Nieder-Wiesen
Encyclopedia
Nieder-Wiesen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
, whose seat is in Alzey
. It has roughly 650 inhabitants.
In Nieder-Wiesen, the Rheinhessisches Hügelland (Rhenish-Hessian Upland) gives way to the foothills of the North Palatine Highland
, thus explaining the former presence of the old border running along the Wiesbach 500 m south of the village which once marked the place where the Grand Duchy of Hesse
(“GH”) met the Palatine exclave ruled by the Kingdom of Bavaria
(“KB”). Even today along the old border, border stones can be found with the aforesaid initials on them. Even today’s district boundary between Alzey-Worms
and the Donnersbergkreis
follows this alignment, as does the jurisdictional boundary between the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau and the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate.
The particularly lovely rural location on the Wiesbach – nowadays known as the “Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland” (Rheinhessische Schweiz) – must have appealed to the Celts, who built a place of worship or perhaps even a castle on the Schlossberg (mountain).
village. There is an Evangelical
church. Only in neighbouring villages can a Catholic church be found. Before the persecution
and outright murder
wrought by the National Socialists, Nieder-Wiesen was home to a remarkably big Jewish
community that formed about a third of the population. Their synagogue
was set on fire and destroyed as part of Kristallnacht
(9 November 1938). Witness thereto is a memorial plaque at the Evangelical church. Also bearing witness to the former Jewish community is the Jewish graveyard lying roughly 400 m south of the village.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
might be described thus: Argent between two bars gules the letters N and W sable flanked by two blocks of the second, in chief four blocks in fess of the second, in base two blocks in fess of the second.
There is a big youth tent site in the Wiesbach valley where one can stay overnight in a cabin along with a community centre. In the warmer months, tents are also pitched. This place, near nature and the forest, is wonderfully suited to tent camping and children’s and youth’s leisure activities. Along with these comes the opportunity to take part in the Alzey Forest Bureau’s woodland education programme. The youth tent site (Jugendzeltplatz) is run by the Alzey-Worms
district, Alzey
.
Nieder-Wiesen also has a barbecue area run by the Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland Recreational Area Association with a big barbecue pavilion as well as equipment. It is to be found across from the sport facilities at the edge of the woods.
Also to be found lying before the youth tent site in Nieder-Wiesen is a big Wanderparkplatz (“hiking park square”) with information and display notices about the trails that have been laid out and marked and the Nordic walking
courses through the Vorholz Forest Area.
There is a permanent Internationaler Volkssportverband (IVV) hiking trail, a loop through the Vorholz, running for 10 km through the Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland. It begins and ends at the TuS (sport club) Nieder-Wiesen’s clubhouse at the sport ground.
The Bürgerhaus (“citizens’ house”) with its kitchen and great hall is part of the former school (a modern wing built in 1988) and it can likewise be hired through the municipal administration.
has one group with places for 25 children. The institution is certified by the state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
as a Bewegungskindergarten (one that emphasizes physical activity as a paedagogical tool).
(11 km east of Nieder-Wiesen with half-hourly Regionalexpress trains to Mainz
and hourly Regionalbahn
trains to Worms
, Bingen am Rhein
and Kirchheimbolanden
) and Alsenz
(17 km west with regular connections to Bad Kreuznach
and Kaiserslautern
). A bus link, route 425 run by Omnibusverkehr Rhein-Nahe, to and from the district seat of Alzey runs on weekdays. Moreover, several shared-taxi connections are daily at hand.
church is a Baroque
one-room structure built in 1723 as the then resident church of the Barons of Hunolstein on the spot where once had stood another church built in 1462. Remains of the nobles’ seat are still recognizable inside. The church is equipped with the oldest and smallest Stumm organ
in Rhenish Hesse (from about 1725) with a stylish character (eight stops). On one side wall are found the family Hunolstein’s graves, and on the other the Reverend Johann Wilhelm Fresenius’s (died 1727), whose son Johann Philipp not only served as a clergyman in Nieder-Wiesen, but also later, as a senior clergyman in Frankfurt am Main, ministered to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
’s parents and even christened
the poet himself shortly after his birth. Furthermore, the clerical family Fresenius’s descendants founded a healthcare business that today is active worldwide, and also a well known chemical analysis institute.
Baroque pastoral paintings adorn the pulpit with the Four Evangelists
, and along the gallery balustrade’s whole breadth, a painting of the Twelve Apostles with Jesus
in the middle can be seen. From early Lutheran
times come the Eucharist
chests, which are scattered about the altar area. Since 1822, the parish has been Evangelical-United.
The font
comes from 1971 and was originally in the Immanuel-Kirche in Königstein im Taunus
, but did not arrive in Nieder-Wiesen without a sojourn first in Ringleben
in the Kyffhäuserkreis
in Thuringia
, finally coming back to western Germany and its new home in Nieder-Wiesen in 1996.
Artistically valuable are the altar antependia, among others a work in appliqué
after a concept by Darmstadt
artist Thomas Duttenhöfer from 1989 called “Jesus’s Entry into Jerusalem”. Upon close inspection, though, it turns out that the place depicted in the work, far from being the Holy City, is in fact Nieder-Wiesen, with its former synagogue
on fire.
The church’s loft is used for a bat
and barn owl
project as a measure to safeguard Creation.
In 2000, the church’s outside was given an extensive renovation, and in 2008, the inside was also done.
The entrance portal is furnished with the clerical family Fresenius’s heraldic
motto from Psalm 92: Die gepflanzt sind im Hause des Herrn, werden in den Vorhöfen unseres Gottes grünen (“Planted in the Lord’s house, they grow in the courts of our God”), and above is found the Hunolstein family’s former coat of arms
with the noble crown.
The coat of arms – albeit now without the noble crown – with the marking “NW” to make it Nieder-Wiesen’s civic arms was set into the street paving in 2000 in the square before the church. Across from the church, on the bank of the Wiesbach, stands a “Resista” elm as a measure to fight Dutch elm disease
in Rhenish Hesse. (“Resista” cultivars are supposed to have very high resistance to this fungal affliction).
A few metres farther is found the stylishly shaped memorial
to victims of the First and Second World Wars.
. Today, the small castle with its Baroque-style gardens is in private ownership. Still to be found on the stucco ceiling in the former reception hall are allegorical representations of the four seasons. The former stable with its vaulting serves today as a ballroom. It can be hired for events.
, but there is one in the municipal area crossing the Wiesbach. The 4 m-wide brook can be crossed here even in vehicles, although it is advisable to note the water conditions beforehand. The open area before the ford was built as a rest area on the Napoleon-Kneipp Hiking Trail, which runs through Nieder-Wiesen, with a Kneipp
arm bath basin and an informational notice.
. Its area is about 1 ha, and there are all kinds of native fruit trees planted there that once grew all around the village of Nieder-Wiesen in great numbers. Seeing to the ecological management is the Evangelical
church (there is a yearly “apple juice project”). An informational notice explaining the various fruit trees can be found at the orchard’s lower edge, and at the upper end is an “insect hotel”, installed in 2008.
Tobias Kraft, Die Geschichte Nieder-Wiesens, Eigenherausgabe des Ev. Pfarramts Nieder-Wiesen, 2005
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 Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the district Groß-Gerau , the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen.- History :...
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...
.
Location
The municipality lies in Rhenish Hesse and belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Alzey-LandAlzey-Land
Alzey-Land is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located around the town Alzey, which is the seat of Alzey-Land, but not part of the Verbandsgemeinde....
, whose seat is in Alzey
Alzey
Alzey is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fourth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, and Bingen....
. It has roughly 650 inhabitants.
In Nieder-Wiesen, the Rheinhessisches Hügelland (Rhenish-Hessian Upland) gives way to the foothills of the North Palatine Highland
North Palatine Highland
The North Palatine Uplands , sometimes incorrectly shortened to Palatine Uplands , is a landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs largely to the Palatinate region.- Location and name :...
, thus explaining the former presence of the old border running along the Wiesbach 500 m south of the village which once marked the place where the Grand Duchy of Hesse
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
(“GH”) met the Palatine exclave ruled by the Kingdom of Bavaria
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...
(“KB”). Even today along the old border, border stones can be found with the aforesaid initials on them. Even today’s district boundary between Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the district Groß-Gerau , the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen.- History :...
and the Donnersbergkreis
Donnersbergkreis
The Donnersbergkreis is a district in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel.-History:...
follows this alignment, as does the jurisdictional boundary between the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau and the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate.
The particularly lovely rural location on the Wiesbach – nowadays known as the “Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland” (Rheinhessische Schweiz) – must have appealed to the Celts, who built a place of worship or perhaps even a castle on the Schlossberg (mountain).
Religion
Nieder-Wiesen is a mostly ProtestantProtestantism
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...
village. There is an 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...
church. Only in neighbouring villages can a Catholic church be found. Before the persecution
Persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
and outright murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
wrought by the National Socialists, Nieder-Wiesen was home to a remarkably big Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
community that formed about a third of the population. Their synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
was set on fire and destroyed as part of Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
(9 November 1938). Witness thereto is a memorial plaque at the Evangelical church. Also bearing witness to the former Jewish community is the Jewish graveyard lying roughly 400 m south of the village.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 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 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 seats |
| 2004 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 seats |
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: Argent between two bars gules the letters N and W sable flanked by two blocks of the second, in chief four blocks in fess of the second, in base two blocks in fess of the second.
Sport and leisure facilities
Besides the sport facilities usually found in such a small village (grass football pitch with sport club house), there are two tennis courts right in the village centre.There is a big youth tent site in the Wiesbach valley where one can stay overnight in a cabin along with a community centre. In the warmer months, tents are also pitched. This place, near nature and the forest, is wonderfully suited to tent camping and children’s and youth’s leisure activities. Along with these comes the opportunity to take part in the Alzey Forest Bureau’s woodland education programme. The youth tent site (Jugendzeltplatz) is run by the Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the district Groß-Gerau , the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen.- History :...
district, Alzey
Alzey
Alzey is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fourth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, and Bingen....
.
Nieder-Wiesen also has a barbecue area run by the Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland Recreational Area Association with a big barbecue pavilion as well as equipment. It is to be found across from the sport facilities at the edge of the woods.
Also to be found lying before the youth tent site in Nieder-Wiesen is a big Wanderparkplatz (“hiking park square”) with information and display notices about the trails that have been laid out and marked and the Nordic walking
Nordic walking
Nordic walking, originally known as ski walking, is a physical activity and a sport consisting of walking with poles similar to ski poles.-Origin:...
courses through the Vorholz Forest Area.
There is a permanent Internationaler Volkssportverband (IVV) hiking trail, a loop through the Vorholz, running for 10 km through the Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland. It begins and ends at the TuS (sport club) Nieder-Wiesen’s clubhouse at the sport ground.
Community centres
The Gemeindehalle (“municipal hall”) is a converted barn of a former typically Frankish homestead. The building’s original character was retained, and it offers a nice ambiance for celebrations. Equipped with a modern kitchen, drink cooling, stage and gallery, it can handle an event with up to 150 persons. It can be hired through the municipal administration.The Bürgerhaus (“citizens’ house”) with its kitchen and great hall is part of the former school (a modern wing built in 1988) and it can likewise be hired through the municipal administration.
Kindergarten
The municipal 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...
has one group with places for 25 children. The institution is certified by the 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 ....
as a Bewegungskindergarten (one that emphasizes physical activity as a paedagogical tool).
Transport
The nearest railway stations are AlzeyAlzey
Alzey is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fourth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, and Bingen....
(11 km east of Nieder-Wiesen with half-hourly Regionalexpress trains to Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
and hourly Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
trains to Worms
Worms, 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...
, Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
and Kirchheimbolanden
Kirchheimbolanden
Kirchheimbolanden, the capital of Donnersbergkreis, is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, south-western Germany. It is situated approx. 25 km west of Worms, and 30 km north-east of Kaiserslautern. The first part of the name, Kirchheim, dates back to 774. It became a town in 1368, and the...
) and Alsenz
Alsenz
The Alsenz is a river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, a right tributary to the Nahe River. It rises in Enkenbach-Alsenborn, north-east of Kaiserslautern, flows generally north, and joins the Nahe in Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg. Its length is approx. 57 km. Towns along the Alsenz include...
(17 km west with regular connections to Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach is the capital of the district of Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located on the Nahe river, a tributary of the Rhine...
and Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
). A bus link, route 425 run by Omnibusverkehr Rhein-Nahe, to and from the district seat of Alzey runs on weekdays. Moreover, several shared-taxi connections are daily at hand.
Evangelical church
The EvangelicalEvangelical 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...
church is a Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque 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...
one-room structure built in 1723 as the then resident church of the Barons of Hunolstein on the spot where once had stood another church built in 1462. Remains of the nobles’ seat are still recognizable inside. The church is equipped with the oldest and smallest Stumm organ
Organ (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...
in Rhenish Hesse (from about 1725) with a stylish character (eight stops). On one side wall are found the family Hunolstein’s graves, and on the other the Reverend Johann Wilhelm Fresenius’s (died 1727), whose son Johann Philipp not only served as a clergyman in Nieder-Wiesen, but also later, as a senior clergyman in Frankfurt am Main, ministered to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
’s parents and even christened
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
the poet himself shortly after his birth. Furthermore, the clerical family Fresenius’s descendants founded a healthcare business that today is active worldwide, and also a well known chemical analysis institute.
Baroque pastoral paintings adorn the pulpit with the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
, and along the gallery balustrade’s whole breadth, a painting of the Twelve Apostles with Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in the middle can be seen. From early Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
times come the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
chests, which are scattered about the altar area. Since 1822, the parish has been Evangelical-United.
The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
comes from 1971 and was originally in the Immanuel-Kirche in Königstein im Taunus
Königstein im Taunus
Königstein im Taunus is a climatic spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. Owing to its advantageous location for both scenery and transport on the edge of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region, Königstein is a favourite residential town...
, but did not arrive in Nieder-Wiesen without a sojourn first in Ringleben
Ringleben, Kyffhäuserkreis
Ringleben is a municipality in the district Kyffhäuserkreis, in Thuringia, Germany....
in the Kyffhäuserkreis
Kyffhäuserkreis
The Kyffhäuserkreis is a district in the northern part of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Mansfeld-Südharz, Saalekreis und Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, and the districts Sömmerda, Unstrut-Hainich and Eichsfeld.-History:...
in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, finally coming back to western Germany and its new home in Nieder-Wiesen in 1996.
Artistically valuable are the altar antependia, among others a work in appliqué
Applique
In its broadest sense, an appliqué is a smaller ornament or device applied to another surface. In the context of ceramics, for example, an appliqué is a separate piece of clay added to the primary work, generally for the purpose of decoration...
after a concept by Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
artist Thomas Duttenhöfer from 1989 called “Jesus’s Entry into Jerusalem”. Upon close inspection, though, it turns out that the place depicted in the work, far from being the Holy City, is in fact Nieder-Wiesen, with its former synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
on fire.
The church’s loft is used for a bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
and barn owl
Barn Owl
The Barn Owl is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as Common Barn Owl, to distinguish it from other species in the barn-owl family Tytonidae. These form one of two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical...
project as a measure to safeguard Creation.
In 2000, the church’s outside was given an extensive renovation, and in 2008, the inside was also done.
The entrance portal is furnished with the clerical family Fresenius’s 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"...
motto from Psalm 92: Die gepflanzt sind im Hause des Herrn, werden in den Vorhöfen unseres Gottes grünen (“Planted in the Lord’s house, they grow in the courts of our God”), and above is found the Hunolstein family’s former 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 the noble crown.
The coat of arms – albeit now without the noble crown – with the marking “NW” to make it Nieder-Wiesen’s civic arms was set into the street paving in 2000 in the square before the church. Across from the church, on the bank of the Wiesbach, stands a “Resista” elm as a measure to fight Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...
in Rhenish Hesse. (“Resista” cultivars are supposed to have very high resistance to this fungal affliction).
A few metres farther is found the stylishly shaped memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
to victims of the First and Second World Wars.
Schloss Nieder-Wiesen
In the village stands a former moated castle, although nowadays, no more water flows through the moat. This was built in 1722 by the Barons of Hunolstein, who helped the region attain both prestige and wealth by mining quicksilverMercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
. Today, the small castle with its Baroque-style gardens is in private ownership. Still to be found on the stucco ceiling in the former reception hall are allegorical representations of the four seasons. The former stable with its vaulting serves today as a ballroom. It can be hired for events.
Nieder-Wiesen ford
Quite unusual for this day and age, and seldom seen in Germany is a fordFord (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
, but there is one in the municipal area crossing the Wiesbach. The 4 m-wide brook can be crossed here even in vehicles, although it is advisable to note the water conditions beforehand. The open area before the ford was built as a rest area on the Napoleon-Kneipp Hiking Trail, which runs through Nieder-Wiesen, with a Kneipp
Sebastian Kneipp
Sebastian Kneipp was a Bavarian priest and one of the founders of the Naturopathic medicine movement...
arm bath basin and an informational notice.
Neumühle with waterwheel
Roughly one kilometre outside the village towards Wendelsheim is found the Neumühle (“New Mill”), a former Hunolstein homestead. Worth seeing here is the fully functional overshot waterwheel, which today is run to generate renewable electrical energy from the flowing water.Streuobstwiese “Auf der Gipp”
On the way out of the village towards Wendelsheim, started in 1991, is a meadow orchard, or Streuobstwiese, as it is called in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. Its area is about 1 ha, and there are all kinds of native fruit trees planted there that once grew all around the village of Nieder-Wiesen in great numbers. Seeing to the ecological management is 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...
church (there is a yearly “apple juice project”). An informational notice explaining the various fruit trees can be found at the orchard’s lower edge, and at the upper end is an “insect hotel”, installed in 2008.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Johann Philipp Fresenius (1705–1761), 18th-century Evangelical-Lutheran theologian (among other things, senior clergyman in Frankfurt am Main)
Further reading
Eberhard Philipp Heck (Nieder-Wiesen, Berlin), Dr. Stefan Grathoff, Artikel „Nieder-Wiesen“ im Pfälzischen Burgenlexikon unter Zuhilfenahme von: Heinrich Bechtolsheimer 1916, S. 319; Böhn 1958, S. 175; Karl Johann Brilmayer 1905, S. 343; Dehio, Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland 1984, S.750f; Frey 1836/37, S. 297; Kofler 1884, S. 43; Lucae 1993, S. 166ff.; Stephan 1965, S. 109ff.; Stümpel 1971, S. 64f.; Tillmann 1958-61, S. 735.Tobias Kraft, Die Geschichte Nieder-Wiesens, Eigenherausgabe des Ev. Pfarramts Nieder-Wiesen, 2005