Mannebach, Vulkaneifel
Encyclopedia
Mannebach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kelberg
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
, a part of the Eifel
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
. The graveyard dates from Hallstatt times
up to the time of the Roman
presence in the region (roughly 700 BC to AD 353).
Finds from Roman times have also been unearthed including ceramics and coins. Two Roman settlements are known to have existed in what is now Mannebach, one each in the rural cadastral areas of “Klöppesch” and “Lange Bahn”, which have yielded wall remnants, bricks and potsherds that have been dated to the 3rd and 4th centuries.
They are believed to have been destroyed in 353 in the Germanic
invasions. Libanius
reported something of the invaders’ behaviour at this time: “…The Germanic people dragged all objects of value, women and children along with them; the prisoners followed the procession, their packs on their backs. Whoever was unsuitable as a slave, whoever did not put up with seeing wife or daughter raped, was strangled in his misery. All our belongings they took with them, and while the victors reaped our harvest, they had the prisoners work the fields of their own land.”
There was no further settlement here until the Middle Ages
, when it began again in the 10th and 11th centuries. Ceramic finds have been brought to light from this time, as well.
In 1336, Mannebach had its first documentary mention when the Count of Virneburg sold Archbishop Balduin of Trier his castle for 2,200 Gulden, only to have the Archbishop enfeoff him with the same, while exacting a yearly tribute of 220 Gulden from the Count, which the Count paid the Archbishop mostly in produce, which, of course, the Count in turn exacted from the peasants who worked his fief. Mannebach’s contribution to this was 29 Malter – roughly 2 700 kg – of feed oats.
Mannebach was an important place in the County of Virneburg. It belonged to the so-called Upper County and was a mayoral seat. This “mayor”, however, bore the title Heimbürger, which was given a man who had actually been chosen by the community, not by the Count. This one led not only Mannebach, but also Bereborn
and Kolverath
. It can therefore be inferred that the 29 Malter of feed oats that Mannebach owed the Count of Virneburg each year was actually drawn from all three villages, although this is unconfirmed.
Mannebach’s importance was matched by its great municipal area. Even today, it is still, at 734 ha, almost one and a half times as big as Bereborn (257 ha) and Kolverath (246 ha) put together. Its importance could also be seen in the important residents. Along with the Heimbürger, Mannebach was also home to a Vogt
who served the Count as an official, and to various Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”) for the parish of Retterath. The court Schöffe Stefan Schmitt from Mannebach (died 2 January 1770) was even chairman of the court at Retterath and Vogt at the same time. The stone cross beside the Heiligenhäuschen (a small, shrinelike structure consecrated to a saint or saints) on the way out of the village towards Retterath
is believed to have been put up in 1724 as a memorial to one of his kin. Legend has it that the angel on the cross has a Virneburg countess’s facial features. The Virneburg coat of arms
with its seven-lozenge charge
can also be made out in the angel’s ruff.
The Thirty Years' War
was a time of great hardship and wretchedness for the whole area. The County of Virneburg, which had embraced the Evangelical
faith, had supplied the Swedes
at Andernach
and Sinzig
with provisions. After the Spaniards
drove them out, things went badly for the County. Spanish troops were billeted locally, and the peasants had to feed – and pay for – soldiers and horses. By 1640, there were only seven families still living in Mannebach, the others all having died. In August and September 1640, two companies of foreign mercenaries swept from village to village threshing all the grain in the fields. In the decades that followed came Louis XIV’s
wars of plunder, which drove a great many of the impoverished population to flight.
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: Or a cross enhanced and to dexter gules, in chief sinister seven lozenges, four and three, of the same, below and to sinister of the cross, a palm frond and an arrow per saltire vert, the latter surmounting the former, and the former pointing at the centre of the cross, and emerging from base point a bendlet sinister wavy azure.
The red cross refers to the village’s former allegiance to the Bishopric of Trier. The seven lozenges, too, recall a former allegiance, this one to the County of Virneburg. This charge
is drawn from the Counts’ old arms. The palm frond and the arrow are Saint Sebastian’s attributes, with the palm frond symbolizing Sebastian’s survival of an execution by bow and arrow as a sign of victory, for according to legend, Sebastian was nursed back to health after he was believed to be dead. The blue bendlet sinister stands for the brook that runs through the village, also called the Mannebach; it is the municipality’s namesake.
and Roman
graves have been found, bearing witness to earlier settlement here. The chapel is consecrated to the Raising of the Cross
and to Saint Sebastian. It was built in 1772. There are in the municipality several basalt
crosses from the 18th century and a Bildstock
from the 17th. Buildings of historical interest in the municipality are the following:
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 Vulkaneifel 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 Kelberg
Kelberg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kelberg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Kelberg....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Kelberg
Kelberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, and is home to its seat...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the VulkaneifelVulkan Eifel
The Vulkan Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of the Vulkan Eifel are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava...
, a part of the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
History
The discovery of a graveyard in the woods known as “Scheid” shows that the area has been settled since prehistoric timesPrehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
. The graveyard dates from Hallstatt times
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
up to the time of the 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....
presence in the region (roughly 700 BC to AD 353).
Finds from Roman times have also been unearthed including ceramics and coins. Two Roman settlements are known to have existed in what is now Mannebach, one each in the rural cadastral areas of “Klöppesch” and “Lange Bahn”, which have yielded wall remnants, bricks and potsherds that have been dated to the 3rd and 4th centuries.
They are believed to have been destroyed in 353 in the Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
invasions. Libanius
Libanius
Libanius was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school. During the rise of Christian hegemony in the later Roman Empire, he remained unconverted and regarded himself as a Hellene in religious matters.-Life:...
reported something of the invaders’ behaviour at this time: “…The Germanic people dragged all objects of value, women and children along with them; the prisoners followed the procession, their packs on their backs. Whoever was unsuitable as a slave, whoever did not put up with seeing wife or daughter raped, was strangled in his misery. All our belongings they took with them, and while the victors reaped our harvest, they had the prisoners work the fields of their own land.”
There was no further settlement here until 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...
, when it began again in the 10th and 11th centuries. Ceramic finds have been brought to light from this time, as well.
In 1336, Mannebach had its first documentary mention when the Count of Virneburg sold Archbishop Balduin of Trier his castle for 2,200 Gulden, only to have the Archbishop enfeoff him with the same, while exacting a yearly tribute of 220 Gulden from the Count, which the Count paid the Archbishop mostly in produce, which, of course, the Count in turn exacted from the peasants who worked his fief. Mannebach’s contribution to this was 29 Malter – roughly 2 700 kg – of feed oats.
Mannebach was an important place in the County of Virneburg. It belonged to the so-called Upper County and was a mayoral seat. This “mayor”, however, bore the title Heimbürger, which was given a man who had actually been chosen by the community, not by the Count. This one led not only Mannebach, but also Bereborn
Bereborn
Bereborn is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Kolverath
Kolverath
Kolverath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
. It can therefore be inferred that the 29 Malter of feed oats that Mannebach owed the Count of Virneburg each year was actually drawn from all three villages, although this is unconfirmed.
Mannebach’s importance was matched by its great municipal area. Even today, it is still, at 734 ha, almost one and a half times as big as Bereborn (257 ha) and Kolverath (246 ha) put together. Its importance could also be seen in the important residents. Along with the Heimbürger, Mannebach was also home to a Vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
who served the Count as an official, and to various Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”) for the parish of Retterath. The court Schöffe Stefan Schmitt from Mannebach (died 2 January 1770) was even chairman of the court at Retterath and Vogt at the same time. The stone cross beside the Heiligenhäuschen (a small, shrinelike structure consecrated to a saint or saints) on the way out of the village towards Retterath
Retterath
Retterath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
is believed to have been put up in 1724 as a memorial to one of his kin. Legend has it that the angel on the cross has a Virneburg countess’s facial features. The Virneburg coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
with its seven-lozenge 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...
can also be made out in the angel’s ruff.
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....
was a time of great hardship and wretchedness for the whole area. The County of Virneburg, which had embraced the 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...
faith, had supplied the Swedes
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
at Andernach
Andernach
Andernach is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of currently about 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated towards the end of the Neuwied basin on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing village of Fornich in the north and the mouth of the...
and Sinzig
Sinzig
Sinzig is a town in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Rhine, approx. 5 km south-east of Remagen and 25 km south-east of Bonn, and it has approximately 20,000 inhabitants .-History:...
with provisions. After the Spaniards
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
drove them out, things went badly for the County. Spanish troops were billeted locally, and the peasants had to feed – and pay for – soldiers and horses. By 1640, there were only seven families still living in Mannebach, the others all having died. In August and September 1640, two companies of foreign mercenaries swept from village to village threshing all the grain in the fields. In the decades that followed came Louis XIV’s
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
wars of plunder, which drove a great many of the impoverished population to flight.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 6 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 German blazon reads: In Gold ein nach oben und nach rechts versetztes rotes Kreuz, oben links sieben rote Rauten (4:3), unten links schwebend ein grüner Palmzweig gekreuzt von einem grünen Pfeil begleitet von einem schräglinken blauen Wellenbalken.The municipality’s arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might in English heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
language be described thus: Or a cross enhanced and to dexter gules, in chief sinister seven lozenges, four and three, of the same, below and to sinister of the cross, a palm frond and an arrow per saltire vert, the latter surmounting the former, and the former pointing at the centre of the cross, and emerging from base point a bendlet sinister wavy azure.
The red cross refers to the village’s former allegiance to the Bishopric of Trier. The seven lozenges, too, recall a former allegiance, this one to the County of Virneburg. This 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...
is drawn from the Counts’ old arms. The palm frond and the arrow are Saint Sebastian’s attributes, with the palm frond symbolizing Sebastian’s survival of an execution by bow and arrow as a sign of victory, for according to legend, Sebastian was nursed back to health after he was believed to be dead. The blue bendlet sinister stands for the brook that runs through the village, also called the Mannebach; it is the municipality’s namesake.
Buildings
In the Mannebach municipal forest, prehistoric barrowsTumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
graves have been found, bearing witness to earlier settlement here. The chapel is consecrated to the Raising of the Cross
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
and to Saint Sebastian. It was built in 1772. There are in the municipality several basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
crosses from the 18th century and a Bildstock
Bildstock
A wayside shrine, is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mountain. They have been a feature of many cultures,...
from the 17th. Buildings of historical interest in the municipality are the following:
- Catholic Church of the Raising of the Cross (branch church, Filialkirche Zur Kreuzaufrichtung), Kirchstraße 2, biaxial 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...
from 1772, basalt shaft cross from 1719. - Hauptstraße 30 – 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...
house from 1764, remodelled to the point of ruination. - Hauptstraße/corner of Auf dem Heidchen – wayside cross, basalt shaft cross from 1724.
- Hauptstraße/corner of Dorfstraße – wayside cross, basalt shaft cross from 1697.
- Heiligenhäuschen (a small, shrinelike structure consecrated to a saint or saints), southeast of the village on the road to RetterathRetterathRetterath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, plastered structure with niche relief.