Dockweiler
Encyclopedia
Dockweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
and the Moselle in the heart of the Vulkaneifel
, a part of the Eifel
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth. Dockweiler lies in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate at an elevation of roughly 500 to 560 m above sea level
between Daun
and Gerolstein
.
, forms the bedrock
under Dockweiler.
burial mounds and settlement centres near Dockweiler as well as the proximity to the former Meuse
-Rhine and Meuse-Moselle Roman roads are taken as evidence of Dockweiler’s founding going as far back as Roman times, although this cannot be confirmed.
Quite early on, the village belonged to the County of Kerpen, which later passed to the County of the Lords of Manderscheid-Schleiden.
In the 19th century, Dockweiler became a postal coach station, until 1895, when postal coaches were replaced by the railway; at this time, the Dockweiler/Dreis railway station also came into being.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Per bend sinister argent a gridiron bendwise sinister sable and gules a rose with petals doubled Or seeded of the field, in a chief of the third a bar dancetty of three of the fourth.
The narrow zigzag stripe (“bar dancetty”) stands for the centuries through which the Counts of Manderscheid held sway in Dockweiler. The gridiron is Saint Lawrence
’s attribute, and as such symbolizes the church’s and the municipality’s patron saint. Dockweiler passed as the result of a noble bequest to the Duchy of Arenberg. The Dukes bore a charge
of three roses in their arms, and the rose in Dockweiler’s arms recalls this time.
church, which was built about 1200, are found limetrees
and chestnut
trees some 200 years old, which are held to be natural monuments. In the Dockweiler Wald (forest) is an acidic mineral
spring
. South of the village lies a block lava field, another natural monument.
Hikers can explore the woodlands in the Dockweiler-Daun
-Kelberg
triangle.
n 421 and 410. The municipality is served by two regional bus routes, 500 / 9311 serving the route Gerolstein-Daun-Cochem, and, intermittently, 511 / 9367 running the Jünkerath-Hillesheim-Daun route.
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 Vulkaneifel 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 Daun
Daun (Verbandsgemeinde)
Daun is a collective municipality in the Vulkaneifel district of Rhineland-Palatinate. The seat of the Daun Verbandsgemeinde is in the municipality of Daun.- Constituent municipalities:# Betteldorf# Bleckhausen# Brockscheid...
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...
.
Location
The municipality lies on the watershed between the AhrAhr
Ahr is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately 470 metres above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim...
and the Moselle in the heart of the Vulkaneifel
Vulkan Eifel
The Vulkan Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of the Vulkan Eifel are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava...
, a part of the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth. Dockweiler lies in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate at an elevation of roughly 500 to 560 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...
between Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...
and Gerolstein
Gerolstein
Gerolstein is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde. Gerolstein is headquarters to a large mineral water firm, Gerolsteiner Brunnen...
.
Geology
A lava flow stretching from the Ernstberg (700 m) and across the Eselsberg (637 m), ending just before the neighbouring village of DreisDreis
Dreis is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, forms the bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
under Dockweiler.
History
In 1136, Dockweiler had its first documentary mention in the Springiersbach Monastery’s directory of holdings. Finds of coins, RomanAncient 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....
burial mounds and settlement centres near Dockweiler as well as the proximity to the former Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
-Rhine and Meuse-Moselle Roman roads are taken as evidence of Dockweiler’s founding going as far back as Roman times, although this cannot be confirmed.
Quite early on, the village belonged to the County of Kerpen, which later passed to the County of the Lords of Manderscheid-Schleiden.
In the 19th century, Dockweiler became a postal coach station, until 1895, when postal coaches were replaced by the railway; at this time, the Dockweiler/Dreis railway station also came into being.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 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: Unter rotem Schildhaupt, darin ein goldener Zickzackbalken, schräg links von Silber und Rot geteilt; vorn ein schwarzes Rost, hinten eine doppelblättrige, goldene Rose mit rotem Butzen.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: Per bend sinister argent a gridiron bendwise sinister sable and gules a rose with petals doubled Or seeded of the field, in a chief of the third a bar dancetty of three of the fourth.
The narrow zigzag stripe (“bar dancetty”) stands for the centuries through which the Counts of Manderscheid held sway in Dockweiler. The gridiron is Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence
Lawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.- Holy Chalice :...
’s attribute, and as such symbolizes the church’s and the municipality’s patron saint. Dockweiler passed as the result of a noble bequest to the Duchy of Arenberg. The Dukes bore a charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
of three roses in their arms, and the rose in Dockweiler’s arms recalls this time.
Culture and sightseeing
Near 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,...
church, which was built about 1200, are found limetrees
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
and chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
trees some 200 years old, which are held to be natural monuments. In the Dockweiler Wald (forest) is an acidic mineral
Mineral water
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...
spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
. South of the village lies a block lava field, another natural monument.
Hikers can explore the woodlands in the Dockweiler-Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...
-Kelberg
Kelberg
Kelberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, and is home to its seat...
triangle.
Buildings
- Saint LawrenceSaint LawrenceLawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.- Holy Chalice :...
’s Catholic Parish Church, Pfarrer-Hubert-Schmitz-Straße 5, may originally have been an aisleless churchAisleless churchAn Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...
in the 11th century, expanded into a basilica towards the end of the 12th century, Romanesque RevivalRomanesque Revival architectureRomanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
tower and nave expansion in 1903 and 1904, architect L. von Fisenne, GelsenkirchenGelsenkirchenGelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
. - Dauner Straße 21 – former railway station, built to standard plans, early 20th century.
- Gerolsteiner Straße 4 – 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...
house, partly solid. - Gerolsteiner Straße 5 – Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), ClassicistClassicismClassicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
motifs, from 1856. - Hauptstraße 24 – plaster structure (former rectory?), perhaps from mid 19th century.
Road
Dockweiler is linked to the road network by BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 421 and 410. The municipality is served by two regional bus routes, 500 / 9311 serving the route Gerolstein-Daun-Cochem, and, intermittently, 511 / 9367 running the Jünkerath-Hillesheim-Daun route.