Saffig

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 50 ° 23 '  N , 7 ° 25'  E
Basic data
State :	Rhineland-Palatinate
County :	Mayen-Koblenz
Association municipality :	Pellenz
Height :	130 m above sea level NHN
Area :	6.97 km 2
Residents:	2153 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	309 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	56648
Area code :	02625
License plate :	MYK, MY
Community key :	07 1 37 096
Association administration address:	Rathausstrasse 2-4 56637 Plaidt
Website :	www.saffig.de
Local Mayor :	Dirk Rohm ( CDU )
Location of the local community Saffig in the Mayen-Koblenz district

Saffig is a municipality in the Mayen-Koblenz district in Rhineland-Palatinate . It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Pellenz , which has its administrative headquarters in Plaidt .

Saffig, aerial photo (2016)

geography

Saffig is located in the Pellenz landscape on the left bank of the Neuwied Basin .

The Nette flows through Saffig, and the Burbach, which rises in the palace gardens, flows into this near the outdoor pool.

history

The Pellenz in the far east of the Eifel is an ancient settlement and cultural area. The first traces of man lead back to the Paleolithic Age (around 200,000 years ago). Researchers discovered old and Middle Stone Age settlements on the tubs as well as the tub and pus heads near Saffig . Animal bones and stone tools prove that Neanderthals exploited the game (including deer , reindeer , horse , donkey ) hunted in the plain there . Grave finds indicate continuous settlement from the Younger Bronze Age and Urnfield Culture (around 1250 – around 750 BC) via the Iron Age Eifel-Hunsrück Culture (around 750 – around 500 BC) to the Late Latène Age .

According to the latest linguistic studies, the place name “Saffig” is of Celtic origin and possibly indicates a water structure. In the Neuwied basin were the most eastern settlements of the Celtic Treveri , who were subjugated by Caesar during the Gallic War (58–50 BC) . The Romans used the Pellenz to set up farms and as a supplier of building materials ( basalt , tuff ) for civil and military projects. In Saffig, for example, the remains of country villas (“ villae rusticae ”) with associated water pipes have been discovered on various occasions . In a Roman cremation grave . Was found of the 2nd century. AD among others a cult bread which are thus counted among the oldest pastry finds Germany has. This special feature of cultural history is kept in the Pellenz Museum in Nickenich .

The pumice industry was and is both a blessing and a curse for archeology in Pellenz ; Many finds were only possible through them, but quite a few also destroyed. A positive example is the excavation of a Franconian row grave field in 1980/81. On the western edge of Saffig one came across this Merovingian cemetery by chance . Of the original 350 graves, 250 could be systematically examined. In addition to numerous grave goods (jewelry, ceramics, weapons), tombstones made of tuff were found, some of which clearly show Christian symbols. The size of the burial ground and the high proportion of children's graves suggests a neighboring settlement whose dead were buried here from the second half of the 6th century to the end of the 7th century. Presumably, the Christians in this village were mainly recruited from the Romanesque remaining population. The early medieval settlement can be assumed to be near the source of the Burbach (today in the former castle park), a tributary of the Nette . The town center is still located here today. The excavations make it possible to date the beginnings of a Saffiger village community back around 700 years, because the community was first mentioned in documents as "Saffge" in 1258.

At that time, until 1481, Saffig was in the hands of the Lords of Kempenich as an Electoral Cologne fiefdom . The patronage rights were with the noble St. Cäcilien-Stift in Cologne until 1725 . In 1725 they came through Karl Caspar III. von der Leyen (1655–1739, reigned 1687–1733) to the Saffiger parish and thus also the patronage of the Roman martyr Cecilia with the delivery of the church tithe - incidentally the only one in the diocese of Trier .

Via Peter von Schöneck and Simon Mauchenheimer von Zweibrücken , the rule of Saffig finally came to the von der Leyen family as a fief in 1481 . Georg von der Leyen had married Simon's daughter Eva. From then on, until the end of the Old Kingdom , the history of Saffig remained closely linked to that of the important noble family from the Middle Rhine. Johannes Butzbach (1477–1516), also called Piemontanus ( Miltenberger ), has been a novice in the monastery of the Benedictine Abbey of Laach since 1501 , prior there since 1507 and an important humanist of his time, mentioned in his “Wandererbuchlein” how he was on the way in December 1500 to the monastery in the "house of the noble gentleman Georg von der Leyen" in Saffig. George I's son Simon (* 1471) was the 22nd abbot in Laach Abbey (1491–1512). During this period a man named Peter Breisiger (or Briesger) was born in Saffig around 1490 , who later became one of the most renowned organ builders of the Renaissance . His most important works include instruments in Maastricht , Tongeren , Koblenz , Andernach and the Trier cathedral organ (1537).

When the Saffiger line von der Leyen went extinct in 1703 with the death of Freiherr Karl Kasper, the electoral Cologne rule - in addition to the headquarters in Koblenz - fell to the older counts' branch. Saffig has now been expanded into a representative branch . The focus was on the Count's Castle and the church built by his pupil Johannes Seiz from 1739–1742 according to plans by Balthasar Neumann . Franz-Karl von der Leyen (1736–1775) moved his residence to Blieskastel in today's Saarland in 1773 , which meant that Saffig lost his residence status. The loss of the residence and thus the jobs of the many craftsmen tied to the residence was a disaster for the village.

After the annexation of the areas on the left bank of the Rhine by France in the First Coalition War (1792–1797), Philipp von der Leyen, who was raised to the rank of prince by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1806, was compensated on the right bank of the Rhine and became a member of the Confederation of the Rhine . Saffig received the status of a " Mairie " in the canton of Andernach , to which the neighboring communities Plaidt , Kruft and Kretz belonged.

The Prussian administration made the municipality of Saffig part of the Andernach mayor . Since 1992 the local community of Saffig has been part of the Pellenz association (until December 31, 1991, Andernach-Land association ).

Population development

The development of the population of Saffig, the values ​​from 1871 to 1987 are based on censuses:

year Residents 1815 479 1835 772 1871 847 1905 1,182 1939 1.306 1950 1,528 1961 1,983

year Residents 1970 2.121 1987 1,944 1997 2.164 2005 2.162 2011 2.213 2017 2.176

politics

Municipal council

The municipal council in Saffig consists of 16 council members, who were elected in a personalized proportional representation in the local elections on May 26, 2019 , and the honorary local mayor as chairman.

The distribution of seats in the municipal council:

choice	SPD	CDU	FWG	total
2019	-	9	7th	16 seats
2014	-	9	7th	16 seats
2009	-	9	7th	16 seats
2004	2	9	5	16 seats

mayor

Dirk Rohm (CDU) was elected local mayor of Saffig for a further five years in the direct election on May 26, 2019 with a share of the vote of 56.51%.

coat of arms

Blazon : "In blue a shortened, curled, silver tip, inside a growing red volcanic peak with black smoke, in front three tapering silver organ pipes in front of bars, behind a slightly inclined silver palm branch."

Justification of the coat of arms: The red volcanic cone with the black cloud of smoke in the tip in the base of the shield refers to the former volcanoes of the Vulkaneifel , which shaped local industry in Saffig through lava and pumice as the main livelihood, the silver organ pipes and the silver palm branch are an old jury seal from 1784 taken from the St. Cäcilia is the patroness of the parish church of Saffig, in her right hand she carries an organ as a symbol of church music, in the left a palm branch as a sign of her martyrdom.

Buildings

Parish Church of St. Cecilia

The Catholic parish church of St. Cäcilia comes from the plans of the famous baroque master builder Balthasar Neumann (1739–1742) and his pupil Johannes Seiz . The builders were the local lord Carl Caspar IV. Franz von der Leyen, who was raised to the rank of imperial count in 1711 , and his wife Maria Sophie, née von Schönborn-Reigelsberg, a sister of the then Archbishop and Elector of Trier Franz Georg von Schönborn .

• Castle park - belonged to the castle grounds of the " Von der Leyen " family
• Synagogue - former Jewish place of worship, now a monument
• Barmherzige Brüder Saffig Branch (Brothers Hospital)
• Meeting place with grill (grill hut), approx. 800 m outside
• Von-der-Leyen-Halle - newly built multi-purpose hall

See also: List of cultural monuments in Saffig

Economy and Infrastructure

In the second half of the 19th century, the stone and earth industry became the determining economic factor in the region. The pre-industrial "Rauschermühle" on the Nette , an oil mill, became one of the first power plants in what is now northern Rhineland-Palatinate (1911/12) and finally the current management and training center of Westnetz GmbH .

The consequences of the decline of the pumice industry that started after the Second World War with up to 30 companies from the 1960s onwards could also be alleviated in Saffig by expanding the psychiatric clinic. Since 1869 the congregation of the “ Brothers of Mercy of Maria Hilf ” founded by the blessed Peter Friedhofen (1819–1860) has been caring for disabled people.

traffic

There is a connection to the A 61 via the state road 123 from Plaidt (Plaidt junction). The A 48 can be reached via the neighboring town of Ochtendung. The Heliport helicopter landing pad is still in use in the direction of Bassenheim . A branch line of the Eifelquerbahn between Plaidt and Saffig used for freight traffic was dismantled in 2006.

Born in Saffig

• Peter Breisiger (or Briesger; 1490 – after 1542), renowned organ builder of the Renaissance . Works including Maastricht , Koblenz and Trier .
• Wolfgang Oehms (1932–1993), cathedral organist in Trier
• Jürgen Zäck (* 1965), triathlete, among others, winner of the Ironman European Championships

Web links

Commons : Saffig  - Collection of Images

• Website of the local church
• History information
• Literature about Saffig in the Rhineland-Palatinate State Bibliography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ State Statistical Office of Rhineland-Palatinate - population status 2019, districts, communities, association communities ( help on this ).
2. ↑ State Statistical Office Rhineland-Palatinate - regional data
3. ^ The Regional Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: Local elections 2019, city and municipal council elections
4. ^ The State Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: direct elections 2019. see Pellenz, Verbandsgemeinde, fifth row of results. Retrieved January 19, 2020 .