Altleiningen
Encyclopedia
Altleiningen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
in the northeast Palatinate Forest in the valley of the Eckbach, a 39 km-long brook that empties into the Rhine. Altleiningen belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Hettenleidelheim
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
’s catalogue of holdings
listed a woodland holding in linunga marca (Latin
for “in the Leiningen area”). The naming referred to the Leinbaum, a name used locally at the time mostly for the Norway Maple, but sometimes also for the large-leaved linden
. Since both trees were often found growing alongside the Eckbach, the brook at this time also went by the name Leinbach.
From the municipality’s name also sprang the noble family Leiningen’s name. This family held the so-called Leiningerland for centuries.
and 30.1% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Gules a cross pattée couped with an oakleaf adornment at the end of each arm Or between four eagles displayed argent.
The arms were approved by the now defunct Regierungsbezirk
of Rheinhessen-Pfalz
. It goes back to a seal from 1716. They match arms borne by the Counts of Leiningen-Westerburg, who had their ancestral seat at Castle Altleiningen.
. In the roofed Ehrenhalle – “Hall of Honour” – a room separated from the castle’s yard by arcades, the amateur theatre group Burgspiele Altleiningen has been producing challenging plays – classical, modern, often also some with historical aspects – every year in the summer months since 1980.
Saint Jacob’s Church, but also the remnants of the canonical monastery of Höningen. It has a gateway arch at the north entrance, and the convent building’s and the monastery church’s west gables are parallel to the modern main street. Saint Jacob’s and the monastery were both built about 1120. Two letters patent
, one each from Pope Innocent II
and Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa
, underscore the monastery’s importance at the time of its founding.
in Grünstadt
has its roots, is a gatehouse at the way into the back alley.
.
, which has its production facility there. The business is the Bad Dürkheim district’s biggest employer.
The bus service on the Grünstadt–Altleiningen route stops at Drahtzug.
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim (district)
Bad Dürkheim is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Kaiserslautern, Donnersbergkreis and Alzey-Worms, the city of Worms, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, the city of Neustadt/Weinstraße, the districts of Südliche Weinstraße, the city of Landau , the district...
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Location
The municipality lies at an elevation of 300 m above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
in the northeast Palatinate Forest in the valley of the Eckbach, a 39 km-long brook that empties into the Rhine. Altleiningen belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Hettenleidelheim
Hettenleidelheim (Verbandsgemeinde)
Hettenleidelheim is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Hettenleidelheim....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Hettenleidelheim
Hettenleidelheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
Name
Altleiningen, originally Leiningen, had its first documentary mention in 780 when the 50 km-distant Lorsch AbbeyLorsch Abbey
The Abbey of Lorsch is a former Imperial Abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km east of Worms, one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany...
’s catalogue of holdings
Lorsch codex
The Lorsch Codex is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. It consists of 460 pages in large format containing more than 3800 entries...
listed a woodland holding in linunga marca (Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for “in the Leiningen area”). The naming referred to the Leinbaum, a name used locally at the time mostly for the Norway Maple, but sometimes also for the large-leaved linden
Tilia platyphyllos
Tilia platyphyllos is a deciduous tree native to much of Europe, including locally in southwestern Great Britain, growing on lime-rich soils. The common name Large-leaved Linden is in standard use throughout the English-speaking world except in Britain, where it has largely been replaced by the...
. Since both trees were often found growing alongside the Eckbach, the brook at this time also went by the name Leinbach.
From the municipality’s name also sprang the noble family Leiningen’s name. This family held the so-called Leiningerland for centuries.
Local administration
After the Second World War, the municipality belonged at first to the Frankenthal district, which in the course of administrative reform in Rhineland-Palatinate was abolished in 1969. Altleiningen then found itself in the newly created district of Bad Dürkheim. In 1972, Altleiningen also found itself in the likewise newly created Verbandsgemeinde of Hettenleidelheim.Religion
In 2007, 45.7% of the inhabitants were EvangelicalEvangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
and 30.1% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
Municipal council
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:| Parties and voter communities | % 2009 |
Seats 2009 |
Difference to 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WG Dennhardt | 35.0 | 6 | +2 |
| FWG | 32.8 | 5 | -2 |
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
20.5 | 3 | +1 |
| WG Köhler | 6.3 | 1 | +1 |
| CDU | 5.4 | 1 | -2 |
Mayors
Since 2009 Frank Dennhardt (WG Dennhardt) 1992–2009 Karl Meister (FWG) 1990–1992 Michael Haab (CDU) 1979–1990 Otwin Frank (FWG) 1974–1979 Jakob Neu (CDU) 1971–1974 Gerd Abel (WG) 1969–1971 Friedrich Dörner (WG) 1952–1969 Jakob Neu (CDU) 1948–1952 August Dörner 1945–1948 Christoph Bohn II. 1934–1945 Johannes Jotter II. 1933 (June–December) August Alebrand 1931–1933 Christoph Bohn II. |
1910–1931 Karl Heinrich Klein 1899–1909 Heinrich Müller 1894–1899 Karl Krauß I. 1871–1894 Heinrich Müller III. 1870–1871 Johann Müller IV. 1859–1869 Philipp Jakob Zimmermann 1848–1859 Samuel Krebill 1844–1848 Heinrich Krebill 1842–1844 Heinrich Haartung 1820–1842 Abraham Krebill 1814–1820 Jakob Zimmermann 1808–1814 Abraham Krebill 1804–1808 Georg Walter |
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In Rot ein schwebendes angetatztes goldenes Kreuz mit eingeschlagenen eichenblattartigen Verzierungen an den Balkenenden, bewinkelt von vier silbernen Adlern.The municipality’s arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might in English heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
language be described thus: Gules a cross pattée couped with an oakleaf adornment at the end of each arm Or between four eagles displayed argent.
The arms were approved by the now defunct Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
of Rheinhessen-Pfalz
Rheinhessen-Pfalz
Rheinhessen-Pfalz was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the south of the state...
. It goes back to a seal from 1716. They match arms borne by the Counts of Leiningen-Westerburg, who had their ancestral seat at Castle Altleiningen.
Culture and sightseeing
Burg Altleiningen
Castle Altleiningen was built at the summit of a mountain some 400 m high that rises above the Eckbach’s left bank. Within the castle are a youth hostel and – in the moat – a heated swimming poolSwimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
. In the roofed Ehrenhalle – “Hall of Honour” – a room separated from the castle’s yard by arcades, the amateur theatre group Burgspiele Altleiningen has been producing challenging plays – classical, modern, often also some with historical aspects – every year in the summer months since 1980.
Kloster Höningen and Kirche St. Jacob
In the outlying centre of Höningen about 2 km to the south are found not only the RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
Saint Jacob’s Church, but also the remnants of the canonical monastery of Höningen. It has a gateway arch at the north entrance, and the convent building’s and the monastery church’s west gables are parallel to the modern main street. Saint Jacob’s and the monastery were both built about 1120. Two letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
, one each from Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...
and Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
, underscore the monastery’s importance at the time of its founding.
Höninger Lateinschule
Recalling the Höningen Latin School (1573–1630), in which the Leininger-GymnasiumGymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Grünstadt
Grünstadt
Grünstadt is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land.- Location :The...
has its roots, is a gatehouse at the way into the back alley.
20-Röhren-Brunnen
From the 20-Pipe Fountain, which is fed from an adit that was sunk deep into the cliff about 1600 to supply the castle above with water, the Eckbach nowadays draws most of its flow. It is also here that the 19 km-long Eckbachmühlen cycling and hiking path begins, running downstream to DirmsteinDirmstein
Dirmstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
Established businesses
The industrial location Drahtzug lies on the Eckbach 2 km northeast of the village and is named after the Drahtzug Stein GmbH + Co. KGDrahtzug Stein
Drahtzug Stein is an internationally operating consortium of ten companies consolidated in the holding company. The holding is based in Altleiningen in the Rhineland-Palatinate administrative district of Bad Dürkheim...
, which has its production facility there. The business is the Bad Dürkheim district’s biggest employer.
Transport
From Altleiningen to Grünstadt once ran the Leininger Talbahn (railway). From 1903 to 1969 there was public transport on the line, and even by late 2005, the maintained right-of-way still bore goods on the Grünstadt–Drahtzug section to serve the plant.The bus service on the Grünstadt–Altleiningen route stops at Drahtzug.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Phil JutziPhil JutziPhil Jutzi was a German cameraman and movie director.Born Philipp Jutzi in Altleiningen as the son of a tailor, Jutzi was self-educated...
, film director - Winfried Storhas, professor of BioreactionBioreactorA bioreactor may refer to any manufactured or engineered device or system that supports a biologically active environment. In one case, a bioreactor is a vessel in which a chemical process is carried out which involves organisms or biochemically active substances derived from such organisms. This...
technology, University of Mannheim
Famous people associated with the municipality
- Silvio AdzicSilvio AdzicSilvio Adzic is a German football player who currently play for TuS Altleiningen. He made his debut on the professional league level in the Bundesliga for 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 30 September 2000 when he came on as a substitute in the 68th minute in a game against FC Energie Cottbus...
, footballer, grew up in Altleiningen