Asbach, Birkenfeld
Encyclopedia
Asbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld
district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhaunen
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
). The village’s elevation is from 460 to 480 m above sea level
.
uses of the municipality’s rather nutrient-poor soil were mainly rye
, oats
, barley
and root vegetables. The hollows are used as grassland on mainly gley
and podzol soils. The sandy, nutrient-poor soils on the quartzite
outliers of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald (forest) are used as woodlots.
-smelting complex. The most noteworthy building here is the former Böcking manor house. The Deutsche Edelsteinstraße (“German Gemstone Road”) leads through Asbacherhütte.
, Weiden
, Hottenbach
, Mörschied
, Kempfeld
and Schauren
, all of which also lie in the Birkenfeld district.
bear witness to very early human habitation going back as far as the Hunsrück-Eifel Culture in La Tène times
. In the more recent past, the Asbach Ironworks down below on the Fischbach played an important rôle as a regional hub for iron smelting in the early industrial revolution
. This hammermill, which was expanded in 1743 by the sons of the Sulzbach
smith, Johann Nikolaus Stumm, became the groundwork of the Saarland
metal industry. Related to the later Barons of Stumm, the legendary “Iron Barons”, were the Böckings. In 1835, Rudolf Heinrich Böcking (1810-1871) inherited the ironworks.
The StummBöcking’sches Herrenhaus (“Stumm-Böcking manor house”) and the other buildings at Asbacherhütte are nowadays home to handicapped people.
Until administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate
in 1969, this Hunsrück village belonged to the Amt of Kempfeld in the now abolished Bernkastel district, whose seat was at Bernkastel-Kues
.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
might be described thus: Per bend vert a timber-frame building with a ridge turret argent with members, windows and door sable, and Or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
-grinding shop and an agricultural machinist’s operation, all households were more or less active in agriculture, although many only did so on the side. After a complete overhaul in the village’s structure, which also manifested itself in the late 1990s in the form of a thorough Flurbereinigung
, there is now only one fulltime agricultural operation. For more than 25 years now there has been an agricultural processing plant, working under strict ecological rules, turning out high-quality products from its own farm. These are sold at markets in the surrounding area and also at the farm itself.
In the early 1990s, a village renewal scheme was carefully undertaken to improve infrastructure. These measures, funded through cost-sharing, were at first opposed by many villagers owing to the great financial burden. It soon became clear, however, that there was no alternative. The village renewal was finished with the building of a village community centre.
A few newer houses have also sprung up in the lower village as a result of a small building development zone that was opened up.
In Asbacherhütte is found a clinical-paedagogical institute run by the deaconry of Bad Kreuznach as a home for handicapped people who need minimal assistance.
422. The nearest railway station is at Idar-Oberstein
. On weekdays, Omnibus-Verkehr Rhein Nahe bus route 345 runs through Asbach, as well as several journeys of route 351. Asbach belongs to the Rhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund (“Rhine-Nahe Local Transport Network”)
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 Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- History :...
district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
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...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhaunen
Rhaunen (Verbandsgemeinde)
Rhaunen is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Rhaunen....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Rhaunen
Rhaunen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...
.
Location
The municipality lies on the Hinterbach in the transitional zone between the Kempfelder Hochmulde (“high hollow”) and the Idar-Soon-Pforte (“gate”) east of the Idarwald (forest, part of the HunsrückHunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
). The village’s elevation is from 460 to 480 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Land use
Former agriculturalAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
uses of the municipality’s rather nutrient-poor soil were mainly rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
, oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
, barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
and root vegetables. The hollows are used as grassland on mainly gley
Gley soil
Gley soil in soil science is a type of hydric soil which exhibits a greenish-blue-grey soil color due to wetland conditions. On exposure to the air, gley colors are transformed to a mottled pattern of reddish, yellow or orange patches. During gley soil formation , the oxygen supply in the soil...
and podzol soils. The sandy, nutrient-poor soils on the quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
outliers of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald (forest) are used as woodlots.
Constituent communities
South of the main village lies the outlying centre of Asbacherhütte (“Asbach Ironworks”), which traces its beginnings to an ironIron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
-smelting complex. The most noteworthy building here is the former Böcking manor house. The Deutsche Edelsteinstraße (“German Gemstone Road”) leads through Asbacherhütte.
Neighbouring municipalities
Asbach’s neighbours are HellertshausenHellertshausen
Hellertshausen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhaunen, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Geography:Hellertshausen...
, Weiden
Weiden, Rhineland-Palatinate
Weiden is a municipality near the city of Idar-Oberstein in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
, Hottenbach
Hottenbach
Hottenbach is a municipality in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
, Mörschied
Mörschied
Mörschied is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Herrstein, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Location:The municipality...
, Kempfeld
Kempfeld
Kempfeld is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Schauren
Schauren
Schauren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhaunen, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Location:The municipality lies...
, all of which also lie in the Birkenfeld district.
History
In the wedge of woodland between the two deep dales, scattered remnants of a number of barrowsTumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
bear witness to very early human habitation going back as far as the Hunsrück-Eifel Culture in La Tène times
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
. In the more recent past, the Asbach Ironworks down below on the Fischbach played an important rôle as a regional hub for iron smelting in the early industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. This hammermill, which was expanded in 1743 by the sons of the Sulzbach
Sulzbach, Birkenfeld
Sulzbach is a municipality in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
smith, Johann Nikolaus Stumm, became the groundwork of the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
metal industry. Related to the later Barons of Stumm, the legendary “Iron Barons”, were the Böckings. In 1835, Rudolf Heinrich Böcking (1810-1871) inherited the ironworks.
The StummBöcking’sches Herrenhaus (“Stumm-Böcking manor house”) and the other buildings at Asbacherhütte are nowadays home to handicapped people.
Until administrative restructuring 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 ....
in 1969, this Hunsrück village belonged to the Amt of Kempfeld in the now abolished Bernkastel district, whose seat was at Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues is a well-known winegrowing centre on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority votePlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Coat of arms
The municipality’s armsCoat 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 be described thus: Per bend vert a timber-frame building with a ridge turret argent with members, windows and door sable, and Or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure.
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-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 ....
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
- Hauptstraße, graveyard – R. H. Böcking tomb, sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
stele with relief and acroteriaAcroterionAn acroterion or acroterium is an architectural ornament placed on a flat base called the acroter or plinth, and mounted at the apex of the pediment of a building in the Classical style. It may also be placed at the outer angles of the pediment; such acroteria are referred to as acroteria angularia...
, 1871 by E. Renard, CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the... - At Hauptstraße 12 – portal, marked 1878
- Hauptstraße 14 – stately house, partly timber-frameTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
, partly slated, mansard roofMansard roofA mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
, late 18th century; commercial building - Hauptstraße 21 – belltower; timber-frame building, 1867; inside gristmill, seed cleaning machine, fruit press
- In der Treib 1 – stately house, 1848
- In der Treib 10 – estate complex along the street, after 1873
- Asbacherhütte, south of the village (monumental zone) – from the former ironworks where ore was smelted and further worked (1721 to 1872), two dwelling and administration buildings joined in a row, 18th century; deaconry institute that grew out of this: Haus „Eben Ezer“ (main house in the row with hipped mansard roof 1755, hinder part from the 18th century, further floor added in the 19th century), Haus „Grüne Aue“ (villalike, asymmetrical building, partly plastered or slated, towards 1907), landscaped garden with fencing and course of the Asbach, 19th century
Economy and infrastructure
Until the 1970s, the village was wholly characterized by agriculture. But for an agateAgate
Agate is a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks.-Etymology...
-grinding shop and an agricultural machinist’s operation, all households were more or less active in agriculture, although many only did so on the side. After a complete overhaul in the village’s structure, which also manifested itself in the late 1990s in the form of a thorough Flurbereinigung
Flurbereinigung
Flurbereinigung is the German word used to describe land reforms in various countries, especially Germany and Austria. The term can best be translated as land consolidation. Another European country where those land reforms have been carried out is France...
, there is now only one fulltime agricultural operation. For more than 25 years now there has been an agricultural processing plant, working under strict ecological rules, turning out high-quality products from its own farm. These are sold at markets in the surrounding area and also at the farm itself.
In the early 1990s, a village renewal scheme was carefully undertaken to improve infrastructure. These measures, funded through cost-sharing, were at first opposed by many villagers owing to the great financial burden. It soon became clear, however, that there was no alternative. The village renewal was finished with the building of a village community centre.
A few newer houses have also sprung up in the lower village as a result of a small building development zone that was opened up.
In Asbacherhütte is found a clinical-paedagogical institute run by the deaconry of Bad Kreuznach as a home for handicapped people who need minimal assistance.
Transport
To the south runs BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
422. The nearest railway station is at Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...
. On weekdays, Omnibus-Verkehr Rhein Nahe bus route 345 runs through Asbach, as well as several journeys of route 351. Asbach belongs to the Rhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund (“Rhine-Nahe Local Transport Network”)
Sons and daughters of the town
- Eduard MayerEduard MayerEduard Mayer was a German sculptor....
, (b. 17 August 1812 in Asbacherhütte; d. 1881 in Bad AiblingBad AiblingBad Aibling is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some 35 miles southeast of Munich. It is a health resort .-History:...
), sculptor
External links
- Asbach in the collective municipality’s webpages
- http://www.swr.de/landesschau-rp/hierzuland/-/id=100766/nid=100766/did=6534136/1cztq1j/Brief portrait of Asbach with film at SWR FernsehenSWR FernsehenSWR Fernsehen is a German regional television channel targeting the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is produced by Südwestrundfunk and is one of eight regional "third channels" broadcast by the ARD members....
(broadcast from 28 July 2010)]