Keidelheim
Encyclopedia
History
Sometime between 1330 and 1335, Keidelheim (then Kudelnheim) had its first documentary mention in the taxation register kept by the Count of 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...
. The register listed a whole series of taxes and other comital levies, among which were the soul tax, the head tax and tithes.
Another compilation of taxes from about 1400 lists for the first time the village’s inhabitants (it was called then Kudillenheim). The monasterial lordship over Keidelheim ended in 1566 with the dissolution of the Ravengiersburg Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Canonical Foundation. The Duchy of Simmern passed as an Oberamt to Electoral Palatinate. Over the next 120 years, the countryside was heavily stricken with many war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
s, bad harvests and sicknesses. The villages of Nannhausen
Nannhausen
Nannhausen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Fronhofen
Fronhofen
-History:In 1285, Fronhofen had its first documentary mention; however, its history does reach back somewhat further. Originally, Fronhofen consisted of a monastery estate and a mill...
, Biebern
Biebern
Biebern is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Reich
Reich, Germany
-History:In the mid 16th century, Reich had its first documentary mention in a Weistum from the Ravengiersburg Monastery...
, Wüschheim
Wüschheim
-History:On the ground floor of the timber-frame house that serves as the municipal centre, a bakehouse, which is still functional today, was built, along with a livestock stable. The stable was converted, half becoming a youth centre and the other half an equipment room for the Wüschheim volunteer...
, Eichkülz and Keidelheim together formed a Schultheiß
Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß was the head of a municipality , a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler.As official it was...
erei. In 1683, Michel Huth from Keidelheim was the Schultheiß.
On 19 October 1794, 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...
troops marched into Simmern, ending Electoral-Palatinate rule. Patrimonial hierarchy (Erbuntertänigkeit – an arrangement similar to serfdom, but without the lord’s actual ownership of the subjects), with its compulsory labour for the enfeoffed lord and its tithes was then abolished, but new compulsory labour for the French army weighed even more heavily on the people. The official cession
Cession
The act of Cession, or to cede, is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty...
of the Rhine’s left bank to France in 1797 led to administrative restructuring. The nobility lost their holdings, churches and monasteries were expropriated and estates could be acquired by those who had hitherto been their tenants. Keidelheim was grouped with 12 other municipalities into the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Simmern in the Canton of Simmern, thereby making it part of the Department of Rhin-et-Moselle
Rhin-et-Moselle
Rhin-et-Moselle is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Germany. It is named after the rivers Rhine and Moselle. It was formed in 1798, when the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by France. Until the French occupation, its territory was divided between the Archbishopric...
, whose seat was at 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...
. As French citizens, young men were then required to do military service. With Napoleon’s
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
defeat
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
began a time in which Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns, Russians, Bavarians
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
and 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...
ns quartered themselves locally and imposed more compulsory labour on the people. At first, the area was governed by an Austrian-Bavarian administration commission. In an 1813 statistical publication, the following figures were noted for Keidelheim: 114 souls, 25 houses and 25 windows.
On 28 May 1815, the Prussians took over the lands on the Rhine’s left bank, and from the French arrondissement of Simmern arose the district (Kreis) of Simmern. The municipality of Keidelheim passed to the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Simmern, and is still part of that – in its newer encarnation as a Verbandsgemeinde – even now. Despite progressive Prussian measures in 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...
and roadbuilding, bad harvests and a sharp rise in population led to gradual impoverishment. The municipalities had to take measures to save the inhabitants from going hungry. Many citizens emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
After 1900, an economic upswing took hold, which nevertheless took a sharp blow with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. When the war ended in 1918, the Rhine’s left bank was once more occupied by the French. There followed hard times with currency values swiftly falling. In 1913, an American dollar was equal to 4.20 marks, but by 1918, it was equal to 6 marks. In September 1923, the rate had become one dollar to 98,200,000 marks, and a mere two months later, this had become 4,200,000,000,000 marks to the dollar.
The Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
brought along with it ideological change and also altered municipal politics, with Keidelheim being no different in this respect to any other place in Germany. Keidelheim and Kümbdchen together formed all the local Nazi Party groups for which Nazi Germany came to be known. The Second World War brought the Nazis’ activities to an end. On 15 March 1945, the Americans took Simmern, and the next day, they came to Keidelheim. The village was occupied, and the inhabitants were ordered to vacate their houses. On 10 July 1945, history repeated itself yet again when the French relieved the Americans. The local farmers were burdened time and again by newly assigned requirements, contributions and requisitions. The harsh winter of 1946-1947 and the summertime drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
that followed once again brought the French zone of occupation dangerously close to famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
. In late 1945, trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s and political parties
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
were once again allowed in the three Western zones. The first municipal election was held on 15 September 1946. With currency reform and an unexpectedly good harvest in 1948, as well as help from the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
, things began to turn round.
In the 1950s, structural change began in agriculture, leading to the Kümbdchen-Keidelheim Flurbereinigung
Flurbereinigung
Flurbereinigung is the German word used to describe land reforms in various countries, especially Germany and Austria. The term can best be translated as land consolidation. Another European country where those land reforms have been carried out is France...
. From 1961 to 1963, the village saw the construction of new watermains and sewers. At roughly the same time, the Kümbdchen-Keidelheim school board built the new school
School
A 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...
. In 1967, the municipal council refused a proposal to amalgamate Kümbdchen and Keidelheim into one municipality. Under the last administrative reforms on 7 July 1969, the district of Simmern was dissolved and merged with parts of the Sankt Goar and Zell districts into the new Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis. In 1972 began the “Im Schneebäcker” building development.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 8 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: Per fess sable a crown Or and argent on ground vert an oaktree of the same.
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:
- Hauptstraße/corner of Brunnenweg – cast-ironCast ironCast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
fountain basin, RheinböllenRheinböllenRheinböllen is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, and also belongs to it.-Location:...
Ironworks, latter half of the 19th century
Natural monuments
Keidelheim is home to three notable oaktrees. The Assmannseiche is named for the house on whose lot it originally stood (Assmann was the family’s name, and Eiche means “oak” in GermanGerman 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....
). It is believed to have been planted in 1780. The tree’s height is 25 m, its circumference at chest height is 370 cm and its crown has a diameter of 30 m. The Bismarckeiche was planted in 1890 in the then Imperial Chancellor’s
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
honour. The tree’s height is 21 m, its circumference at chest height is 295 cm and its crown has a diameter of 22 m. The Keidelheimer Dorfeiche (“Village Oak”) or Wappeneiche (“Heraldic Oak”) 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. It is found in a meadow just before the forest on the way out of the village to the barbecue pits. If the village chronicle is to be believed, it is more than one thousand years old. Since the oak stands in a spot that was once a much broader expanse of meadowland, it is assumed that it was once used as a sheltering tree. The tree’s height is 21 m, its circumference at chest height is 500 cm and its crown has a diameter of 23 m. All three of these trees are protected as natural monuments.
Keidelheim also has a notable beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
tree standing on a slope before the former level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
on the road to Simmern. 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...
prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
used the tree as their morning meeting place during the Second World War and carved their names in it, as did local youths in the years after the war.
Sport and leisure
CyclistsCycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
, hikers
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
and skaters have the Schinderhannes
Schinderhannes
Johannes Bückler , nicknamed Schinderhannes, was a German outlaw who orchestrated one of the most fascinating crime sprees in German history. He was born at Miehlen, the son of Johann and Anna Maria Bückler. He began an apprenticeship to a tanner, but turned to petty theft. At 16 he was arrested...
-Radweg (cycle path) at their disposal running along the old Hunsrückbahn (railway) right-of-way.