Kempfeld
Encyclopedia
Kempfeld is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld
district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Herrstein
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
between the Idar Forest
in the north and the town of Idar-Oberstein
in the south.
of Katzenloch and the outlying homesteads of Auf dem Steinberg, Herrenflur and Wildenburg.
campus, meaning field (and since Feld means the same, the name would therefore mean “Field Field”). This hypothesis is, however, contradicted by the dialectal name “Käfelt” and the mediaeval
name cempinvelt from 1319.
“Golden Book”), which came into being about 1200, Kempfeld had its first documentary mention.
Matched by the extensive network of paths was relatively heavy settlement in individual homesteads, which belonged mostly to local people, but in almost every municipality in the Kempfeld area, traces of habitation from Roman
times (roughly 50 BC to AD 375) can be found. The Romans built their houses from stone, put their dead in stone chests and built memorials to them, and monuments to their gods, out of stone. In 1901, one of these cist
graves was unearthed 500 m south of the village on the way to Katzenloch. This, however, yielded no further knowledge.
About 950, the Emichones
sat as the Graugrafen (“Gau
Counts”) in the Nahegau
. They were related to the Salian
Imperial
house. In the 11th century, they already held the Gau in hereditary ownership, and also, they were naming themselves after castle
s: in 1107 the Counts of Schmidtburg, in 1098 the Counts of Flonheim, in 1128 the Counts of Kyrburg and in 1103 Comites silvestres, later the Waldgrave
s (or Wildgrafen in German
).
Towards the late 12th century, three lines of the Emichones had arisen as two new ones split away from the main one: the Counts of Veldenz in 1129 and the Raugraves
in 1140.
In 1263, the Waldgraviate was partitioned, with the Schmidtburg
and Kyrburg going to Emich, and Dhaun
and Grumbach
to Gottfried. The so-called Landgraviate, however, remained undivided and in common ownership. Only nineteen years later, in 1282, came another partition between members of the house’s main line: Konrad kept Schmidtburg while Gottfried got Kyrburg and the paternal rights to Bruchweiler
, Kempfeld, Breitenthal
and Oberhosenbach
. High jurisdiction
and woodlands remained commonly held. In 1319, the communal high jurisdiction over Raide (Veitsrodt
), Horbure (Herborn
), Bruchwilre (Bruchweiler), Schuren (Schauren
), Kempvelt (Kempfeld), Huisinbach (Niederhosenbach
), Breidendail (Breitenthal) and three villages that have since vanished, Dudinsbach (Diedesbach), Vockinhusen (Fuckenhausen) and Dyfenbach, was documented.
In 1330, the last count of the Schmidtburg line died. He had been in a longstanding feud with his cousin Friedrich von der Kyrburg. So that Friedrich could not get the inheritance to which he was entitled by lawful, written documents, the late count had arranged for Archbishop of Trier Baldwin to be enfeoffed with the Schmidtburg (castle) and its appurtenances, and also Bundenbach
. In 1328, Friedrich had built a castle of his own, the Wildenburg, but by 1330 he was forced to enfeoff Archbishop Baldwin with this.
Kempfeld formed together with Veitsrodt in the Middle Ages
a lordship of St. Maximin’s Abbey
in Trier
. A letter of enfeoffment from 1483 for the Waldgraves of Dhaun still exists.
Within Kempfeld’s municipal limits lie two sites on which once stood now vanished villages. Schalwen, or Schalben, lay below the road leading to Wildenburg and Katzenloch. On the other side of this road once lay the execution place, where the gallows
could be set up as needed. After the 1574 boundary-defining Grenzweistum (a Weistum – cognate with English
wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages
and early modern times), not only Kempfeld’s municipal area along with the Wildenburg belonged to the High Court of Wildenburg, but so did Asbach, Herborn, Veitsrodt, the woods of Wenzel and Vitsruth, the now vanished village of Fuckenhausen and part of Kirschweiler. The local hangman
, who was also a knacker
, lived outside the village of Schalben. The hangman played a role in the people’s lives and thoughts. As a knacker he handled, among other things, hides, skins and leather. Both trades were regarded as dishonest, and their practitioners as unclean, hence the reason for his living outside the village rather than in it. He also had to set up his sales stall at markets apart from the rest.
The other vanished village within Kempfeld’s municipal limits was Baalsbach, or Badelsbach. Bearing witness to this place is a cadastral name “Auf Baalsbach”.
A report from the time after the Thirty Years' War
about Kempfeld mentions both Schalwen and Baalßpach, but by that time, they had both already been forsaken, and their lands conceded to Kempfeld. At that time, though, there were still remnants to be seen of both villages. Even as early as 1514, a Weistum had described Baalsbach as vergangen (“past” or “bygone”), meaning that it was no longer there.
The last Amtmann
of the Wildenburg, Johann Karl Ruppenthal (1767-1798), managed to get himself into the villagers’ bad books. As Ruppenthal rode through the village late one evening with his riflemen, the night watchman apparently blew the wrong signal on his horn. As punishment, the watchman was made to practise the right signal the whole night long, which almost drove the Kempfelders to uncontainable fury. They complained about this inconsiderate disturbance of their usual nighttime quiet at once in Kirn
, but nothing was done about Ruppenthal’s behaviour.
Another time, the Amtmann happened upon the Kempfelders as they were arguing with a tithe official. Ruppenthal flew into such a rage over the peasants’ supposed stubbornness that without further ado he had his riflemen lock them all up in the church. This, however, only angered the imprisoned men’s wives and, arming themselves with brooms and threshing flails, they then drove Ruppenthal out of the village. This scene is still remembered today by a fountain at the square on Allenberger Weg.
In 1529, a church was built in Kempfeld, which was renovated in the 18th century. On 25 August 1911, the church was utterly destroyed in a great fire in which the bell
s also melted. The plan for reconstructing the church was delivered by the Mayor of Cologne
at that time, Senz, who had also headed reconstruction efforts for the church in Hottenbach in 1903.
The whole village was stricken by the fire. It broke out in the afternoon in the Stumm Brewery’s stables. That summer’s drought made the fire impossible to contain. Within half an hour, all houses and barns near the source of the fire were in flames. Besides the church, five houses, six barns, the brewery and one slaughterhouse were burnt down. The fire came almost exactly a century after another, similar great fire raged in the same place in August 1811.
On 1 August 1914, after the First World War had broken out, 11 Landsturm
personnel, 10 Landwehr
men, 10 reservists from Kempfeld had to go to war, and 15 recruits from the village found themselves in training. Even by early August, four men from Kempfeld had fallen; by Christmas
it was seven.
On Sunday 17 October 1926, a memorial was dedicated at the village graveyard to the 21 who had fallen in the Great War.
During the Second World War, too, Kempfeld suffered heavily, and many local men fell. Moreover, several bombs fell on the village, in which 200 evacuees had taken refuge.
On 30 August 1975, yet another great fire struck Kempfeld, destroying, once again, the church, and also three houses. It broke out in a small house on Hauptstraße towards 10:45. Despite a large contingent from the fire brigade, the fire could not be stopped from spreading to the neighbouring house. A house once owned by a lordship and two, smaller servant’s houses burnt right down. Most of the household belongings could be removed before the fire consumed the houses, but these were then kept “safe” in the church, as had been done during the 1911 fire. The householders then had to watch helplessly as their chattels, too, went up in smoke along with the church when the fire reached it.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Per bend vert a tower embattled Or on a mount of three in base argent and Or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure.
The tower on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side refers to the former keep
on the Wildenburgkopf. The mount of three, a charge
called a Dreiberg in German heraldry
, symbolizes the Wildenburgkopf – a mountain – itself, which is under conservational protection. The lion on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side is a reference to the village’s former allegiance to the Waldgraviate-Rhinegraviate.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Also found in the municipality are an open game reserve
on the Wildenburger Kopf, and Germany’s only gemstone garden on Schulstraße.
, one primary school and one regional school on the way out of the village going towards the Wildenburg.
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 Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- 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 Herrstein
Herrstein (Verbandsgemeinde)
Herrstein is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Herrstein....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Herrstein
Herrstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
Location
The municipality lies on the Deutsche Edelsteinstraße (“German Gem Road”) in the southern HunsrückHunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
between the Idar Forest
Idar Forest
The Idar Forest is part of the Hunsrück low mountain range in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Geography :...
in the north and the town of Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...
in the south.
Constituent communities
Also belonging to Kempfeld are the hamletHamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Katzenloch and the outlying homesteads of Auf dem Steinberg, Herrenflur and Wildenburg.
Village’s name
Kempfeld was originally settled by a man named Campo. On the other hand, other researchers derive the name from the LatinLatin
Latin 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...
campus, meaning field (and since Feld means the same, the name would therefore mean “Field Field”). This hypothesis is, however, contradicted by the dialectal name “Käfelt” and the mediaeval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
name cempinvelt from 1319.
History
In a copy of the Liber Aureus (St. Maximin’s Abbey’sSt. Maximin's Abbey, Trier
St. Maximin's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-History:The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been founded by Saint Maximin of Trier in the 4th century. Maximin St. Maximin's Abbey was a...
“Golden Book”), which came into being about 1200, Kempfeld had its first documentary mention.
Matched by the extensive network of paths was relatively heavy settlement in individual homesteads, which belonged mostly to local people, but in almost every municipality in the Kempfeld area, traces of habitation from 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 (roughly 50 BC to AD 375) can be found. The Romans built their houses from stone, put their dead in stone chests and built memorials to them, and monuments to their gods, out of stone. In 1901, one of these cist
Cist
A cist from ) is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East....
graves was unearthed 500 m south of the village on the way to Katzenloch. This, however, yielded no further knowledge.
About 950, the Emichones
Emichones
The Emichones family is a precursor to several noble families in the southwestern German region. Its members were -- perhaps as undercounts of the Salian dynasty -- gau counts in the Nahegau. The name is due to the prevailing first name "Emich."- History :The Nahegau was next to the Wormsgau and...
sat as the Graugrafen (“Gau
Gau
Gau may refer to:* Gau, a Cantonese vulgar word* Gau , German term for a shire * Gau , another name for the French wine grape Gouais blanc* Gau, a character in Final Fantasy VI...
Counts”) in the Nahegau
Nahegau
The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Wormsgau...
. They were related to the Salian
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...
Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
house. In the 11th century, they already held the Gau in hereditary ownership, and also, they were naming themselves after castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s: in 1107 the Counts of Schmidtburg, in 1098 the Counts of Flonheim, in 1128 the Counts of Kyrburg and in 1103 Comites silvestres, later the Waldgrave
Waldgrave
The noble family of the Waldgraves or Wildgraves descended of a division of the House of the Counts of Nahegau in the year 1113....
s (or Wildgrafen 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....
).
Towards the late 12th century, three lines of the Emichones had arisen as two new ones split away from the main one: the Counts of Veldenz in 1129 and the Raugraves
Raugraves
The Raugraves were a German noble family, which had its center of influence in the former Nahegau. They descended from the Emichones .- First family in the 12th until 15th centuries :...
in 1140.
In 1263, the Waldgraviate was partitioned, with the Schmidtburg
Schmidtburg
Schmidtburg is a ruin of a former castle next to Schneppenbach in Germany. The castle was built up in 926, and was destroyed during the War of the Grand Alliance by French troops in 1688.-External links:**...
and Kyrburg going to Emich, and Dhaun
Hochstetten-Dhaun
Hochstetten-Dhaun is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....
and Grumbach
Grumbach
Grumbach is a municipality in the district of Kusel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
to Gottfried. The so-called Landgraviate, however, remained undivided and in common ownership. Only nineteen years later, in 1282, came another partition between members of the house’s main line: Konrad kept Schmidtburg while Gottfried got Kyrburg and the paternal rights to Bruchweiler
Bruchweiler
Bruchweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Kempfeld, Breitenthal
Breitenthal, Rhineland-Palatinate
Breitenthal is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Oberhosenbach
Oberhosenbach
Oberhosenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
. High jurisdiction
Blood court
Blood Court or high justice in the Holy Roman Empire referred to the right of a Vogt to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty.Not every Vogt held the blood court...
and woodlands remained commonly held. In 1319, the communal high jurisdiction over Raide (Veitsrodt
Veitsrodt
Veitsrodt is a municipality in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
), Horbure (Herborn
Herborn, Rhineland-Palatinate
Herborn is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Herrstein, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Location:The municipality lies...
), Bruchwilre (Bruchweiler), Schuren (Schauren
Schauren
Schauren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhaunen, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Location:The municipality lies...
), Kempvelt (Kempfeld), Huisinbach (Niederhosenbach
Niederhosenbach
Niederhosenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Herrstein, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Location:The...
), Breidendail (Breitenthal) and three villages that have since vanished, Dudinsbach (Diedesbach), Vockinhusen (Fuckenhausen) and Dyfenbach, was documented.
In 1330, the last count of the Schmidtburg line died. He had been in a longstanding feud with his cousin Friedrich von der Kyrburg. So that Friedrich could not get the inheritance to which he was entitled by lawful, written documents, the late count had arranged for Archbishop of Trier Baldwin to be enfeoffed with the Schmidtburg (castle) and its appurtenances, and also Bundenbach
Bundenbach
Bundenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
. In 1328, Friedrich had built a castle of his own, the Wildenburg, but by 1330 he was forced to enfeoff Archbishop Baldwin with this.
Kempfeld formed together with Veitsrodt in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
a lordship of St. Maximin’s Abbey
St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier
St. Maximin's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-History:The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been founded by Saint Maximin of Trier in the 4th century. Maximin St. Maximin's Abbey was a...
in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
. A letter of enfeoffment from 1483 for the Waldgraves of Dhaun still exists.
Within Kempfeld’s municipal limits lie two sites on which once stood now vanished villages. Schalwen, or Schalben, lay below the road leading to Wildenburg and Katzenloch. On the other side of this road once lay the execution place, where the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
could be set up as needed. After the 1574 boundary-defining Grenzweistum (a Weistum – cognate with 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...
wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and early modern times), not only Kempfeld’s municipal area along with the Wildenburg belonged to the High Court of Wildenburg, but so did Asbach, Herborn, Veitsrodt, the woods of Wenzel and Vitsruth, the now vanished village of Fuckenhausen and part of Kirschweiler. The local hangman
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
, who was also a knacker
Knacker
A knacker is a person in the trade of rendering animals that are unfit for human consumption, such as horses that can no longer work. This leads to the slang expression "knackered" meaning very tired, or "ready for the knacker’s yard", where old horses are slaughtered and made into dog food and glue...
, lived outside the village of Schalben. The hangman played a role in the people’s lives and thoughts. As a knacker he handled, among other things, hides, skins and leather. Both trades were regarded as dishonest, and their practitioners as unclean, hence the reason for his living outside the village rather than in it. He also had to set up his sales stall at markets apart from the rest.
The other vanished village within Kempfeld’s municipal limits was Baalsbach, or Badelsbach. Bearing witness to this place is a cadastral name “Auf Baalsbach”.
A report from the time after 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....
about Kempfeld mentions both Schalwen and Baalßpach, but by that time, they had both already been forsaken, and their lands conceded to Kempfeld. At that time, though, there were still remnants to be seen of both villages. Even as early as 1514, a Weistum had described Baalsbach as vergangen (“past” or “bygone”), meaning that it was no longer there.
The last Amtmann
Amtmann
Amtmann can be :*a feudal, administrative and/or gubernatorial title, such as Bezirksamtmann . Amtmann, ammann and amman were a kind of bailiff in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and in Brussels....
of the Wildenburg, Johann Karl Ruppenthal (1767-1798), managed to get himself into the villagers’ bad books. As Ruppenthal rode through the village late one evening with his riflemen, the night watchman apparently blew the wrong signal on his horn. As punishment, the watchman was made to practise the right signal the whole night long, which almost drove the Kempfelders to uncontainable fury. They complained about this inconsiderate disturbance of their usual nighttime quiet at once in Kirn
Kirn
Kirn is a town in the district of Bad Kreuznach, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Nahe, roughly 10 km north-east of Idar-Oberstein and 30 km west of Bad Kreuznach....
, but nothing was done about Ruppenthal’s behaviour.
Another time, the Amtmann happened upon the Kempfelders as they were arguing with a tithe official. Ruppenthal flew into such a rage over the peasants’ supposed stubbornness that without further ado he had his riflemen lock them all up in the church. This, however, only angered the imprisoned men’s wives and, arming themselves with brooms and threshing flails, they then drove Ruppenthal out of the village. This scene is still remembered today by a fountain at the square on Allenberger Weg.
In 1529, a church was built in Kempfeld, which was renovated in the 18th century. On 25 August 1911, the church was utterly destroyed in a great fire in which the bell
Bell
-Sound and music:* Bell , a percussion instrument, usually cup-shaped* Bell * Bell cymbal* Bell effect, a musical technique* Bell Orchestre, a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada...
s also melted. The plan for reconstructing the church was delivered by the Mayor of 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...
at that time, Senz, who had also headed reconstruction efforts for the church in Hottenbach in 1903.
The whole village was stricken by the fire. It broke out in the afternoon in the Stumm Brewery’s stables. That summer’s drought made the fire impossible to contain. Within half an hour, all houses and barns near the source of the fire were in flames. Besides the church, five houses, six barns, the brewery and one slaughterhouse were burnt down. The fire came almost exactly a century after another, similar great fire raged in the same place in August 1811.
On 1 August 1914, after the First World War had broken out, 11 Landsturm
Landsturm
German-speaking countries used the word Landsturm to refer to third-class infantry or militias.- 1813 :King Frederick William III of Prussia established the Prussian Landsturm as irregular military forces on 21 April 1813 by royal edict – the decree appeared in the preussische Gesetzesammlung...
personnel, 10 Landwehr
Landwehr
Landwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large scale, low strength fortifications...
men, 10 reservists from Kempfeld had to go to war, and 15 recruits from the village found themselves in training. Even by early August, four men from Kempfeld had fallen; by Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
it was seven.
On Sunday 17 October 1926, a memorial was dedicated at the village graveyard to the 21 who had fallen in the Great War.
During the Second World War, too, Kempfeld suffered heavily, and many local men fell. Moreover, several bombs fell on the village, in which 200 evacuees had taken refuge.
On 30 August 1975, yet another great fire struck Kempfeld, destroying, once again, the church, and also three houses. It broke out in a small house on Hauptstraße towards 10:45. Despite a large contingent from the fire brigade, the fire could not be stopped from spreading to the neighbouring house. A house once owned by a lordship and two, smaller servant’s houses burnt right down. Most of the household belongings could be removed before the fire consumed the houses, but these were then kept “safe” in the church, as had been done during the 1911 fire. The householders then had to watch helplessly as their chattels, too, went up in smoke along with the church when the fire reached it.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 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.
Mayor
Kempfeld’s mayor is Wolfgang Wannemacher, and his deputies are Horst Albohr and Antje Louis.Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In schräggeteiltem Schild vorn in Grün ein goldener gezinnter Turm auf einem silbernen Dreiberg, hinten in Gold ein blaubewehrter und -gezungter roter Löwe.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 bend vert a tower embattled Or on a mount of three in base argent and Or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure.
The tower on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side refers to the former keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
on the Wildenburgkopf. The mount of three, 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...
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...
, symbolizes the Wildenburgkopf – a mountain – itself, which is under conservational protection. The lion on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side is a reference to the village’s former allegiance to the Waldgraviate-Rhinegraviate.
Kempfeld (main centre)
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:
- EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe 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, Hauptstraße 15 – slantwise-oriented Art NouveauArt NouveauArt Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
aisleless churchAisleless churchAn 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...
with west tower, 1912, architect August Senz, DüsseldorfDüsseldorfDüsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the... - Hauptstraße, graveyard – various gravestones, among others J. V. Oberheim’s grave slab, 1768; family Fuchs’s sculpted tomb, M. E. Fuchs’s grave stele, 1902
- Herrsteinerstraße 2 – stately BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
house, partly 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...
(slated), half-hipped roof, marked 1763 - Forester’s house, south of the village – asymmetrical, many-winged building, Swiss chalet styleSwiss chalet styleSwiss chalet style is an architectural style inspired by the chalets of Switzerland. The style originated in Germany in the early 19th century and was popular in parts of Europe and North America, notably in the architecture of Norway, the country house architecture of Sweden, Cincinnati, Ohio,...
and ExpressionistExpressionist architectureExpressionist architecture was an architectural movement that developed in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts....
motifs, early 20th century - Wildenburg, south of the village (monumental zone) – founded in 1328 by Waldgrave Friedrich von Kyrburg, a Waldgravial-Rhinegravial Amtmann’s seat; preserved foundations and remnants of a cistern of the upper castle, the former lower castle newly built beginning in 1859: gatetower, former forester’s house (partly timber-frame, mansard roofMansard roofA 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...
), barn, low commercial building
Katzenloch
- Katzenloch 12 – hotelHotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
and innINNInterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
; blocklike building, many-winged roofscape, early 20th century - Katzenloch 20 – former hammermill; two overshot waterwheels used by the mill from 1758 to 1870/1872
Also found in the municipality are an open game reserve
Game reserve
A game reserve is an area of land set aside for maintenance of wildlife for tourism or hunting purposes. Many game reserves are located in Africa. Most are open to the public, and tourists commonly take sightseeing safaris or hunt wild game....
on the Wildenburger Kopf, and Germany’s only gemstone garden on Schulstraße.
Education
Kempfeld has one kindergartenKindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, one primary school and one regional school on the way out of the village going towards the Wildenburg.
Famous people
- Hans König (1916-1999), German politician (SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
), was from 1948 to 1957 mayor of the Amt of Kempfeld - Helmut Träbert (1920-1974), German physician and scientist, lived and practised in Kempfeld