Pfalzfeld
Encyclopedia
Pfalzfeld 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 Emmelshausen
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
between Emmelshausen and Kastellaun
, right on the Schinderhannes
-Radweg (cycle path).
).
monks is a service rendered by the settlement of Pfalzfeld. The mention is really only incidental and tells nothing about when the village might have arisen. Nonetheless, the monks duly recorded that 34 cloths, meant to be made into monks’ clothing, had been delivered to the monastery, of which 18 came from Sankt Goar
itself, 2 from Biebernheim, 1 from Diebach, 12 from Beltheim
and 1 from Pfalzfeld. Since Pfalzfeld only managed one cloth, it can be gathered that the village had not reached any great size, nor any great economic importance, and that it was still in its early days. However, it at least seems to have been a cohesive enough community for the village dwellers to come together in the winter months to weave cloth. It could also be that Pfalzfeld (and indeed the other centres in the directory) furnished other goods and services that are not listed in the directory because they did not go straight to the monastery, but rather to the Sankt Goar cell, and served everyday needs.
Although the first documentary mention in itself does not establish the time of Pfalzfeld’s birth, another document does narrow down that time somewhat. An 820 donation document from King Louis the Pious
to the Sankt Goar Monastery included a great forested area west of the Rhine stretching to the Baybach. Mentioned in this document is Biebernheim, nowadays an outlying centre of Sankt Goar, but nowhere does it mention Pfalzfeld. By no means did donation documents always mention every small village involved in the transfers of property, but if a little place like Biebernheim was mentioned, then surely Pfalzfeld, too, would have been mentioned, had it then existed. This leads to the conclusion that Pfalzfeld must have been founded sometime between the dates of these two documents, 820 and 893, as a newly cleared patch of the forest.
Whenever it was that Pfalzfeld first came into being, it has been called the oldest municipality in the Verbandsgemeinde of Emmelshausen.
Pfalzfeld belonged to the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen
and was the seat of the Vogt
ei of Pfalzfeld. Until 1367, this Vogtei was held in fief from the Counts of Katzenelnbogen by the Lords of Braunshorn. As well as Pfalzfeld, the centres of Niedert
, Mühlpfad
, Hausbay
(half) and the Nenzhäuserhof also belonged to the Vogtei. Beginning in 1794, Pfalzfeld lay under French
rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
. In 1993, within the framework of a great local festival, the village’s 1,100th birthday (or at least, anniversary of the first documentary mention) was celebrated.
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: Or an obelisk showing a human head with a winged bonnet beset with scroll ornaments gules.
The single charge
in these arms is a stylized representation of the Celtic obelisk found in Pfalzfeld in 1649, the so-called Pfalzfelder Flammensäule (“Pfalzfeld Flame Column”). It is said to be one of the most important works from the La Tène culture
; it is reckoned to date from the 4th century BC. The tincture
s refer to the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen, to which Pfalzfeld belonged until a definitive end was put to the Holy Roman Empire
.
The obelisk can today be found in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
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 Emmelshausen
Emmelshausen (Verbandsgemeinde)
Emmelshausen is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Emmelshausen....
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Emmelshausen
Emmelshausen is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, to which it also belongs...
.
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...
between Emmelshausen and Kastellaun
Kastellaun
-Climate:Yearly precipitation in Kastellaun amounts to 755 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 53% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations, lower figures recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in June. In that...
, right on the Schinderhannes
Schinderhannes
Johannes Bückler , nicknamed Schinderhannes, was a German outlaw who orchestrated one of the most fascinating crime sprees in German history. He was born at Miehlen, the son of Johann and Anna Maria Bückler. He began an apprenticeship to a tanner, but turned to petty theft. At 16 he was arrested...
-Radweg (cycle path).
Constituent communities
Pfalzfeld has one outlying Ortsteil named Nenzhäuserhof (520 m above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
).
History
In 893, Pfalzfeld had its first documentary mention. Listed in a directory of the Sankt Goar Monastery’s revenue compiled by BenedictineBenedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks is a service rendered by the settlement of Pfalzfeld. The mention is really only incidental and tells nothing about when the village might have arisen. Nonetheless, the monks duly recorded that 34 cloths, meant to be made into monks’ clothing, had been delivered to the monastery, of which 18 came from Sankt Goar
Sankt Goar
Sankt Goar is a town on the left bank of 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 of Oberwesel....
itself, 2 from Biebernheim, 1 from Diebach, 12 from Beltheim
Beltheim
-History:In 893, Beltheim had its first documentary mention in Prüm Abbey’s directory of holdings, the Prümer Urbar as Beltuom. Beltheim was the seat of the Beltheim court comprising the following places: Beltheim, Uhler, Mörsdorf, Lieg, Eveshausen, Dommershausen, Lahr, Cochem-Zell, Buch, Mörz,...
and 1 from Pfalzfeld. Since Pfalzfeld only managed one cloth, it can be gathered that the village had not reached any great size, nor any great economic importance, and that it was still in its early days. However, it at least seems to have been a cohesive enough community for the village dwellers to come together in the winter months to weave cloth. It could also be that Pfalzfeld (and indeed the other centres in the directory) furnished other goods and services that are not listed in the directory because they did not go straight to the monastery, but rather to the Sankt Goar cell, and served everyday needs.
Although the first documentary mention in itself does not establish the time of Pfalzfeld’s birth, another document does narrow down that time somewhat. An 820 donation document from King Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
to the Sankt Goar Monastery included a great forested area west of the Rhine stretching to the Baybach. Mentioned in this document is Biebernheim, nowadays an outlying centre of Sankt Goar, but nowhere does it mention Pfalzfeld. By no means did donation documents always mention every small village involved in the transfers of property, but if a little place like Biebernheim was mentioned, then surely Pfalzfeld, too, would have been mentioned, had it then existed. This leads to the conclusion that Pfalzfeld must have been founded sometime between the dates of these two documents, 820 and 893, as a newly cleared patch of the forest.
Whenever it was that Pfalzfeld first came into being, it has been called the oldest municipality in the Verbandsgemeinde of Emmelshausen.
Pfalzfeld belonged to the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen
County of Katzenelnbogen
The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse.The estate comprised two separate territories...
and was the seat of the Vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
ei of Pfalzfeld. Until 1367, this Vogtei was held in fief from the Counts of Katzenelnbogen by the Lords of Braunshorn. As well as Pfalzfeld, the centres of Niedert
Niedert
Niedert is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Mühlpfad
Mühlpfad
Mühlpfad 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 Emmelshausen, whose seat is in the like-named town. With a population of roughly 70...
, Hausbay
Hausbay
Hausbay is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
(half) and the Nenzhäuserhof also belonged to the Vogtei. Beginning in 1794, Pfalzfeld 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,...
. Since 1946, it 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 ....
. In 1993, within the framework of a great local festival, the village’s 1,100th birthday (or at least, anniversary of the first documentary mention) was celebrated.
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
Pfalzfeld’s mayor is Karl Moog, and his deputies are Franz Braun and Waldemar Schneider.Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In Gold ein aufgerichteter roter Obelisk, der einen Menschenkopf mit Flügelhaube und umgebendem Rankenwerk zeigt.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 an obelisk showing a human head with a winged bonnet beset with scroll ornaments gules.
The single 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 is a stylized representation of the Celtic obelisk found in Pfalzfeld in 1649, the so-called Pfalzfelder Flammensäule (“Pfalzfeld Flame Column”). It is said to be one of the most important works from the La Tène culture
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
; it is reckoned to date from the 4th century BC. 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 refer to the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen, to which Pfalzfeld belonged until a definitive end was put to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy 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...
.
The obelisk can today be found in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
The Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, or LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, is a museum in Bonn, Germany, run by the Rhineland Landscape Association. It is one of the oldest museums in the country. In 2003 it completed an extensive renovation...
.
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...
parish church, Hauptstraße – BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
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 1747, tower marked 1582; whole complex of buildings with graveyard - Hauptstraße 28 – estate complex along the street; slated 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, 19th century - Hauptstraße 40 – former Hunsrückbahn railway station; reception building, plaster and stone-block building, about 1908; one-and-one-half-floor storage and loading building, building with half-hipped roof; watertower, marked 1907; whole complex of buildings with track facilities
- Hausbayer Straße 3 – timber-frame Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), partly solid and slated, 19th century
- Ringstraße 2 – L-shaped estate; timber-frame house, partly slated, 19th century
- St. Goarer Straße 17 – timber-frame Quereinhaus, late 19th century
- St. Goarer Straße 26 – timber-frame Quereinhaus, slated, mid 19th century