Wiebelsheim
Encyclopedia
Wiebelsheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district
) in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Sankt Goar-Oberwesel
, whose seat is in the town of Oberwesel
.
, roughly 7 km from the Rhine at Oberwesel
and 8 km northnorthwest of Rheinböllen
, at an elevation of some 440 m above sea level
. It is bordered in the east by the Rhine Gorge
, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
and the part of the Rhine valley that features the Loreley
, although that is over on the other side. Here the gorge separates the Hunsrück from the plateau on the other side, the Taunus
. Wiebelsheim has 631 inhabitants and an area of 7.32 km².
in that time.
The village’s history is tightly woven together with Oberwesel’s. About 1400, Wiebelsheim was assigned to the altar benefice created in 1392 in Damscheid
, albeit within the framework of Oberwesel’s two greater parishes, Our Lady’s and Saint Martin’s (Liebfrauen and St. Martin), to the latter of which Wiebelsheim belonged. As late as 1786, parishioners’ children from Wiebelsheim were required to take part in “Saint Mark’s Procession” in Oberwesel, and at the same time they were still contributing to the building of a new rectory for Saint Martin’s.
In the 15th century, Wiebelsheim had its own court of Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”), whose high court was the Oberwesel Town Court.
Beginning in 1794, Wiebelsheim lay under French
rule. The cantonal administration introduced in 1798 by the French did not last long, and in 1800, mairies (“mayoralties”) were set up within the cantons. Originally, it had been foreseen that Oberwesel and Wiebelsheim would be merged into one mairie, but the villages of Damscheid, Liebshausen
, Perscheid
, Wiebelsheim, Dellhofen and Langscheid (these last two now being outlying centres of Oberwesel), which had all belonged to the Amt of Oberwesel before the French Revolution
mounted a concerted opposition to the merger with their old Amt seat, which arose at least in part from old animosities, such as a trial held in 1787.
As a result of the Congress of Vienna
, the lands between the Moselle and the Nahe passed to Prussia
in 1815. In the course of the administrative reform that followed, the district of St. Goar came into being in 1816, which comprised, among other places, the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Wiebelsheim, although Liebshausen was split off this and grouped into the district of Simmern. In 1828, Wiebelsheim’s then mayor, named Hörter, became the first elected district deputy in the new district of St. Goar. In 1884, the Bürgermeistereien of Oberwesel and Wiebelsheim, which had been split apart in 1851, were reunited. The name of the Amt of Wiebelsheim was changed by the Self-Administration Law of 5 October 1954 to Oberwesel, so that henceforth there were the town and Amt of Oberwesel, which were governed by the same body. The 1968 administrative reform changed the Ämter into Verbandsgemeinde
n.
On 11 April 1826, Wiebelsheim burnt down. Only nine houses were spared. The historical fire engine from this time, which was worked with muscle power by strong men, can still be found today at the Wiebelsheim volunteer fire brigade’s equipment building.
In 1846, the church that still stands today, which is consecrated to Saint Peter
, was built. One of its peculiarities is that it is one of the few churches in the area that have two towers. On 16 August 1982, the church was placed under protection as a cultural monument.
From 1940 to 1941, during the Second World War, Wiebelsheim was the location of Stalag
XII C. Since 1946, Wiebelsheim has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
.
The village, which was once characterized mainly by agriculture
, has changed its outlook considerably over the last few decades. Agricultural businesses, both fulltime operations and those worked as sidelines, have been disappearing, and farm buildings have been either converted or torn down. New building zones have been opened. Even the building of the Autobahn A 61
helped see to it that farmers became employees, commuting to jobs in Rheinböllen
, Simmern
, Koblenz
or the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
Spurred on by the excellent location right on the A 61, work began in the late 1980s on the opening up of the Wiebelsheim Industrial Park. Many commercial operations found that this was just the kind of location that they sought. The new jobs that arose from this and the new house building that also took place brought about a 25% rise in population over only a few years, to 500 as of 2006. The village’s character, however, was preserved through renovation work on the village centre, a reconstruction of the historical village fountain and a new building, the community centre St. Aldegundis.
This community centre serves the local club Kirchenchor Cäcilia (church choir), the Wiebelsheim volunteer fire brigade, the table tennis
club, the women’s association, the seniors’ group, the youth group and all inhabitants, young and old.
For sporting activities, the earth dump on Perscheider Straße used during the building of the industrial park in the early 1990s was laid out as a new sporting ground. Onto the meadows owned by the municipality, three plateaux were built with the fill. On the highest one, a grass field was laid, mostly by volunteer labour. The field is used by leisure footballers (men’s and women’s teams) from TTC Wiebelsheim (a sport club) and school and youth teams from the Laudert-Wiebelsheim sport club.
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: Per fess vert a dove argent and Or two keys per saltire, the wards to chief and turned out gules.
The dove is one of Saint Aldegonde’s attributes, thus representing the municipality’s patron saint. Saint Aldegonde’s Chapel
in the forest is long gone, but lives on among the inhabitants, and Saint Aldegonde herself is remembered each year in a market, the Aldegundismarkt, which has been held for centuries. The keys are Saint Peter
’s attribute, thus representing Saint Peter’s Church (Petruskirche).
’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 Sankt Goar-Oberwesel
Sankt Goar-Oberwesel
Sankt Goar-Oberwesel is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 30 km southeast of Koblenz...
, whose seat is in the town of Oberwesel
Oberwesel
Oberwesel is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Sankt Goar-Oberwesel, whose seat is in the town.-Location:...
.
Location
The municipality lies on the eastern edge of the HunsrückHunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
, roughly 7 km from the Rhine at Oberwesel
Oberwesel
Oberwesel is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Sankt Goar-Oberwesel, whose seat is in the town.-Location:...
and 8 km northnorthwest of Rheinböllen
Rheinböllen
Rheinböllen is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, and also belongs to it.-Location:...
, at an elevation of some 440 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. It is bordered in the east by the Rhine Gorge
Rhine Gorge
The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the River Rhine between Koblenz and Bingen in Germany...
, a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
and the part of the Rhine valley that features the Loreley
Lorelei
The Lorelei is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, Germany, which soars some 120 metres above the waterline. It marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea. A very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat...
, although that is over on the other side. Here the gorge separates the Hunsrück from the plateau on the other side, the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
. Wiebelsheim has 631 inhabitants and an area of 7.32 km².
History
Wiebelsheim might have first arisen sometime between 800 and 1000 as one of the settlements in the Hunsrück’s heights, as other places with the placename ending —heim are known to have been founded by the FranksFranks
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...
in that time.
The village’s history is tightly woven together with Oberwesel’s. About 1400, Wiebelsheim was assigned to the altar benefice created in 1392 in Damscheid
Damscheid
Damscheid is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, albeit within the framework of Oberwesel’s two greater parishes, Our Lady’s and Saint Martin’s (Liebfrauen and St. Martin), to the latter of which Wiebelsheim belonged. As late as 1786, parishioners’ children from Wiebelsheim were required to take part in “Saint Mark’s Procession” in Oberwesel, and at the same time they were still contributing to the building of a new rectory for Saint Martin’s.
In the 15th century, Wiebelsheim had its own court of Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”), whose high court was the Oberwesel Town Court.
Beginning in 1794, Wiebelsheim 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. The cantonal administration introduced in 1798 by the French did not last long, and in 1800, mairies (“mayoralties”) were set up within the cantons. Originally, it had been foreseen that Oberwesel and Wiebelsheim would be merged into one mairie, but the villages of Damscheid, Liebshausen
Liebshausen
Liebshausen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Perscheid
Perscheid
-History:Digs and gravesite finds around Perscheid show that there were settlers here in Hallstatt times . Archaeological finds such as coins, foundations and fragments of temples from Roman times furthermore point to an occupation at that time. In 1248, Perscheid had its first documentary mention...
, Wiebelsheim, Dellhofen and Langscheid (these last two now being outlying centres of Oberwesel), which had all belonged to the Amt of Oberwesel before the French Revolution
French 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...
mounted a concerted opposition to the merger with their old Amt seat, which arose at least in part from old animosities, such as a trial held in 1787.
As a result of 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,...
, the lands between the Moselle and the Nahe passed to 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...
in 1815. In the course of the administrative reform that followed, the district of St. Goar came into being in 1816, which comprised, among other places, the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Wiebelsheim, although Liebshausen was split off this and grouped into the district of Simmern. In 1828, Wiebelsheim’s then mayor, named Hörter, became the first elected district deputy in the new district of St. Goar. In 1884, the Bürgermeistereien of Oberwesel and Wiebelsheim, which had been split apart in 1851, were reunited. The name of the Amt of Wiebelsheim was changed by the Self-Administration Law of 5 October 1954 to Oberwesel, so that henceforth there were the town and Amt of Oberwesel, which were governed by the same body. The 1968 administrative reform changed the Ämter into Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
n.
On 11 April 1826, Wiebelsheim burnt down. Only nine houses were spared. The historical fire engine from this time, which was worked with muscle power by strong men, can still be found today at the Wiebelsheim volunteer fire brigade’s equipment building.
In 1846, the church that still stands today, which is consecrated to Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, was built. One of its peculiarities is that it is one of the few churches in the area that have two towers. On 16 August 1982, the church was placed under protection as a cultural monument.
From 1940 to 1941, during the Second World War, Wiebelsheim was the location of Stalag
Stalag
In Germany, stalag was a term used for prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag is a contraction of "Stammlager", itself short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager.- Legal definitions :...
XII C. Since 1946, Wiebelsheim 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 ....
.
The village, which was once characterized mainly by 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...
, has changed its outlook considerably over the last few decades. Agricultural businesses, both fulltime operations and those worked as sidelines, have been disappearing, and farm buildings have been either converted or torn down. New building zones have been opened. Even the building of the Autobahn A 61
Bundesautobahn 61
is an autobahn in Germany that connects the border to the Netherlands near Venlo in the northwest to the interchange with A 6 near Hockenheim. In 1965, this required a re-design of the Hockenheimring....
helped see to it that farmers became employees, commuting to jobs in Rheinböllen
Rheinböllen
Rheinböllen is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, and also belongs to it.-Location:...
, Simmern
Simmern
Simmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...
, Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
or the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
Spurred on by the excellent location right on the A 61, work began in the late 1980s on the opening up of the Wiebelsheim Industrial Park. Many commercial operations found that this was just the kind of location that they sought. The new jobs that arose from this and the new house building that also took place brought about a 25% rise in population over only a few years, to 500 as of 2006. The village’s character, however, was preserved through renovation work on the village centre, a reconstruction of the historical village fountain and a new building, the community centre St. Aldegundis.
This community centre serves the local club Kirchenchor Cäcilia (church choir), the Wiebelsheim volunteer fire brigade, the table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
club, the women’s association, the seniors’ group, the youth group and all inhabitants, young and old.
For sporting activities, the earth dump on Perscheider Straße used during the building of the industrial park in the early 1990s was laid out as a new sporting ground. Onto the meadows owned by the municipality, three plateaux were built with the fill. On the highest one, a grass field was laid, mostly by volunteer labour. The field is used by leisure footballers (men’s and women’s teams) from TTC Wiebelsheim (a sport club) and school and youth teams from the Laudert-Wiebelsheim sport club.
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 German blazon reads: Das Wappen zeigt in Grün über golden geteiltem Schilde oben eine silberne Taube, unten zwei gekreuzte rote Schlüssel.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: Per fess vert a dove argent and Or two keys per saltire, the wards to chief and turned out gules.
The dove is one of Saint Aldegonde’s attributes, thus representing the municipality’s patron saint. Saint Aldegonde’s Chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
in the forest is long gone, but lives on among the inhabitants, and Saint Aldegonde herself is remembered each year in a market, the Aldegundismarkt, which has been held for centuries. The keys are Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
’s attribute, thus representing Saint Peter’s Church (Petruskirche).
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
- Saint Peter’s and Saint Paul’s Catholic Church (Kirche St. Peter und Paul), Simmerner Straße 3 – 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...
, 1846/1847 - Simmerner Straße 9 – 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...
Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), partly solid or slated, mid 19th century