Hecken
Encyclopedia
History
In 1291, Hecken had its first documentary mention when Count Johan von SponheimCounty of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
gave his Burgmann
Burgmann
A Burgmann was a member of the low aristocracy in the Middle Ages who guarded and defended castles. They were hired by a lord of the castle to take on the burghut, the guarding and defense of a castle....
from Kastellaun
Kastellaun
-Climate:Yearly precipitation in Kastellaun amounts to 755 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 53% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations, lower figures recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in June. In that...
, Herrmann von Kestilun, leave to let his wife Sophia live at the estate in Hecken should anything untoward befall him.
A knightly family named itself after the village. The family’s first representative, Heinrich von Hecken, belonged in 1290 to the Court of Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”) at Kirchberg. In Hecken itself, the Counts had an estate made up of three houses and as many barns with the attendant estate lands.
The oldest written text that can be found in the municipality of Hecken comes from the year 1737 and is from the Princely Margravial Badish
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
Court Councilman and Kirchberg Oberamtmann Seitz:
- Erstens soll ein neu angehender Untertan oder Bürger bei seinem Antritt in die Gemeinde, bevor er das Gemeinsrecht erlangt hat, schuldig und gehalten sein, einen ledernen Feuereimer zu stellen, widrigenfalls und in solange derselbe in die Gemeinde nicht an– und aufgenommen werden soll, bis er dieses befolgt und solchen Feuereimer gestellt haben wird.
It is hardly something that sheds a great deal of light on historical developments in the 18th century, although it may offer a window on civic duties as they were defined in the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
in those days. In English, this reads:
- “First, a newly prospective subject or townsman, upon coming into the municipality, before he has been granted commoner’s rights, should be bound and obliged to provide a leather fire pail, failing which he should not be accepted and admitted, until he abides by this and has provided such a fire pail.”
Beginning in 1794, Hecken lay under French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
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...
at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
. 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 ....
.
Among Hecken’s distinctions are some 100 barrows
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
scattered throughout the Bannholz (a wood whose function is to shield against adverse weather). It is the biggest barrow field in the middle Hunsrück. During planning work in the course of land consolidation in 1953, a neck ring, among other things, was found. This now stands as a 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...
in the municipality’s coat of 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...
Religion
Since 1963, Hecken’s 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...
adherents have belonged the parish of Dickenschied in the church district of Simmern-Trarbach. The Catholics are members of Saint Michael’s parish in Kirchberg.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 7 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In Gold auf grünem Dreiberg, darin ein silberner Wendelring, ein grüner Heckenrosenstrauch mit einer blau besamten roten Rose.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: Or in base a mount of three vert charged with a neck ring argent, issuant from the mount a rose stem embowed to dexter of the second with a rose gules barbed of the second and seeded azure.
The rose 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...
, as it is meant to represent what 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....
is known as a Heckenrose (Rosa corymbifera, meaning “hedge rose” – similar to a dog rose), and thereby refers to the name Hecken. The “mount of three” in base, a charge called a Dreiberg in German heraldry
German heraldry
German heraldry refers to the cultural tradition and style of heraldic achievements in modern and historic Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions...
, refers in these arms to the barrow field in the nearby woods from the Hunsrück-Eifel Culture and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times. The neck ring refers to the one unearthed, along with other artefacts, east of the village in 1953.
The arms have been borne since 1997.
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-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:
- Dorfstraße 32 – bakehouse; quarrystone building, marked 1873
- Im Kappesgarten 2 – former schoolSchoolA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
; timber-frameTimber framingTimber 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...
building, marked 1878 (see also below)
From 1878 comes the timber-frame house known as the Haus Ursula. This former school was thoroughly renovated in 1978 and is now used as a meeting house by a religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
. The former school bell hangs in a separate belltower and is rung by hand each evening, and also on special occasions such as deaths and church services.
Culture
Community life expresses itself in many kinds of activities, such as club festivals and celebrations, as well as collaborative work to reduce costs throughout the year.Economy and infrastructure
In Hecken, there is currently (2009) only one fulltime agriculturalAgriculture
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...
business. There is also one business in the building trade.
Further reading
- Wolfgang Grabe, Winfried Berg: Hecken. Äbbes funn friah bis houd. 1290–2006. Chronik einer Hunsrückgemeinde; Hecken: Ortsgemeinde Hecken, 2006