Dackenheim
Encyclopedia
Dackenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Freinsheim
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
in Dackenheim amounts to 534 mm, which is very low, falling into the lowest tenth of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 8% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations are even lower figures recorded. The driest month is January. The most rainfall comes in May. In that month, precipitation is 1.9 times what it is in January. Precipitation otherwise hardly varies over the year. At 32% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.
(4700-4500 BC), leading to the inference that Dackenheim, like the neighbouring town of Freinsheim
, might have been settled as early as the New Stone Age. Another find in 1952, with a sandstone
human head, might be from the Bronze Age
. It can now be found in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz (“Historical Museum of the Palatinate”).
has not been forthcoming. The placename ending —heim (cognate with English
home) suggests that Dackenheim might have been founded about 600, at the time when the Franks
were taking the land. Clear clues as to settlement in Merovingian
times come from grave goods
unearthed in 1910 in the rural cadastral area “In den 24 Morgen”, and others brought to light in 1976 in the field “Am Liebesbrunnen”. The village had its first documentary mention on 22 November 766 in the acts of Lorsch Abbey
(document 1143) as Donatio Nantheri in Dagastisheim (Nanther’s donation in Dackenheim).
In the wake of the Mainz Monasterial Feud – also known as the Baden-Palatinate War – (1461–1462) and after Margarethe von Leiningen-Westerburg’s death, Dackenheim passed in 1471 to Electoral Palatinate. The main source for the time that followed is the Dackenheimer Weistum of 1485, 1496 and 1579 (a Weistum – cognate with English
wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages
and early modern times). Until the late 18th century, Dackenheim remained in Electoral Palatinate’s ownership.
In this time, work on the new Lutheran
church was begun in 1716; it was converted in 1857.
for a number of years towards the end of the 18th century, the Palatine lands on the Rhine’s left bank were incorporated de jure into the French Republic
under the Treaty of Campo Formio
(Mairie de Dackenheim, Canton de Durkheim, Arrondissement de Speier, Département de Mont Tonnere
).
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Dackenheim’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Gules on a mount vert, both vested, crined and crowned Or and nimbed argent, dexter Mary Mother of God holding the Christ Child on her dexter arm and sinister Saint Catherine, in her dexter hand a sword proper palewise, point on the mount, her sinister arm embowed, at their feet on the mount, surmounting the sword, a broken half wheel spoked of four of the field, in chief between the two crowns and nimbi a mullet of the third.
The two figures represent patron saints, Mary
and Catherine
, the latter with her attributes, the sword and the wheel, and the former with the baby Jesus
. The mullet (star) likely stands for the local court. Although the arms were already in use by the early 20th century, they were not officially conferred until 13 April 1973. The design comes from the village’s oldest known seal, from 1513.
tower with its round-arch frieze on the ground floor and double arcades on the upper floor, and the apse whose back wall forms three sides of an octagon. The nave was renovated in the 18th and 19th centuries, at which time a relief of the Fall of Man from an earlier church building – possibly from the Tympanon Portal – was integrated into the gable.
In the single-nave interior, the chancel columns with their richly decorated capitals (palmettes, heads, seated figures) are likewise still Romanesque.
Beside the church is a small winemaker’s fountain with a Bacchus
figure.
Building work on the Protestant
church began in 1716, after Electoral Palatinate once again had a Catholic Elector in Johann Wilhelm
beginning in 1698 and the village’s two denominations had to share the only church building. Finished in 1717, the Protestant church was converted into a gallery church, taking on its current form, a hall church with a gallery and a ridge turret with an eight-sided belfry and an onion-shaped cupola. On the south wall are found the altar table and the pulpit, which is reached by a stairway from the trellised minister’s chair. The organ
was built in 1875 by E.F.Walcker & Cie.
.
, built in 1995 on Dackenheim’s eastern outskirts and expanded to 27 holes in 2005, the municipality has a further leisure incentive beyond its traditional perception as a winegrowing centre.
The complex is in a league with seven others in Frankfurt Rhine Main Region, the Palatinate and the Saarland
as part of the so-called 'Rotationsgolf concept of the Mannheim golf course designer and investor Dr. Hermann Weiland.
In collaboration with the Mainz State Institute for Plantraising and Plant Protection (Mainzer Landesanstalt für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenschutz), more than 2,000 grapevines and fruit trees have been planted on the golf course lands. This educational path – it is called the Golfgarten – is laid out in such a way that the first 18 holes are named after the grape varieties that surround them, and the 19th to 27th holes are likewise named after the fruits found near them. According to the course’s own advertising material, both players and hikers outside the playing area may try the fruits free.
, Gewürztraminer
, Silvaner
and Pinot noir
that are grown, but there are also Scheurebe
, Kerner
, Pinot blanc
and Pinot gris
, along with rarer varieties such as Blaufränkisch
or St. Laurent
. There are also small testing grounds for new varieties. Grapes grown here are to a great extent dry-wine varieties, although there are also demi-sec and sweeter varieties. They ripen partly traditionally in barriques and other oaken casks. Several family-owned wineries and winemakers’ coöperatives openly sell their wares in the municipality at wine tastings. Individual wines are given awards in different years.
Mandelröth, whose mainstay is Chardonnay
and Kapellengarten are two smaller appellations in Dackenheim.
271 (the German Wine Route “proper”) through the middle of the village and by the church, and onwards another 3 km to Freinsheim
. Branching off the thoroughfare are little laneways with houses, farms and wineries.
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 in the Palatinate along the northernmost stretch of the German Wine Route. Dackenheim lies in the foothills between the Palatinate Forest and the Upper Rhine PlainUpper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben is a major rift, straddling the border between France and Germany. It forms part of the European Cenozoic Rift System, which extends across central Europe...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Freinsheim
Freinsheim (Verbandsgemeinde)
Freinsheim is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Freinsheim....
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Freinsheim
Freinsheim is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state’s smaller towns...
.
Climate
Yearly precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
in Dackenheim amounts to 534 mm, which is very low, falling into the lowest tenth of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 8% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations are even lower figures recorded. The driest month is January. The most rainfall comes in May. In that month, precipitation is 1.9 times what it is in January. Precipitation otherwise hardly varies over the year. At 32% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.
History
As the Dackenheim golf course was being built in 1998, witnesses to prehistory were unearthed in the shape of potsherds, which were identified as being from the Rössen cultureRössen culture
The Rössen Culture is a Central European culture of the middle Neolithic .It is named after the necropolis of Rössen...
(4700-4500 BC), leading to the inference that Dackenheim, like the neighbouring town of Freinsheim
Freinsheim
Freinsheim is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state’s smaller towns...
, might have been settled as early as the New Stone Age. Another find in 1952, with a sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone 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,...
human head, might be from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. It can now be found in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz (“Historical Museum of the Palatinate”).
Franks and Carolingians
Any evidence of human activity in Roman timesAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
has not been forthcoming. The placename ending —heim (cognate with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
home) suggests that Dackenheim might have been founded about 600, at the time when the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
were taking the land. Clear clues as to settlement in Merovingian
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family...
times come from grave goods
Grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods are a type of votive deposit...
unearthed in 1910 in the rural cadastral area “In den 24 Morgen”, and others brought to light in 1976 in the field “Am Liebesbrunnen”. The village had its first documentary mention on 22 November 766 in the acts of Lorsch Abbey
Lorsch 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...
(document 1143) as Donatio Nantheri in Dagastisheim (Nanther’s donation in Dackenheim).
12th to 18th century
In the 12th century, Dackenheim was within the Leiningen Counts’ sphere of influence. It was in this time that the Catholic church was built (1147).In the wake of the Mainz Monasterial Feud – also known as the Baden-Palatinate War – (1461–1462) and after Margarethe von Leiningen-Westerburg’s death, Dackenheim passed in 1471 to Electoral Palatinate. The main source for the time that followed is the Dackenheimer Weistum of 1485, 1496 and 1579 (a Weistum – cognate with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and early modern times). Until the late 18th century, Dackenheim remained in Electoral Palatinate’s ownership.
In this time, work on the new Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
church was begun in 1716; it was converted in 1857.
French Republic
After having been occupied by the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for a number of years towards the end of the 18th century, the Palatine lands on the Rhine’s left bank were incorporated de jure into the French Republic
French First Republic
The French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I...
under the Treaty of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
(Mairie de Dackenheim, Canton de Durkheim, Arrondissement de Speier, Département de Mont Tonnere
Mont-Tonnerre
Mont-Tonnerre is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Germany. It is named after the highest point in the Rhenish Palatinate, the Donnersberg. It was the southernmost of four départements formed in 1798, when the west bank of the Rhine was annexed by France...
).
Municipal council
The council is made up of 8 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 German blazon reads: In Rot auf grünem Grund nebeneinander, je in goldener Kleidung mit goldener Krone und silberner Gloriole, rechts die Gottesmutter mit dem Kind auf dem rechten Arm, links die heilige Katharina, in der Rechten ein gesenktes silbernes Schwert mit goldenem Knauf und einem zerbrochenen roten Rad zu ihren Füßen, oben zwischen den Kronen und Gloriolen ein sechsstrahliger goldener Stern.Dackenheim’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 on a mount vert, both vested, crined and crowned Or and nimbed argent, dexter Mary Mother of God holding the Christ Child on her dexter arm and sinister Saint Catherine, in her dexter hand a sword proper palewise, point on the mount, her sinister arm embowed, at their feet on the mount, surmounting the sword, a broken half wheel spoked of four of the field, in chief between the two crowns and nimbi a mullet of the third.
The two figures represent patron saints, Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
and Catherine
Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
, the latter with her attributes, the sword and the wheel, and the former with the baby Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. The mullet (star) likely stands for the local court. Although the arms were already in use by the early 20th century, they were not officially conferred until 13 April 1973. The design comes from the village’s oldest known seal, from 1513.
Buildings
The centre of this village that grew together from five monastic estates in the 12th century is its Catholic parish church St. Maria (“Saint Mary’s”). Beginning in 1147 it belonged to Höningen Abbey. Still bearing witness to this time are 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,...
tower with its round-arch frieze on the ground floor and double arcades on the upper floor, and the apse whose back wall forms three sides of an octagon. The nave was renovated in the 18th and 19th centuries, at which time a relief of the Fall of Man from an earlier church building – possibly from the Tympanon Portal – was integrated into the gable.
In the single-nave interior, the chancel columns with their richly decorated capitals (palmettes, heads, seated figures) are likewise still Romanesque.
Beside the church is a small winemaker’s fountain with a Bacchus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
figure.
Building work on the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
church began in 1716, after Electoral Palatinate once again had a Catholic Elector in Johann Wilhelm
Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
Johann Wilhelm II, Elector Palatine was Elector Palatine , Duke Palatine of Neuburg/Danube , Duke of Jülich and Berg , and Duke of Upper Palatinate and Cham...
beginning in 1698 and the village’s two denominations had to share the only church building. Finished in 1717, the Protestant church was converted into a gallery church, taking on its current form, a hall church with a gallery and a ridge turret with an eight-sided belfry and an onion-shaped cupola. On the south wall are found the altar table and the pulpit, which is reached by a stairway from the trellised minister’s chair. The organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
was built in 1875 by E.F.Walcker & Cie.
Walcker Orgelbau
Walcker Orgelbau of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is a builder of pipe organs. It was founded in Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart in 1780 by Johann Eberhard Walcker...
.
Golf
With its golf courseGolf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
, built in 1995 on Dackenheim’s eastern outskirts and expanded to 27 holes in 2005, the municipality has a further leisure incentive beyond its traditional perception as a winegrowing centre.
The complex is in a league with seven others in Frankfurt Rhine Main Region, the Palatinate and 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...
as part of the so-called 'Rotationsgolf concept of the Mannheim golf course designer and investor Dr. Hermann Weiland.
In collaboration with the Mainz State Institute for Plantraising and Plant Protection (Mainzer Landesanstalt für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenschutz), more than 2,000 grapevines and fruit trees have been planted on the golf course lands. This educational path – it is called the Golfgarten – is laid out in such a way that the first 18 holes are named after the grape varieties that surround them, and the 19th to 27th holes are likewise named after the fruits found near them. According to the course’s own advertising material, both players and hikers outside the playing area may try the fruits free.
Winegrowing
In the vineyards of the Dackesheimer Liebesbrunnen appellation, it is mainly RieslingRiesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
, Gewürztraminer
Gewürztraminer
Gewürztraminer is an aromatic wine grape variety that performs best in cooler climates. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz, and in French it is written '...
, Silvaner
Silvaner
Sylvaner or Silvaner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace and Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. In Germany it is best known as a component of Liebfraumilch and production boomed in the 1970s to the detriment of quality, but it has long enjoyed a better...
and Pinot noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
that are grown, but there are also Scheurebe
Scheurebe
Scheurebe or Sämling 88 is a white wine grape variety. It is primarily grown in Germany and Austria, where it often is called Sämling 88 , and some parts of the New World...
, Kerner
Kerner (grape)
The Kerner grape is an aromatic white grape variety. It was bred in 1929 by August Herold by crossing Trollinger and Riesling. Herold was working at a plant breeding station in Lauffen in the Württemberg region of Germany. This station belonged to a state breeding institute headquartered in...
, Pinot blanc
Pinot Blanc
Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produced white fruit....
and Pinot gris
Pinot gris
Pinot gris is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot noir grape, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name but the grape can have a brownish pink to black and even white appearance...
, along with rarer varieties such as Blaufränkisch
Blaufränkisch
Blaufränkisch is a dark-skinned variety of grape used for red wine. Blaufränkisch, which is a late-ripening variety gives red wines which are typically rich in tannin and may exhibit a pronounced spicy character...
or St. Laurent
St. Laurent (grape)
St. Laurent is a highly aromatic dark-skinned wine grape variety of the same family as Pinot Noir, originating in France....
. There are also small testing grounds for new varieties. Grapes grown here are to a great extent dry-wine varieties, although there are also demi-sec and sweeter varieties. They ripen partly traditionally in barriques and other oaken casks. Several family-owned wineries and winemakers’ coöperatives openly sell their wares in the municipality at wine tastings. Individual wines are given awards in different years.
Mandelröth, whose mainstay is Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
and Kapellengarten are two smaller appellations in Dackenheim.
Transport
One main street leads from BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
271 (the German Wine Route “proper”) through the middle of the village and by the church, and onwards another 3 km to Freinsheim
Freinsheim
Freinsheim is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state’s smaller towns...
. Branching off the thoroughfare are little laneways with houses, farms and wineries.