Großkarlbach
Encyclopedia
Großkarlbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
and flowing through it is the river Eckbach. It is in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. In the municipality’s west rise the hills of what was once called the Unterhaardt, which since the 1970s has been considered part of the new Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße winegrowing region. Großkarlbach belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land
, whose seat is in Grünstadt
, although that town is itself not in the Verbandsgemeinde.
, Gerolsheim
, Weisenheim am Sand
, Freinsheim
and Bissersheim
.
as Carlobach. Its name is described from its description as Dorf der Freien Karle (roughly “Village of free men”) and its location on the Eckbach. Since the municipality lay in the border area between Electoral Palatinate and territory held by the Counts of Leiningen, it was these two lordly houses that characterized Großkarlbach’s history.
Until 1969, the municipality belonged to the district of Frankenthal, which was abolished that year, and Großkarlbach was then assigned to the newly created district of Bad Dürkheim
. Three years later came the assignment to the likewise newly created Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land
.
and 20.6% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Vert a pale wavy argent.
The arms were approved by the now abolished Regierungsbezirk
Rheinhessen-Pfalz in Neustadt
in 1984, and they go back to a court seal from 1501. The “pale wavy” (wavy vertical stripe) is a canting
charge
for the placename’s ending, —bach, which means “brook”.
Great wineries with their timber-frame
houses characterize the municipality. Other points of interest are the 48 m-tall tower at the Evangelical
church in the village centre and the pottery factory, where such things as flowerpots are made.
In the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village should become lovelier”), Großkarlbach won a bronze plaque in 1987.
’s Deutschland – Land der Ideen (“Germany – Land of Ideas”) campaign. Furthermore, there are many smaller events staged by local clubs.
is winegrowing.
(Saarbrücken
–Mannheim
) through the Grünstadt
interchange
5 km away.
Until 1939, Großkarlbach was the terminus of a narrow-gauge railway known locally as the Lokalbahn or Bembel. It ran by way of Dirmstein
and Heßheim
to Frankenthal
and also had access to Ludwigshafen over tram
tracks.
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
Großkarlbach lies near the western edge of 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...
and flowing through it is the river Eckbach. It is in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. In the municipality’s west rise the hills of what was once called the Unterhaardt, which since the 1970s has been considered part of the new Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße winegrowing region. Großkarlbach belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land
Grünstadt-Land
Grünstadt-Land is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the north-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest...
, whose seat is in Grünstadt
Grünstadt
Grünstadt is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land.- Location :The...
, although that town is itself not in the Verbandsgemeinde.
Neighbouring municipalities
Clockwise from the north, these are LaumersheimLaumersheim
Laumersheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Gerolsheim
Gerolsheim
Gerolsheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, Weisenheim am Sand
Weisenheim am Sand
Weisenheim am Sand is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, 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...
and Bissersheim
Bissersheim
Bissersheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
.
History
Großkarlbach had a documentary mention as early as 768 in the Lorsch codexLorsch codex
The Lorsch Codex is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. It consists of 460 pages in large format containing more than 3800 entries...
as Carlobach. Its name is described from its description as Dorf der Freien Karle (roughly “Village of free men”) and its location on the Eckbach. Since the municipality lay in the border area between Electoral Palatinate and territory held by the Counts of Leiningen, it was these two lordly houses that characterized Großkarlbach’s history.
Until 1969, the municipality belonged to the district of Frankenthal, which was abolished that year, and Großkarlbach was then assigned to the newly created district of 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...
. Three years later came the assignment to the likewise newly created Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land
Grünstadt-Land
Grünstadt-Land is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the north-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest...
.
Religion
In 2007, 50.8% of the inhabitants were 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...
and 20.6% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 16 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:
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
CDU | GRÜNE Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
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... |
Total | |
| 2009 | 7 | 3 | - | 6 | 16 seats |
| 2004 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 16 seats |
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In Grün ein silberner Wellenpfahl.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: Vert a pale wavy argent.
The arms were approved by the now abolished Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
Rheinhessen-Pfalz in Neustadt
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
in 1984, and they go back to a court seal from 1501. The “pale wavy” (wavy vertical stripe) 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...
for the placename’s ending, —bach, which means “brook”.
Monumental buildings
In Großkarlbach, five of the formerly seven mills are still standing. The Dorfmühle (“Village mill”) has housed since restoration work was finished in 2007 the Mühlenmuseum Leiningerland (“Leiningerland Mill Museum”), the mayor’s office and the municipal archive as well as meeting rooms for youth, seniors and conferences.Great wineries with their timber-frame
Timber framing
Timber 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...
houses characterize the municipality. Other points of interest are the 48 m-tall tower at the Evangelical
Evangelical 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 in the village centre and the pottery factory, where such things as flowerpots are made.
In the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village should become lovelier”), Großkarlbach won a bronze plaque in 1987.
Festivals
In Großkarlbach, a few traditional festivals are held. Among them are the Kändelgassenfest (a wine festival) on the last weekend in July, the Kerwerummel in September (church consecration festival, or kermis) and a small Christmas market. Also worth mentioning is the Lange Nacht des Jazz (“Long Night of Jazz”), which first took place in 2002 and in 2006 was part of Federal President Horst KöhlerHorst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
’s Deutschland – Land der Ideen (“Germany – Land of Ideas”) campaign. Furthermore, there are many smaller events staged by local clubs.
Tourism and winegrowing
The municipality lies near the German Wine Route in the holiday region of Leiningerland (the lands once held by the Counts of Leiningen). There are holiday homes and two hotels. The most important branch of 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...
is winegrowing.
Transport
Großkarlbach is linked to the Autobahn A 6Bundesautobahn 6
, also known as Via Carolina is a 477 km long German autobahn. It starts at the French border near Saarbrücken in the west and end at the Czech border near Waidhaus in the east....
(Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
–Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
) through the Grünstadt
Grünstadt
Grünstadt is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land.- Location :The...
interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
5 km away.
Until 1939, Großkarlbach was the terminus of a narrow-gauge railway known locally as the Lokalbahn or Bembel. It ran by way of Dirmstein
Dirmstein
Dirmstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Heßheim
Heßheim
Heßheim is a municipality in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.It is situated approx. 4 km west of Frankenthal.Heßheim is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Heßheim....
to Frankenthal
Frankenthal
Frankenthal is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.- History :Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, after the founder, as the Erkenbertruine — still stand today in the town...
and also had access to Ludwigshafen over tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
tracks.
Famous people
- Anton Spiehler (1795–1867) was a bishop’s secretary, spiritual adviser and cathedral capitulary of the Bishopric of Speyer, assistant head seminarian and Summus Custos (LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for Highest Keeper) of Speyer CathedralSpeyer CathedralThe Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St...
. He served from 1819 to 1827 as Großkarlbach’s Catholic parish priest.
- August Brehm (1854–1931) was cathedral capitulary, cathedral deacon and cathedral provost of the Bishopric of Speyer, as well as Honorary Papal Prelate, Monsignore and Privy Councillor of the Free State of Bavaria. He served from 1883 to 1889 as Großkarlbach’s parish priest.