Sien, Germany
Encyclopedia
Sien 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 Herrstein
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
and Lauterecken
northeast of the Baumholder
troop drilling ground.
(Bad Kreuznach district
), in the east on the municipality of Hoppstädten
(Kusel district
; not to be confused with Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
), in the south on the municipality of Langweiler
(Kusel district; not to be confused with Langweiler
in the Birkenfeld district), in the southwest on the municipality of Unterjeckenbach
(Kusel district) and the Baumholder troop drilling ground and in the west on the municipality of Sienhachenbach
. Sien also meets the municipality of Schmidthachenbach
at a single point in the northwest.
. There are hundreds here, built by 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. Among the most important archaeological
finds unearthed at one of the two barrows where digs have been undertaken is a beak-spouted clay ewer
. Buried with Celtic princes in the time around 400 BC (La Tène
A) were Etruscan
bronze
beak-spouted ewers, a luxury that few could afford. These were for serving Celts as festive wine vessels, even in the afterlife. Grave goods
from ordinary people’s graves, however, were humbler things, mostly made of clay. Nowhere had a clay imitation of a bronze Etruscan ewer ever been unearthed, which was somewhat against expectations, until 1972. That year, in Sien, a Celtic warrior’s grave yielded up such a vessel. The humble potter had not merely slavishly copied the Etruscan model, but had also thrown the 29 cm-tall piece on his wheel
in such a way that he gave it a thoroughly unique artistic form. The original is to be found at the Trier State Museum, while a replicas are on display at the local history museum in Birkenfeld and in Sien.
times (2nd to 4th century AD). Most noteworthy among the finds from this era has been a well preserved column made of light-coloured sandstone
. Presumably it belonged to the portico
villa of a Roman estate.
The column, unearthed in 1973, was carved out of a single block of stone (a monolith). With the capital
and the abacus
, it measures some 2 m tall. It tapers slightly towards the top and has a diameter of roughly 36 cm. The column’s surface is, given sandstone’s characteristics, rough. In two places, just above the base and also just below the necking, is a fine groove turned on a lathe. On the whole, it could be an example of the Tuscan style
.
The column can nowadays be found being used as a support for the little porch at the entrance to the Evangelical
church in Sien.
, namely Frankish
, settlers who made it their home after the Roman Empire
had fallen. Bearing witness to this is the village’s own name, Sien, which likely derives from the Old High German
word sinithi (“grazing land”).
Since the parish of Sien is considered one of the oldest ones in the area, the village may well have been one of the earliest Frankish foundings in the time between the 6th and 10th centuries. Moreover, Sien was the hub of a high court
district, witnessed as early as 970, and a fief granted by the Salian
emperor to the Emichones
, gau
counts in the Nahegau
, who later called themselves the Waldgrave
s and Raugraves
.
The Nahegau was divided into administrative zones called Hochgerichte (“high courts”). The one whose seat was in Sien was called the Hochgericht auf der Heide (“High Court on the Heath”). The Hochgericht comprised a vast area (18 650 ha) between the Nahe and the Glan
with all together 50 population centres, although some of these later vanished. Court was held at least once a year on the heath near Sien (hence its name). The count or the Schultheiß
, as the king’s representative, administered justice along with 14 Heideschöffen (“heath Schöffen”, or, roughly “heath lay jurists”). Today the cadastral names Königswäldchen (“King’s Little Wood”) and Galgenberg (“Gallows Mountain”) recall the former execution
places.
Ruthard had bestowed upon the Disibodenberg
Monastery – quite possibly as an economic hedge – one Hufe of land (this was between 30 and 60 Morgen
, and a Morgen itself could be between 0.2 and 1 ha) in Sien (“…et in Sinede hubam”).
In this same document, the namesake Archbishop of Mainz Adalbert (1109-1137) confirmed his predecessor’s donations to Disibodenberg. The donation of the Hufe of land might have taken place about 1108, for it was then that building work on a new Benedictine
monastery began at the forks of the Nahe and Glan, after the old one had been destroyed in the 10th century and forsaken by the monks. The Adalbert Document is reproduced in the Disibodenberg Monastery’s cartulary, now kept at the state archive at Darmstadt
.
Over the course of history, the village has been known as Sinede, Synede, Synde, Syende, Siende and Syne, among other names, before settling on the currently customary form, Sien.
Divisions of inheritance and feuds led to an ever greater splintering of the gau counts’ formerly unified holding. Thus, Sien passed by way of inheritance in 1112 to the Counts of Veldenz, the Emichones’ successors. From the 13th century, Sien itself was even divided. One part belonged to the Waldgraves of Grumbach – and as of 1375 to the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves of Kyrburg – while the other part was held by the Counts of Loon
(a place nowadays in Belgium
), who were offspring of the Vögte
and prefects of the Foundation of Mainz, and thereby also possibly heirs to the Mainz church estate in Sien.
In 1325, the Counts of Loon, who in the late 13th century built a moated castle
on their part of Sien, enfeoffed the knight Kindel von Sien with the castle and half the village of Sien, as well as with further, considerable holdings. The small castle was known in documents as Festes hus (“steadfast house”), but for all its steadfastness, on 28 September 1504, it was destroyed in the Landshut War of Succession
and was never restored. All that is left of it now is the former castle well. There is also a memorial plaque on Schloßstraße (“Castle Street”) in the village. Two local cadastral names also recall the old castle: “Schlosswies” (“Castle Meadow”) and “Am Weiher” (“At the Pond” – meaning of course the former moat
). The part of the municipal area where the castle once stood was officially known as Sienerhöfe (“Sien Estates”), but it was never locally known as anything other than the Schloss (“Castle”), and accordingly, the inhabitants were called the Schlösser. The Counts, though, ceded
the feudal overlordship over their Sien holdings in 1334 to the Waldgraves of Dhaun. The then Count of Loon and Chiny
, Ludwig, issued a writ releasing all his vassals and subjects who were part of the castle holding from any and all duty and loyalty to him, but in the same breath, Ludwig reminded them that they now owed their new overlord, the Waldgrave of Dhaun, Johannes, the same as they had owed their old overlord. The writ bore Ludwig’s seal on the back.
An enfeoffment document gives information about the fief. It apparently comprised the castle, half the village of Sien, half the village of Sienhoppstädten, the lordly rights as they pertained to the church and the tithe
s from Sien, Sienhoppstädten, Schweinschied
, Selbach, Reidenbach, Oberhachenbach and Niederhachenbach.
In 1431, the Knights of Sien died out in the male line. Schonetta von Siende, the last knightly feudal lord’s niece, brought the Sien fief by marriage to Reinhard von Sickingen to the Lords of Sickingen, whose best known family member was her grandson, Franz von Sickingen
. Schonetta von Siende was the last of the knightly house of Sien. Her first marriage was to the knight Hermann Boos von Waldeck, but he died young. A son that she bore in this union inherited parts of Dickesbach
and Schmidthachenbach
from the Sien fief. Schonetta married her second husband in 1449, and bore him a son, Schwicker von Sickingen, who later became Franz von Sickingen’s father. Schonetta died on 1 January 1483 in Kreuznach
. In the upheaval of the Reformation
, her bones were transferred from Kreuznach to Ebernburg
, where the family Sickingen kept its seat. Thereafter, however, the trail is lost, and the whereabouts of Schonetta’s bones is now unknown. There is, however, still a stone to her memory at the parish church in Sien. It dates from roughly 1560.
. One thing left over from that age, though, was the denominational split between Catholics and Protestants
that had arisen from the two lords’ different policies. On the other hand, under Prince Dominik’s enlightened rule, trade and crafts blossomed, which was something sorely needed. Hardly needed, though, were some of the subsequent events, such as the Plague, the Thirty Years' War
(1618-1648) and the Nine Years' War (1688-1697; known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession), which laid the land waste and sharply decimated the local population. According to one memorandum, in 1698, Sien comprised no more than 15 houses.
Prince Dominik was one of the most important rulers among the Lords of Salm, to whom the Oberamt of Kirn passed after the Waldgravial-Rhinegravial line of Kyrburg died out. He was born in 1708 in Mechelen
, nowadays in Belgium, and despite being orphan
ed at the age of eight, this Jesuit
-educated boy lived what was at that time a relatively charmed life as an heir to the Salm estates. His father’s death, of course, meant that he inherited his father’s holdings, the lordship of Leuze
in the County of Hainaut
(nowadays mostly in the Belgian province of Hainaut, but with parts in the neighbouring French
Department of Nord). Thus, even as a youngster, he could enjoy a carefree life of leisure in Vienna
, the more so when he and his brother Philipp Joseph received the Oberamt of Kirn in 1743. This included the Schultheiß
erei of Sien, along with half the village of the same name.
Two years later, both brothers were raised to princely status. Dominik now underwent a gradual shift in his ways of thinking and in his attitude towards life, which was helped along by various educational travels, whereafter he permanently moved house in 1763 to Kirn so that he could quite humbly live amongst his subjects. As an enlightened prince, he was very concerned about their welfare, and worried particularly about their education and religious upbringing.
Prince Dominik built himself many lasting monuments, mostly ecclesiastical buildings. In Sien, he had the old church, which had fallen into disrepair, torn down in 1765, and on the same site, he had built a new church in plain, rustic Baroque
style with a tower topped with an onion dome
. Today, this is the Evangelical
church. However, at the time it was built, Prince Dominik stipulated that it was to be open for use by both Catholics and Protestants, thus creating a simultaneum
.
The hunting lodge in Sien, now run as an inn
, is also one of Prince Dominik’s projects. In 1770 he had it built by his court master builder, Johann Thomas Petri. It features a triaxial middle risalto
under a triangular spire light
, a slated mansard roof
and above the doorway a sandstone
relief by Bernkastel
sculptor Johann Philipp Maringer showing two wildmen bearing the princely coat of arms
.
When Johann XI Dominik Albert, Prince at Salm-Kyrburg, died on 2 June 1778, there was great and sincere mourning. His remains lie in the quire at the Evangelical Kirche am Hahnenbach (“Church on the Hahnenbach”) in Kirn.
marked the end of princely rule in the little Principality of Salm-Kyrburg, to which Sien belonged. The ideals of Liberté, égalité, fraternité
were brought into the territorially splintered land of Germany by French Revolutionary troops
. Soon, la République française
stretched all the way to the Rhine’s left bank. On 10 March 1798 the liberty pole
was put up in Sien. Sieners were no longer serfs
, but rather free French citizens. The properties formerly held by the last Salm-Kyrburg Prince, Friedrich III, Prince Dominik’s nephew, who had already been put to death by guillotine
in Paris
by 1794, were confiscated and auction
ed off to the highest bidder. Even the Prince’s hunting lodge got a new, untitled owner. Sixteen years French times lasted (1798-1814), during which Sien was raised to a mairie (“mayoralty”) for the surrounding villages of Sienhachenbach, Oberreidenbach, Dickesbach, Kefersheim, Illgesheim, Hoppstädten, Oberjeckenbach and Unterjeckenbach.
The lands acquired by France on the Rhine’s left bank were subdivided on the French model into departments, arrondissements
and cantons
. The Mairie of Sien belonged to the Canton of Grumbach, the Arrondissement of Birkenfeld and the Department of Sarre, whose seat was at Trier
.
Even after the German campaign
that put an end to the War of the Sixth Coalition
in the Napoleonic Wars
, Sien remained a mayoralty in the Saxe-Coburg
-ruled Principality of Lichtenberg with its capital at Sankt Wendel
. This territorial arrangement was set forth at the Congress of Vienna
. It retained the status when the Prussia
ns took over in 1834. In Saxe-Coburg times, and Prussian times, too, the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Sien comprised Sien and Sienerhöfe (where the castle had been), Sienhachenbach, Schmidthachenbach, Mittelreidenbach, Oberreidenbach, Weierbach, Dickesbach, Zaubach, Kefersheim, Wickenhof, Ehlenbach, Wieselbach, Kirchenbollenbach, Mittelbollenbach and Nahbollenbach. In Prussian times, the Amtshaus (administrative centre for the Amt) was built. With the new lords, a gradual economic upswing set in, reaching a peak in the latter half of the 19th century. Many urban-style houses and the Gothic Revival
Catholic church, upon whose consecration in 1892 the simultaneum ended, still bear witness to the wealth at that time.
Sien’s small Jewish
community enjoyed a heyday in the 19th century, too, which found architectural expression in the synagogue
, built about 1845. Despite the favourable economic development, however, many Sieners chose to emigrate
, with most going to the United States
.
The economic upswing brought along with it a building boom. As well as the houses and the Catholic church mentioned above, the Evangelical parish built a new schoolhouse in 1838 out of its own financial resources. A Catholic schoolhouse followed in 1868. In 1871, Sien had roughly 600 inhabitants, of whom some 70 were of Jewish background. There was a vast array of retail
businesses, as well as four inns and a brewery
. A major knitting
mill, a brickyard and a construction company also set up shop in the village. A full range of craft businesses was also available then.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw improvements in infrastructure. Streets were cobbled, and lit by lanterns at night, modern (for that time) firefighting equipment was secured, as well as a steam-powered threshing machine
, and a watermain was built.
In the 20th century, though, Sien suffered several unfortunate blows. The railways through the Nahe and Glan valleys bypassed the village, stripping it of its hitherto enjoyed status as an economic centre of sorts. This led in turn to the loss of the mayoralty, which had to be yielded to Weierbach in 1909. The structural shift in agriculture
and the expropriation of land by the Third Reich
for the new Baumholder troop drilling ground in 1938, displacing roughly 4,000 people and stripping Sien of a great deal of its outlying municipal area, led to a further loss for the municipality’s position as an economic and political force locally. The once well attended markets held in the village died out, and the population figure began to shrink.
On 1 April 1939, Sienerhöfe, which until this time had been a self-administering municipality, was amalgamated with Sien.
In the early 21st century, the economic downturn has been turned round somewhat with the location of modern industrial operations in the municipality.
.
Sien’s Jews belonged mostly to two families, Rothschild and Schlachter. To be sure, there were other surnames, but these two predominated. Recalling the former Jewish community and its culture today are very few things. Among these are the graveyard, a mikveh and a Jewish livestock merchant’s account book.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
might be described thus: Per fess enhanced in chief party per pale Or five roundels, two, one and two, sable and gules two salmon addorsed argent, in base argent two scarpes vert between which six oakleaves proper, one, three and two.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
270. Serving nearby Lauterecken
is a railway station on the Lautertalbahn (Kaiserslautern
–Lauterecken
).
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 Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- History :...
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 Herrstein
Herrstein (Verbandsgemeinde)
Herrstein is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Herrstein....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Herrstein
Herrstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
Location
Sien lies between Idar-ObersteinIdar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...
and Lauterecken
Lauterecken
Lauterecken is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Glan and Lauter, approx. 20 km north-east of Kusel, and 25 km north-west of Kaiserslautern....
northeast of the Baumholder
Baumholder
Baumholder is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France...
troop drilling ground.
Neighbouring municipalities
Sien borders in the north on the municipality of OtzweilerOtzweiler
Otzweiler is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....
(Bad Kreuznach district
Bad Kreuznach (district)
Bad Kreuznach is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Rhein-Hunsrück, Mainz-Bingen, Alzey-Worms, Donnersbergkreis, Kusel and Birkenfeld.- History :...
), in the east on the municipality of Hoppstädten
Hoppstädten
Hoppstädten is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
(Kusel district
Kusel (district)
Kusel is a district in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Birkenfeld, Bad Kreuznach, Donnersbergkreis, Kaiserslautern, Saarpfalz and Sankt Wendel .-History:The district of Kusel was created at the beginning of the 19th century...
; not to be confused with Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
), in the south on the municipality of Langweiler
Langweiler, Kusel
Langweiler is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
(Kusel district; not to be confused with Langweiler
Langweiler, Birkenfeld
Langweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
in the Birkenfeld district), in the southwest on the municipality of Unterjeckenbach
Unterjeckenbach
Unterjeckenbach is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
(Kusel district) and the Baumholder troop drilling ground and in the west on the municipality of Sienhachenbach
Sienhachenbach
Sienhachenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
. Sien also meets the municipality of Schmidthachenbach
Schmidthachenbach
Schmidthachenbach 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 Herrstein, whose seat is in the like-named...
at a single point in the northwest.
Celtic times
The earliest traces of habitation in what is now Sien’s municipal area go far back before the Christian era, bearing witness to which are two extensive fields of barrowsTumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
. There are hundreds here, built by the Treveri
Treveri
The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...
, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
stock, from whom the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name for the city of 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....
, Augusta Treverorum
History of Trier
Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate, whose history dates to the Roman Empire, is often claimed to be the oldest city in Germany. Traditionally it was known in English by its French name of Treves.- Prehistory :...
, is also derived. Among the most important archaeological
Archaeology
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 unearthed at one of the two barrows where digs have been undertaken is a beak-spouted clay ewer
Pitcher (container)
A pitcher is a container with a spout used for storing and pouring contents which are liquid in form. Generally a pitcher also has a handle, which makes pouring easier.A ewer is a vase-shaped pitcher, often decorated, with a base and a flaring spout...
. Buried with Celtic princes in the time around 400 BC (La Tène
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....
A) were Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
beak-spouted ewers, a luxury that few could afford. These were for serving Celts as festive wine vessels, even in the afterlife. Grave goods
Grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods are a type of votive deposit...
from ordinary people’s graves, however, were humbler things, mostly made of clay. Nowhere had a clay imitation of a bronze Etruscan ewer ever been unearthed, which was somewhat against expectations, until 1972. That year, in Sien, a Celtic warrior’s grave yielded up such a vessel. The humble potter had not merely slavishly copied the Etruscan model, but had also thrown the 29 cm-tall piece on his wheel
Potter's wheel
In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in asma of round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during process of trimming the excess body from dried ware and for applying incised decoration or rings of color...
in such a way that he gave it a thoroughly unique artistic form. The original is to be found at the Trier State Museum, while a replicas are on display at the local history museum in Birkenfeld and in Sien.
Roman times
Archaeological finds, of which there have been many, also establish that Sien’s municipal area was settled in RomanAncient 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 (2nd to 4th century AD). Most noteworthy among the finds from this era has been a well preserved column made of light-coloured sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. Presumably it belonged to the portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
villa of a Roman estate.
The column, unearthed in 1973, was carved out of a single block of stone (a monolith). With the capital
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
and the abacus
Abacus (architecture)
In architecture, an abacus is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, above the bell. Its chief function is to provide a large supporting surface to receive the weight of the arch or the architrave above...
, it measures some 2 m tall. It tapers slightly towards the top and has a diameter of roughly 36 cm. The column’s surface is, given sandstone’s characteristics, rough. In two places, just above the base and also just below the necking, is a fine groove turned on a lathe. On the whole, it could be an example of the Tuscan style
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
.
The column can nowadays be found being used as a support for the little porch at the entrance to the 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...
church in Sien.
Frankish times
Today’s village of Sien was founded by GermanicGermanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
, namely Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, settlers who made it their home after the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
had fallen. Bearing witness to this is the village’s own name, Sien, which likely derives from the Old High German
Old High German
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
word sinithi (“grazing land”).
Since the parish of Sien is considered one of the oldest ones in the area, the village may well have been one of the earliest Frankish foundings in the time between the 6th and 10th centuries. Moreover, Sien was the hub of a 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...
district, witnessed as early as 970, and a fief granted by the Salian
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...
emperor to the Emichones
Emichones
The Emichones family is a precursor to several noble families in the southwestern German region. Its members were -- perhaps as undercounts of the Salian dynasty -- gau counts in the Nahegau. The name is due to the prevailing first name "Emich."- History :The Nahegau was next to the Wormsgau and...
, gau
Gau
Gau may refer to:* Gau, a Cantonese vulgar word* Gau , German term for a shire * Gau , another name for the French wine grape Gouais blanc* Gau, a character in Final Fantasy VI...
counts in the Nahegau
Nahegau
The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Wormsgau...
, who later called themselves the Waldgrave
Waldgrave
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 and Raugraves
Raugraves
The Raugraves were a German noble family, which had its center of influence in the former Nahegau. They descended from the Emichones .- First family in the 12th until 15th centuries :...
.
The Nahegau was divided into administrative zones called Hochgerichte (“high courts”). The one whose seat was in Sien was called the Hochgericht auf der Heide (“High Court on the Heath”). The Hochgericht comprised a vast area (18 650 ha) between the Nahe and the Glan
Glan (Nahe)
The Glan is a river in southwestern Germany, right tributary of the Nahe River. It is approximately long. It rises in the Saarland, northwest of Homburg. It flows generally north, through Rhineland-Palatinate, and empties into the Nahe in Odernheim am Glan, near Bad Sobernheim...
with all together 50 population centres, although some of these later vanished. Court was held at least once a year on the heath near Sien (hence its name). The count or the Schultheiß
Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß was the head of a municipality , a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler.As official it was...
, as the king’s representative, administered justice along with 14 Heideschöffen (“heath Schöffen”, or, roughly “heath lay jurists”). Today the cadastral names Königswäldchen (“King’s Little Wood”) and Galgenberg (“Gallows Mountain”) recall the former execution
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
places.
Middle Ages
In 1128, Sien had its first documentary mention in the so-called Adalbert Document, in which it says that Archbishop of MainzArchbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
Ruthard had bestowed upon the Disibodenberg
Disibodenberg
thumb|right|Disibodenberg todaythumb|Disibodenberg ruinsthumb|Disibodenberg ruinsthumb|Disibodenberg pictureDisibodenberg is a monastery ruin in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was founded by Saint Disibod. Hildegard of Bingen, who wrote Disibod's biography "Vita Sancti Disibodi", also lived in...
Monastery – quite possibly as an economic hedge – one Hufe of land (this was between 30 and 60 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...
, and a Morgen itself could be between 0.2 and 1 ha) in Sien (“…et in Sinede hubam”).
In this same document, the namesake Archbishop of Mainz Adalbert (1109-1137) confirmed his predecessor’s donations to Disibodenberg. The donation of the Hufe of land might have taken place about 1108, for it was then that building work on a new Benedictine
Benedictine
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...
monastery began at the forks of the Nahe and Glan, after the old one had been destroyed in the 10th century and forsaken by the monks. The Adalbert Document is reproduced in the Disibodenberg Monastery’s cartulary, now kept at the state archive at Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
.
Over the course of history, the village has been known as Sinede, Synede, Synde, Syende, Siende and Syne, among other names, before settling on the currently customary form, Sien.
Divisions of inheritance and feuds led to an ever greater splintering of the gau counts’ formerly unified holding. Thus, Sien passed by way of inheritance in 1112 to the Counts of Veldenz, the Emichones’ successors. From the 13th century, Sien itself was even divided. One part belonged to the Waldgraves of Grumbach – and as of 1375 to the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves of Kyrburg – while the other part was held by the Counts of Loon
County of Loon
The County of Loon was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, lying west of the Meuse river in present-day Flemish-speaking Belgium, and east of the old Duchy of Brabant. The most important cities of the county were Beringen, Bilzen, Borgloon, Bree, Hamont, Hasselt, Herk-de-Stad, Maaseik, Peer and...
(a place nowadays in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), who were offspring of the Vögte
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...
and prefects of the Foundation of Mainz, and thereby also possibly heirs to the Mainz church estate in Sien.
In 1325, the Counts of Loon, who in the late 13th century built a moated 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...
on their part of Sien, enfeoffed the knight Kindel von Sien with the castle and half the village of Sien, as well as with further, considerable holdings. The small castle was known in documents as Festes hus (“steadfast house”), but for all its steadfastness, on 28 September 1504, it was destroyed in the Landshut War of Succession
Landshut War of Succession
The Landshut War of Succession resulted from an agreement between the duchies of Bavaria-Munich and Bavaria-Landshut . The agreement concerned the law of succession when one of the two Dukes should die without a male heir...
and was never restored. All that is left of it now is the former castle well. There is also a memorial plaque on Schloßstraße (“Castle Street”) in the village. Two local cadastral names also recall the old castle: “Schlosswies” (“Castle Meadow”) and “Am Weiher” (“At the Pond” – meaning of course the former moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
). The part of the municipal area where the castle once stood was officially known as Sienerhöfe (“Sien Estates”), but it was never locally known as anything other than the Schloss (“Castle”), and accordingly, the inhabitants were called the Schlösser. The Counts, though, ceded
Cession
The act of Cession, or to cede, is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty...
the feudal overlordship over their Sien holdings in 1334 to the Waldgraves of Dhaun. The then Count of Loon and Chiny
Chiny
Chiny is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg.On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers , had 5,021 inhabitants, giving a population density of 44.2 inhabitants per km²...
, Ludwig, issued a writ releasing all his vassals and subjects who were part of the castle holding from any and all duty and loyalty to him, but in the same breath, Ludwig reminded them that they now owed their new overlord, the Waldgrave of Dhaun, Johannes, the same as they had owed their old overlord. The writ bore Ludwig’s seal on the back.
An enfeoffment document gives information about the fief. It apparently comprised the castle, half the village of Sien, half the village of Sienhoppstädten, the lordly rights as they pertained to the church and the tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s from Sien, Sienhoppstädten, Schweinschied
Schweinschied
Schweinschied is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....
, Selbach, Reidenbach, Oberhachenbach and Niederhachenbach.
In 1431, the Knights of Sien died out in the male line. Schonetta von Siende, the last knightly feudal lord’s niece, brought the Sien fief by marriage to Reinhard von Sickingen to the Lords of Sickingen, whose best known family member was her grandson, Franz von Sickingen
Franz von Sickingen
Franz von Sickingen was a German knight, one of the most notable figures of the first period of the Reformation.-Biography:He was born at Ebernburg near Bad Kreuznach...
. Schonetta von Siende was the last of the knightly house of Sien. Her first marriage was to the knight Hermann Boos von Waldeck, but he died young. A son that she bore in this union inherited parts of Dickesbach
Dickesbach
Dickesbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Schmidthachenbach
Schmidthachenbach
Schmidthachenbach 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 Herrstein, whose seat is in the like-named...
from the Sien fief. Schonetta married her second husband in 1449, and bore him a son, Schwicker von Sickingen, who later became Franz von Sickingen’s father. Schonetta died on 1 January 1483 in Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach is the capital of the district of Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located on the Nahe river, a tributary of the Rhine...
. In the upheaval 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...
, her bones were transferred from Kreuznach to Ebernburg
Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg
Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg is a municipality in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, district of Bad Kreuznach. The town has about 4000 inhabitants as of 2004 and covers an area of 9.53 square km and lies on the Nahe....
, where the family Sickingen kept its seat. Thereafter, however, the trail is lost, and the whereabouts of Schonetta’s bones is now unknown. There is, however, still a stone to her memory at the parish church in Sien. It dates from roughly 1560.
Age of Absolutism
In 1765, the Sickingens sold off their holdings in Sien to Johann XI Dominik Albert, Prince at Salm-Kyrburg (known as Prince Dominik) and owner of the other half of Sien, thereby ending the age of two lords holding the village as a condominiumCondominium (international law)
In international law, a condominium is a political territory in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.Although a condominium has always been...
. One thing left over from that age, though, was the denominational split between Catholics and Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
that had arisen from the two lords’ different policies. On the other hand, under Prince Dominik’s enlightened rule, trade and crafts blossomed, which was something sorely needed. Hardly needed, though, were some of the subsequent events, such as the Plague, 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....
(1618-1648) and the Nine Years' War (1688-1697; known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession), which laid the land waste and sharply decimated the local population. According to one memorandum, in 1698, Sien comprised no more than 15 houses.
Prince Dominik was one of the most important rulers among the Lords of Salm, to whom the Oberamt of Kirn passed after the Waldgravial-Rhinegravial line of Kyrburg died out. He was born in 1708 in Mechelen
Mechelen
Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...
, nowadays in Belgium, and despite being orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
ed at the age of eight, this Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
-educated boy lived what was at that time a relatively charmed life as an heir to the Salm estates. His father’s death, of course, meant that he inherited his father’s holdings, the lordship of Leuze
Leuze-en-Hainaut
Leuze-en-Hainaut is a Walloon municipality of Belgium, located in the province of Hainaut. It consists of the former municipalities of Leuze-en-Hainaut, Grandmetz, Thieulain, Blicquy, Chapelle-à-Oie, Chapelle-à-Wattines, Pipaix, Tourpes, Willaupuis and Gallaix...
in the County of Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
(nowadays mostly in the Belgian province of Hainaut, but with parts in the neighbouring 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...
Department of Nord). Thus, even as a youngster, he could enjoy a carefree life of leisure in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the more so when he and his brother Philipp Joseph received the Oberamt of Kirn in 1743. This included the Schultheiß
Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß was the head of a municipality , a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler.As official it was...
erei of Sien, along with half the village of the same name.
Two years later, both brothers were raised to princely status. Dominik now underwent a gradual shift in his ways of thinking and in his attitude towards life, which was helped along by various educational travels, whereafter he permanently moved house in 1763 to Kirn so that he could quite humbly live amongst his subjects. As an enlightened prince, he was very concerned about their welfare, and worried particularly about their education and religious upbringing.
Prince Dominik built himself many lasting monuments, mostly ecclesiastical buildings. In Sien, he had the old church, which had fallen into disrepair, torn down in 1765, and on the same site, he had built a new church in plain, rustic Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque 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...
style with a tower topped with an onion dome
Onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles the onion, after which they are named. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the drum upon which they are set, and their height usually exceeds their width...
. Today, this is the 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...
church. However, at the time it was built, Prince Dominik stipulated that it was to be open for use by both Catholics and Protestants, thus creating a simultaneum
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...
.
The hunting lodge in Sien, now run as an inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
, is also one of Prince Dominik’s projects. In 1770 he had it built by his court master builder, Johann Thomas Petri. It features a triaxial middle risalto
Risalit
A risalit, from the Italian risalto for "projection", is a German term which refers to a part of a building that juts out, usually over the full height of the building. In English the French term avant-corps is sometimes used. It is common in façades in the baroque period.A corner risalit is where...
under a triangular spire light
Spire light
Spire light , the term given to the windows in a spire which are found in all periods of English Gothic architecture, and in French spires form a very important feature in the composition....
, a slated mansard roof
Mansard roof
A 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...
and above the doorway a sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
relief by Bernkastel
Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues is a well-known winegrowing centre on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
sculptor Johann Philipp Maringer showing two wildmen bearing the princely coat of 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...
.
When Johann XI Dominik Albert, Prince at Salm-Kyrburg, died on 2 June 1778, there was great and sincere mourning. His remains lie in the quire at the Evangelical Kirche am Hahnenbach (“Church on the Hahnenbach”) in Kirn.
Modern times
The 1789 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...
marked the end of princely rule in the little Principality of Salm-Kyrburg, to which Sien belonged. The ideals of Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité, French for "Liberty, equality, fraternity ", is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutionalized until the Third...
were brought into the territorially splintered land of Germany by French Revolutionary troops
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
. Soon, la République française
French First Republic
The French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I...
stretched all the way to the Rhine’s left bank. On 10 March 1798 the liberty pole
Liberty pole
A liberty pole is a tall wooden pole, often used as a type of flagstaff, planted in the ground, which may be surmounted by an ensign or a liberty cap. They are associated with the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century.-American Revolution:...
was put up in Sien. Sieners were no longer serfs
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
, but rather free French citizens. The properties formerly held by the last Salm-Kyrburg Prince, Friedrich III, Prince Dominik’s nephew, who had already been put to death by guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
by 1794, were confiscated and auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
ed off to the highest bidder. Even the Prince’s hunting lodge got a new, untitled owner. Sixteen years French times lasted (1798-1814), during which Sien was raised to a mairie (“mayoralty”) for the surrounding villages of Sienhachenbach, Oberreidenbach, Dickesbach, Kefersheim, Illgesheim, Hoppstädten, Oberjeckenbach and Unterjeckenbach.
The lands acquired by France on the Rhine’s left bank were subdivided on the French model into departments, arrondissements
Arrondissements of France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts.The capital of an arrondissement/district is called a subprefecture...
and cantons
Cantons of France
The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 101 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...
. The Mairie of Sien belonged to the Canton of Grumbach, the Arrondissement of Birkenfeld and the Department of Sarre, whose seat was at 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....
.
Even after the German campaign
German campaign (Napoleonic Wars)
The German Campaign was the campaign which ended the War of the Sixth Coalition, itself part of the Napoleonic Wars. It took place in Germany during Napoleon's retreat from Russia...
that put an end to the War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
in the Napoleonic Wars
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...
, Sien remained a mayoralty in the Saxe-Coburg
Saxe-Coburg
Saxe-Coburg was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany.After the Division of Erfurt in 1572, Coburg was part of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach, ruled by the Ernestine duke John Casimir jointly with his brother John Ernest. In 1596...
-ruled Principality of Lichtenberg with its capital at Sankt Wendel
Sankt Wendel
St. Wendel is a municipality in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier.- Geography :...
. This territorial arrangement was set forth 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,...
. It retained the status when the 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...
ns took over in 1834. In Saxe-Coburg times, and Prussian times, too, the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Sien comprised Sien and Sienerhöfe (where the castle had been), Sienhachenbach, Schmidthachenbach, Mittelreidenbach, Oberreidenbach, Weierbach, Dickesbach, Zaubach, Kefersheim, Wickenhof, Ehlenbach, Wieselbach, Kirchenbollenbach, Mittelbollenbach and Nahbollenbach. In Prussian times, the Amtshaus (administrative centre for the Amt) was built. With the new lords, a gradual economic upswing set in, reaching a peak in the latter half of the 19th century. Many urban-style houses and the Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
Catholic church, upon whose consecration in 1892 the simultaneum ended, still bear witness to the wealth at that time.
Sien’s small Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
community enjoyed a heyday in the 19th century, too, which found architectural expression in the 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...
, built about 1845. Despite the favourable economic development, however, many Sieners chose to emigrate
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
, with most going to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The economic upswing brought along with it a building boom. As well as the houses and the Catholic church mentioned above, the Evangelical parish built a new schoolhouse in 1838 out of its own financial resources. A Catholic schoolhouse followed in 1868. In 1871, Sien had roughly 600 inhabitants, of whom some 70 were of Jewish background. There was a vast array of retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
businesses, as well as four inns and a brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
. A major knitting
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
mill, a brickyard and a construction company also set up shop in the village. A full range of craft businesses was also available then.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw improvements in infrastructure. Streets were cobbled, and lit by lanterns at night, modern (for that time) firefighting equipment was secured, as well as a steam-powered threshing machine
Threshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
, and a watermain was built.
In the 20th century, though, Sien suffered several unfortunate blows. The railways through the Nahe and Glan valleys bypassed the village, stripping it of its hitherto enjoyed status as an economic centre of sorts. This led in turn to the loss of the mayoralty, which had to be yielded to Weierbach in 1909. The structural shift in 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...
and the expropriation of land by the Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
for the new Baumholder troop drilling ground in 1938, displacing roughly 4,000 people and stripping Sien of a great deal of its outlying municipal area, led to a further loss for the municipality’s position as an economic and political force locally. The once well attended markets held in the village died out, and the population figure began to shrink.
On 1 April 1939, Sienerhöfe, which until this time had been a self-administering municipality, was amalgamated with Sien.
In the early 21st century, the economic downturn has been turned round somewhat with the location of modern industrial operations in the municipality.
Jewish community
The first written records of a permanent Jewish presence in Sien go back to the 18th century. In the Verzeichnis deren in dem hochfürstlichen salm-kyrburgischen Ort Syen unter hochfürstlichem Schutz wohnenden Juden (“Directory of Jews Living in the High-Princely Salm-Kyrburg Village of Syen Under High-Princely Protection”), dated 28 March 1760, five Jewish household heads are named. There were 42 Jewish inhabitants in 1808. Numerically, the peak was reached in 1852 when there were 72 registered Jewish inhabitants in Sien. This was out of a total population of 530. Although the Jewish population had been rising in the earlier half of the 19th century, in the latter half, it shrank. This trend continued after the turn of the century. There were 36 in 1895, and only 10 by 1925. Sien’s last six Jews were deported by the Nazis in 1942 and murdered in the HolocaustThe 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...
.
Sien’s Jews belonged mostly to two families, Rothschild and Schlachter. To be sure, there were other surnames, but these two predominated. Recalling the former Jewish community and its culture today are very few things. Among these are the graveyard, a mikveh and a Jewish livestock merchant’s account book.
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.
Coat of arms
The municipality’s armsCoat 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 be described thus: Per fess enhanced in chief party per pale Or five roundels, two, one and two, sable and gules two salmon addorsed argent, in base argent two scarpes vert between which six oakleaves proper, one, three and two.
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, Kirchweg – 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...
, west tower with doubled helmed roof, 1768, architect Johann Thomas Petri, Kirn; organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, 1870 by Georg Karl Ernst Stumm, SulzbachSulzbach- Germany :* Sulzbach-Rosenberg, a town in the district Amberg-Sulzbach, Bavaria* Sulzbach, Saarland, a town in the district of Saarbrücken, Saarland* Sulzbach, Hesse, a municipality in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, Hesse...
; Knights of Sien memorial armorial stone, 1560 - Saint Lawrence’s Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Laurentius), Fürst-Dominik-Straße – two-naved hall churchHall churchA hall church is a church with nave and side aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was first coined in the mid-19th century by the pioneering German art historian Wilhelm Lübke....
, Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architectureThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
red sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
building, 1892/1893, architect Walther, LautereckenLautereckenLauterecken is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Glan and Lauter, approx. 20 km north-east of Kusel, and 25 km north-west of Kaiserslautern....
; décor; missionary cross - Fürst-Dominik-Straße, at the graveyard – Friedrich Schmidt tomb, 1888, hewn oaken log; two cast-ironCast ironCast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
Crucifixes - Fürst-Dominik-Straße 23 – so-called Schloss (castleCastleA 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...
); three-floor building with 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...
, gable-topped middle risaltoRisalitA risalit, from the Italian risalto for "projection", is a German term which refers to a part of a building that juts out, usually over the full height of the building. In English the French term avant-corps is sometimes used. It is common in façades in the baroque period.A corner risalit is where...
, 1771, architect Johann Thomas Petri, Kirn - Fürst-Dominik-Straße 24 – L-shaped, steep-gabled farmhouse, marked 1850, essentially surely older
- Im Winkel 10 – stately Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), marked 1856
- In der Hohl 11 – former mayoral office; seven-axis plastered building with knee wallKnee wallIn architecture, a knee wall is typically a short wall, usually under three feet in height. In his book A Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Francis D. K. Ching defines a Knee Wall as "A short wall supporting rafters at some intermediate position along their length." The term is derived from the...
, 1860 - Schloßstraße 4 – 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...
Quereinhaus, marked 1806, possibly older - Near Sickingerstraße 9 – bridge built with jack archJack archA jack arch is a structural element in masonry construction that provides support at openings in the masonry. Alternate names are "flat arch" and "straight arch"....
, yellow sandstone, marked 1927 - JewishJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard, southeast of the village in the woods (monumental zone) – 48 gravestones in situ, 1847 to 1937, mainly inscribed in HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
-GermanGerman languageGerman 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.... - Wayside cross, west of the village – processional cross, yellow sandstone
Transport
Sien lies on BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
270. Serving nearby Lauterecken
Lauterecken
Lauterecken is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Glan and Lauter, approx. 20 km north-east of Kusel, and 25 km north-west of Kaiserslautern....
is a railway station on the Lautertalbahn (Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
–Lauterecken
Lauterecken
Lauterecken is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Glan and Lauter, approx. 20 km north-east of Kusel, and 25 km north-west of Kaiserslautern....
).
Further reading
- Erich Gemmel: Festschrift zur 1000-Jahr-Feier der Gemeinde Sien; Sien 1970
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: Römerzeitliche Spuren der Besiedlung und Kultur in Sien im 2./3. Jhdt n. Chr.; Sien 1991
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: Die „Siener Tonschnabelkanne“ - ein Zeugnis keltischer Töpferkunst; Sien 1994
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: Vor 25 Jahren: 1000-Jahr-Feier der Gemeinde Sien – Eine Dokumentation; Sien 1995
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: JOHANN XI. DOMINIK ALBERT Fürst zu Salm-Kyrburg, das Zeitalter des Absolutismus und SIEN; Sien 1996
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: Sien – wie es einmal war - Bilder und Geschichten aus der Vergangenheit; Sien 1997
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: Die ehemalige Jüdische Gemeinde Sien – Spuren und Erinnerungen; Sien 1998
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: Die ehemalige Jüdische Gemeinde Sien – Spuren und Erinnerungen; Kurzfassung, Sien 1999
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: Vergessene Geschichten, die uns die Siener Flurnamen erzählen; Sien 2001
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: 55 Siener-Wind-Geschichten – Denkwürdiges aus der über 1000 Jahre alten Geschichte des Ortes Sien; Sien 2003
- Ulrich Eckhoff: „Siener Originale“. In Heimatkalender 2004 Landkreis Birkenfeld, Idar-Oberstein 2003 , S. 236f
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: „Moses Herz - unvergessen“. In Heimatkalender 2005 Landkreis Birkenfeld, Idar-Oberstein 2004 , S. 234f
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: „Willy Römer - Fotograf aus Leidenschaft“. In Heimatkalender 2006 Landkreis Birkenfeld, Idar-Oberstein 2005 , S. 169f
- Ulrich Eckhoff: „Ein Stein wider das Vergessen – Gedenkfeier für Kurt Schlachter“. In: Heimatkalender 2007 Landkreis Birkenfeld, Idar-Oberstein 2006 , S. 88f
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: „Wo Räuber und Fürsten verkehrten“. In Heimatkalender 2008 Landkreis Birkenfeld, Bad Kreuznach 2007 , S. 236f
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: „Harry Rothschild – ein deutschjüdisches Schicksal“. In: Heimatkalender 2009 Landkreis Birkenfeld, Bad Kreuznach 2008 , S. 161f
- Ruth und Ulrich Eckhoff: „Das ehemalige Gendarmeriedienstgebäude“. In: Heimatkalender 2010 Landkreis Birkenfeld, Bad Kreuznach 2009 , S. 131f