Eich, Rhineland-Palatinate
Encyclopedia
Eich is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
. It lies roughly 15 km north of Worms
, and 25 km southwest of Darmstadt
.
that also serves as a residential community for workers in nearby cities and towns.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
Klaus Willius was reëlected on 7 June 2009 with 75.05% of the valid votes, beating the CDU candidate Christine Müller.
might be described thus: Argent a bend azure surmounted by a fish of the field, in a chief gules an acorn palewise and two oakleaves, one bendwise, the other bendwise sinister, conjoined on one stem Or.
The fish refers to the village’s history as a fishing settlement. The blue bend (diagonal stripe) stands for the Rhine. The acorn is a canting
charge
, referring to the municipality’s name (“acorn” is Eichel, and “oak” is Eiche in German
).
parish church came into being in 1839 under Grand-Ducal Hessian
provincial master builder from Mainz
Ignaz Opfermann’s (1799–1866) building plans.
church choir, there are also the men’s singing club, Sängerbund, and Saint Michael’s Choir (St. Michaelischor). Furthermore, there is the Goldklang mandolin club.
courts. On the Altrheinsee (another lake), a bathing beach has been set up. Furthermore, there are also the Turnverein von 1888 Eich (gymnastic club), FC Germania 07 Eich, the Tennisclub Blau-Weiß and two angling
clubs, AC Rheinlust 1954 Eich and ASV Eich.
Also, the three-day Altrheinfest (“Old Rhine Festival”) is staged each year by the volunteer fire brigade on the last weekend in June.
ing and petroleum
recovery have grown into important branches of industry.
and Realschule
concepts, but not the Gymnasium
concept).
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 Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the district Groß-Gerau , the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen.- History :...
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 Rhenish Hesse, and is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of EichEich (Verbandsgemeinde)
Eich is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Eich....
. It lies roughly 15 km north of Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
, and 25 km southwest of Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
.
History
In 782, Eich had its first documentary mention. It has developed itself from a fishing village to a municipality based on agricultureAgriculture
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...
that also serves as a residential community for workers in nearby cities and towns.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 20 council members who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
| CDU | SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
FWG Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
GLA Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
Total | |
| 1999 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20 seats |
| 2009 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 20 seats |
Mayors
- 1946-1966 Rudolf Becker (SPD)
- 1966-1979 Hans Ludwig Menger (FWG), Bearer of the Ring of Honour of the Municipality of Eich
- 1979-1994 Günter Reich (SPD)
- 1994–present Klaus Willius (SPD)
Klaus Willius was reëlected on 7 June 2009 with 75.05% of the valid votes, beating the CDU candidate Christine Müller.
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: Argent a bend azure surmounted by a fish of the field, in a chief gules an acorn palewise and two oakleaves, one bendwise, the other bendwise sinister, conjoined on one stem Or.
The fish refers to the village’s history as a fishing settlement. The blue bend (diagonal stripe) stands for the Rhine. The acorn is a canting
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
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...
, referring to the municipality’s name (“acorn” is Eichel, and “oak” is Eiche in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
).
Church
The 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...
parish church came into being in 1839 under Grand-Ducal Hessian
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
provincial master builder from Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
Ignaz Opfermann’s (1799–1866) building plans.
Music
Eichers are always glad to sing: Besides the 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...
church choir, there are also the men’s singing club, Sängerbund, and Saint Michael’s Choir (St. Michaelischor). Furthermore, there is the Goldklang mandolin club.
Buildings
In the village heart is found a stone, vaulted cowshed. However, nowadays this historic groin-vaulted space is used as a winery’s wine-tasting parlour.Sport
With the Altrheinhalle (“Old Rhine Hall”), Eich has had at hand since 1974 a sport facility with 6,000 seats that is also used for concerts and television programmes. In the field around the hall are competition sites for track and field athletics and a tennis court (since 1977). On the Eicher See (lake) are a sailing club and two boulesBoules
Boules is a collective name for games played with metal balls.Two of the most played boule games are pétanque and boule lyonnaise. The aim of the game is to get large, heavy balls as close to the 'jack' as you can. It is very popular especially in France, but also Italy, where it may often be seen...
courts. On the Altrheinsee (another lake), a bathing beach has been set up. Furthermore, there are also the Turnverein von 1888 Eich (gymnastic club), FC Germania 07 Eich, the Tennisclub Blau-Weiß and two angling
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
clubs, AC Rheinlust 1954 Eich and ASV Eich.
Regular events
Each year on the second Saturday after Easter, the so-called Motorradsegnung (“Motorcycle Blessing”) is held in Eich. This is attended by more than 15,000 motorcyclists from all over Germany who have themselves and their motorcycles blessed to take part in an excursion through the whole region. In 2006, the blessing was done by none other than His Eminence Karl Cardinal Lehmann, the Catholic Bishop of Mainz.Also, the three-day Altrheinfest (“Old Rhine Festival”) is staged each year by the volunteer fire brigade on the last weekend in June.
Economy and infrastructure
The village’s economic mainstay is still farming, but sand quarryQuarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
ing and petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
recovery have grown into important branches of industry.
Education
Since the 1998/1999 schoolyear, Eich has had at its disposal a “regional school” (Regionale Schule, a school type found in some parts of Germany that combines the HauptschuleHauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
and Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
concepts, but not the Gymnasium
Gymnasium (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...
concept).