Birkenhördt

Basic data
State :	Rhineland-Palatinate
County :	Southern Wine Route
Association municipality :	Bad Bergzabern
Height :	253 m above sea level NHN
Area :	8.58 km 2
Residents:	632 (December 31, 2019)
Population density :	74 inhabitants per km 2
Postcodes :	76889, ; 76887 (Gehlmühle)
Area code :	06343
License plate :	SOUTH
Community key :	07 3 37 008
LOCODE :	DE 7BM
Association administration address:	Königstrasse 61 ; 76887 Bad Bergzabern
Website :	www.birkenhoerdt.de
Local Mayor :	Matthias Ackermann ( CDU )
Location of the local community Birkenhördt in the district of Südliche Weinstrasse

Birkenhördt from a bird's eye view

Birkenhördt is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstrasse district in Rhineland-Palatinate . It belongs to the Bad Bergzabern community .

geography

location

The place is located in Wasgau , which is formed by the southern part of the Palatinate Forest and the northern part of the Vosges . The Gehlmühle residential area also belongs to Birkenhördt . Neighboring communities are - clockwise - Silz , Bad Bergzabern , Dörrenbach , Böllenborn , Erlenbach bei Dahn and Vorderweidenthal .

Elevations and waters

The 431 meter high Hohe Kopf extends to the southwest on the boundary of Erlenbach . The Erlenbach rises in Birkenhördt . The Anbach , which flows into this from the left, forms the boundary to Bad Bergzabern in the east. In the southeast, the Böllenborn also grazes the municipal area of Birkenhördt for a short distance.

history

Up to the end of the 18th century Impflingen belonged to the Electoral Palatinate and within this to the Oberamt Germersheim . There she formed the Birkenhördt winery, which was also responsible for Böllenborn and Reisdorf .

From 1798 to 1814, when the Palatinate was part of the French Republic (until 1804) and then part of the Napoleonic Empire , Birkenhördt was incorporated into the canton of Annweiler and had its own Mairie , which also included Bellenborn , Reichsdorf and Blankenborn . In 1815 the community had a total of 464 inhabitants. In the same year, Austria was struck. Just one year later, the place changed to the Kingdom of Bavaria . From 1817 Birkenhördt belonged to the canton of Bergzabern . From 1818 to 1862 Birkenhördt was part of the Bergzabern Land Commissioner , which was then converted into a district office.

In 1928 Birkenhördt had 545 residents who lived in 112 residential buildings. The Catholics owned a local parish at that time, the Protestants to that of Dörrenbach. In 1939 the place was incorporated into the Bergzabern district. After the Second World War , the municipality within the French occupation zone became part of the then newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate. During the first Rhineland-Palatinate administrative reform changed the place on 7 June 1969 in the newly created district Landau-Bad Bergzabern, in 1978 in South County Wine Trail is renamed . In 1972, Birkenhördt was assigned to the also newly formed community of Bad Bergzabern .

religion

Catholic parish church of St. Gallus

In 2012, 60.3 percent of the population were Catholic and 20.6 percent Protestant. The rest belonged to another religion or were non-denominational. The Catholics belong to the Diocese of Speyer , the Evangelicals to the Protestant Church of the Palatinate .

politics

In federal elections, the community has been part of the Südpfalz constituency since 1965 (until 1983: Landau constituency ) , before that until 1961 it was part of the Zweibrücken constituency . In state elections, Vorderweidenthal has been part of the Südliche Weinstrasse constituency since 1991 .

Municipal council

The council in Birkenhördt consists of twelve council members, who in the local elections on May 26, 2019 in a majority vote were elected, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

mayor

Matthias Ackermann (CDU) became the local mayor of Birkenhördt in 2004. In the direct election on May 26, 2019, he was confirmed in his office for another five years with a share of the vote of 66.76%.

coat of arms

	Blazon : "Divided diagonally by black and gold, top right an upward striding left-turned, red-armored, tongued and crowned golden lion, bottom left a green birch branch with three green leaves."
	Foundation for the coat of arms: It was approved in 1969 by the Neustadt district government . The Palatine Lion recalls the former belonging to the Palatinate and the birch branch refers talking on the place name.

Culture and sights

Cultural monuments

In district of the municipality are a total of six objects under monument protection standing, including the Parish Church of St. Havel and a shrine, of the base with a five wounds Cross covers.

nature

The municipality is located in the Palatinate Forest Nature Park , which in turn belongs to the Palatinate Forest-Vosges du Nord biosphere reserve , which is protected by UNESCO . In the west lies the Mittelkopf natural forest reserve , which was designated in 1975 and covers 14 hectares.

Knight stones

Ritterstein 32 Altes Landlöchel

In the west of the district are the knight stones 31, 32 and 199 . The former is called Neues Landlöchel and is located on the road to Lauterschwan . The one with the number 32 has the name Altes Landlöchel and lies at the apex of the road to Vorderweidenthal; the term "Landlöchel" is a slang term for "road breakthrough". Both are in the middle of a rock wall. 199 Birkenhördter Linde marks the location of a linden tree.

media

In 2017 an episode of the second season of the television series Stadt, Land, Lecker was filmed in Birkenhördt.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Bundesstrasse 427 (left); Kreisstraße 11 branches off from here and continues straight ahead

Federal highway 427 runs through the center of the town . From this, the district road 11 branches off to Vorderweidenthal. Birkenhördt is connected to the local transport network via the bus lines 525 (Bad Bergzabern- Annweiler am Trifels ) and 548 (Bad Bergzabern- Dahn ) of the Rhein-Neckar transport association. The closest train station is the one in Bad Bergzabern .

tourism

In addition, the municipality is the most long-distance hiking Pirmasens-Belfort , which is marked with a yellow bar and the southern route of the Palatine Ways of St. James . One that is marked with a blue cross and that runs from Niederhausen to Sankt Germanshof runs through the northeast of the district . A path marked with a white and blue bar leads through the west of the municipality , which creates a connection with Bad Münster am Stein as well as Sankt Germanshof. In addition, Tour 9 of the Palatinate Forest Mountain Bike Park runs through the west of the district.

dish

The community belongs to the judicial district of the Landau district court and is looked after by its branch in Bad Bergzabern.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Marie Luise Bruch b. Pauli (1730–1808), mother of the Protestant clergyman Christian Gottlieb Bruch

People who worked on site

Balthasar Wegmann (1819–1893), emigrant, entrepreneur and father of the founder of the Wegmans supermarket chain

Karl Albrecht von Ritter (1836–1917), Bavarian forest clerk, government director and founding chairman of the Palatinate Forest Association, was a local forester at times