Birkweiler

Basic data
State :	Rhineland-Palatinate
County :	Southern Wine Route
Association municipality :	Landau country
Height :	189 m above sea level NHN
Area :	4.99 km 2
Residents:	695 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	139 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	76831
Area code :	06345
License plate :	SOUTH
Community key :	07 3 37 009
LOCODE :	DE BWQ
Association administration address:	To 44 No. 31 ; 76829 Landau in the Palatinate
Website :	www.birkweiler.de
Local Mayor :	Bernd Flaxmeyer ( CDU )
Location of the local community of Birkweiler in the southern Weinstrasse district

Birkweiler in autumn. In the center of the picture is the Catholic Church of St. Bartholomew.

Birkweiler is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstrasse district in Rhineland-Palatinate . It belongs to the Landau-Land association, which has its administrative headquarters in the city of Landau in the Palatinate .

geography

location

The community is a typical wine village in the Siebeldinger Valley. The community includes the residential areas Am Kolgenbach , Am Wald , Herrenbergerhof and Mandelbergerhof as well as an exclave in the Palatinate Forest . Neighboring communities are - clockwise - Albersweiler , Siebeldingen , Landau in der Pfalz , Ranschbach and Annweiler am Trifels .

Elevations and waters

Birkweiler is located at the foot of the Hohenberg, which measures 551.9 meters . In the north, the district reaches up to the Queich . The forest enclave is bounded in the northeast by the Dürrentalbach .

history

The place was first mentioned in a document in 1285. Initially, Birkweiler was one of the seven empire-free villages in the Siebeldinger Valley. After 1400 the area came under the rule of the Electorate of the Palatinate . The community stayed with the latter until the end of the 18th century.

From 1798 to 1814, when the Palatinate was part of the French Republic (until 1804) and then part of the Napoleonic Empire , Birkweiler was incorporated into the canton of Annweiler and was subordinate to the Mairie Siebeldingen . In 1815 the community had a total of 464 inhabitants. In the same year, Austria was struck. Just one year later, the place, like the entire Palatinate, changed to the Kingdom of Bavaria . In 1817 the community moved to the canton of Landau . From 1818 to 1862 Birkweiler belonged to the Landau Landau commissioner ; from this the district office of Landau emerged.

In 1938 the place was incorporated into the Landau district. After the Second World War , Arzheim became part of the then newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate within the French occupation zone . In the course of 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 . 1972 Waldhambach was assigned to the also newly formed community of Landau-Land .

politics

Municipal council

The municipal council in Birkweiler consists of twelve 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	FWB	total
2019	-	8th	4th	12 seats
2014	2	7th	3	12 seats
2009	3	9	-	12 seats
2004	3	9	-	12 seats

FWB = Free Voters Birkweiler

mayor

Bernd Flaxmeyer (CDU) became the local mayor of Birkweiler in 1994. In the direct election on May 26, 2019, he was confirmed in office for a further five years with a share of 72.86% of the votes.

coat of arms

	Blazon : "In gold, a double-headed, red-armored and tongued black eagle, each holding a green birch branch in its claws."
	Justification of the coat of arms: From 1779, the community was sealed with the double-headed imperial eagle . To distinguish it, this was later supplemented by birch twigs. The coat of arms was approved in 1985.

Culture

Buildings

Cultural monuments

View of the main street as part of the historic center of the town

The town center and the Albersweiler Canal are each designated as monument zones. The latter extends over several places.

In addition, there are about two dozen individual objects that are under monument protection , including the Catholic Bartholomäus Church , which was built from ocher-colored sandstone and a Protestant church, which was built from red sandstone. Both churches are neo-Gothic hall buildings.

Other structures

There is also an observation tower on the Hohenberg.

nature

The only natural monument on site is the architectural ensemble Two Linden in the Church Street . The Haardtrand nature reserve - Auf dem Kirchberg extends partially over the district of Birkweiler.

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

Keschdebusch vineyard

Birkweiler lives mainly from viticulture , but also from tourism and gastronomy . A well-known vineyard in Birkweiler is the so-called "Birkweiler Keschdebusch" ( Birkweiler Kastanienbusch ), in which the "Birkweiler Weinfrühling" takes place every spring. The Dr. Wehrheim and Siener .

traffic

The Landau – Rohrbach railway connects Birkweiler to the rail network. There is a direct transport connection to the B 10 . The large cities of Mannheim or Karlsruhe, for example, can be reached in around 40 minutes. In addition, the bus line 520 of the Rhein-Neckar transport association runs through the community, which connects it with Landau and Ranschbach.

Public buildings

There is also a municipal kindergarten in Birkweiler, the “Rainbow Kindergarten”. Most of the children attend the primary school in neighboring Siebeldingen after attending the local kindergarten , as there is no longer a school in Birkweiler.

tourism

Birkweiler is on the German Wine Route . In addition, the Palatinate Almond Trail and the German Wine Route cycle path run through the community.

Personalities

Honorary citizen

Heinz Wehrheim (1922–2016), winemaker

People who worked on site

Thomas Hirsch (* 1967), politician (CDU) and Lord Mayor of Landau, lives on site
Theo Kautzmann (* 1948), politician (CDU), from 1971 to 1974 chairman of his party's Birkweiler local association

literature

Literature about Birkweiler in the Rhineland-Palatinate state bibliography

Web links

Commons : Birkweiler - Collection of Images

Official website of the local community of Birkweiler

Individual evidence

↑ State Statistical Office of Rhineland-Palatinate - population status 2019, districts, communities, association communities ( help on this ).

↑ State Statistical Office Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Official directory of the municipalities and parts of the municipality. Status: January 2018 ^{[ Version 2020 is available. ]} . S. 102 (PDF; 2.2 MB).

↑ ^a ^b Erhard Nietzschmann: The free ones in the country. Former German imperial villages and their coats of arms. Melchior, Wolfenbüttel 2013, ISBN 978-3-944289-16-8 , p. 18.

^ The Regional Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: Municipal Council Election 2019 Birkweiler. Retrieved April 9, 2020 .
^ The Regional Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: Municipal elections 2014, city and municipal council elections
↑ Gerhard Sommer: Birkweiler: Flaxmeyer not exhausted even after 25 years. Die Rheinpfalz, May 13, 2019, accessed on April 9, 2020 .
^ The State Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: direct elections 2019. see Landau-Land, Verbandsgemeinde, third line of results. Retrieved April 9, 2020 .

[Metadaten_Einwohnerzahl_DE-RP-1] State Statistical Office of Rhineland-Palatinate - population status 2019, districts, communities, association communities ( help on this ).

[2] State Statistical Office Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Official directory of the municipalities and parts of the municipality. Status: January 2018 ^{[ Version 2020 is available. ]} . S. 102 (PDF; 2.2 MB).

[nietschmann-3] Erhard Nietzschmann: The free ones in the country. Former German imperial villages and their coats of arms. Melchior, Wolfenbüttel 2013, ISBN 978-3-944289-16-8 , p. 18.