Waldsee (Palatinate)

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 49 ° 24 '  N , 8 ° 26'  E
Basic data
State :	Rhineland-Palatinate
County :	Rhine-Palatinate District
Association municipality :	Rheinauen
Height :	99 m above sea level NHN
Area :	12.93 km 2
Residents:	5885 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	455 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	67165
Area code :	06236
License plate :	RP
Community key :	07 3 38 026
Association administration address:	Ludwigstrasse 99 67165 Waldsee
Website :	www.waldsee.de
Mayoress :	Claudia Klein ( CDU )
Location of the local community Waldsee in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis

overall view

Catholic Church of St. Martin

Waldsee is a municipality in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate . It is the administrative seat of the Rheinauen community and is designated as a basic center according to state planning .

geography

Waldsee lies in the northern Upper Rhine Plain . The place is located on the high bank of the Rhine, which separates the Rhine lowlands from the flatland zone to the west. A sand or dune zone a few meters higher adjoins this flatland zone in the west.

history

Waldsee was probably already in 6./7. Founded in the 15th century by the Franks and first mentioned in 1229 in connection with a certain knight Widegowe as "Walahesheim". This knight was mentioned in a document as early as 1203, so that the oldest mention of a inhabitant of Waldsee is over 800 years ago (800th anniversary in 2003). The current form of the place name emerged in the 19th century from the previously common name “Waltzheim” through the weakening of the ending “-heim” to “-em” or “-e” in the colloquial name.

As a place in Speyergau, Waldsee belonged to the Speyer diocese , whose jurisdiction was transferred to the bishops of Speyer in 974 by Emperor Otto II . From 1065 until the French occupation in 1797, Waldsee was subordinate to the prince- bishopric Speyer .

After the French withdrew, Waldsee belonged to the Speyer district office in the "Bavarian Rhine District", later Palatinate (Bavaria) , after the Second World War initially to the Speyer district , which in 1969 was added to the Ludwigshafen district (today: Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis ).

During the time of National Socialism , members of the Speyer Comradeship resistance group met in the Waldsee restaurant “Zur Pfalz” with “ Eastern workers ” and Poles from the region to pass on political information. The head of the Waldsee group was the Polish slave laborer Stanislaus Peplinski , he was executed on March 19, 1945 in the Brandenburg prison.

The "Uzname" ( nickname ) for the inhabitants of Waldsee is "Hämmel". It goes back to a shepherd's mishap in the 19th century. He led a flock of sheep across a frozen lake; however, the ice did not hold and most of the herd sank. The butcher from Waldsee rushed to the pond for the emergency slaughter of the animals. In no time at all, word got around in the village about cheap lamb. When the inhabitants of the neighboring village heard about this, they too hurried to the slaughterhouse with all kinds of containers; but there was no more sheep meat. Out of anger, they referred to the Waldseer as "Hammel". On Schwanenplatz in the center of the village, the design of the fountain tells of this incident.

Religions

In 2007, 55.5 percent of the population were Catholic and 22 percent Protestant. The rest belonged to another religion or were non-denominational.

Population development

The medieval village center was on the west side facing away from the Rhine, which was not protected by the high bank, surrounded by a ditch, which is still visible on a map from 1770. Around 1600 the place comprised 32 farmsteads, which corresponds to a population of 120 to 130 inhabitants, in 1798 there were 665 inhabitants. The built-up area was not enlarged until 1820, only the moat was leveled in the meantime. From around 1830 the population of the village began to grow rapidly, which was accompanied by an expansion in area. The expansion took place almost exclusively in a westerly direction due to the risk of flooding in the Rhine lowlands. In 1802 the place still had 528 inhabitants, in 1911 there were 2,290 and in 1960 4,138 inhabitants.

politics

town hall

Municipal council

The municipal council in Waldsee consists of 22 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	FDP	FWG	gkL	total
2019	6th	9	1	3	3	22 seats
2014	5	12	1	2	2	22 seats
2009	5	11	2	2	2	22 seats
2004	4th	12	1	3	2	22 seats

• FWG = Free Voter Group Waldsee e. V.
• gkL = green municipal list Waldsee-Otterstadt e. V.

mayor

Claudia Klein (CDU) is the local mayor of Waldsee. In the local elections on May 26, 2019, she was elected with 61.39% of the vote and is the successor to Otto Reiland (CDU), who was no longer running.

coat of arms

	Blazon : "In green, two crossed golden arable trees with silver irons, angled at the top by a floating silver Greek cross."
	Justification for the coat of arms: It was approved by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior in 1927 and goes back to a court seal from 1521.

Partner municipality

Waldsee has maintained a partnership with Ruffec in the Charente département in France since 1974 .

Culture and sights

Buildings

Several buildings are listed, including the old town hall from 1830, the Catholic St. Martin Church from 1843 and the Protestant church from 1954.

→ List of cultural monuments in Waldsee

• 

  Old Town Hall

• 

  Local museum

• 

  Half-timbered house (Altriper Str. 1)

• 

  Former factory building

• 

  Protestant Church

• 

  Hermann Gmeiner School

• 

  War memorial 1914/18, created by Ludwig Kern

nature

The confluence of the Old Rhine and Rhine at Rhine kilometer 412

The forest area "Im Wörth" east of Waldsee offers opportunities for relaxation. At the edge of the forest near the summer festival hall there is a forest teaching area, directly adjacent to a forest playground. There is an extensive alluvial forest between the Waldsee and the Old Rhine. The landscape can be explored both on foot and by bike. The path along the main Rhine dike in particular attracts many people, not least because of the many refreshment stops along the route between Altrip and Speyer. In the north of Waldsee there is the "Schlicht" quarry pond, which is suitable for swimming.

Sports

The sporting offer in Waldsee is mainly characterized by sports clubs. The focus here is on the main sports handball (TG Waldsee) and football (ASV Waldsee). There is also a tennis club in Waldsee (TV Waldsee). However, the offer of the individual sports clubs is broad. But also in other clubs, sport is not neglected in addition to the actual club activity. The UN Carnival Association offers opportunities for guard and show dance. Many clubs have leisure teams in a wide variety of sports (including football, hiking, bowling). An association for dog lovers (VdH Waldsee 1975 eV) is also based here.

Sports facilities

• School gym
• Rheinauenhalle 1 and 2
• Sports grounds of the TG Waldsee
• ASV Waldsee sports grounds
• Sports grounds of the TV Waldsee
• Club area for dog lovers

Events

Many events have a permanent place in the community's event calendar.

• Carnival (KV UNO Waldsee and many clubs and groups)
• Easter Fountain Festival (fruit and horticultural association)
• Beer festival (ASV Waldsee)
• Fischerfest (fishing club)
• Kerwe (Waldsee municipality with changing organizers)
• Halloween Party (Choral Society Concordia)
• Christmas market (Waldsee municipality)

In addition, many events from a wide variety of associations and groups take place on changing dates.

• 

  Summer festival hall

• 

  Culture hall

Venues

• Summer festival hall
• Culture hall
• cath. Parish center
• Protestant parish hall

Economy and Infrastructure

The municipal working group to combat the Schnakenplage had its seat in Waldsee. The hotel industry was represented by the “Oberst” hotel and restaurant , which now serves as refugee accommodation.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

• Johannes Zieger (1910–1981), founding member of the Speyer Comradeship and resistance fighter during the National Socialist era
• Katharina Adler (1919–2010), journalist and publicist

People who worked on site

• Stanislaus Peplinski (1909–1945), Polish forced laborer, member of the Speyer Comradeship and resistance fighter against National Socialism

Web links

Commons : Waldsee  - Collection of Images

• Waldsee parish
• Literature about Waldsee 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 - regional data
3. ↑ Hermann W. Morweiser: From the anti-fascist resistance in Speyer. VVN Association of Antifascists, Speyer 1983.
4. ↑ Hedwig Brüchert: Forced Labor 1939–1945 - the “labor deployment” of civilian forced laborers in the regions of what is now the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
5. ↑ KommWis, as of August 31, 2007 ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ The Regional Returning Officer RLP: City Council Election 2019 Waldsee. Retrieved October 9, 2019 . 
7. ^ The Regional Returning Officer Rhineland-Palatinate: Municipal elections 2014, city and municipal council elections
8. ↑ The Regional Returning Officer RLP: direct elections 2019. see Rheinauen, Verbandsgemeinde, fifth row of results. Retrieved October 9, 2019 . 
9. ^ Karl Heinz Debus: The great book of arms of the Palatinate. Neustadt an der Weinstrasse 1988, ISBN 3-9801574-2-3 .