Lambrecht
Encyclopedia
Lambrecht is a town in the Bad Dürkheim
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
lying roughly 6 km northwest of Neustadt an der Weinstraße
. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
.
.
(Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
) endowed the Benedictine
Convent of Saint Lambrecht for the village of Grevenhausen. The convent was nevertheless dissolved in 1553. In 1568, the disused convent’s buildings together with houses, church and cropfields was turned over as an asylum by Frederick III, Elector Palatine
to Walloons
who had been driven from their homeland.
In 1838 or 1839, the two neighbouring villages of St. Lambrecht and Grevenhausen merged. On 25 August 1849, Lambrecht became a stop on the railway when the Neustadt-Frankenstein section of the Palatinate Ludwig Railway was opened, completing the Rhein-Saar line for coal transport. Since 21 December 1887, Lambrecht has held town rights.
On 1 March 1972, the Verbandsgemeinde of Lambrecht
was formed. Administrative activities were assumed on 1 January 1973.
Together with the neighbouring centre of Lindenberg
there exists a Protestant
parish. Lambrecht is part of the Protestant deaconry of Neustadt in the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate.
In 2007, 43.8% of the inhabitants were Evangelical
and 30.4% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
The town’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Per fess sable a lion passant Or armed, langued and crowned gules, and vert three lambs argent passant.
The arms were granted on 21 December 1887 by Bavarian
Prince Regent Luitpold and go back to a seal from 1707, although compositions involving the same charge
s go back to 1583. Several versions are known from the intervening time. One also showed the lion holding a book in his paws to symbolize the University of Heidelberg, which was the local landlord after 1553. The upper field in the escutcheon shows the Palatine Lion, although here passant (walking) instead of rampant (rearing up). This stands for the town’s former allegiance to Electoral Palatinate. The sheep – or rather lambs, as the German blazon stipulates – symbolize the wool industry that throve here after the Walloon refugees arrived in the 16th century. They are also canting
for the name Lambrecht (“lamb” is Lamm in German
).
from Belgium
who migrated here in the 16th century, a flourishing clothmaking industry grew up in Lambrecht. Thus it was that on Wallonenstraße, a street in Lambrecht’s town centre, a genuine clothmaking centre with many hand-weaving businesses sprang up.
Witnessing this time is the Zunfthaus (“Guildhall”) from 1606/1607 with its oriel window. The stately building goes back to a wealthy Walloon immigrant.
After the Industrial Revolution
, many businesses did not make the leap to factory scale. Nevertheless, in 1931 there were still nine cloth factories in town, and only in the 1960s did clothmaking finally die out as an industry.
Today, one former cloth factory makes felts, paper machine clothing and needled felts. In another former cloth factory, special switching devices are made, which have been successfully marketed worldwide. Moreover, a multifaceted midsize supply industry has developed.
Besides these operations, tourism
and, to a far lesser extent, forestry
are also among the town’s economic factors. The town also has at its disposal a variety of shopping places, craft businesses and service industries that fulfil daily demands.
s and two general-education schools. Hauptschule
and Realschule
functions are integrated into the Regional School. Gymnasien
can be found in the bigger neighbouring town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße
. Dealing in adult education are the folk high school
and the Pfalzakademie (“Palatinate Academy”).
Die nahezu vergriffene Stadtchronik hat 2 Hauptautoren. Außer Hans Fell ist deshalb vorrangig auch Dr. Ernst Collofong zu nennen.
Bad Dürkheim (district)
Bad Dürkheim is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Kaiserslautern, Donnersbergkreis and Alzey-Worms, the city of Worms, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, the city of Neustadt/Weinstraße, the districts of Südliche Weinstraße, the city of Landau , the district...
district 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...
lying roughly 6 km northwest of Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
Lambrecht (Verbandsgemeinde)
Lambrecht is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Lambrecht....
.
Location
The municipality lies in the Palatinate, and indeed in the middle of the Palatinate Forest. It is crossed by the river Speyerbach. The municipality’s highest mountain is the Kaisergarten at 519 m above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Land use
Lambrecht’s 8.32 km² is distributed as follows:| Land use | ha |
|---|---|
| Estates and buildings | 86 |
| Paths, streets and the like | 41 |
| Other uses | 21 |
| Commercial use | 25 |
| Woodland | 655 |
| Open water | 3 |
| Other areas, wasteland, etc. | 1 |
History
In 977, Lambrecht had its first documentary mention. Duke Otto of WormsWorms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
(Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
Otto , called Otto of Worms, was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 978 to 985 and again from 1002 until his death....
) endowed the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
Convent of Saint Lambrecht for the village of Grevenhausen. The convent was nevertheless dissolved in 1553. In 1568, the disused convent’s buildings together with houses, church and cropfields was turned over as an asylum by Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine in 1559...
to Walloons
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
who had been driven from their homeland.
In 1838 or 1839, the two neighbouring villages of St. Lambrecht and Grevenhausen merged. On 25 August 1849, Lambrecht became a stop on the railway when the Neustadt-Frankenstein section of the Palatinate Ludwig Railway was opened, completing the Rhein-Saar line for coal transport. Since 21 December 1887, Lambrecht has held town rights.
On 1 March 1972, the Verbandsgemeinde of Lambrecht
Lambrecht (Verbandsgemeinde)
Lambrecht is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Lambrecht....
was formed. Administrative activities were assumed on 1 January 1973.
Religion
Lambrecht has an autonomous Catholic parish (Herz Jesu). The Catholic parish is the sponsor of the St. Lambertus daycare centre. The pastor in the parish community tends not only Lambrecht but also the municipalities of Lindenberg, Neidenfels-Frankeneck and Weidenthal-Frankenstein. The Lambrecht parish is part of the parish league of Neustadt (Weinstraße) in the deaconry of Bad Dürkheim and belongs to the Diocese of Speyer.Together with the neighbouring centre of Lindenberg
Lindenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate
Lindenberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
there exists a Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
parish. Lambrecht is part of the Protestant deaconry of Neustadt in the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate.
In 2007, 43.8% of the inhabitants were Evangelical
Evangelical 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...
and 30.4% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
Town council
The council is made up of 20 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
CDU | FWG Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
Total | |
| 2009 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 20 seats |
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Von Schwarz und Grün geteilt, oben ein rotbewehrter, -bezungter und -bekrönter goldener Löwe, unten drei silberne Lämmer.The town’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 fess sable a lion passant Or armed, langued and crowned gules, and vert three lambs argent passant.
The arms were granted on 21 December 1887 by Bavarian
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...
Prince Regent Luitpold and go back to a seal from 1707, although compositions involving the same 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...
s go back to 1583. Several versions are known from the intervening time. One also showed the lion holding a book in his paws to symbolize the University of Heidelberg, which was the local landlord after 1553. The upper field in the escutcheon shows the Palatine Lion, although here passant (walking) instead of rampant (rearing up). This stands for the town’s former allegiance to Electoral Palatinate. The sheep – or rather lambs, as the German blazon stipulates – symbolize the wool industry that throve here after the Walloon refugees arrived in the 16th century. They are also 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 –...
for the name Lambrecht (“lamb” is Lamm 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....
).
Buildings and other manmade monuments
- Karl-Marx-Straße 14 – the building that thus far has the earliest dating (1606)
- Wallonenstraße 11 – guildhall from 1607/1608 – restored 2004–06 – today town hall of the town of Lambrecht
- Untermühle (“Lower Mill”) – from 1743 (near the bridge across the Speyerbach on Fabrikstraße)
- Dominican nuns’ former convent church – today a Protestant church, begun in 1320
- Catholic Parish Church Herz Jesu (“Heart of Jesus”) – oldest parts from 1750, quire, nave and tower from 1953
- so-called Post-Turm (tower) – built in 1884 by commercial councillor Carl Marx on the model of MiramareMiramareThe Miramare Castle is a 19th century castle on the Gulf of Trieste near Trieste, northeastern Italy. It was built from 1856 to 1860 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium, later Emperor Maximilian I and Empress Carlota of Mexico, to a design by Carl...
near TriesteTriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
. - Villa Marx
- Villa Haas
- OrganOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
by Johann Georg Geib from 1777 in the Protestant church (former convent church) - Dicker-Stein-Turm – lookout tower on the Hoher Kopf (Schauerberg)
- Edith SteinEdith SteinSaint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross, sometimes also known as Saint Edith Stein , was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and nun, regarded as a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church...
memorial site - Glaß-Art-Collection
Regular events
- Eierpicken on Easter Monday at Pickplatz – This is an Easter custom that involves a contest in which players attempt to shell each other’s Easter eggs – each using his or her own egg as the “weapon”.
- Delivery of the tribute billygoat to DeidesheimDeidesheimDeidesheim is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with some 3,700 inhabitants.The town lies in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration and since 1973 it has been the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Deidesheim. The most important industries are tourism...
on Whit TuesdayWhit TuesdayWhit Tuesday is the Christian holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost Monday, the third day of the week beginning on Pentecost. Pentecost is a movable feast in the Christian calendar dependent upon the date of Easter.In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Whit Tuesday is known as the "Third Day of the...
as part of the Geißbockversteigerung (“Billygoat Auction”) - Geißbock-Festspiel at Marxparkplatz on Fabrikstraße across the street from the Jahnwiese sporting ground
- Lambrechter Geißbock-Kerwe (fair), each year on the first Saturday in August
- Sommerliche Abendmusiken (“Summertime Evening Music”) in the former convent church
- Advent market
- Every other year: industrial fair for commercial operations in Lambrecht and the surrounding area
- Geißbock MTB-Marathon
Economy
For a long time, Lambrecht was said to be a clothmaking town. With the Huguenots, or more precisely the WalloonsWalloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
who migrated here in the 16th century, a flourishing clothmaking industry grew up in Lambrecht. Thus it was that on Wallonenstraße, a street in Lambrecht’s town centre, a genuine clothmaking centre with many hand-weaving businesses sprang up.
Witnessing this time is the Zunfthaus (“Guildhall”) from 1606/1607 with its oriel window. The stately building goes back to a wealthy Walloon immigrant.
After the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, many businesses did not make the leap to factory scale. Nevertheless, in 1931 there were still nine cloth factories in town, and only in the 1960s did clothmaking finally die out as an industry.
Today, one former cloth factory makes felts, paper machine clothing and needled felts. In another former cloth factory, special switching devices are made, which have been successfully marketed worldwide. Moreover, a multifaceted midsize supply industry has developed.
Besides these operations, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and, to a far lesser extent, forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
are also among the town’s economic factors. The town also has at its disposal a variety of shopping places, craft businesses and service industries that fulfil daily demands.
Education
Located in Lambrecht are three 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...
s and two general-education schools. Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
and Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
functions are integrated into the Regional School. Gymnasien
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
can be found in the bigger neighbouring town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
. Dealing in adult education are the folk high school
Folk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
and the Pfalzakademie (“Palatinate Academy”).
Kindergartens
- “Arche Noah” 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...
kindergarten - “St. Lambertus” Catholic kindergarten
- “Rappelkiste” municipal kindergarten
- Nursery for schoolchildren at the Evangelical kindergarten
Schools
- Grundschule Lambrecht (primary school)
- Regionale Schule Lambrecht (HauptschuleHauptschuleA Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
/RealschuleRealschuleThe Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
) - Volkshochschule Verbandsgemeinde Lambrecht (folk high schoolFolk high schoolFolk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
)
Transport
- Lambrecht lies on the Palatinate Way of St. JamesWay of St. JamesThe Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried....
(SpeyerSpeyerSpeyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
–HornbachHornbachHornbach is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated southwest of the Palatinate forest, on the border with France, south of Zweibrücken. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Zweibrücken-Land.The monastery was the most likely reason for the...
), an old pilgrimagePilgrimageA pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
route. - The Kuckucksbähnel heritage railwayHeritage railwaythumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
(Neustadt an der WeinstraßeNeustadt an der WeinstraßeNeustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
–ElmsteinElmsteinElmstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :Elmstein lies in the Palatinate Forest...
) also stops at Lambrecht railway station. - RheinNeckar S-BahnRheinNeckar S-BahnThe Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen....
with lines S1 and S2 runs on the Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn. - BundesstraßeBundesstraßeBundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
39 runs through town.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Ludwig Louis (1814–1894), politician
- Heinrich Lieser (1879−?), politician (SPD)
- Hermann Alker (1885–1967), architect
- Rudolf Röhrig (1903–1970), politician (NSDAP)
Famous people associated with the town
- Dr. Bernhard Würschmitt (21 November 1788 - 18 June 1853) was a Catholic priest and famous artist (painter, sculptor, etc.). He held office as Grevenhausen’s parish priest from 1826 to 1828. From his hand came the high altar painting Kreuzigung Christi (“Christ’s CrucifixionCrucifixionCrucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
”), the oil painting Maria Immaculata and an extraordinary pulpit-confessional, which are all to be found at Lambrecht’s Catholic church. - Kurt Faber (1883–1929), adventurer, travel writer; spent his youth in Lambrecht.
- Bernhard Kimmel (1936– ), criminal (“Al Capone of the Palatinate”), grew up in Lambrecht.
- Lambrecht (Surname), various peoples whom immigrated into the Russian Volga River valley. Soon after, Lambrechts immigrated to the United States, Argentina, and South Africa. They are most frequent in the U.S. state of Colorado.
Further reading
Stadtchronik:Hans Fell: 1000 Jahre Lambrecht – Chronik einer Stadt. Edeldruck Lambrecht GmbH & Co. KG., Lambrecht (Pfalz) 1978Die nahezu vergriffene Stadtchronik hat 2 Hauptautoren. Außer Hans Fell ist deshalb vorrangig auch Dr. Ernst Collofong zu nennen.