Saarpfalz district
| coat of arms | Germany map |
|---|---|
|
Coordinates: 49 ° 15 ' N , 7 ° 14' E |
| Basic data | |
| State : | Saarland |
| Administrative headquarters : | Homburg |
| Area : | 418.4 km 2 |
| Residents: | 142,196 (Dec. 31, 2019) |
| Population density : | 340 inhabitants per km 2 |
| License plate : | HOM, (IGB) |
| Circle key : | 10 0 45 |
| NUTS : | DEC05 |
| Circle structure: | 7 municipalities |
| Address of the district administration: |
Am Forum 1 66424 Homburg |
| Website : | |
| District Administrator : | Theophil Gallo ( SPD ) |
| Location of the Saarpfalz district in Saarland | |
  |
|
The Saarpfalz district (until 1989 Saar-Pfalz district ) is a district in Saarland . He is the legal successor to the former districts of Sankt Ingbert and Homburg .
geography
location
The northern part of the Saar-Palatinate district belongs to the Saar-Nahe-Bergland, more precisely to the Sankt Ingbert-Kaiserslauterer Senke. To the north of Homburg, the district extends into the West Palatinate moorland . This area is characterized by bog formations. The southern part belongs to the Palatinate-Saarland Muschelkalkgebiet with the eastern sub-units of the Saar-Blies-Gau. In between lies the Sankt Ingbert-Kirkeler forest area . The Bliesgau is characterized by large, forest-free plains, which are mostly used for agriculture or as near-natural orchards .
mountains
The highest elevations in the district are the Höcherberg in Höchen at 518 m above sea level. NN , the Betzentaler Berg ( 402 m above sea level ) in St. Ingbert and the Great Kahlenberg ( 401 m above sea level ) in Böckweiler .
Neighboring areas
The district borders clockwise to the west, starting with the Saarbrücken regional association and the Neunkirchen district (both in Saarland) as well as the districts of Kusel , Kaiserslautern , Südwestpfalz and the independent city of Zweibrücken (all in Rhineland-Palatinate ). In the south it borders on France with the Saargemünd district of the Moselle department within the Lorraine region (since 2015 the Grand Est region ).
history
In 1816 the area of today's Saarpfalz district (with the exception of the former municipality of Rentrisch ) fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria as a result of the Congress of Vienna and, after 1818, belonged to the Land Commissioner Homburg and the Land Commissioner Zweibrücken , which were renamed district offices in 1862 within the Bavarian Rhine district. In 1902 the districts of St. Ingbert and Blieskastel were separated from the Zweibrücken district office and the St. Ingbert district office was formed from them.
After the First World War , in the course of the Versailles Treaty, the Saar area was formed from predominantly Prussian and partly Bavarian territory and separated from the German Empire. The Bavarian part comprised the district office of St. Ingbert and parts of the district offices of Homburg (with the city of Homburg) and Zweibrücken (without the city of Zweibrücken) with 55 municipalities and was first referred to as Saarpfalz . From 1920 to 1935 the new Saar area was placed under a League of Nations mandate . From the parts of the district offices of Homburg and Zweibrücken, a new district office of Homburg with a completely different shape was formed. In 1935 the Saar area came back to the German Empire under the new name Saarland. In 1938 the two district offices of St. Ingbert and Homburg were transferred to the two districts of St. Ingbert and Homburg. In 1935, the Saarland merged with the Palatinate to form a new party division of the NSDAP and later also to form an administrative unit that bore the name Saarpfalz , which thus encompassed a much larger area than the area designated in 1922 and today. In 1941 the name of this area, which existed until 1945, was changed to Westmark .
After the Second World War , the two districts of St. Ingbert and Homburg with the Saarland were again separated from the German Reich and in 1957 came with this to the Federal Republic of Germany .
As part of the regional and administrative reform in Saarland , the new Saar-Palatinate district was formed on January 1, 1974 from the two districts (without Ensheim and Eschringen , which until then belonged to the St. Ingbert district, and just like Schnappach , the structural one merged with Sulzbach , came to the Saarbrücken regional association). For this purpose, the former Prussian Rentrisch , which until then belonged to the district of Saarbrücken, was incorporated as a district to St. Ingbert.
In 1989 the spelling was changed to Saarpfalz-Kreis . After the community reform has been completed, the Saarpfalz district will include the four cities of Homburg , Sankt Ingbert , Bexbach and Blieskastel as well as three communities, Mandelbachtal , Gersheim and Kirkel . The largest city in the district is the district town of Homburg, the smallest municipality is Gersheim.
Population development
| year | Residents | source |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 155,800 | |
| 1980 | 152,600 | |
| 1990 | 154,500 | |
| 2000 | 157,300 | |
| 2010 | 149,240 | |
| 2016 | 144,100 |
religion
Since the Reformation , three denominations have been represented in the area of today's Saarpfalz district: Nassau-Saarbrücken had turned to the Lutheran direction of the Reformation and Pfalz-Zweibrücken to the Reformed creed, while the Blieskastel office with St. Ingbert was attached to the Catholic Church.
After 1816, the Kingdom of Bavaria relied on a controlled union of the two Protestant denominations. While the municipalities in the Bavarian home countries spoke out against the Union in a survey at the beginning of 1818, there was a clear majority in favor of the Union in the Bavarian Palatinate, which was carried out by the general synod of both confessions in Kaiserslautern in August 1818 . The new church was called the "United Protestant-Evangelical-Christian Church of the Palatinate". It was initially subordinate to the consistory in Munich and became an independent church in 1848, which has been known as the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Protestant regional church) since 1976 . The St. Ingbert district of Rentrisch , which belongs to the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, is an exception .
The Catholic population belongs (in contrast to the rest of the Saarland, which is part of the Trier diocese ) to the Speyer diocese . The diocese affiliation follows the historical boundaries, which means that Ensheim and Eschringen belong to the diocese of Speyer, while Rentrisch belongs to the diocese of Trier.
According to the 2011 census , 54.7% of the residents of the district were Roman Catholic , 27.9% Protestant and 3.1% belonged to other and 16.5% to no religious community under public law.
politics
District council
The district council is the local representative body in the Saarpfalz district. The citizens decide on its composition every five years.
The district election on May 26, 2019 led to the result shown on the right and the resulting distribution of seats:
- Overview of the results of past district council elections
| Parties and constituencies | % 2019 |
Seats 2019 |
% 2014 |
Seats 2014 |
% 2009 |
Seats 2009 |
% 2004 |
Seats 2004 |
% 1999 |
% 1994 |
% 1989 |
% 1984 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | 30.5 | 10 | 36.9 | 13 | 35.0 | 13 | 45.0 | 17th | 44.4 | 36.3 | 34.5 | 40.8 |
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany | 28.0 | 10 | 35.1 | 13 | 31.8 | 11 | 33.7 | 12 | 39.8 | 42.2 | 43.7 | 42.6 |
| GREEN | Alliance 90 / The Greens | 14.0 | 5 | 6.2 | 2 | 6.3 | 2 | 6.5 | 2 | 4.9 | 7.4 | 6.0 | 6.5 |
| AfD | Alternative for Germany | 9.8 | 3 | 4.9 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| THE LEFT | THE LEFT | 5.8 | 2 | 5.7 | 2 | 10.3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| FWG | Free voting community Saarpfalz-Kreis | 4.5 | 1 | 2.7 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| FDP | Free Democratic Party | 3.7 | 1 | 1.9 | 0 | 6.9 | 2 | 4.2 | 0 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 3.7 |
| FAMILY | Family party of Germany | 3.7 | 1 | 3.7 | 1 | 4.6 | 1 | 5.9 | 2 | 3.5 | 2.2 | - | - |
| Others | Others | - | - | 2.8 | 0 | 5.1 | 1 | 4.6 | 0 | 5.0 | 9.4 | 11.3 | 6.0 |
| total | 100 | 33 | 100 | 33 | 100 | 33 | 100 | 33 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| voter turnout | 67.2% | 56.1% | 58.4% | 56.2% | 59.0% | 73.9% | 79.6% | 79.8% | |||||
From 1999 to 2009 there was an absolute majority of the CDU in the district assembly. From 2009 to 2014 the CDU, FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen formed a coalition in Jamaica . There has been a grand coalition since 2014 .
District Administrator
- January 1, 1974 to May 31, 1985: Albert Schwarz (CDU)
- June 1, 1985 to June 25, 2015: Clemens Lindemann (SPD)
- since June 26, 2015: Theophil Gallo (SPD)
Result of the direct election of the district administrator on May 25, 2014
| candidate | Political party | Election result |
|---|---|---|
| Theophil Gallo | SPD | 50.4% |
| Peter Nagel | CDU | 49.6% |
Partnerships
- Henrico County , Virginia ( USA )
- Moselle department ( France )
- Powiat Przemyski ( Poland )
- Powiat Łańcucki (Poland)
coat of arms
Today's coat of arms was given to the Saar Palatinate District by the Saarland Ministry of the Interior on May 21, 1975. It is square and shaped by the region's dominions from the 18th century . The golden lion at the top right indicates the dukes of Pfalz-Zweibrücken . The red cross on silver symbolizes the 300-year rule of the Archdiocese of Trier .
The blue abbot in the golden field is a symbol for the rule of the von der Leyen family from 1660 to 1793 and their possessions. The silver lion in the red field in the lower, left field underlines the Homburg rule, which came to the Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken in 1449 .
Administration, economy and infrastructure
In the Future Atlas 2016 , the Saarpfalz district was ranked 220 out of 402 districts, municipal associations and independent cities in Germany, making it one of the regions with a “balanced risk-opportunity mix” for the future.
Authorities
- District administration of the Saarpfalz district in Homburg
- Health department
- District court in Homburg and St. Ingbert
- Tax office in Homburg and St. Ingbert
- State administration office Saarland in St. Ingbert
- several police stations in the Saarland
- three employment agencies
- in the respective cities and municipalities the city / municipal administrations
Local businesses
A considerable number of large international companies such as Hager , Bosch , Michelin , INA-Schaeffler , Festo and SAP have settled in the district, but you can also find a large number of successful medium-sized companies.
traffic
The northern district area is touched by the federal motorway 6 ( Mannheim - Saarbrücken ) and traversed by the A 8 in an east-west direction. Furthermore, the district is opened up by federal and state roads. The most important federal highways are the B 40 ( St. Ingbert - Saarbrücken) and the B 423 ( Altenglan - Homburg - Saargemünd ).
The district is also crossed by various Deutsche Bahn routes. The most important is the long-distance Paris - Saarbrücken - Mannheim route , listed in the timetable as route 670, which touches the municipal areas of St. Ingbert , Kirkel and Homburg . ICE and InterCity trains , among others, run on this route with a stop in Homburg. In addition, Deutsche Bahn operates:
- Saarbrücken - St. Ingbert - Rohrbach - Zweibrücken - Pirmasens (KBS 674)
- Neunkirchen - Bexbach - Homburg (KBS 683) (The Bexbach - Homburg route is one of the oldest routes in Germany: it was opened in 1848/49.)
The following routes were given up a few years ago:
- Homburg - Zweibrücken (now operated as the R7 regional bus) (until 1985)
- Homburg - Jägersburg - Schönenberg-Kübelberg - Altenglan - Kusel
- Homburg - Bierbach - Blieskastel - Gersheim - Reinheim - Saargemünd (until 1989, tracks have been dismantled, the route now serves as a cycle path, the Reinheim – Saargemünd branch was shut down much earlier.)
tourism
Tourism plays an increasingly important role in the Saarpfalz district. Under the direction of District Administrator Clemens Lindemann, a marketing structure was developed with the "Saarpfalz-Touristik", which forms the core of all tourist activities. The annual Saar-Lor-Lux tourism exchange in St. Ingbert is an important overview of the tourist offers.
The main attractions in the Saarpfalz district with unique selling points include the Schlossberg caves in Homburg, the European Bliesbruck-Reinheim cultural park and the UNESCO - Bliesgau Biosphere Reserve. In addition, the Spohns House in Gersheim is of particular importance. The ecological education center with school camp has more than 11,000 overnight stays annually and offers young people from EU countries the framework for workshops and leisure projects.
education
Elementary schools
In Saarpfalz 21 are primary schools located whose support cities and municipalities are.
Further training
- four publicly funded grammar schools
- seven advanced secondary schools
- two comprehensive schools
- two vocational training centers
Private schools
The following schools are located in the Saarpfalz district, but privately owned :
- a Montessori school
- two private high schools
- a private secondary school
- a free Waldorf school
Other educational institutions
- an ecological education center with a school camp " Spohns Haus "
- a media center
- five music schools
- seven municipal libraries
- a district adult education center
- two municipal adult education centers
- a free art school
In 2003, the district invested more than 15 million euros in its secondary schools. For better networking of cultural institutions in times of demographic change , federal funds are available from 2016 to 2020 as part of the TRAFO program - Models for Culture in Transition .
Culture
The Saarpfalz district traditionally has an extensive and differentiated cultural offer. The fact that the district has been part of the Kingdom of Bavaria for over a century also had a lasting impact on its cultural development. Previously, the art-loving Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken had given cultural impulses with the construction of a Renaissance palace in Homburg and the associated court. As a result, Karl II. August von Pfalz-Zweibrücken had his new residence " Schloss Karlsberg " built on today's Karlsberg near Homburg , from which strong cultural initiatives emanated. During this time, the Saar-Palatinate painter and architect Johann Christian von Mannlich , whose hand is responsible for numerous large-format portraits of dignitaries and the architecture of Karlsberg Palace, made special cultural merits .
Likewise strong cultural impulses came from Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer , a writer and time-critical journalist, who for a long time was "Landcommissär" (a kind of forerunner of the modern district administrator) in Homburg. He was one of the leading figures of the Hambach Festival . In addition to his socially critical and political writings, Siebenpfeiffer also wrote extensive epic poems and travelogues. A biennial award from the Saarpfalz district, the Siebenpfeiffer Prize , is named after him.
The cultural landscape of the Saarpfalz district is currently diverse. There is a wide range of cultural offers in the district town of Homburg. The Schwarzenacker Roman Museum and the Jägersburg Castle and Palace Museum in the historic Gustavsburg are of particular importance . Also to be mentioned are numerous markets and folk festivals in the district town.
The medium-sized town of St. Ingbert plays a special role in the cultural offerings of the Saarpfalzkreis . This municipality had acquired the unofficial title of a “secret capital of Saarland culture” (quote from Saarland broadcasting ) over the past 25 years . The city is considered a special place of cultural innovation and offers a wide range of cultural offers. The most important:
- St. Ingberter Pfanne : the highest endowed German cabaret award (first performance: 1986)
- International Jazz Festival St. Ingbert : the most important international jazz festival in southwest Germany (first edition: 1987)
- Museum St. Ingbert : high-ranking international art museum with a fund of works by the painter Albert Weisgerber (opened in 1989, closed in 2007, is to be reopened in the old cotton spinning mill in the future)
- "EDLE STEINE" : mineral, fossil, jewelery and gemstone exchange (first edition: 1985) (the exchange with the most visitors in southwest Germany)
- Beckerturm : industrial building by Bauhaus architect Hans Herkommer (built 1925–1931)
- Alte Schmelz : listed ensemble of industrial culture
- Rischbachstollen visitor mine : part of the former St. Ingbert coal mine (700 m main tunnel with secondary tunnel , accessible and drivable)
The Bliesgau , also known as the "Tuscany of the Saarland", is home to a number of cultural treasures. In 2009 it was awarded the status of a biosphere reserve by UNESCO . Of particular importance are the excavations of a Celtic-Roman settlement in the European cultural park Bliesbruck-Reinheim , the highlight of which is the undamaged grave of a Celtic princess with numerous grave goods. A museum in Reinheim, Germany, and an adventure center in Bliesbruck, France, are attached to the open-air facilities . Other important cultural institutions in Bliesgau are Spohns Haus in Gersheim , an eco-cultural education center with a school camp, which focuses on cross-border, European youth exchanges, and Haus Lochfeld near Wittersheim in the Mandelbachtal community , a cultural landscape center whose aim is to protect the cultural landscape in the Bliesgau is. The smallest museum in the country, the “ Customs Museum ” in Habkirchen, is a curiosity . It is located on the German-French border in a former small customs house and reflects the history of the border.
The Saar-Palatinate city of Bexbach is home to some interesting cultural and historical buildings. This includes the Saarland Mining Museum with a show mine , which gives a lively idea of the work underground . A typical building of the time is the “Hindenburgturm”, a water reservoir which was put into service in 1931 and was built according to the ideas of the Bauhaus architects. Today it serves as a lookout tower. Another point of attraction is the “flower garden” (with a Chinese garden), which was created in 1951 as part of the “Garden and Flowers in Social Housing” project.
The Saar-Palatinate town of Blieskastel is a special cultural gem. With its 133 individual monuments and a further 66 buildings from the Baroque period , which are under ensemble protection, it forms the core of the Baroque Street Saar-Palatinate . There was once a castle above the city, most of which was destroyed during the French Revolution. The orangery, which was built and restored in the Renaissance style, and the castle church , built by Franciscan recollects , can also be visited . Particularly noteworthy is the Holy Cross Chapel , a place of pilgrimage built in 1682/1683 in the Baroque style. The chapel houses a Pietà from the 14th century with the miraculous image “ Our Lady with the Arrows ”, which is venerated by large sections of the population. Also impressive are the numerous old crosses in the Saarpfalz district, which serve as path markers for hikers and pilgrims, but also document the piety and belief of the population.
The municipality of Kirkel is dominated by a well-preserved castle ruin, Burg Kirkel , which is also the symbol of the municipality. The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1075. Well-known festivals take place around the castle grounds, the most famous of which is the "Kirkeler Wurstmarkt", which has been held since the Middle Ages.
The Gräfinthal natural stage is located in the municipality of Mandelbachtal , near the Gräfinthal monastery . The stage has existed since 1932 and can seat 1,500 spectators. Every year from June to August one play for children and one for adults is performed.
Communities
(Residents on December 31, 2019)
|
|
Protected areas
There are 36 designated nature reserves in the district (as of February 2017).
License Plate
On March 1, 1974, the Saar-Palatinate district (spelling at that time) was assigned the HOM , which has been valid since January 1, 1957 for the Homburg district. It is still issued today.
Since April 1, 1974, the vehicles in the medium- sized town of St. Ingbert, which belongs to the district, have been given the IGB distinction .
Previously, this distinctive sign was valid for the area of the former district of St. Ingbert , two months after its existence until February 28, 1974. After that, it was not issued for a month (March 1974).
literature
- Martin Baus, Bernhard Becker, Jutta Schwan (eds.): Bavaria an der Blies, 100 years of the Bavarian Saar Palatinate (1816-1919). St. Ingbert 2019.
- Martin Baus, Bernhard Becker: The Saar Palatinate in old views. Erfurt 2017.
- Martin Baus, Bernhard Becker: The Saar Palatinate in the 50s and 60s. Erfurt 2012.
- Bernhard Becker (Ed.): 200 years of the Saarpfalz district. In: Saarpfalz, Blätter für Geschichte und Volkskunde, special issue 2018, Homburg 2018.
- Dieter Dorda, Olaf Kühne, Volker Wild: The Bliesgau. Nature and landscape in the southeastern Saarland. Publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland 42, Saarbrücken 2006.
- Hans-Werner Krick (Ed.): Saar-Palatinate mining site, the overlooked Saar area. In: Contributions to regional history , special issue 1995, St. Ingbert 1995.
- Clemens Lindemann (Ed.): The Saarpfalz district. Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8062-1034-9 .
- Walter Reinhard: Celts: Romans and Teutons in Bliesgau. In: Preservation of monuments in Saarland 3 , 2010.
- Andreas Stinsky: The Saarpfalz as an open-air museum, archaeological search for traces on the doorstep. In: Saarpfalz-Jahrbuch 2012 , Homburg 2011, pp. 31–36.
Web links
- Official website of the Saarpfalz district
- Literature about the Saarpfalz district in the Saarland bibliography
- Martin Baus: Saarpfalz. in: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saarland.de - Official population figures as of December 31, 2019 (PDF; 20 kB) ( help ).
- ↑ Map of the natural structure of the Saarland ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. PDF file accessed October 16, 2011
- ↑ see also article North of France layer level country and article list of natural spatial units in the Saarland
- ↑ Die Saarpfalz , In: Journal of the Bavarian Statistical Office, 54th year 1922, pp. 434–439.
- ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 811 .
- ↑ Statistical Yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany 1975
- ↑ Statistical Yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany 1981
- ↑ Statistical Yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany 1992
- ↑ Statistical Yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany 2002
- ↑ https://results.zensus2011.de/#dynTable:statUnit=PERSON;absRel=PROZENT;ags=10045;agsAxis=X;yAxis=RELIGION_AUSF
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ District elections 2019 - Saar-Palatinate district, official final result
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ https://wahlresult.saarland.de/KTW/lösungen_kreis_45.html
- ↑ Future Atlas 2016. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 2, 2017 ; accessed on December 21, 2018 .
- ↑ UNESCO homepage
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ New rooms, new teachers and even a new school ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Article in the Palatinate Merkur of August 16, 2012
- ↑ City negotiates old cotton spinning mill , SR report of November 6, 2019.
- ↑ Saarland-Lexikon ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Bernhard Becker: Road crosses in the Saarpfalz district . Homburg: Ermer, 1993. 430 pp. ISBN 3-924653-12-7
- ↑ Saarland.de - Official population figures as of December 31, 2019 (PDF; 20 kB) ( help ).
