Nieder-meadows

Basic data
State :	Rhineland-Palatinate
County :	Alzey-Worms
Association municipality :	Alzey Land
Height :	225 m above sea level NHN
Area :	4.89 km 2
Residents:	625 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	128 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	55234
Area code :	06736
License plate :	AZ
Community key :	07 3 31 051
Association administration address:	Weinrufstrasse 38 ; 55232 Alzey
Website :	www.nieder-wiesen.de
Local Mayor :	Holger Waldschmidt (FWG)
Location of the local community Nieder-Wiesen in the Alzey-Worms district

Nieder-Wiesen is a municipality in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate . It belongs to the Alzey-Land association.

geography

In Nieder-Wiesen, the Rhine-Hessian hill country merges into the foothills of the North Palatinate mountains . The old border line between the Grand Duchy of Hesse ("GH") and the Palatinate area of the Kingdom of Bavaria ("KB") also runs 500 m south of the village along the Wiesbach . The old boundary stones with the aforementioned initials can still be found on the border. The boundary between the district of Alzey-Worms and the Donnersbergkreis , as well as the transition from the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau to the Protestant Church of the Palatinate , still follow this historical boundary line today. The particularly beautiful scenic location in the Wiesbachtal - now known as Rheinhessische Schweiz - must have already appealed to the Celts, who built a place of worship or even a castle on the Schlossberg.

religion

Nieder-Wiesen is a largely Protestant village. There is a Protestant church, a Catholic church can only be found in the neighboring villages. Until the persecution and extermination by the National Socialists, there lived a remarkably large Jewish community in Nieder-Wiesen, which made up about a third of the population. The synagogue that existed at the time was sacked and destroyed in connection with the Reichspogromnacht in 1938. A plaque on the Protestant church testifies to this today. A Jewish cemetery about 400 m south of the local area still reminds of the Jewish community.

politics

Municipal council

The municipal council in Nieder-Wiesen 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	FWG	total
2019	5	-	7th	12 seats
2014	4th	4th	4th	12 seats
2009	4th	3	5	12 seats
2004	5	3	4th	12 seats

FWG = Free Voting Group Nieder-Wiesen e. V.

Local mayor

Wilhelm Grauer 1948–1956
Philipp Heck - SPD 1956–1974
Klaus-Wolfgang Haarmann - SPD 1974–1975
Walter Fröhlich - SPD 1975–1991
Hans Wilhelm Kern - SPD (1991–1999)
Friedrich Brunk - SPD (1999-2004)
Hans Wilhelm Kern - FWG (2004-2014)
Gernot Heck - CDU (2014-2016)
Holger Waldschmidt - FWG (since 2016)

In the local elections on May 26, 2019, Holger Waldschmidt was confirmed in his office with 87.57% of the vote.

coat of arms

	Blazon : “In silver between two red strips, the black initials N and W, set alongside two red stones; four red stones above the upper bar, two red stones below the lower bar. "
	Reasons for the coat of arms: For today's coat of arms, the coat of arms of the Barons von Hunolstein , who built the castle in Nieder-Wiesen, was extended to include the abbreviation of the place name.

Public facilities

Leisure and sports facilities

In addition to the usual sports facilities in such a small village (soccer field with TuS sports center), there is a tennis court right in the center of the village.

There is a large youth tent site in the Wiesbachtal with overnight accommodation in a log cabin and community house, in the summer months the tents are also set up. The place is ideal for tent and children / youth camps close to nature and the forest. There is the possibility of participating in the forest education program of the Alzey Forestry Office. The youth tent site is operated by the Alzey-Worms district, Alzey. A barbecue area run by the Rheinhessische Schweiz recreational area association with a large barbecue hut and accessories is located opposite the sports facilities on the edge of the forest.

A hiking car park is located in front of the youth campground with information and display boards about the marked hiking trails and Nordic walking routes through the Vorholz forest area. There is a permanent IVV hiking trail (Vorholz-Rundwanderweg), which leads 10 km through Rheinhessen Switzerland. Start and finish are at the TuS Nieder-Wiesen sports center on the sports field.

There are several holiday apartments for overnight stays and holidays, some of which are owned by the owners of the moated castle. Other options include the “Dembacher Hof”, which is located directly opposite the moated castle.

Community center / community hall

The converted barn of a former courtyard serves as a community hall . The original character of the building has been preserved and offers a nice atmosphere to celebrate. Equipped with a modern kitchen, beverage cooling, stage and gallery, events with up to 150 people can be carried out. Rental through the local community administration.

The community center with kitchen and large hall is part of the former school (modern extension from 1988) and can also be rented through the local community for private celebrations.

kindergarten

The communal kindergarten is single-group and has space for 25 children. The facility is certified as an exercise kindergarten by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

traffic

The nearest train stations are Alzey (11 km east of Nieder-Wiesen with half-hour regional express connections to Mainz and hourly regional train connections to Worms, Bingen and Kirchheimbolanden) and Alsenz (17 km west with regular connections to Bad Kreuznach and Kaiserslautern.) A bus connection to and from the district town of Alzey is available every two hours with line 425 of the Rhein-Nahe bus service .

Culture and sights

Buildings

Evangelical Church: Baroque hall building, built in 1723 as the residential church of the Barons von Hunolstein in place of a previous building from 1462. Remains of the aristocratic chair can still be seen inside. The church is equipped with the oldest and smallest Stumm organ in Rheinhessen (around 1725) with a stylish disposition (eight registers). On the side wall the burial place of a couple from Hunolstein, opposite them on the west wall a cartouche with a relief of a resurrection of Christ (around 1600, probably from the previous building), not far from it the tombstone of pastor Johann Wilhelm Fresenius († 1727), his son Johann Philipp not only served as pastor in Nieder-Wiesen until 1734, but later, as a senior pastor in Frankfurt, married the parents of Johann Wolfgang Goethe and baptized the poet shortly after his birth. In addition, the descendants of the Fresenius pastor family founded a pharmaceutical company that is now active worldwide , as well as a well-known chemical analysis institute . Until 2013, descendants of Fresenius also lived in Nieder-Wiesen. The Prime Minister of the Free State of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow (* 1956), grew up in Nieder-Wiesen from this family.

Ev. Nieder-Wiesen Church, built in 1723

Gravestone of pastor Johann Wilhelm Fresenius +1727

Baroque peasant paintings adorn the pulpit with the four evangelists and the total width of the gallery parapet is provided with depictions of the twelve apostles with Jesus in the middle. The sacrament barrier, which surrounds the altar area, dates from earlier Lutheran times. The community has been a Protestant union since 1822. The family crypt of the Hunolsteiners used to be under the altar, but it was filled in during a restoration of the church in 1838. The font dates from 1971 and was originally in the Immanuel Church in Königstein / Ts. set up and came via a detour in Ringleben (Kyffhäuser) in 1996 to Nieder-Wiesen. The altar allowances are artistically valuable . a. an execution in application technology based on a design by the Darmstadt artist Prof. Thomas Duttenhoefer from 1989 "Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem". On closer inspection, however, the city of Jerusalem reveals itself as the place Nieder-Wiesen with the burning former synagogue.

The attic of the church is used for a bat or barn owl project as a measure to preserve creation. In 2000 the church building underwent a comprehensive exterior renovation, in 2008 an interior renovation took place. The entrance portal is provided with the coat of arms of the pastor family Fresenius from Psalm 92: "They are planted in the house of the Lord, will be green in the courtyards of our God", above the former Hunolstein coat of arms with the aristocratic crown. The coat of arms - now without the aristocratic crown - with the mark "NW" as the local coat of arms of Nieder-Wiesen was set in the pavement on the church forecourt in 2000. Opposite the church on the edge of the Wiesbach is a "Resista elm" planted for the first time in 1999 by the Rheinhessen Wine Brotherhood as a measure against the dying of the Dutch elm and to preserve the cultural significance of this tree species in Rheinhessen. A few meters further we find the very stylishly designed memorial in memory of the victims of the First and Second World Wars.

Nieder-Wiesen Castle: There is a former moated castle in the village ; today, however, no more water flows in the castle moat. The moated castle was built in 1722 by the barons of Hunolstein , who helped the region gain reputation and prosperity by mining mercury . Today the small castle with a baroque garden is privately owned. On the stucco ceiling in the former reception room there are still allegorical representations of the four seasons. With its cross vault, the former royal stables are now used as a ballroom.

Ford in Nieder-Wiesen

Furt Nieder-Wiesen: Quite unusual for today's time and very rare in Germany is a ford in the local area through the Wiesbach . You can also drive through the 4 m wide stream at this point with vehicles. However, it is advisable to check the water level beforehand. The square in front of the ford was designed as a place of rest on the Napoleon Kneipp hiking trail that runs through Nieder-Wiesen, with a Kneipp arm bath and information board.

Neumühle with water wheel: About one kilometer before the village in the direction of Wendelsheim is the Neumühle, a former Hunolstein homestead. The functioning overshot water wheel, which is now powered by the water of the Wiesbach for regenerative electricity generation, is worth seeing.

landscape

Orchard meadow "An der Gipp": At the exit of the village towards Wendelsheim in 1991, about one hectare large orchard meadow with planting of old local fruit trees, as they used to border the village of Nieder-Wiesen in large numbers. Ecological management by the Ev. Parish (annual “apple juice project”). Information board with an explanation of the fruit trees at the bottom. At the top is an "insect hotel" built in 2008.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Johann Philipp Fresenius (1705–1761), Protestant-Lutheran theologian of the 18th century (including senior pastor in Frankfurt / M.)

People in connection with the community

Bodo Ramelow (* 1956), politician (Die Linke), Prime Minister of the Free State of Thuringia (since 2014), grew up in Osterholz-Scharmbeck and Nieder-Wiesen.

Literature / sources

Eberhard Philipp Heck, Stefan Grathoff: Article Nieder-Wiesen. in the Palatinate Burgenlexikon with the help of: Heinrich Bechtolsheimer 1916, p. 319; Böhn 1958, p. 175; Karl Johann Brilmayer 1905, p. 343; Dehio , Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland 1984, pp. 750f; Frey 1836/37, p. 297; Kofler 1884, p. 43; Lucae 1993, p. 166ff .; Stephan 1965, p. 109ff .; Stümpel 1971, p. 64f .; Tillmann 1958-1961, p. 735.
Tobias Kraft: The story of Nieder-Wiesens. Own publication of the Ev. Parish office Nieder-Wiesen, 2005
Tobias Kraft: The Nieder-Wiesener Pastor Fresenius - a family history in Pietism of the early Enlightenment In: 500 years of Reformation in Rheinhessen - A reading book for Alzey and the surrounding area , Frankfurt / M. 2017, pp. 271–280
Literature about Nieder-Wiesen in the Rhineland-Palatinate State Bibliography

Web links

Commons : Nieder-Wiesen - Collection of images

Information from the municipality of Alzey-Land about Nieder-Wiesen
Ev. Nieder-Wiesen parish
Rheinhessenarchiv: GeneaLog ( Memento from March 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

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

^ The Regional Returning Officer RLP: City Council Election 2019 Nieder-Wiesen. Retrieved September 7, 2019 .
^ The Regional Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: Municipal elections 2014, city and municipal council elections
↑ Nieder-Wieser story
↑ The regional returning officer RLP: direct elections 2019. see Alzey-Land, Verbandsgemeinde, 21st line of results. Retrieved September 7, 2019 .

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