Gillenbeuren
Encyclopedia
Gillenbeuren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
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 Cochem-Zell
Cochem-Zell
Cochem-Zell is a district in the north-west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Mayen-Koblenz, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bernkastel-Wittlich, and Vulkaneifel.- 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 Ulmen
Ulmen (Verbandsgemeinde)
Ulmen is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Cochem-Zell, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Ulmen....

, whose seat is in the like-named town
Ulmen
Ulmen is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – to which it also belongs.-Constituent communities:...

.

History

In 1220, Gillenbeuren had its first documentary mention. At that time, a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 was built, and the village was called Gildonburun. In the St. Florin Foundation (Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

) provost’s exchange agreement on 17 March 1250 it is mentioned that the Foundation held the tithing rights to Gillenbeuren, until then held by his chapter. The village was also held by the Count of Manderscheid-Blankenheim as a fief. In 1280, Elisabeth von “Wuninberch” (Winneburg) and her son Wirich sold a year’s returns in Gillenbeuren.

Still standing today at the graveyard is an old stone cross, chiselled into which is the name Goelebaevren. In the Taxa generalis subsidorum cleri Trevirensis from about 1330, Gillenbeuren is listed as a parish of the rural chapter of Zell. In 1462, “Johann Herr zu Winnenburg und Beilstein” (“John, Lord at Winnenburg and Beilstein”) pledged the village of Gillenbeuren to Count Wilhelm von Blankenheim.

In 1475, the Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Trier besought the Counts Dietrich and Cuno von Manderscheid-Blankenheim, in connection with their feud with the Lords of Winneburg-Beilstein, not to challenge him: the village was to be held by the Margrave of Baden, who was the Prince-Archbishop-Elector’s brother, the Provost at the St. Florin Foundation in Koblenz and also, at least in the Prince-Archbishop-Elector’s view, the rightful landholder under Electoral-Trier overlordship.

In 1534, Philipp zu Winnenburg und Beilstein’s guardians and the parish priest at that time, Peter Krebs from Gillenbeuren, found themselves at odds. The dispute involved a few feudal estates belonging to the St. Florin Foundation, which also drew tithes from Gillenbeuren and had the right to name parish priests.

Saint Martin’s
Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...

 status as patron saint has been mentioned since 1552.

The name Gillenbeuren appeared in the 1475 visitation protocols of Archdeacon Heinrich von Finstingen from Karden
Treis-Karden
Treis-Karden is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde to which it also belongs...

 as well as in the 1552 register with the canons of the St. Florin Foundation at Koblenz. Furthermore, the name Gillenbeuren can be found in the 1592 visitation under Archbishop of Trier Johann VIII von Schönenberg, and also in the Karden Archdeaconate’s 1656 report.

In 1833, there was a great fire in Gillenbeuren that left great neediness in its wake. A letter beseeching the then Prussian
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 king, Frederick William III
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...

, for help went unanswered.

The village was, until Secularization
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...

, under Electoral-Trier overlordship and passed in 1815 to Prussian administration. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...

 of 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 1985, Gillenbeuren was the district-level winner in the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village should become lovelier”).

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote
Plurality 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: Das Wappen der Ortsgemeinde Gillenbeuren ist ein im Deichselschnittgeteilter Schild. Er beinhaltet oben in Grün drei goldene Ähren, vorne in Rot ein goldener, schrägrechter Stufenbalken, begleitet von oben drei, unten zwei goldenen Kreuzchen, hinten in Gold ein rotes, schräglinkes Schwert.

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 pall, dexter gules semée of crosses a bend dancetty Or, sinister Or a sword bendwise sinister of the first, the pommel to chief, in chief vert three ears of wheat of the second.

The 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...

s in this escutcheon refer to the municipality’s history. As early as 1462, the Winneburg-Beilstein noble family, whose arms were charged with a bend dancetty (zigzag slanted stripe) on a field strewn with crosses, held the village of Gillenbeuren as a fief, and also the high court jurisdiction. The sword is Saint Martin’s attribute, thus representing the church’s patron saint. The three ears of wheat refer to the village’s beginnings as a feudal estate that was bound to hand its produce over to the feudal lords, and also to agriculture
Agriculture
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...

, a pursuit still undertaken in the municipality.

The arms were designed by A. Friderichs of Zell
Zell (Mosel)
Zell is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Zell has roughly 4,300 inhabitants and is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...

, and have been borne since 21 August 1986.

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites 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 ....

’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
  • Saint Martin’s
    Martin of Tours
    Martin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...

     Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Martin), Kirchstraße 11 – quarrystone aisleless church
    Aisleless church
    An 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...

    , Rundbogenstil
    Rundbogenstil
    Rundbogenstil , one of the nineteenth-century historic revival styles of architecture, is a variety of Romanesque revival popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora....

    , 1846/1847; grave crosses, 18th and 19th century
  • Hauptstraße/corner of Lindenstraße – Pietà
    Pietà
    The Pietà is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ...

    , 18th century
  • Kirchstraße 2 – wooden cross, from 1853
  • Kirchstraße 3 – estate complex house; building with half-hipped roof, from 1834
  • Kirchstraße 7 – rectory, 1789/1790; representative building with hipped mansard roof
    Mansard roof
    A 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...

    , bearing yeardate 1829 (conversion)

External links

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