrastructure
Until 2000, there was winegrowing around Niederburg, but in that year, the last winegrower had his vines cleared, and no wineWine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
has been made in the municipality since.