Finkenbach-Gersweiler

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 49 ° 41 ′  N , 7 ° 45 ′  E
Basic data
State :	Rhineland-Palatinate
County :	Donnersbergkreis
Association municipality :	North Palatinate Country
Height :	235 m above sea level NHN
Area :	7.73 km 2
Residents:	288 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	37 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	67822
Area code :	06362
License plate :	KIB, ROK
Community key :	07 3 33 021
Association administration address:	Schulstrasse 16 67821 Alsenz
Website :	www.alsenz-obermoschel.de
Mayoress :	Eva Schlemmer
Location of the local community Finkenbach-Gersweiler in the Donnersbergkreis

Finkenbach-Gersweiler

Finkenbach-Gersweiler is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate . It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Nordpfälzer Land , which has its administrative headquarters in the municipality of Rockenhausen and an additional administrative office in Alsenz .

geography

location

The community of Finkenbach-Gersweiler is located in the west of the Donnersbergkreis. The valley basin is enclosed by the heights of the North Palatinate Uplands. The location is dominated by mixed forests, covered mountains, arable land, meadows and orchards. The local community consists of Finkenbach in the southeast and Gersweiler in the northwest. Structurally, both places have grown together so that a spatial separation is no longer possible. The Bergmühle and Zollstation residential areas belong to the community . Neighboring communities are - clockwise - Unkenbach , Schiersfeld , Ransweiler , Waldgrehweiler , Schmittweiler and Callbach .

Waters

Finkenbach-Gersweiler is located in the middle valley of the Moschel , which is the central flowing water. On site, it takes the Finkenbach , Mordwiesenbach , Steckenbach and Lämmerbach from the left one after the other .

history

History to unification

Gersweiler was mentioned for the first time in 1190, Finkenbach on February 25, 1236. Both places are Franconian foundations from the construction period of the sixth to seventh centuries and mostly belonged to the same historical territories. In the early Middle Ages the places belonged to the Nahegau , later to the tribal duchy of Franconia . From 1304 to 1602 they were part of the free imperial rule Hohenfels-Reipoltskirchen . In addition to several court seats, the Reipolt Church enclave , surrounded by the Palatinate and Veldenzian territories, had market rights as early as 1300 . The massive defensive structure of the former fortified church, which was first mentioned in 1304, shows that Finkenbach already played an important role in the church in the early Middle Ages . In 1409 this pilgrimage church was used for Quatember masses .

After the Reipoltskirchen dynasty died out in 1602, the daughter of Count Johann III. from Dhaun-Falkenstein the places. As early as 1603, Finkenbach and Gersweiler fell to Count Johann Casimir and Steino von Löwenhaupt by will. In this way, half and another time a quarter of the district was sold or inherited. After several changes of ownership, from 1777 both villages were jointly owned by Princess Karoline von Isenburg on the one hand and the Count of Hillesheim on the other. The last Count of Hillesheim died in 1785 and his share of the villages fell to his two sisters. Towards the end of the feudal period, three women ruled the Reipoltskirchen rule , to which Finkenbach and Gersweiler belonged. In reminiscence of the former local lords of Isenburg, the residents are referred to as "Isenburger". After the conquest by French revolutionary troops in 1792, the Palatinate was actually annexed to France in 1797 .

Finkenbach-Gersweiler

Finkenbach district

In 1798, Finkenbach and Gersweiler were combined into one municipality and became part of the canton of Rockenhausen in the “Département du Mont-Tonnerre” ( Donnersberg department ) and from 1800 also the “Arrondissement of Kaiserslautern”. The withdrawal of the French initially resulted in the joint administration of the Palatinate by Austria and Bavaria (1814-1816) and then, according to the Congress of Vienna, its annexation to the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1818, Finkenbach and Gersweiler - as they were called at the time - were assigned to the Kirchheimbolanden Land Commissioner in the Rhine district , from which the district office of the same name emerged. In 1900 Finkenbach-Gersweiler fell to the newly established Rockenhausen district office, which was renamed the Rockenhausen district in 1939 .

After the Second World War , Gerbach was part of the French zone of occupation and was incorporated into the newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1946.

As part of the first Rhineland-Palatinate administrative reform in 1969, most of the communities in the two districts of Rockenhausen and Kirchheimbolanden were merged to form the Donnersbergkreis . After the mayor's office, which had existed since 1802, was dissolved, Finkenbach-Gersweiler became part of the Alsenz-Obermoschel community . In this way, the local congregation changed rule or administrative affiliation a total of twelve times. Finkenbach-Gersweiler has been part of the Nordpfälzer Land association since 2020 .

population

Population development

In 1961 Finkenbach-Gersweiler had a total of 569 inhabitants. Since then there has been a clear decline. In the 2010s, the number dropped to below 300.

religion

The Catholics belong to the Diocese of Speyer and are subordinate to the Donnersberg deanery , the Evangelicals to the Protestant Church of the Palatinate .

politics

Municipal council

The council in Finke-Gersweiler consists of six council members, who in the local elections on May 26, 2019 in a majority vote were elected, and the volunteer local mayor as chairman. With the 2019 election, the number of council members decreased from eight to six.

Local mayor

The local mayor is Eva Schlemmer. After the local elections in 2019, she was unanimously elected in the constituent meeting of the municipal council and thus succeeded Roland Peukert, who had resigned from office shortly before the end of the previous legislative period. Before that, Willi Becker held this position until 2014.

coat of arms

	Blazon : “Split by silver and green; on the right Madonna in red robe and blue cloak, on the left arm the child, both nimbed in gold, on the left in the field sprinkled with gold shingles a silver finch, armed with gold. "

Culture

Buildings

Cultural monuments

Monument zone town center

→ Main article : List of cultural monuments in Finkenbach-Gersweiler

The center of Finkenbach with Lindenplatz is designated as a monument zone . The townscape is characterized by farms and small day laborer's houses from the period between 1750 and 1900

The individual objects that are under monument protection include the sandstone villa of the former quarry owner Werrmann from 1908 and the rectory from 1830 with adjoining rectory. The castle-like three-wing complex of the Viktoriastift is located on the outskirts of Gersweiler . The most striking building in the community is the historic fortified church of Finkenbach with its late Gothic wall paintings of the Passion of Christ and the Stumm organ .

other structures

In addition, the gym from 1925 exists on site. Only two properties have been preserved as half-timbered buildings.

nature

There are two natural monuments in the municipality .

Regular events

Pasture downforce

The traditional kerwe on the first weekend in September is the most important village festival. The beef slaughter festival and the harvest festival of the local choir are also regular events. A village festival takes place in the Lindenstrasse according to the schedule. The parish organizes a lantern parade, a celebration for the elderly and Advent concerts in cooperation with associations and congregations.

The TuS Finkenbach-Waldgrehweiler organizes a Santa Claus party, a children's carnival and the Kerwetanz. The community organizes a rag ball on Shrove Tuesday. In addition, the so-called “pasture drive festival” takes place on the last Saturday in October. In addition, there is a record party twice a year in the gym organized by the Finkenbach volunteer fire department . The dates take place annually on the first Saturday in January and on Easter Sunday.

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

Pig farming on site in 1951

Viticulture , which was already documented in 1384, came to a standstill in the 1970s. There is also only one full-time farmer left.

traffic

The state road 379 , which connects it with Dörrmoschel and Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg , runs right through the community .

Local traffic was organized in the West Palatinate Transport Association (WVV) from 2000 , which has been fully integrated into the Rhein-Neckar Transport Association (VRN) since summer 2006 . In Rockenhausen there is a train station for the Alsenz Valley Railway . The 913 bus, operated by Behles Bus , leads from Finkenbach-Gersweiler and runs in a northerly direction to Schiersfeld.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

• Heinrich Lieser (1891–1959), entrepreneur and patron

People who worked on site

• Konrad Schredelseker (1774–1840), village school teacher and land surveyor, in 1804 designed a district map of Finkenbach-Gersweiler
• Christian Mannweiler , 1792/93 member of the Rhine-German National Convention

Web links

Commons : Finkenbach-Gersweiler  - Collection of images

• Finkenbach-Gersweiler on the website of the Verbandsgemeinde Alsenz-Obermoschel
• Location portrait ( memento from February 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) in the program Hierzuland , SWR television
• Chronicle of the monument zone "Church and rectory" in Finkenbach-Gersweiler ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
• Literature about Finkenbach-Gersweiler 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 (ed.): Official directory of the municipalities and parts of the municipality. Status: January 2019 ^{[ Version 2020 is available. ]} . S. 140 (PDF; 3 MB).
3. ^ Website on the history of the Reipoltskirchen rule
4. ^ The Regional Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: City Council Election 2019 Finkenbach-Gersweiler. Retrieved August 27, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Finkenbach-Gersweiler: Eva Schlemmer new local boss. In: The Rhine Palatinate. June 28, 2019, accessed August 27, 2019 .