Gau-Weinheim
Encyclopedia
Gau-Weinheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
might be described thus: Argent a Communion jug azure, handle to sinister and spout to dexter, between two vineyard ladders gules, the dexter bendwise and the sinister bendwise sinister. The German blazon reads: In Silber eine gehenkelte blaue Weinkanne zwischen zwei roten Weinleitern, making no mention of the ladders’ attitude.
The coat of arms was bestowed upon Gau-Weinheim in 1982 by the municipality’s own council. It goes back to court seals from 1536 and 1596 that are still known today. Even then, the Communion jug was depicted as now, but was otherwise a seldom seen heraldic
charge
, while two grapevines took the vineyard ladders’ place. Both charges refer to the municipality’s main line of business, which is winegrowing, and are canting
, since the German
words for both contain the syllable Wein (Weinkanne, Weinleitern), as does the name Gau-Weinheim. It, of course, means “wine”.
ian remains from some ten million years ago have been found, in the prehistoric Rhine’s Deinotherium
Sands, whose name comes from this extinct proboscid’s
teeth and bone remnants, which are often yielded up by these deposits.
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 winegrowing centre lies in Rhenish Hesse in the Rheinhessisches Hügelland (Rhenish-Hessian Uplands) in the Wißberg’s foothills. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of WörrstadtWörrstadt (Verbandsgemeinde)
Wörrstadt is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Wörrstadt....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Wörrstadt
Wörrstadt is a town in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :The town lies in Rhenish Hesse on the northwest edge of the Upper Rhine Plain...
.
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 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 Communion jug azure, handle to sinister and spout to dexter, between two vineyard ladders gules, the dexter bendwise and the sinister bendwise sinister. The German blazon reads: In Silber eine gehenkelte blaue Weinkanne zwischen zwei roten Weinleitern, making no mention of the ladders’ attitude.
The coat of arms was bestowed upon Gau-Weinheim in 1982 by the municipality’s own council. It goes back to court seals from 1536 and 1596 that are still known today. Even then, the Communion jug was depicted as now, but was otherwise a seldom seen 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"...
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...
, while two grapevines took the vineyard ladders’ place. Both charges refer to the municipality’s main line of business, which is winegrowing, and are 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 –...
, since the 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....
words for both contain the syllable Wein (Weinkanne, Weinleitern), as does the name Gau-Weinheim. It, of course, means “wine”.
Buildings
- In the so-called Gemeindeturm (“Municipal Tower”), a defensive tower built in the Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe 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...
, the municipality still has an old corner tower from the fortress-graveyard (Wehrfriedhof – a fortified graveyard to which villagers could flee in times of war for shelter) that once surrounded the church. In 1749, it was converted into a belltower. It formerly served both denominations (EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe 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 Catholic) as such, whereas nowadays it houses only the municipal bell. It is noteworthy if for nothing else for its slight lean, and alluding to another, far better known leaning belltowerLeaning Tower of PisaThe Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa...
in PisaPisaPisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, it is called the schiefer Turm – the leaning tower. In 1991, the Gemeindeturm was restored. The bricklaying, concrete and reinforcement cost 96,278 DM. The Bürgerliche Läuten (“Civic Toll”) was reintroduced. Since 1 August 1991, a peal of bells can be heard from the Gemeindeturm every day but Sundays and holidays at 11:00, 13:00 and 18:00.
Natural monuments
Gau-Weinheim and the Wißberg are among the places in Rhenish Hesse where mammalMammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
ian remains from some ten million years ago have been found, in the prehistoric Rhine’s Deinotherium
Deinotherium
Deinotherium , also called the Hoe tusker, was a large prehistoric relative of modern-day elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene and continued until the Early Pleistocene. During that time it changed very little...
Sands, whose name comes from this extinct proboscid’s
Proboscidea
Proboscidea is a taxonomic order containing one living family, Elephantidae, and several extinct families. This order was first described by J. Illiger in 1881 and encompasses the trunked mammals...
teeth and bone remnants, which are often yielded up by these deposits.