Külz
Encyclopedia
Külz is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district
) in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Simmern
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
whose buildings are somewhat spread out. The municipality lies in the Külzbach valley and has a Landesstraße (State Road) passing through it. The municipal area measures 6.92 km², of which 1.71 km² is covered by municipal woodlands. Külz lies 350 m above sea level
, roughly 4 km northwest of Simmern.
territory that King Albrecht
pledged to Count Simon II of Sponheim
in 1302. These Imperial rights were acquired shortly thereafter by the Counts Palatine of the Rhine.
Researching Külz’s history is not easy, as besides the three forms of the name already mentioned, the forms Engeltroutkülz and Osterkülz also crop up in documents. Furthermore, Alterkülz
in the Verbandsgemeinde of Kastellaun
is sometimes named as In der Külze, Auf der Külze or Külz. To make matters worse, the “Külz” mentioned in 1204, 1293 and 1294 in connection with the Cistercian convent of Chumbd (Kumbd) seems to have been, not today’s Külz, but rather a now vanished village that lay on the upper reaches of the Osterkülz. Moreover, Neuerkirch
once also bore the name Külz. Only when the church was built could a more exact name be applied to the village: Külz bei der Kirche (“Külz at the Church”).
The part of Külz on the left bank belonged to the parish of Neuerkirch, whereas the part on the right bank belonged to the parish of Biebern. On 30 November 1605, under a decision handed down by the Oberamt of Simmern, Eichkülz was assigned to the parish of Neuerkirch. Today, the Reformed
congregation belongs to the parish of Neuerkirch and the Catholic congregation to the parish of Biebern.
Beginning in 1794, Külz lay under French
rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
might be described thus: Per fess azure a lion rampant sinister Or armed, langued and crowned gules on the line of partition, his forepaws protecting a church likewise on the line of partition ensigned with a cross on the tower and the roof of the second, the tower and the nave each with two windows in fess sable, and argent an inescutcheon throughout lozengy of the field and of the first, issuant from beneath which three palm leaves each side of the third.
The arms’ composition is drawn from Külz’s old court seal (Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz, Bestand 4, Nr. 3453). The Külzer Haufen – the Külz court – comprised not only Külz itself but also Neuerkirch and Niederkumbd
.
The lozenges and the lion refer to the former landholders, the Counts Palatine of Simmern and the Electors Palatine. The church is the one in Neuerkirch, which stood in the Schultheiß
erei of Külz.
As to the palm leaves, their meaning is unclear. Hildegard of Bingen
counted them among the healing and food plants. On the other hand, they might simply have been included as a charge
to fill in what would otherwise have been two empty spaces either side of the inescutcheon.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
, two carpentry
shops, an inn
with a beer garden
, a filling station
with a shop and a clothing shop. On a hill east of the village stands a wind farm
with four Enercon
E-82 turbines
. Five further facilities are planned.
located in neighbouring Alterkülz
.
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 Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (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 Simmern
Simmern (Verbandsgemeinde)
Simmern is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Simmern.The Verbandsgemeinde Simmern consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Simmern
Simmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...
.
Location
Külz is a rural residential community in the 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...
whose buildings are somewhat spread out. The municipality lies in the Külzbach valley and has a Landesstraße (State Road) passing through it. The municipal area measures 6.92 km², of which 1.71 km² is covered by municipal woodlands. Külz lies 350 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...
, roughly 4 km northwest of Simmern.
History
The Ortsgemeinde of Külz came into being through the merger of the Ortsteile of Eichkülz on the one hand and Külz with the Ortsteil of Gaß, the boundary between which was the Külzbach, on the other. Eichkülz lay on the brook’s right bank in the former territory governed by the provost at Ravengiersburg Monastery. The two other centres over on the brook’s left bank, however, lay in the former ImperialHoly 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...
territory that King Albrecht
Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Habsburg was King of the Romans and Duke of Austria, the eldest son of German King Rudolph I of Habsburg and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.-Life:...
pledged to Count Simon II of Sponheim
County 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...
in 1302. These Imperial rights were acquired shortly thereafter by the Counts Palatine of the Rhine.
Researching Külz’s history is not easy, as besides the three forms of the name already mentioned, the forms Engeltroutkülz and Osterkülz also crop up in documents. Furthermore, Alterkülz
Alterkülz
-History:Alterkülz belonged until 1417 to the “Further” County of Sponheim, and locally to the Amt of Kastellaun. After this line of the Sponheims died out, the village went with Kastellaun to the “Hinder” part of the County....
in the Verbandsgemeinde of Kastellaun
Kastellaun (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kastellaun is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Kastellaun....
is sometimes named as In der Külze, Auf der Külze or Külz. To make matters worse, the “Külz” mentioned in 1204, 1293 and 1294 in connection with the Cistercian convent of Chumbd (Kumbd) seems to have been, not today’s Külz, but rather a now vanished village that lay on the upper reaches of the Osterkülz. Moreover, Neuerkirch
Neuerkirch
-History:Archaeological finds from the New Stone Age bear witness to settlement on the site where the village now stands. In 1302, Neuerkirch had its first documentary mention. Neuerkirch “on that side” of the Külzbach long belonged to the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, while Neuerkirch “on this...
once also bore the name Külz. Only when the church was built could a more exact name be applied to the village: Külz bei der Kirche (“Külz at the Church”).
The part of Külz on the left bank belonged to the parish of Neuerkirch, whereas the part on the right bank belonged to the parish of Biebern. On 30 November 1605, under a decision handed down by the Oberamt of Simmern, Eichkülz was assigned to the parish of Neuerkirch. Today, the Reformed
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
congregation belongs to the parish of Neuerkirch and the Catholic congregation to the parish of Biebern.
Beginning in 1794, Külz 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 1814 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 ....
.
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.
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 azure a lion rampant sinister Or armed, langued and crowned gules on the line of partition, his forepaws protecting a church likewise on the line of partition ensigned with a cross on the tower and the roof of the second, the tower and the nave each with two windows in fess sable, and argent an inescutcheon throughout lozengy of the field and of the first, issuant from beneath which three palm leaves each side of the third.
The arms’ composition is drawn from Külz’s old court seal (Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz, Bestand 4, Nr. 3453). The Külzer Haufen – the Külz court – comprised not only Külz itself but also Neuerkirch and Niederkumbd
Niederkumbd
Niederkumbd is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
The lozenges and the lion refer to the former landholders, the Counts Palatine of Simmern and the Electors Palatine. The church is the one in Neuerkirch, which stood in the 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 of Külz.
As to the palm leaves, their meaning is unclear. Hildegard of Bingen
Hildegard of Bingen
Blessed Hildegard of Bingen , also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and...
counted them among the healing and food plants. On the other hand, they might simply have been included 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...
to fill in what would otherwise have been two empty spaces either side of the inescutcheon.
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:
- At Bieberner Straße 2 – dance hall, one-floor 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, slated, 19th century - Bieberner Straße 8 – timber-frame house, sided, possibly from the 18th century
- Überbach 7 – estate complex; whole complex of buildings; timber-frame house, partly slated, hipped 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...
, early 19th century, timber-frame barn, partly solid, marked 1863
Economy and infrastructure
Külz has at its disposal a bakeryBakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
, two carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
shops, an inn
INN
InterNetNews 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...
with a beer garden
Beer garden
Beer garden is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local food are served. The concept originates from and is most common in Southern Germany...
, a filling station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
with a shop and a clothing shop. On a hill east of the village stands a wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
with four Enercon
Enercon
Enercon GmbH, based in Aurich, Germany, is the fourth-largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world and has been the market leader in Germany since the mid-nineties. Enercon has production facilities in Germany , Sweden, Brazil, India, Canada, Turkey and Portugal...
E-82 turbines
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
. Five further facilities are planned.
Education
The Ortsgemeinde of Külz, in collaboration with four other municipalities, runs a 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...
located in neighbouring Alterkülz
Alterkülz
-History:Alterkülz belonged until 1417 to the “Further” County of Sponheim, and locally to the Amt of Kastellaun. After this line of the Sponheims died out, the village went with Kastellaun to the “Hinder” part of the County....
.