Birkheim
Birkheim | |
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Coat of arms of Birkheim Coat of arms | |
Location of Birkheim
within Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis district | |
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| Country | Germany |
| State | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| District | Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis |
| Municipal assoc. | Hunsrück-Mittelrhein |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2019–24) | Rainer Retz[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2.3 km2 (0.89 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 463 m (1,519 ft) |
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| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 56291 |
| Dialling codes | 06746 |
| Vehicle registration | SIM |
Birkheim (German pronunciation: [ˈbɪʁkhaɪm]) is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen.
Geography
[edit | edit source]Location
[edit | edit source]The municipality lies in the eastern Hunsrück between the Middle Rhine and Autobahn A 61. Birkheim’s 132 inhabitants live in an area of 220 ha at an elevation of 450 m above sea level.[2]
History
[edit | edit source]In 1310, Birkheim had its first documentary mention as Bircheym and lay under Electoral-Trier hegemony. Beginning in 1794, Birkheim lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.[citation needed]
Politics
[edit | edit source]Municipal council
[edit | edit source]The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.[3]
Mayor
[edit | edit source]Birkheim’s mayor is Rainer Retz.[1]
Coat of arms
[edit | edit source]The German blazon reads: In Silber, halblinks und schrägrechts durch blaue Wellenbalken geteilt, vorn ein rotes Balkenkreuz, hinten oben ein grünes Birkenblatt, unten ein schwarzes Wasserrad.[citation needed]
The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Argent a bend sinister wavy and couped at the nombril point a bend azure to sinister base, in dexter chief a cross gules throughout, in sinister a birchleaf palewise slipped vert and in base a waterwheel spoked of six sable.[citation needed]
The cross refers to the village’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier in the Holy Roman Empire. The waterwheel refers to the Friedrich Neubauer gristmill, known as Fritze Mühle, which was destroyed in the 1920s. The birchleaf is a canting charge for the municipality’s name, Birkheim (Birke is German for birch). The wavy bend sinister and half bend represent local streams, the longer being the Niederbach, which once formed the boundary between the Electorate of Trier and the Vogtei of Pfalzfeld, and the shorter the Quänkelbach, which runs through the village and empties into the Niederbach.[4]
Culture and sightseeing
[edit | edit source]Buildings
[edit | edit source]The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
- Saint John of Nepomuk’s Catholic Chapel (branch chapel; Filialkapelle St. Johann Nepomuk), Hauptstraße 17 – aisleless church, marked 1897, west tower 1960
- Hauptstraße 5 – Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street); timber-frame building, partly solid and slated, early 19th century[5]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Direktwahlen 2019, Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 4 August 2021.
- ^ Birkheim’s population, area and elevation
- ^ Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
- ^ Description and explanation of Birkheim’s arms
- ^ Directory of Cultural Monuments in Rhein-Hunsrück district
External links
[edit | edit source]- Brief portrait of Birkheim with film at SWR Fernsehen (in German)
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