Guckheim
Encyclopedia
Guckheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
– in the Westerwaldkreis
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
, part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains, roughly 330 m above sea level
. The community’s highest point at 657 m above sea level is the Fuchskaute in the northeast Westerwald. Its lowest point at about 150 m above sea level is found in the Gelbachtal Valley between Kirchähr and Dies. The community belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Westerburg
, a kind of collective municipality.
The Elbbach flows right by Guckheim and empties into the river Lahn
near Limburg
times, a great deal of clay
underlies Guckheim, having also been quarried
for decades in the immediate vicinity. After clay quarrying is finished, affected areas are recultivated. The quarrying leaves typical traces on the land, such as loss of surface vegetation, unsightliness, and recultivation perceived as inadequate, which have been publicly controversial for years in Guckheim. In the past, there has also been limited brown coal
mining (first mentioned in documents in 1746, lasted until 1847) and basalt
quarrying (until 1928).
It is believed that the first settlers came sometime between the 4th and 6th centuries AD.
As to the origin of the name Guckheim, there are various theories and clues.
The word "guggjon" from the West Germanic, meaning “watch” or “look at” (the verb "gucken" means “look” in Modern High German
) was used for a place of especial esteem and status.
The name Guckheim could also stem from Carolingian
times (750–900). Old names for Guckheim, such as Cochem, Gocheim and the local dialect
al form still heard today, Guggem, point to this time. Often, placenames refer to the first settler in the place, which in this instance might have brought a coc, coch, goch, guco, gogo into the name. German placenames that end in —heim or —em most often began as single homesteads (Heim is still German for “home” today, and is cognate
with the English
word), whereas places whose names end in —dorf (“village”; the word is cognate with the English “thorpe”) refer to groups of these homesteads.
As excavations for the new Mother of God Chapel (Muttergottes-Kapelle) went forth on the Rothenberg, a layer of earth about 2.5 m thick was dug up. Under the forerunner building’s foundation a layer of clay potsherds about 5 cm thick and about 4 or 5 m² in area was found, which according to investigations came from about AD 1000. It is believed, therefore, that there might have been a place of worship on the Rothenberg around the turn of the second millennium.
There is no agreed spelling for the Rothenberg, a hill in the community. On current maps it is sometimes also called the Roterberg. In the local dialect, it is called the Ruurebersch.
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In written records from the Seligenstatt Monastery
from the years 1213-1215, the placename Wörsdorf crops up twice. The records contain the text fragments ... auch in Wyrßdorff... (auch means “also”) and ... Item Diderich von Wyrßdorff... (a name; the character “ß” is a double S).
Wörsdorf’s first documentary mention from 25 September 1285 indicates that the abbot of the St. Pantaleon Monastery in Cologne
of the Order of Saint Benedict, as the “Conservator of the Teutonic Knights
’ privilege” appointed by the Pope
, “complains about Count Otto of Nassau and his son Heinrich as well as their helper Heinrich of Wörsdorf to pronounce excommunication
against those named after an earlier admonition”.
Further written references to Wörsdorf date from 1315, 1346 and 1525.
The knight Ludwig Scherre from Waldmannshausen endowed an everlasting light in the monastery church at Seligenstatt in 1315 from his estates here, and the Rödels of Reifenberg were feoffed in 1346 by Molsberg with an estate here. Furthermore, there is this:
“...Wirsdorf, where the Lords of Westerburg, those of Ottenstein, Reifenberg, Brambach and Riedesel had estates in 1525.”
In 1299, Guckheim had its first documentary mention.
“14 December 1299
“Elisabeth called von Dorndorf. Widow of the knight Heinrich of Sottenbach, donates all her movable (bona mea mobilia, utensilia affernalia) and immovable property in the villages and rural areas of Stenbach (Steinbach), Dorringdorf (Dorndorf) Hausen, Vridekobin (Frickhofen), Gocheim (Guckheim) and Wermolderode (Willmenrod) at farms, houses, estates, gardens, meadows, grazing lands, forests, fisheries, tax income or other to the abbess and the convent of the nuns in Gnadenthal (in valle gracie) for the healing of her soul, and her parents’, and all her forbears’ before the Schultheißen (roughly, “sheriffs”), Schöffen (local justices) and other villagers and transfers the goods to the convent to its procurator’s hands as property. - Sgg. of the Count Gerhard von Diez, Gottfried called im Hof (in Curia), Friedrich called Stayl and Hiltwin von Elkershausen, knight.
“- Actum et d. 1299 in crastino beate virginis (Lucie). 19 kalendas Januarii”
In the Annals of Nassau (Nassauische Annalen) is found the following record:
“In 1299 Gocheim, the von Piesports had an estate in 1735. Goods came here from Elisabeth von Dorndorf, widow of Sottenbach, in 1299 to the in Gnadenthal Convent, in 1305 to the Ritz von Dehrn family and in 1334 to the von Schönborns. Meadows here have the von Mudersbachs, which by way of the von Brambachs in 1694 came to the von Walderdorfs. The mill was owned by Leiningen-Westerburg in 1511 and still in 1786. A brown coal pit was in operation here in 1746.”
The mill
at Guckheim was first mentioned in a document in 1511. It was still working until 1980.
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As of the 13th century, the community belonged to the County of Diez. From 1490, Guckheim, together with Wörsdorf (Wersdorf), was assigned to the Salzer Zech.
On 27 July 1564, Guckheim, along with the parishes of Salz
, Meudt
, Nentershausen
and Hundsangen
was ceded to the Electorate of Trier in the Treaty of Diez, and thereby also ended up in the Amt of Montabaur
.
The Thirty Years' War
also left its mark on Guckheim. In 1666, the only family names left in Guckheim were Göbel, Fasel and Gleser. In Wörsdorf, the names Kiep, Schumacher, Born, New (Neu), Fritz, Zeis, Göbel and Fasel can be confirmed from that time. Stories handed down by word of mouth tell of inhabitants being torture
d during the war years in the constituent community of Guckheim opposite the village cross.
As of 1748, there was organized schooling
in Guckheim, held at various people’s houses at different times. Once Matthias Fasel, a teacher from Wörsdorf, was appointed, instruction began in 1820 in a schoolroom rented by the community at the so-called Perersch Haus. On the Duchy of Nassau government’s instructions, Matthias Fasel began the Guckheim school chronicle. In 1832 came a community decision to build a school building, which was dedicated on 4 November 1833.
Exact population figures for Guckheim are only available for the time since 1787. Until the late 18th century, there were only data about the number of hearths (households/estates) or families. Trustworthy figures about population development only go back to 1525.
In that year, 7 hearths were counted. For 1562, the County of Diez service register names 7 names (families) for Wörsdorf. A year later there were 8 hearths.
In 1589, 7 Electoral service personnel and one Vogtmann (roughly, “reeve”) were mentioned in a record also including both communities’ inhabitants. Until 1653, the population figure did not rise appreciably, as the Thirty Years' War had its consequences even in Guckheim. Eight families were counted in Wörsdorf, and in Guckheim two. In 1684, 9 hearths were mentioned in Wörsdorf, and in Guckheim 4.
The Second World War likewise left its mark. Even among Guckheimers there were losses. The number of inhabitants in 1939 compared to that in 1950 differs only slightly.
The dialect
spoken in Guckheim belongs to the Moselle Franconian
dialect group. As an everyday speech, it is dying out, and is often no longer mastered by younger people. Moreover, the facts of economic life have changed and thereby brought about a loss of a great deal of the dialect. For instance, the dialectal vocabulary for variations in the weather is much less often heard now that the economy has moved away from activities that depended on the weather, such as, most obviously, farming, as those who customarily used these expressions for their everyday lives are growing fewer.
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The former building on the Chapel
’s current site stood until 1948 on the Rothenberg and faced the same way. The exact time when the old building came into being cannot be confirmed, but it is believed that it was built in two sections. A clue to the building’s origins can be said to be a stone with the yeardate 1771 chiselled into it. This was found while the building was being torn down.
The decision to build a new and bigger chapel was made in 1947. Grounds for a new building were the old chapel’s great repair needs, an endowment of about 6,000 Reichsmark – it had been pledged towards the construction before currency reform – and the hope that on some occasions church services could be held within the community, which did not have its own church. Building began on 27 September 1948, and the cornerstone was laid on 22 May 1949. The topping-out ceremony was held on 26 September 1949. As the architect who designed the chapel, Rudolf Hack from Westerburg
was trusted with the planning work. On 12 November 1950, the Muttergottes-Kapelle received ecclesiastical consecration.
Since the building project had to be financed through the community’s own resources, the needed funds were raised on the one hand by monthly door-to-door collections, in which even neighbouring communities took part, and on the other hand by the community’s donation of a greater sum as well as the lumber. Further funds were raised by producing plays on the Römmel. There, plays were staged between 1948 and 1952 with presenters from the community itself.
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In the late 1950s, the seating room in the Mother of God Chapel was becoming less and less adequate to serve the growing community’s needs. A proposal to hold two services on Sundays and holidays could not be fulfilled owing to a dearth of priests. Given this, plans were made with the architect Hans Busch from Frankfurt am Main, who was well known for his sacral buildings, to enlarge the chapel and add a new belltower.
Hans Busch was trusted with the planning, but only the third proposal won the Bishop’s blessing. On the Church’s recommendation, it was decided to forgo the belltower and the planned youth centre owing to cost.
Building began in the summer of 1961 on the Weltersbitz meadowlands. The cornerstone was laid on 1 October 1961. Until early 1962, the building shell was being put up. The topping-out ceremony was held on 17 May 1962. The consecration was finally done on 16 June 1963, although the first services had already been held the foregoing Christmas.
The St. Johanneskirche (“Saint John’s Church”) is a markedly plain building with a rectangular plan, a shed roof that drops off towards the west and a sacristy in the side building adjoining it to the north. Owing to the roof’s shape, the east-facing altar has the highest headroom. The one-naved church room with gallery is girded with thick walls made out of quarried basalt
, a typical local building material.
The church room is lit through one horizontal and several vertical banks of windows with glass mosaics. The south-facing horizontal bank of windows has mosaics depicting the story of Christ
’s suffering. The belltower was never built.
, halfway between the agglomerations of Frankfurt am Main and Cologne
, Guckheim has at its disposal a good transport infrastructure with the new InterCityExpress
stations in Montabaur
and Limburg an der Lahn
, the A 3 (Cologne
–Frankfurt; interchange
at Diez/Nentershausen) and Bundesstraße
n 8 and 255, all found nearby.
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Guckheim is framed by nearby broadleaf and fir forests in which it is worth going for a walk. Worthy of special mention are the nature trail for forestry and ornithology on the Rothenberg and the nearby ruins of the Weltersburg (castle), built after 1100, both of which can easily be reached on foot from Guckheim. The Elbbach flows right by Guckheim to the Lahn
. With its water power, the mill was powered centuries ago. Some 5 km away is found Schloss Westerburg (residential castle), first mentioned in 1192. Furthermore, lying roughly 10 km away, between Pottum
und Stahlhofen
is the Wiesensee (lake) and its accompanying recreation area. The lake is some 450 m high and has an area of about 80 ha.
About 750 m from Guckheim, an 11-km-long, popular hiking trail leads from the direction of Wallmerod
to the former railway area in Westerburg
. The trail, which is also used by cyclists and skaters, is to be extended in the next few years by 10 to 20 km towards Höhn
/Rennerod
across the railway bridge, a protected monument, in Westerburg.
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
– in the Westerwaldkreis
Westerwaldkreis
The Westerwaldkreis is a district in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
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
Guckheim, mainly a residential community with a well-developed club life, lies in the low mountain range of the WesterwaldWesterwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
, part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains, roughly 330 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...
. The community’s highest point at 657 m above sea level is the Fuchskaute in the northeast Westerwald. Its lowest point at about 150 m above sea level is found in the Gelbachtal Valley between Kirchähr and Dies. The community belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Westerburg
Westerburg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Westerburg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Westerwaldkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Westerburg....
, a kind of collective municipality.
The Elbbach flows right by Guckheim and empties into the river Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
near Limburg
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
Geology
As a legacy of a sea that once covered the area in DevonianDevonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
times, a great deal of clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
underlies Guckheim, having also been quarried
Quarry
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...
for decades in the immediate vicinity. After clay quarrying is finished, affected areas are recultivated. The quarrying leaves typical traces on the land, such as loss of surface vegetation, unsightliness, and recultivation perceived as inadequate, which have been publicly controversial for years in Guckheim. In the past, there has also been limited brown coal
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
mining (first mentioned in documents in 1746, lasted until 1847) and basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
quarrying (until 1928).
Constituent communities
Guckheim’s Ortsteile are Wörsdorf and Guckheim. Both these once autonomous communities have over time have grown together into today’s united community. Nevertheless, in speech, the distinction between the two is still made. Older Guckheimers even still make the distinction between inhabitants who are Guggemer (from the old Guckheim) and those who are Werschdörfer (from the old Wörsdorf). The old placename Wörsdorf hardly ever appears on maps anymore (Google Maps is an exception), and is thereby dying out.Settlement and placenames’ origins
It is believed that the first settlers came sometime between the 4th and 6th centuries AD.
As to the origin of the name Guckheim, there are various theories and clues.
The word "guggjon" from the West Germanic, meaning “watch” or “look at” (the verb "gucken" means “look” in Modern High 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....
) was used for a place of especial esteem and status.
The name Guckheim could also stem from Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
times (750–900). Old names for Guckheim, such as Cochem, Gocheim and the local dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
al form still heard today, Guggem, point to this time. Often, placenames refer to the first settler in the place, which in this instance might have brought a coc, coch, goch, guco, gogo into the name. German placenames that end in —heim or —em most often began as single homesteads (Heim is still German for “home” today, and is cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
with the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
word), whereas places whose names end in —dorf (“village”; the word is cognate with the English “thorpe”) refer to groups of these homesteads.
As excavations for the new Mother of God Chapel (Muttergottes-Kapelle) went forth on the Rothenberg, a layer of earth about 2.5 m thick was dug up. Under the forerunner building’s foundation a layer of clay potsherds about 5 cm thick and about 4 or 5 m² in area was found, which according to investigations came from about AD 1000. It is believed, therefore, that there might have been a place of worship on the Rothenberg around the turn of the second millennium.
There is no agreed spelling for the Rothenberg, a hill in the community. On current maps it is sometimes also called the Roterberg. In the local dialect, it is called the Ruurebersch.
Documentary mentions
In written records from the Seligenstatt Monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
from the years 1213-1215, the placename Wörsdorf crops up twice. The records contain the text fragments ... auch in Wyrßdorff... (auch means “also”) and ... Item Diderich von Wyrßdorff... (a name; the character “ß” is a double S).
Wörsdorf’s first documentary mention from 25 September 1285 indicates that the abbot of the St. Pantaleon Monastery in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
of the Order of Saint Benedict, as the “Conservator of the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
’ privilege” appointed by the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, “complains about Count Otto of Nassau and his son Heinrich as well as their helper Heinrich of Wörsdorf to pronounce excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
against those named after an earlier admonition”.
Further written references to Wörsdorf date from 1315, 1346 and 1525.
The knight Ludwig Scherre from Waldmannshausen endowed an everlasting light in the monastery church at Seligenstatt in 1315 from his estates here, and the Rödels of Reifenberg were feoffed in 1346 by Molsberg with an estate here. Furthermore, there is this:
“...Wirsdorf, where the Lords of Westerburg, those of Ottenstein, Reifenberg, Brambach and Riedesel had estates in 1525.”
In 1299, Guckheim had its first documentary mention.
“14 December 1299
“Elisabeth called von Dorndorf. Widow of the knight Heinrich of Sottenbach, donates all her movable (bona mea mobilia, utensilia affernalia) and immovable property in the villages and rural areas of Stenbach (Steinbach), Dorringdorf (Dorndorf) Hausen, Vridekobin (Frickhofen), Gocheim (Guckheim) and Wermolderode (Willmenrod) at farms, houses, estates, gardens, meadows, grazing lands, forests, fisheries, tax income or other to the abbess and the convent of the nuns in Gnadenthal (in valle gracie) for the healing of her soul, and her parents’, and all her forbears’ before the Schultheißen (roughly, “sheriffs”), Schöffen (local justices) and other villagers and transfers the goods to the convent to its procurator’s hands as property. - Sgg. of the Count Gerhard von Diez, Gottfried called im Hof (in Curia), Friedrich called Stayl and Hiltwin von Elkershausen, knight.
“- Actum et d. 1299 in crastino beate virginis (Lucie). 19 kalendas Januarii”
In the Annals of Nassau (Nassauische Annalen) is found the following record:
“In 1299 Gocheim, the von Piesports had an estate in 1735. Goods came here from Elisabeth von Dorndorf, widow of Sottenbach, in 1299 to the in Gnadenthal Convent, in 1305 to the Ritz von Dehrn family and in 1334 to the von Schönborns. Meadows here have the von Mudersbachs, which by way of the von Brambachs in 1694 came to the von Walderdorfs. The mill was owned by Leiningen-Westerburg in 1511 and still in 1786. A brown coal pit was in operation here in 1746.”
The mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
at Guckheim was first mentioned in a document in 1511. It was still working until 1980.
History into modern times
As of the 13th century, the community belonged to the County of Diez. From 1490, Guckheim, together with Wörsdorf (Wersdorf), was assigned to the Salzer Zech.
On 27 July 1564, Guckheim, along with the parishes of Salz
Salz
Salz is a German word meaning "salt" and may refer to:* Salzburg, city or federal district, Austria* Salz, Rhineland-Palatinate, municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany* Salz, Bavaria, town in the district of Rhön-Grabfeld in Bavaria, Germany...
, Meudt
Meudt
Meudt is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the second biggest community in the Verbandsgemeinde of Wallmerod, a kind of collective municipality....
, Nentershausen
Nentershausen
Nentershausen is a community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany.- Location :The community lies in the mountains in eastern Hesse, where it finds itself in the centre of the Richelsdorfer Gebirge between the Fulda to the west and the Werra to the east...
and Hundsangen
Hundsangen
Hundsangen is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
was ceded to the Electorate of Trier in the Treaty of Diez, and thereby also ended up in the Amt of Montabaur
Montabaur
Montabaur is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the Verbandsgemeinde of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to which 24 other communities belong...
.
The Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
also left its mark on Guckheim. In 1666, the only family names left in Guckheim were Göbel, Fasel and Gleser. In Wörsdorf, the names Kiep, Schumacher, Born, New (Neu), Fritz, Zeis, Göbel and Fasel can be confirmed from that time. Stories handed down by word of mouth tell of inhabitants being torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d during the war years in the constituent community of Guckheim opposite the village cross.
As of 1748, there was organized schooling
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
in Guckheim, held at various people’s houses at different times. Once Matthias Fasel, a teacher from Wörsdorf, was appointed, instruction began in 1820 in a schoolroom rented by the community at the so-called Perersch Haus. On the Duchy of Nassau government’s instructions, Matthias Fasel began the Guckheim school chronicle. In 1832 came a community decision to build a school building, which was dedicated on 4 November 1833.
Population development
| Year | Inhabitants | Year | Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1787 | 244 | 1973 | 645 |
| 1818 | 277 | 1978 | 721 |
| 1840 | 338 | 1983 | 744 |
| 1905 | 362 | 1989 | 805 |
| 1939 | 471 | 1993 | 881 |
| 1950 | 472 | 1997 | 933 |
Exact population figures for Guckheim are only available for the time since 1787. Until the late 18th century, there were only data about the number of hearths (households/estates) or families. Trustworthy figures about population development only go back to 1525.
In that year, 7 hearths were counted. For 1562, the County of Diez service register names 7 names (families) for Wörsdorf. A year later there were 8 hearths.
In 1589, 7 Electoral service personnel and one Vogtmann (roughly, “reeve”) were mentioned in a record also including both communities’ inhabitants. Until 1653, the population figure did not rise appreciably, as the Thirty Years' War had its consequences even in Guckheim. Eight families were counted in Wörsdorf, and in Guckheim two. In 1684, 9 hearths were mentioned in Wörsdorf, and in Guckheim 4.
The Second World War likewise left its mark. Even among Guckheimers there were losses. The number of inhabitants in 1939 compared to that in 1950 differs only slightly.
Dialect/accent
| High German | Guckheimer Platt (Moselle Franconian) |
English |
|---|---|---|
| es regnet | et reent | it’s raining |
| es regnet stark | et trätscht | it’s raining hard/heavily |
| es regnet leicht | et fisselt | it’s raining lightly |
| es schneit | et schnaascht | it’s snowing |
| es schneit stark | et woost | it’s snowing hard |
The dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
spoken in Guckheim belongs to the Moselle Franconian
Moselle Franconian
Moselle Franconian is a group of West Central German dialects, part of the Central Franconian language area.It is spoken in the southern Rhineland and along the course of the Moselle River, from the Siegerland in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia throughout western Rhineland-Palatinate and...
dialect group. As an everyday speech, it is dying out, and is often no longer mastered by younger people. Moreover, the facts of economic life have changed and thereby brought about a loss of a great deal of the dialect. For instance, the dialectal vocabulary for variations in the weather is much less often heard now that the economy has moved away from activities that depended on the weather, such as, most obviously, farming, as those who customarily used these expressions for their everyday lives are growing fewer.
Mother of God Chapel on the Rothenberg
The former building on the 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,...
’s current site stood until 1948 on the Rothenberg and faced the same way. The exact time when the old building came into being cannot be confirmed, but it is believed that it was built in two sections. A clue to the building’s origins can be said to be a stone with the yeardate 1771 chiselled into it. This was found while the building was being torn down.
The decision to build a new and bigger chapel was made in 1947. Grounds for a new building were the old chapel’s great repair needs, an endowment of about 6,000 Reichsmark – it had been pledged towards the construction before currency reform – and the hope that on some occasions church services could be held within the community, which did not have its own church. Building began on 27 September 1948, and the cornerstone was laid on 22 May 1949. The topping-out ceremony was held on 26 September 1949. As the architect who designed the chapel, Rudolf Hack from Westerburg
Westerburg
Westerburg is a small town of roughly 6,000 inhabitants in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is named after the castle built on a hill above the mediaeval town centre -Location:...
was trusted with the planning work. On 12 November 1950, the Muttergottes-Kapelle received ecclesiastical consecration.
Since the building project had to be financed through the community’s own resources, the needed funds were raised on the one hand by monthly door-to-door collections, in which even neighbouring communities took part, and on the other hand by the community’s donation of a greater sum as well as the lumber. Further funds were raised by producing plays on the Römmel. There, plays were staged between 1948 and 1952 with presenters from the community itself.
St. Johanneskirche
In the late 1950s, the seating room in the Mother of God Chapel was becoming less and less adequate to serve the growing community’s needs. A proposal to hold two services on Sundays and holidays could not be fulfilled owing to a dearth of priests. Given this, plans were made with the architect Hans Busch from Frankfurt am Main, who was well known for his sacral buildings, to enlarge the chapel and add a new belltower.
Hans Busch was trusted with the planning, but only the third proposal won the Bishop’s blessing. On the Church’s recommendation, it was decided to forgo the belltower and the planned youth centre owing to cost.
Building began in the summer of 1961 on the Weltersbitz meadowlands. The cornerstone was laid on 1 October 1961. Until early 1962, the building shell was being put up. The topping-out ceremony was held on 17 May 1962. The consecration was finally done on 16 June 1963, although the first services had already been held the foregoing Christmas.
The St. Johanneskirche (“Saint John’s Church”) is a markedly plain building with a rectangular plan, a shed roof that drops off towards the west and a sacristy in the side building adjoining it to the north. Owing to the roof’s shape, the east-facing altar has the highest headroom. The one-naved church room with gallery is girded with thick walls made out of quarried basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, a typical local building material.
The church room is lit through one horizontal and several vertical banks of windows with glass mosaics. The south-facing horizontal bank of windows has mosaics depicting the story of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
’s suffering. The belltower was never built.
Transport
Lying roughly 35 km east of KoblenzKoblenz
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...
, halfway between the agglomerations of Frankfurt am Main and Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Guckheim has at its disposal a good transport infrastructure with the new InterCityExpress
InterCityExpress
The Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
stations in Montabaur
Montabaur
Montabaur is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the Verbandsgemeinde of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to which 24 other communities belong...
and Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
, the A 3 (Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
–Frankfurt; 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...
at Diez/Nentershausen) and Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 8 and 255, all found nearby.
Sightseeing and recreation
Guckheim is framed by nearby broadleaf and fir forests in which it is worth going for a walk. Worthy of special mention are the nature trail for forestry and ornithology on the Rothenberg and the nearby ruins of the Weltersburg (castle), built after 1100, both of which can easily be reached on foot from Guckheim. The Elbbach flows right by Guckheim to the Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
. With its water power, the mill was powered centuries ago. Some 5 km away is found Schloss Westerburg (residential castle), first mentioned in 1192. Furthermore, lying roughly 10 km away, between Pottum
Pottum
Pottum is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
und Stahlhofen
Stahlhofen am Wiesensee
Stahlhofen am Wiesensee is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
is the Wiesensee (lake) and its accompanying recreation area. The lake is some 450 m high and has an area of about 80 ha.
About 750 m from Guckheim, an 11-km-long, popular hiking trail leads from the direction of Wallmerod
Wallmerod
Wallmerod is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:Wallmerod lies in the Westerwald between Montabaur and Rennerod...
to the former railway area in Westerburg
Westerburg
Westerburg is a small town of roughly 6,000 inhabitants in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is named after the castle built on a hill above the mediaeval town centre -Location:...
. The trail, which is also used by cyclists and skaters, is to be extended in the next few years by 10 to 20 km towards Höhn
Höhn
Höhn is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
/Rennerod
Rennerod
Rennerod is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Rennerod, a kind of collective municipality...
across the railway bridge, a protected monument, in Westerburg.